It IS a different project, and the more triumphant, proud-to-be-evil, almost playful vibe Sean Peck lends the material nails that point home. It's a highbrow occult metal offering, no doubt. However (due to another certain fanboy-ism), as good as it is, I'm left wishing Snowy was singing and Sean knew how to play drums...
DENNER/SHERMANN - MASTERS OF EVIL
Basically another form of Mercyful Fate, just King-less. And, as much of a devout Diamond-Banger as I am, you'd think I would boycott this. But, no way.
Basically another form of Mercyful Fate, just King-less. And, as much of a devout Diamond-Banger as I am, you'd think I would boycott this. But, no way.
Trem-picked, cleanly-blasted, tastefully-crafted black metal that's both melodic and ripping, with a bizarre sense of triumph beneath the sinister conventions.
Dodheimsgard - A Umbra Omega
Coming back once again from a roller-coastery history of un-convention, Dodheimsgard show us all that they were (and are) innovators of taking black metal - and metal in general - to new heights of cerebral mania. An aggressively narrated lead vocal ushers in the sometimes surprisingly lax avant-garde (as bands like Mamaleek have been doing these days) musical basis, only to turn corners at 90mph into another mindfuck altogether. With the demonic brutality of integral black metal in tact for an apt percentage of the album, this record will show you how to think like a madman...as if any of us need help in that area. Therefore, be thankful we have a soundtrack.
Coming back once again from a roller-coastery history of un-convention, Dodheimsgard show us all that they were (and are) innovators of taking black metal - and metal in general - to new heights of cerebral mania. An aggressively narrated lead vocal ushers in the sometimes surprisingly lax avant-garde (as bands like Mamaleek have been doing these days) musical basis, only to turn corners at 90mph into another mindfuck altogether. With the demonic brutality of integral black metal in tact for an apt percentage of the album, this record will show you how to think like a madman...as if any of us need help in that area. Therefore, be thankful we have a soundtrack.
It's been a good while since I've been actually excited as hell for a new Cradle album, but lo and behold (and I've heard 2 tracks) - I AM!!! Don't be trendy. Hating them has become just that. Get excited, too.
Album Highlight:
Helstar - This Wicked Nest
Put it this way - This is the album I was HOPING for from Sanctuary. But this...well...it's a goddamn masterpiece of it's own. It's got the incredible voice of James Rivera (who still shrieks like there's no tomorrow), the energy of a thrash band, and the songwriting that's up there with the more-known greats. Metalhead? GET THIS ALBUM.
Helstar - This Wicked Nest
Put it this way - This is the album I was HOPING for from Sanctuary. But this...well...it's a goddamn masterpiece of it's own. It's got the incredible voice of James Rivera (who still shrieks like there's no tomorrow), the energy of a thrash band, and the songwriting that's up there with the more-known greats. Metalhead? GET THIS ALBUM.
Suffering Hour - Forseeing Exemptions To A Dismal Beyond
Suffering Hour bring the black./death/thrash with insane conviction! You wanna punch the wall and scream/growl into the night sky like an animal? Well, here's your soundtrack!
Vattnet Viskar - Sky Swallower
This one turned out to be a very pleasant surprise, as it was an "on-a-whim" purchase. From what I had read about it, I expected something a bit more...trendy. While it is "artsy" as can be, the black metal is very well in-tact. At times it reminds me of a more aggressive Agalloch. But don't base your opinion on what I say - just go check it out!
See that cover? Pay attention to it's aesthetic details...now imagine being buried alive after those very...things...were the last thing you saw before the suffocating, earthy darkness envelops you. That's the gorgeous punishment that is this thick and cavernous record. To check it out would be productive for the metal fan, yet dangerous still...
Hell - Curse And Chapter
Nearly as darkly evocative as creep-masters, Mercyful Fate - Hell hits the metal scene with this collection of ingeniously eccentric NWOBHM hymns of the damned. This is classic metal as intense as any extreme metal record. Revolutionary as it gets. Hail HELL!!!
Nearly as darkly evocative as creep-masters, Mercyful Fate - Hell hits the metal scene with this collection of ingeniously eccentric NWOBHM hymns of the damned. This is classic metal as intense as any extreme metal record. Revolutionary as it gets. Hail HELL!!!
Alma - Unfold
I've not heard the following from anyone else; but I feel obligated to say this - This album is brilliant and positively uplifting. It maintains a darkness, but keeps the listener feeling strong and triumphant. 90s-lovers will be glad to know that it isn't just 80s-on-steroids material (like a lot of "power metal"). It is technically power metal, but with a great alt/groove-thrash element of muscle and spunk. Not overly showy in their obvious progressive metal side, not too obsessed with being different from others of their kind. This is just the right blend of metal and alternative, for fans of everything from Saigon Kick to Vanden Plas, from 90s Pantera to Alice In Chains with a hint of metal-lord Bruce Dickinson's solo material. What are you waiting for? Get it!
I've not heard the following from anyone else; but I feel obligated to say this - This album is brilliant and positively uplifting. It maintains a darkness, but keeps the listener feeling strong and triumphant. 90s-lovers will be glad to know that it isn't just 80s-on-steroids material (like a lot of "power metal"). It is technically power metal, but with a great alt/groove-thrash element of muscle and spunk. Not overly showy in their obvious progressive metal side, not too obsessed with being different from others of their kind. This is just the right blend of metal and alternative, for fans of everything from Saigon Kick to Vanden Plas, from 90s Pantera to Alice In Chains with a hint of metal-lord Bruce Dickinson's solo material. What are you waiting for? Get it!
Terra Tenebrosa - The Purging
As "IDGAF" as any suicidal robber, yet as obsessive as an occult-based murderer - Terra Tenebrosa embody mental illness with tonal complexity, redundant minimalism, and cinematic fuzz - unleashing a hypnotic molestation of our pleasure centers/survival instincts to leave us blank and drooling. There's nights I find myself hopping around from album to album. To cure that lately...my tortured hand reaches for this.
As "IDGAF" as any suicidal robber, yet as obsessive as an occult-based murderer - Terra Tenebrosa embody mental illness with tonal complexity, redundant minimalism, and cinematic fuzz - unleashing a hypnotic molestation of our pleasure centers/survival instincts to leave us blank and drooling. There's nights I find myself hopping around from album to album. To cure that lately...my tortured hand reaches for this.
Bell Witch - Demo EP
While this sullen duo's (one bassist/vocalist, one drummer/vocalist) recent full-length of crawling, bottom-heavy excursions has been getting positive and widespread coverage; it's this body of work that hooked yours truly. From the Vincent Price samples that fittingly narrate the opening track, to the virtuosic and atmospheric sonic output as a whole - I seem to reach for this more than most other doom-rooted releases in my collection.
While this sullen duo's (one bassist/vocalist, one drummer/vocalist) recent full-length of crawling, bottom-heavy excursions has been getting positive and widespread coverage; it's this body of work that hooked yours truly. From the Vincent Price samples that fittingly narrate the opening track, to the virtuosic and atmospheric sonic output as a whole - I seem to reach for this more than most other doom-rooted releases in my collection.
Album Spotlight:
Flourishing - The Sum Of All Fossils
Recently, I've been getting lost in this beautifully melded Gorguts-meets-Neurosis-meets-Deathspell Omega-after-jammin'-some-post rock-at-the Grand Canyon- and-having-an-epiphany-about-life sound (that I still fail to fully convey through that description) and LOVING IT.
Flourishing - The Sum Of All Fossils
Recently, I've been getting lost in this beautifully melded Gorguts-meets-Neurosis-meets-Deathspell Omega-after-jammin'-some-post rock-at-the Grand Canyon- and-having-an-epiphany-about-life sound (that I still fail to fully convey through that description) and LOVING IT.