Reviews

Heaven in Her Arms – White Halo Review

Heaven in Her Arms – White Halo Review

By Huck N Roll on July 11, 2017 in 2017, Hardcore, Japanese Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Translation Loss, Hardcore, Progressive Metal, 69 comments

“The AMG Overlords are vengeful overlords. One wrong step, one missed tithe, and an underling can find oneself working in the boiler room again. Or worse yet, getting duped into a review of something unexpected. Case in point, someone we all know and love was late with a review and thus, scrambling to get back in Madam and Steel’s good graces, frantically grabbed a promo described by the Overlords as “post-something.” I’ve been had. Heaven in Her Arms are a Japanese hardcore act who incorporate some progressive elements, some death elements, and some screamo, but not really any post-something.” Post-punishment.

Seer – Vol. III & IV: Cult of the Void Review

Seer – Vol. III & IV: Cult of the Void Review

By El Cuervo on July 11, 2017 in 2017, Art of Propaganda, Canadian Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Stoner Metal, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal, 21 comments

“Vancouver’s Seer entered my life at the start of 2016 with their consolidated release of 2 EPs: Vol. 1 & 2. It was a charming, if heavily flawed, release which showed glimmers of talent. Vol. III & IV: Cult of the Void represents the speedily recorded and released sequel, still dominated by stoner riffs and heavy atmosphere. I made some substantial criticisms of the former and as such began my time with the latter intrigued to hear if these had been addressed; I must confess that my expectations weren’t set too high.” Cult bait or cut bait?

Nicumo – Storms Arise Review

Nicumo – Storms Arise Review

By Akerblogger on July 11, 2017 in 2017, Finnish Metal, Gothic Metal, Inverse Records, Reviews, 23 comments

“Melancholy: a feeling of pensive sadness. Synonyms: desolation, woe, sorrow. The word, from its Latin and Greek origins, translates to black bile: too much of which in a person could cause depression. It’s a loaded word, that’s for certain, and it gets thrown around and attached to music cheaply and without much care. Too many words of melancholy’s ilk are over-used; too much hyperbole, drama and imaginative nonsense is bestowed upon average and uninspiring music (I’m also responsible for this sort of thing) and thus certain words, phrases, and images have lost their power completely.” Sad boys be sad.

Contaminated – Final Man Review

Contaminated – Final Man Review

By Saunders on July 10, 2017 in 2017, Australian Metal, Blood Harvest Records, Death Metal, Reviews, Death Metal, 35 comments

“Glance at the cover art for this grotesque slab of stripped-back brutality and immediately you get an insight into the album’s grimy and barbaric death metal aesthetic, unleashed in all its fury in what is likely to be one of the most gruesome releases of 2017. Crafted by the hands of Aussie underground scene veterans, Contaminated live up to their chosen moniker with uncomfortable ease and while the album has some issues and certainly isn’t for the faint-hearted, it’s a hell of a punishing ride.” Clean the Toilet ov Death.

Beyond Grace – Seekers Review

Beyond Grace – Seekers Review

By Ferrous Beuller on July 10, 2017 in 2017, Death Metal, English Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Death, Reviews, Self-released, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 81 comments

“If perhaps, you have had the misfortune of laboring through any of my previous reviews, you may have picked up on my shameless love of death metal. You may have also noticed I’m a little picky when it comes to that genre’s melodic side. There’s nothing insightful in my complaint – I just find a lot of it to be somewhat toothless, and death by gums is no way to go. Beyond Grace, know these tenets well, and if debut album Seekers is anything to go by, won’t be happy until we’ve all been consumed by an omnidirectional wave of death metal to bleed the brain and skin the soul.” Melodeath, camels and conquest.

Stallion – From the Dead Review

Stallion – From the Dead Review

By Huck N Roll on July 10, 2017 in 2017, German Metal, Heavy Metal, High Roller Records, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal, 19 comments

“This is a late review, but that’s what happens when you live in Canada and get eight days of summer per year: you spend all your time frolicking amongst the dandelions instead of in a darkened room blaring metal. Anyhow, this new release from Stallion grabbed my attention for only one reason: in 2013 they had a song called “Canadian Steele.”” Of Northern pride and metallurgy.

Heresiarch – Death Ordinance Review

Heresiarch – Death Ordinance Review

By Mark Z. on July 9, 2017 in 2017, Black Metal, Dark Descent Records, Death Metal, New Zealand Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 51 comments

“While I love the scorched-earth pummeling of bands like Revenge and Bestial Warlust, I’ll be the first to admit the genre isn’t exactly known for its variety and memorability. To me the style needs some musicality to balance out the brutality, otherwise, I’d just be blasting Tetragrammacide all day and sending my entire paycheck to Hells Headbangers. Fortunately, this was something New Zealand quartet Heresiarch understood pretty well.” Tuneful war.

Stahlmann – Bastard Review

Stahlmann – Bastard Review

By El Cuervo on July 9, 2017 in 2017, AFM Records, Electronica Metal, German Metal, Groove Metal, Industrial Metal, Reviews, Electronic, Industrial Metal, 31 comments

“Stahlmann are the new decade’s flag-bearers for Neu Deutsche Härte (NDH); a genre hailing from Germany in the 90s, featuring groove, industrial, and electronic influences, and popularized by the likes of Rammstein and Oomph!. While they’re both still active, Stahlmann deemed these big names needed support and so their first record was released in 2010. Bastard is now their fourth and I’m forced to consider its title. Is it a puerile scream against a shitty world or the unwanted child which they’ll ditch upon its release?” Illegitimate.

Mutation – Mutation III: Dark Black Review

Mutation – Mutation III: Dark Black Review

By El Cuervo on July 8, 2017 in 2017, English Metal, Grind, Noise, Punk, Reviews, Undergroove Records, Noise Metal, Punk, 20 comments

“Ginger Wildheart has had an interesting career. Achieving mild commercial success with the pop/rock band The Wildhearts, he’s expanded his repertoire to include “power pop” (Hey! Hello!), folk music (,b>Ghost in the Tanglewood) and latterly a noise rock and metal project (Mutation).” Jack of all trades, Wildheart of some.