Tool

Final Coil – The World We Left Behind for Others Review

By Steel Druhm on April 10, 2019 in 2019, Alt-Metal, British Metal, Post-Rock, Reviews, WormHoleDeath Records, Alt-Metal, 59 comments

“I’ve never been much of a post and/or alt-rock guy, but the expertly crafted promo blurb for unsung U.K. act Final Coil captured my interest enough to review their 2017 debut, Persistence of Memory. It was an engaging little album too, mixing post-rock, restrained prog and grunge for a fairly unique sound. The album had its flaws, but I sensed a band that could go on to bigger things. Now a mere year and a half later, their sophomore effort The World We Left Behind for Others arrives with little fanfare, but that same sense of potential and promise.” What we leave and what we keep.

Tel – Lowlife Review

By Cherd on April 5, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Aural Music, Doom Metal, Progressive Rock, Reviews, Sludge, Doom Metal, Progressive Metal, Sludge, 64 comments

“I’ll be the first to admit that I know precious little about the technical process of recording an album. The musician side of things is easy enough to grasp, but the technicians who collect, mix, and master the sounds thrown out into the ether may as well be a sect of wizards engaged in super secret wiz biz. Although I don’t understand how they do their jobs—I imagine it involves summoning Akathla, demon of the Low End—I do know that the decisions they make are ultimately aesthetic ones. This means when it comes to production, it’s not so much about if it’s good or bad, but whether or not it works with the music to create an aesthetic you enjoy.” Noise to the grindstone.

Source – Totality Review

By Huck N Roll on March 4, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Pavement Entertainment, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Progressive Metal, 90 comments

“Not everyone was on board with their wanton and blatant Tool-meets-Opeth template, but you can count me amongst their followers. After all, it was their first album, and the trio from Boulder, Colorado had to mimic someone. Over the past couple of years, the Madam and I have often posed the questions, ‘How’s it going with Source? And is their sound going to evolve into their own, or are we gonna get another Tool-ish record?’ ‘It’s going well” and ‘Sort of’ would be the correct answers, via their sophomore effort, Totality.” Return to the Source.

Soen – Lotus Review

By Huck N Roll on January 31, 2019 in 2019, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Silver Lining Music, Swedish Metal, Progressive Metal, 160 comments

“Note: AMG Himself previewed and reviewed Lotus back in November, from the comfort/imprisonment of the band’s recording studio. Refer back to that review for his almost fanboyish (although mostly reasonable) gushing. I am here to shine the glare of realism on this album, after having had it in my playlist for the past six weeks.” Point, counterpoint.

Nailed to Obscurity – Black Frost Review

By Steel Druhm on January 8, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, German Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Nuclear Blast, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Metal, 99 comments

“One of the happy surprises from out of left field during 2017 was a little album called King Delusion by then unsung German act Nailed to Obscurity. It took the base elements of Opeth, Katatonia and Ghost Brigade and skillfully forged them into a humdinger of a prog-death platter brimming with heaviness and dark atmospheres. It garnered a place in my Top Ten for that year and I still play it quite regularly. 2019 sees the band return to greatly elevated expectations with their third album, Black Frost, and I was particularly eager to get my paws on this one.” Tales of frost and fire.

Kosm – Cosmonaut Review

By Eldritch Elitist on December 7, 2018 in 2018, Canadian Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Progressive Metal, Sludge Metal, 73 comments

“Kosm market themselves as a sort of cross between Mastodon and Tool, and between the burly power chord progressions and dark undercurrents of hammer-on riffs, this seems like a wholly appropriate comparison. Perhaps the band isn’t proggy enough to be dubbed henceforth as “Mathstadon,” but an over-reliance on rhythmic acrobatics may have very well ruined Kosm’s weighty, catchy grooves.” Dogs in space.

The Lion’s Daughter – Future Cult Review

By Mark Z. on July 25, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Black Metal, Electronica Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Sludge Metal, Black Metal, Electronica Metal, Sludge Metal, 78 comments

“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.

Axegrinder – Satori Review

By GardensTale on July 18, 2018 in 2018, British Metal, Crust Punk, Reviews, Rise Above Records, Thrash Metal, Crust Punk, 71 comments

“We’ve seen this scenario before. Bands split up, go on indefinite hiatus or just drop off the face of the Earth, only to re-emerge years and years later with new material and a fresh load of crow’s feet. Axegrinder manage to take this to the next level, however. Their first album, The Rise of the Serpent Men, dropped in 1989, the year the Berlin Wall came down. Satori, released in the summer of the Year of Our Jørn 2018, is the follow-up, if you can still call it that. Twenty-nine years between releases makes the next Tool album feel rushed and might inspire G.R.R. Martin to take it a little easier on releasing the next A Song of Ice and Fire novel.” New olde beginnings.

Black Book Lodge – Steeple and Spire Review

By GardensTale on May 24, 2018 in 2018, Danish Metal, Mighty Music, Post-metal, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, Reviews, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, 98 comments

“Swansong albums are a difficult subject. Most artists don’t know they are recording their final piece when they’re in the studio, dissolving between albums because of creative differences or members quitting or passing away. But occasionally, a band will decide before release that the next album will be their last. Such seems to be the case for Danish progressive outfit Black Book Lodge.” Dying swans, tragic losses.

The Ever Living – Herephemine Review

By Mark Z. on May 14, 2018 in 2018, Ambient Metal, British Metal, Chromism Records, Post-metal, Reviews, Ambient Metal, Post-Metal, 40 comments

“I’m always on the lookout for something new, and in that regard, The Ever Living seemed pretty promising. Formed in 2016, this British quintet label themselves with the unusual tag of ‘cinematic metal,’ and their vocalist claims they aren’t even really a metal band at all. Nonetheless, the group’s self-titled EP earned positive acclaim from some major heavy music publications back in 2016, and two years later these not-ThunderCat-villains have returned with debut full-length Herephemine. Having no idea what ‘herephemine’ means and no prior experience with Living, is ‘cinematic metal’ worth the trip to the theater or are you better off waiting till this comes out on Netflix?” The Ever Living and chill?