Caustic Wound faced the sophomore slump phenomenon many bands encounter after releasing a stellar debut. Their answer? Five years of silence following the superb Death Posture. That waiting strategy paid off handsomely with their newest album, Grinding Mechanism of Torment. No rust, just riffs.
Read moreMinistry – The Squirrely Years Revisited Review
As a musician, sometimes you get high. Sometimes your name is Al. And sometimes you listen to one of your early albums—only to find yourself holding a new version of it with a cover featuring a squirrel with a raging boner.
Read moreKarg – Marodeur Review
Excursions into screamo have already convinced me that black metal and punk are naturally suited for hybridization, so why not explore further? As ideas go, it makes sense to Karg and it makes sense to Peat.
Read moreMorbific – Bloom of the Abnormal Flesh Review
Morbific deliver exactly what their aesthetic promises: nasty, groovy death metal perfect for foul moods. Their album Bloom of the Abnormal Flesh immediately establishes its territory with a warm, yet distinctly wet sound. Morbific by name, with one foot and a blast beat into the grave.
Read moreDiabolizer – Murderous Revelations Review
Turkey’s extreme metal scene consistently yields potent acts, and Diabolizer stand as a prime example. Following their impressive debut, Khalkedonian Death, the band returns with Murderous Revelations, an album delivering relentless, high-octane death metal. From the outset, the music grabs the listener with its sheer intensity.
Read moreVacant Moley – The Programmed Obsolescence of Your Kind Review
Dripping has not done much since the cult release Disintegration of Thought Patterns During a Synthetic Mind Traveling Bliss, although a single released just last year might suggest that more new music is on the horizon — a beautiful side effect of the internet age is that cult classics can be revived and live on. The musicians have not been lazy, either way. Or rather, Ed Morris, a relatively new addition to Dripping who now seems to be one of its main creative forces, has not. Vacant Moley is a solo project by Morris that, in any way but name, just seems like more Dripping. Glaze us, weirdo slam daddy.
Read moreDawn of Solace – Affliction Vortex Review
Our Gator went into Affliction Vortex already side-eyeing it, having basically written it off before even hitting play. And yet Saukkonen’s melodic wizardry pulled him right back in. Again. Is this musical Stockholm syndrome?
Read moreRitual Ascension – Profanation of the Adamic Covenant Review
Perched on a wobbly table, Cosmo clutches his peppermint mocha like a sacred relic. He lifts it skyward, eyes blazing with caffeinated conviction, and whispers with holy reverence, ‘Ritual Ascension… the bolo tie of Minnesota.’
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