Many EPs were missed in the mad rush of 2022. This is the course correction you need Pt. II.
Xenobiotic
Lorna Shore – Pain Remains Review
What a rollercoaster the last few years have been for Lorna Shore. Shortly after completing its big label debut Immortal, before the tour even started, vocalist CJ McReery was kicked to the curb for allegedly vile and reprehensible behavior. Considering extra-extreme vocals were one of the band’s pillars, they needed to find a unicorn on short notice. Enter Will Ramos stage left, originally recruited as a stand-in, who proceeded to casually go viral over the course of the pandemic.” The pain of change.
Cognitive – Malevolent Thoughts of a Hastened Extinction Review
“People around here know me as not being too into the more extreme quarters of the metal gallery. Hell, when I started writing, I’d barely prodded beyond the confines of Swedish death metal like Bloodbath and Vicious Art. Anaal Nathrakh was the exception to the rule, but even there I was more drawn to the melodic elements of their work, such as those showcased on Hell Is Empty… and deathcore never even appeared on my radar until I was trampled by Xenobiotic. Since crawling into an empty cubicle at AMG offices (while ignoring all the blood) some of the more unseemly viscera have begun to seep into the hollows of my skull. It’s a slow and sporadic process, and though my experience with tech death and deathcore remains scant, it’s enough to lash together a somewhat cohesive frame against which to place techdeathcore ensemble Cognitive.” Evil thoughts, fair reviews.
Inhuman Architects – Paradoxus Review
“You know when you’re struggling to write a meaningful introduction? When you can’t generate anything amusing out of a band’s name (Inhuman Architects) or anything insightful from their album title (Paradoxus), or anything significant from their home country which features a few bands of note but isn’t noted for its metal pedigree (Portugal)? When the artwork is the generic pink/purple/blue collage of death metal’s derivative genres? Or even comment on the fact that such album is their debut release, save for a solitary single? And you don’t even feel excited enough to tease (whether misleadingly or… leadingly?) that there’s something unique or exciting to describe? Yeah. I hate when that happens.” Brutalists.
Huck N’ Roll’s and Eldritch Elitist’s Top Ten(ish) of 2020
Huck N’ Roll and Eldritch Elitist will now hold court with their well-thought-out Top Ten(ish) lists. Appear or be held in eternal contempt.
El Cuervo’s and Diabolus in Muzaka’s Top Ten(ish) of 2020
El Cuervo and Diabolus in Muzaka want in on this whole Top Ten(ish) thing that’s going around. Let them have a turn.
GardensTale’s and Ferrous Beuller’s Top Ten(ish) of 2020
GardensTale and Ferrous Beuller uncork their best spirits of 2020 and share iron libations with everyone. Cheers!
GardensTale’s Top Ten(ish) Album Art of 2020
“We spend every single day of the year on this blog talking about music. The highs, the lows, the marshes of the meh. Occasionally, we give a nod to an especially beautiful cover (or an especially heinous one) to buff our word count for the article, but it’s barely a condiment on the edge of the buffet plate, stacked with pretentious slop, that we throw casually in front of the voracious readership. But this one time a year, I don’t have to talk about the music at all.” Gardens variety galleries.
Cult of Lilith – Mara
“Cult of Lilith is one of those bands that are in the middle of what journalists and label blurb writers might call a ‘meteoric rise.’ Hailing from Iceland, the quintet has only one EP and no demos to their name since their inception in 2015. Yet Mara, their debut full-length, is already coming out through Metal Blade, one of the biggest labels in the business. On top of that, none other than semi-classical master painter and annual album art top 10 contestant Eliran Kantor delivered the ever excellent cover, and producer Dave Otero has such names as Cattle Decapitation, Archspire and Cephalic Carnage on his resume.” Big buzz, big expectations.
Record(s) o’ the Month – February 2020
The Record(s) o’ the Month for February are here, just in time for the apocalypse, and maybe even a bit late.