“It must be tough carving out a lengthy career within the somewhat narrow and restrictive confines of the grindcore genre and remaining vital and relevant as fresh faced young upstarts storm the scene. This problem hasn’t seemed to halt Finnish stalwarts Rotten Sound, who started their career back in 1993, from delivering consistent, high quality output.” And yet somehow these guys keep it up!
“If you’ve been reading these here blog pages over the years you’ve learned that Steel Druhm loves his dirty 70s hippie rock. Spiritual Beggars is a super duper mega group composed of some of metal’s most respected folks and guess what? They play filthy hippie rock just the way it should be played (dirty?). Featuring former members of Carcass, Opeth, Mercyful Fate and Shining, you might not expect so much dirt-core, but man, these cats rock so hard, free and trve, they may accidentally bring back the Age of Aquarius (or Cthulhu, same difference).” Prepare to be grooved unto bliss.
“It’s bands like this that keep Pär Olafsson employed. While it appears that 2014’s lampooning of less-than ballsy artwork nearly shamed the sphere out of existence, bands are still very much in the market for both cities and the color purple, and nobody does them better. As you might expect, Atlantis Chronicles are a modern death metal band whose bio describes them as having “a strong ocean’s mysteries theme,” although the true mystery here is how that name wasn’t already taken by a series of young adult fantasy novels.” Yeah, well. That can’t be good.
“Sometimes the right setting is everything for a metal album. Fortunately for myself, through a pretty atypical series of life events I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy several records in environments that bring out their absolute best. I’ve listened to Ahab while snuggled below decks on a three-masted barque sailing in the North Atlantic, I’ve listened to Wolves in the Throne Room while hiking the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest, I’ve listened to Baroness while cruising through the humid towns of southeastern America, and I’ve listened to The Acacia Strain while cleaning my toilet. But Æ.Thy.Rift, the third album from Australian one-man black metal project Ill Omen, isn’t one of those albums that just benefits from a proper listening environment – it demands one.” So…give it up!
“How does one sit down and write a followup album when your discography includes not only Eater of Birds but Gin? The former regarded as “2007’s landmark album” and the latter acclaimed as “a pillar in American extreme metal.” Colorado’s Cobalt put themselves in that very position, and I suspect the process saw them battered and bruised in places they never thought possible.” It’s tough to be a trendsetter.
“To write about Gensho, the latest in a 15 years long series of collaborations between illustrious Japanese experimental metal, rock, and everything in-between trio Boris and legendary noise musician Merzbow (alias Masami Akita), is to write about three different records: a Boris shoegaze-cum-drone meditation, a Merzbow harsh noise attack, and a mammothian combination of the two.” What’s with guys who like drone and writing run on sentences, anyway?
“When “Spain” and “thrash” are mentioned in the same breath, I immediately think of Angelus Apatrida. While they kind of lost me with their newer stuff, their first two albums (especially sophomore release, Give ‘Em War) are essentials. The mold is a familiar one for fans of Testament, Death Angel, Exodus, and Megadeth, but those first two albums deliver. However, a couple weeks ago my definition of Spanish thrash metal changed forever when Crisix appeared in my inbox.” That sounds promising!
“Norway’s Vredehammer started off as a solo-project for mainman Per Valla in-between work with his other bands, Elite and Allfader, as a way to branch out of the traditional sound of his country’s musical export of choice. Until most recently, Valla was hired on as a live second guitarist for Abbath’s band, but quit to concentrate on completing Vredehammer’s second full-length, Violator. I bring this point up because Violator isn’t dissimilar in style and approach to the lovable crab-walking ex-mainman for Immortal.” We like crabs, and Abbath.
“I’ve always found the crude, no-fucks-given approach of Australian blackened death band Sadistik Exekution quite endearing. With their sloppy live performances, reports that their founding guitarist lived in a Sydney dungeon, and insistence on spelling ‘fuck’ with two ‘k’s (a tendency I’ve often found myself adopting in drunken text messages), everything about the band is appealing in the same way as a B-grade 80s horror movie: extremity for the sake of extremity, with an underlying camp nurtured by splatter-happy nastiness and an utter lack of technical aptitude. It was in search of other groups with this aesthetic that I decided to check out Aussie duo Decrepit Soul’s sophomore LP The Coming of War!!” Fuckks were given about this here review.
“My introduction proper to Anvil came at the pubescent age of 14 when I chose Pound for Pound as one of my 12 introductory cassettes from the Columbia House Record Club. I’d heard a song here, a song there, but Pound for Pound was the first platter I heard from nuts to noggin. My initial feeling? Underwhelmed.” Will the new platter whelm Mr. Kikuras?
