“Conjurer purports to simply be “riff music,” but they’ve perhaps unintentionally made some of the most atmospheric music right alongside. Riffs, just as in the case of Mire, feel somewhere between Bolt Thrower and Isis, while passages of doom heft and post-rock clarity grace the negative spaces.” Genre hoarders.
“You can imagine why New York City’s So Hideous changed its name. Its former moniker, So Hideous, My Love, reflects the sort of melodrama pervades its first offering To Clasp a Fallen Wish with Broken Fingers. It ended up being post-rock/screamo Envy worship – if Envy were more emo. Thereafter, the masterminds behind the project, the Cruz brothers, dropped the second half of the name and amped up the ugly.” Ugly, pretty, hideous.
“Glassing and I have a complicated relationship. Spotted Horse hit a spot for me in 2019: the first 4.0 I ever awarded ’round these parts. Unfortunately, time was not kind and my experience with its rough edges and one-dimensional vocals landed it on Contrite Metal Guy, where I reeled it back a point. The band’s tantalizing blend of concrete-thick sludge and crystalline melody is nonetheless unforgettable, and the initial hype and subsequent fall from grace is something that still haunts me.” Glassing over the past.
“Misery Signals have been signalling misery by hybridising their metalcore vehicle with flashy touches of thrash, post-rock and progressive metal. Although elements of these other genres make appearances, Misery Signal’s engine is pure metalcore. Since forming in Wisconsin in 2002, Misery Signals have released four full-lengths. Their last record – Absent Light – was released in 2013. Seven years is a long time. A lot has changed.” Time, tide, and trend.
“Lavinia is a four-piece post-rock/emo outfit from New Hampshire with members from Caspian, The Appleseed Cast, and The Burning Paris. How their Pax Aeternum sophomore effort Sallowed ended up on the angriest metal site this side of the planet, I will never know.” Sallow your pride.
