Psychedelic Metal

Bees Made Honey in the Vein Tree – Aion Review

By Carcharodon on August 18, 2023 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, 38 comments

“The last record from the curiously-named Bees Made Honey in the Vein Tree, 2019’s Grandmother, did not grace these pages but for some reason, I was aware of it and it made enough of an impression on me that I was interested to review its successor, Aion. Buzzing around since 2014, Bees released their debut, Medicine, in 2017. A whimsy, faintly progressive doom record with a few hints of stoner around the fringes, it was solid. Grandmother was an altogether more interesting affair. A tightly-written slab of doom that upped the progressive quota by dialing in some psychedelia, as well as a rumbling darker edge, it showed a lot of promise.” Tapping out the vein.

Tongues – Formløse Stjerner Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on July 31, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Gothic Metal, 52 comments

“The niche within a niche label I, Voidhanger often scrapes the fringes of underground styles for acts embracing the weird, the strange, the vaguely musical—curious but rarely captivating for me. Par for the course, I’d never heard of Denmark’s Tongues before snagging up Formløse Stjerner, but something about the tumultuous landscape of the nihilistically nautical cover called to me like a Danish white whale, a hvidhval, if you will. Feel the Willies!

Quiet Man – The Starving Lesson Review

By Carcharodon on July 13, 2023 in Reviews, Drone, Noise, Sludge, 26 comments

“I think it’s fair to say that the planet we inhabit has seen better days. It’s hot and getting hotter. Not insignificant portions of it are actually on fire and other, still larger parts will soon be underwater. It is packed with rubbish that will outlast all of us, even as we expand exponentially to fill the ‘space’ left behind by all biodiversity we have, directly or indirectly, wiped out. And on its debut, Philadelphia quintet Quiet Man (formerly God Root) would like to draw your attention to this dire state of affairs. Their message? We’re all fucked. Their chosen medium? Psychedelic sludge, noise, and drone.” Loud quietus.

Old Spirit – Burning in Heaven Review

By Carcharodon on February 23, 2023 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 17 comments

“When I shared with the slack hacks gathered in the AMG Break Room, the offensively purple artwork for ,b>Old Spirit’s Burning in Heaven, the Boss Ape piped up, “That the guy from Vanishing Kids,?” I shrugged noncommittally. I didn’t know whether it was the guy from<,b>Vanishing Kids, had never heard of Vanishing Kids and was unsure whether expression on those leathery features was a smirk or just a sign the old fella had gas again. I just wanted to revel in a group at how awful the artwork was. Denied this opportunity, I trudged back to my cubicle and started working the foot pedal that powers up AMG-issue computers to do some research.” Old spirits and missing kids.

The Abbey – Word of Sin Review

By Maddog on February 20, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, 26 comments

“The Abbey of Thelema was a commune in Sicily run by Aleister Crowley. Home to the wild hedonism and magick of his cult, the Abbey met its unceremonious end in 1923, when Crowley’s shenanigans convinced Mussolini to boot him out of Italy. Finnish psychedelic doom outfit The Abbey aims to carry on the Abbey’s legacy. ,b>The Abbey’s debut Word of Sin draws inspiration from occult organizations and their mystical practices.” Nuns DO have fun.

Bosco Sacro – Gem Review

By Dear Hollow on February 15, 2023 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Doom Metal, Drone, 7 comments

“Bosco Sacro is an Italian quartet whose style is unclear, ranging from doom to trip-hop to psychedelic, with drone, post-rock, and of course, ambient tied in there. For their debut, expect lush atmosphere, dark distorted bass, and Giulia Parin Zecchin’s formidable vocal performance, ranging from post-punk slurs to soprano siren croons, recalling the duality of This Is Oblivion’s Lulu Black.” Sacro blue.

The Nest – Her True Nature [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

By Carcharodon on January 6, 2023 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, Ambient Metal, Black Metal, Drone, Experimental Metal, 18 comments

“First things first. When I say this is essentially Wolvennest and pals, I mean just that. It’s fundamentally Wolvennest with some guest vocalists, so, if psychedelic blackened ambient drone doom isn’t your thing, the door is just over there.” Wolves in The Nest room.

Psychonaut – Violate Consensus Reality [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

By Carcharodon on December 23, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, 24 comments

“Mixing slow-build dynamics, psychedelic excursions and cathartic crescendos with sudden explosions of fury, Psychonaut draws inspiration from the likes of The Ocean and Baroness (in that bygone era when Baroness wrote compelling music and didn’t crush their albums into unlistenable garbage at the production stage). Complex, sprawling, dense, and yet accessible, Violate Consensus Reality swirls around the listener.” Psychodrama.

Arkheth – Clarity Came with a Cool Summer’s Breeze Review

By Kenstrosity on September 29, 2022 in Reviews, Black Metal, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Symphonic Metal, 39 comments

“Even for I, Voidhanger, Clarity Came with a Cool Summer’s Breeze is a hallucinogenic odyssey of unreal proportions. In its wild ways of whimsy, I catch whiffs of everything ranging from Ved Buens Ende, Blut Aus Nord, Vulture Industries, and even The Beatles. With an expansive stylistic gamut to manage, it’s bewildering that Tyrone not only concocted a compelling compound with it, but also condensed it into a tight and twisted thirty-seven minutes.” Shrooms with a view.

Gone Cosmic – Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling Review

By Kenstrosity on September 2, 2022 in Reviews, Hard Rock, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, 20 comments

“One of the cruelest fates to befall any given record that comes across my desk at Angry Metal Guy Judgment Emporium is to be totally forgotten. It happens, more often than I’d like. Gone Cosmic’s last record, Sideways in Time, succumbed to such a fate. It was a good record, with tons of groove and fronted by a passionate, powerful vocalist. But it was only because I caught the Canadian quartet’s upcoming sophomore full-length, Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling, in the promo bin three years later that I remembered that Gone Cosmic existed.” Sleeping on the cosmos.