Sludge Metal

The Lion’s Daughter – Future Cult Review

The Lion’s Daughter – Future Cult Review

“When your parents said to follow your passion, I don’t think they meant for you to throw on a zip-up face mask, sling a taxidermy animal over your shoulder, and become a fucking weirdo. Yet that’s exactly what The Lion’s Daughter have done on third album Future Cult, and the result is sure to confound anyone familiar with the band previously.” Taxidermy is creepy.

Gaerea – Unsettling Whispers Review

Gaerea – Unsettling Whispers Review

“A black metal Transcending Obscurity release with monochrome artwork: who could have ever foreseen this one falling into my velvety grasp? Portugal’s Gaerea certainly put their Muppet-est foot forward when casting Unsettling Whispers into the Angry Metal Promo Sump, and yet I was wary. Black metal is the best metal, ov course, but it’s also everywhere and lately sounding too similar to itself. Sure, a few vague details got my attention, but I’m a poseur and all the Muppet love in the world can’t make an album innovative or objectively meritorious; did I perhaps build my hopes too high only to find yet another band trying to be either Ulcerate or Agalloch?” Black metal art.

Haunted – Dayburner Review

Haunted – Dayburner Review

“Pop quiz, motherfathers: What has the voice of an apathetic angel, Sabbathian wings o’ doom, and slowly circles the skies with Alunah in its claws and Italian fire in its heart? If you didn’t guess Haunted, either the review title got fucked up or you’re just one of the masses. Haunted aren’t exactly cavehold names in the doom community, but Dayburner sees the quintet looking to change that.” Doom in Venice.

Slaves BC – Lo, and I Am Burning Review

Slaves BC – Lo, and I Am Burning Review

“Remember Dodecahedron, oooh and how a certain timeless scribe-god lauded their last effort as being worthy of emulation? Yeah, I ‘member, and I also ‘member thinking the lad a tad light in the heart box when he confessed to its ability to bring him to actual physical discomfort. ‘That’s not a thing!’ says I, omitting a slanderous phrase or six from this recollection for the sake of the children. Dialing up the reverb and deliberately hitting ‘wrong’ notes can establish a malevolent aesthetic effectively enough, yet I have never encountered music genuinely able to instill honest-to-God fear in me through sound alone. Well, ‘had’ never.” Fear and the Muppet.

Black Royal – Lightbringer Review

Black Royal – Lightbringer Review

“When W.B Yeats claimed “there are no strangers here, only friends you haven’t yet met,” I’m almost certain he was talking about Finnish death metal. Whenever I’m in need of a riff more monstrous than Shelley and vocals to cripple the craw, I can always rely on those Nordic ne’er-do-wells to deliver the goods. One such band, Black Royal, have been toiling amidst a clutch of EPs, preparing to release their debut, Lightbringer, which comes to me via sheer chance and my own unassailable taste.” Royalty is rotting.

Among The Rocks And Roots – Raga Review

Among The Rocks And Roots – Raga Review

“Music as ‘just entertainment’ is a solipsistic and fairly recent notion. Throughout the history of humankind, various forms of music have instead been tightly woven into the communities that birthed them, shaping and steering social bonds. Even if this fact has been conveniently hidden in the deepest crevices of our collective memories, helped by capitalism’s commodification of art, music as a concept outside the ludic and academically autotelic still exists in the cultures of indigenous people like the Tuvans. Their shamans perform songs primarily to heal and such music becomes a bridge between the spiritual and the physical. Richmond duo Among The Rocks And Roots are one of those rare contemporary groups which successfully tap into that subliminal, metaphysical source and simultaneously reach somewhere beyond their own ids.” Id Rock.