Our resident death metal bear happened to pick up a scent of some obscure dm, leading him to the depths of the Hungarian forest. Before the rest of the staff knew it, he was gone… for a while. But now he’s back, frolicking around, radiating gloom and despair — with a satisfied smirk on his face?
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Cradle of Filth – The Screaming of the Valkyries Review
The Screaming of the Valkyries is a well-executed blast of catchy, escapist bombast that stands up to multiple listens. In particular, Anti-Peat can’t help but think how after many reviews complaining about overambitious writing and poor structure, Cradle of Filth’s songwriting drags his attention back time after time. The thing is while he’s a sucker for catchy, escapist bombast. Have you figured out what escapist bombast means to you yet, dear reader? You might just need to to get down with the CoF.
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Heathen Heretic – Whispers From The Abyss Review
Subconsciously, I wanted to see whether this was a band that shoved together elements that sounded cool without thought, or whether there was a more deliberate philosophy at work. The other part of hitting play on Whispers from the Abyss is that Heathen Heretic are touted as playing blackened melodic death metal, and as the resident melodeath hating melodeath lover, I can’t help myself from searching for a whisper of something good in that abyss.
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Tower – Let There Be Dark Review
Facing his computer clad in a sexy troubadour cosplay, Goat can no longer deny who he is — he loves female fronted trad metal. The only thing that can tear his eyes away from Stacey Savage is another female fronted band. Sarabeth Linden from Tower steals the stage, let there be female fronted trad metal!
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Savage Master – Dark and Dangerous Review
Savage Master has a female vocalist, Stacey Savage. Stacey Savage sits front and center more and more with every album that they release. Stacey Savage wears a snow white cosplay on the cover. The Goat is not sure that Stacey Savage has quite earned all this attention, though.
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Délirant – Thoughteater Review
Enigmatic black metal entity D.B (Negativa, Hässlig) has returned with Thoughteater, his second album under the Délirant moniker. Mixing nightmare atmosphere with blackened dissonance, Délirant sounds like a fever-dream combination of Andavald and Deathspell Omega with a few dashes of unsettling ambience. Has Cosmo found yet another reason to sleep with his lights on?
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Imperial Triumphant – Goldstar Review
EXTRA! EXTRA! Hot off the presses, New York Avant Legends Imperial Triumphant seen catering to the masses. Shorter songs. Shorter album. Numerous guest features. Gator gives it a gold star. Wait, what??
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Dissocia – To Lift the Veil Review
How a genre that is built on experimentation and outside the box songwriting ends up sounding all the same and using the same tricks just baffles me. But once in a while, an act shows up and makes me pay attention because of their knack for individual expression. Did Dissocia just look at the handbook and throw it out the window?
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Kazea – I, Ancestral Review
Our resident Post-Queen, Inksterium, may not realize always that post-genres call for her. However, Kazea, a Gothenburg-based trio formed by ex-members of Orochen and Hellsongs, provide a lived-in force to their debut experience I, Ancestral. But all post and no play can still made the Queen a dull monarch. Can Kazea possibly please the Crown?
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Crypts of the Unknown: Animosity – Animal
