RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS
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MONOLORD – No Comfort
Monolord are now in their 6th year of existence, their weighty take on stoner metal progressing over 3 full-length albums and an EP. Their original sound was a lot rawer and riff-focused, something that certainly works for the genre, but it was fairly generic and they’ve never really clicked with me. 2019 sees the release…
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SHOCK NARCOTIC – I Have Seen The Future And It Doesn’t Work
If you’re an avid fan of Napalm Death’s first two albums then the Michigander grindcorers Shock Narcotic may be your new musical haven, as they perfect the art of expressing as much as possible in the shortest possible time for one of the most unremarkable albums this year, making its title quite ironic. I must…
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BAD COMPANY – The Swan Song Years 1974 – 1982
The renowned Bad Company surely needs no introduction as many of you are already familiar with their string of classic rock staples and hits that were and still are heard on the radio and TV quite often. In short, they are one of the best and most important British hard rock giants to have ever walked…
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FATEFUL FINALITY – Executor
“Executor” by the German thrash metal maniacs collectively known as Fateful Finality is a lethal cocktail filled with explosive ingredients. In terms of concept and lyrics, this record revolves around the seven deadly sins, and musically as well as stylistically speaking, these skilled dudes sound as if they are hugely influenced by thrash metal stalwarts…
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ISOLE – Dystopia
With their 7th album the Swedish epic doom/death ensemble return for some of the best Peaceville-oriented material with hints of Swallow The Sun, classic melodic and old school death metal, with one of the best albums in their history. Born Forlorn in 1991 and persisting under this moniker until 2004, the group changed their name…
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WARDRESS – Dress for War
Following a rather ridiculous spoken-word introduction that sounded like a parody of sorts, the German outfit Wardress launches into their brand of old-school (and very traditional) heavy metal that leans toward such giants as Judas Priest, DIO, Iron Maiden (the Di’Anno era), Saxon, and Manowar. Thanks to a real solid production, their song material lacks…
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COFFINS – Beyond The Circular Demise
Coffins have somehow flown under my radar over the years (they’ve been around since 1996!), even with my interest in the death/doom genre and general love of Japanese metal in general. Whilst this is not uncommon in that even the most ardent music archaeologist cannot uncover every note ever recorded, I cannot believe that I’ve…
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ETERNAL STORM – Come the Tide
On their debut album the Spanish progressive melodic death metallers set a new standard for the genre, comparative to Insomnium, Opeth, Be’lakor, Omnium Gatherum or In Mourning yet built from elements of various genres, with perfect songwriting and perfect execution, for a masterpiece of epic proportions. Let us begin by trying to describe the feelings…
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ZZ Top – Goin ’50
The legendary blues rock pioneers ZZ Top hardly need any introduction at all as most of you out there know exactly what they look like and, more importantly, what they sound like. Their immortal tunes have appeared on the radio and in movies and whatnot countless times, and who can forget their awesome cameo appearance…
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DISPYT – Den Ständigt Närvarande Ångesten
The foul collective of Finnish dirtbags known as Dispyt offers an interesting take on black metal and crust punk, or rather a mixture of the two genres. The song structures and arrangements are rather simple and that goes for the riffs as well – everything is designed to melt your brain and tear you a…
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ABYSMALIST – Reflections Of Horror
The death metal duo of two San Francisco Bay Area (Sacramento) punk, metal, and hardcore veterans, Jeremy Meier (drums, vocals) and Federico Avila (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, production, mastering), just released their first demo, "Reflections Of Horror", lyrically soaked in Clive Barker, Patrick Süskind, and "romantic" horror/fabulism, musically, very strongly Obituary-ian with hints of death…
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DREW FORTUNE – No Encore!: Musicians Reveal Their Weirdest, Wildest, Most Embarrassing Gigs
“No Encore!” by author Drew Fortune is essentially a collection of anecdotes and stories written by some very cool (and in some cases god-like) musicians ala Alice Cooper, Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), Sammy Hagar (Van Halen) and loads of other skilled and renowned musicians who are familiar names…
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NEPTRECUS – Ars Gallica
The 3rd full length from the French atmospheric black metallers is a powerful and skillful, fairly original testament of their might and creativity somewhere between Dimmu Borgir, Dissection, Dark Tranquillity, Opeth, old Katatonia and early Deceased, but they are remarkably inconsistent, with songs ranging from good to great. Neptrecus, currently featuring Svarga (vocals, guitars), Kryos…
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MAVORIM – Aasfresser
Another one of the ever popular one man ambient black metal bands, Mavorim is a project of a multinistrumentalist/vocalist only known as P., who resurrects Eis (formerly known as Geist) and early Dimmu Borgir, with good to occasionally very good results. Mavorim was created in 2014 but the first demo, "Heimkehr", did not see the…
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MGŁA – Age of Excuse
Whenever a new Mgła release comes around, we simply want it to sound like Mgła. Personally considering Exercises in Futility and With Hearts Toward None as two of my favourite black metal albums of the 2010s, the surprising release of Age of Excuse on September 2nd was one that excited me a great deal, and…
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UNBURNT – Arcane Evolution
Musically, not much can be written about this, the Canadian black/death metaller’s independently released EP. The songwriting is good to sometimes great oscilating between melodic late 90s/early 2000s Dimmu Borgir and late 90s Cradle Of Filth, with some Lamb Of God-ly riffing and vocals. The band was created in 2016 in Montreal by Eric Burnet…
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THE PRICE – A Second Chance To Rise
The Italian producer, musician and songwriter for numerous Italian projects, Marco Barusso, sums up his overall experience in a pop/rock/hard rock solo project involving numerous session musicians, with influences ranging from Pink Floyd to Nevermore, with good if inconsistent, but mostly formulaic, songwriting. Marco Barusso is known from his tenure with bands such as Heavy…
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OXX – The Skeleton Is Just A Coat Hanger
The Danish cluster grindcorers wear their influences, Napalm Death, Converge and ancient Mastodon, fairly firmly on their sleeves even on their 4th full length, overwhelming with brutal, jazzy noise, brilliant for some, while others will ask for their money back somewhere after the 3rd track. The "we play whatever we feel like playing and if…
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YES – Yes 50 Live
As its title so neatly suggests, this magnificent double live album by the legendary Yes marks and celebrates the renowned outfit’s 50th anniversary, and man, do these insanely skilled musicians and visionaries pull it off in style! For one thing, the sound across these two discs is to die for and is unarguably one of…
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DARKEND – Spiritual Resonance
This is my first encounter with the Italian masters of ritualistic and symphonic extreme metal that are Darkend and right off the bat, I might as well tell you that I am utterly impressed with this haunting six-track affair of theirs. "Spiritual Resonance" is primarily rooted in black metal and yet it moves beyond the…
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BLOOD RED THRONE – Fit to Kill
On their 9th album the death metal juggernaut surprises with the most varied and balanced material, as classic influences such as Death or Deicide meet Nile and Hypocrisy with Testament, for a bone and marrow old school death with a tasty progressive flair and hands down the finest album of their career. Although not part…
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MARTIN POPOFF – Where Eagles Dare: Iron Maiden in the ’80s
Noted author Martin Popoff surely needs no introduction to those of you out there who regularly devour books on various heavy metal and hard rock bands as he has penned nearly a hundred ones so far, some of the most impressive ones being on Thin Lizzy, UFO, Black Sabbath, and Whitesnake. His latest piece of…
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ERIDU – Lugalbanda
The German ensemble named Eridu is quite something and has an interesting approach to blackened death metal in the sense that they incorporate oriental melodies, ritualistic chants, and ambient elements into their aggressive and fierce musical universe. Drawing heavily on Mesopotamian mythology, “Lugalbanda” revolves around ancient stories and fables related to the aforementioned mythology, which…
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GURTHANG – Ascension
The blackened doom metal horde using the Tolkien-derived moniker Gurthang, which hails from Poland, has been quite productive ever since the band’s inception back in 2010 as “Ascension” is the sixth full-length vortex so far. I used the phrase blackened doom metal just before, but perhaps it would be more fair to say that it…
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UNMENSCH – Scorn
Unmensch is essentially a one-man black metal outfit hailing from Belgium and as far as my coffee-soaked brain can make out, this is the very first release ever by the band in the sense that I am not aware of any demos or rehearsals or anything like that floating around out there on the web.…
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Christopher McKittrick – Can’t Give It Away on Seventh Avenue: The Rolling Stones and New York City
I absolutely love literature which explores and focuses on one specific thing in relation to music and culture, which is exactly what Christopher McKittrick’s compelling account of how the strong bond between the two majestic entities that are the Rolling Stones and the vibrant New York City came into existence and evolved over time does.…
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ZEROZONIC – God Damn, Better, Best (Daniel Olaisen series)
On their sophomore album after the promising debut, the Norwegian thrash/groove metal troupe improves the songwriting while experimenting within and outside the genre, still mostly emulating Pantera and Lamb Of God, but now also downright lampooning nu metal for a very weird record. In this episode of the Daniel Olaisen series we return to his…
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CEREBRAL ROT – Odious Descent Into Decay
Quick, bring the patient on the table! Name? Cerebral Rot. Celebral Rod? No, Cerebral Rot. R-O-T. Ok. Injection ready? Yes. What is it? Ancient Paradise Lost with Carcass 1 and 2 and some Immolated Obituarians for good measure. Is it solid, will it keep the patient alive? Barely, I’m afraid. Then we should operate immediately.…
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BLACK STAR RIDERS – Another State of Grace
The fabulous Black Star Riders are back and this brand new offering of theirs oozes class and atmosphere all the way through. Many critics and fans and whatnot still either view or refer to this skilled ensemble as a Thin Lizzy offshoot of sorts, but the fact is that BSR is a tremendously strong and…
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SYN – Rehearsal Demo
Yours truly was lucky enough to get his filthy paws on the highly limited tape edition of this excellent rehearsal demo by the US black metal entity known as SYN. The band is entirely new and these guys have only been jamming together and churning out wicked and well-written tunes for a few months now,…