Our Metalligator says Coronet Juniper is about to punch you in the face. While our Alice says that Coronet Juniper comes out the gates swinging with songs that stand shoulder to shoulder with Longhena’s best. This was never going to be a normal review for our Gridlink hopeful writers, so feast on two different takes of Gridlink’s latest. You’ll be drunk on Grind in no time!
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Wyrgher – Panspermic Warlords Review
Mastered by Greg Chandler (of many projects and mastering jobs), the production quality on this album is fantastic. This is highlighted in songs such as “The Weeping of a Blazing Rock”, “Destroyer of the Promethean Path”, and “Supreme Leader of a Dying Star”. While retaining its own clear identity, this project still manages to sneak in subtle nods to Ungfell/Ateiggär songwriting, especially in “Weeping…” which gets surprisingly bouncy and fun for this style of Black Metal. Imagine a The Black Satans music video but in space.
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Acausal Intrusion – Panpsychism Review
Acsual Intrusion seemed initially somewhat interesting. Their style of Dissodeath seemed to have an odd influence from the Brutal Death Metal realm, even if only in the production values, most notably the snare. Nulitas, the debut, was exciting on some level, but it never managed to worm itself into my rotation, and in hindsight, I must admit that the issues being present in this newest album have been foreshadowed right from the start. Homeopathic levels of creativity make Goat a dull boy.
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Exmortus – Necrophony Review
Crammed full of guitar solos and Neoclassical wank, Slave to the Sword was one of the best and most-listened to albums for a High School-aged Cosmo. Now, nine years and two albums since that release, Exmortus returns fresh to Nuclear Blast with Necrophony after a couple releases on Prosthetic Records. Is this one to add to the list of Exmortus successes or does this signing to a major label signal a watered-down sound for a wider audience? Slave to the wank.
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Soen – Memorial Review
Soen’s inspirations always seemed clear to our Metalligator. Tool laid the base for their debut and Opeth’s best ex-drummer, Martin Lopez, has been a member from the start. 2019’s Lotus, however, revealed itself as a watershed moment, Soen sounding more confident than ever… To kill a mocking croc…
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Massen – Gentle Brutality Review
A hazard of venturing into deeper waters of dissonance and the more extreme ends of Metal is that these genres have a hard time impressing on that end as they have to balance melody and heaviness. Despite this I still enjoy melody, groove and selectively catchy material but drift away from things that mix in overt aspects of Pop melody. Bands like Massen are instantly fighting an uphill battle for my interest, then. But impressively, this Belarus duo bring some serious skill to the format. Massenive skill.
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Nuclear Power Trio – Wet Ass Plutonium Review
A big part of the DNA of your average Shred band nowadays is inspired by the “Big Dick Lick” Shredders of the 80s. The Satrianis, Gambales and Vais of the world are the usual prototypes of this sound, but even more recently, guitar nerds (myself included) have been smitten by the wave of late 70s/early 80s Japanese Fusion Guitarists, including the race car aesthetics of Cassiopeia and the more laid back attitude of faux-Brasilian Surfer Boy Masayoshi Takanaka – a favorite in the house of Goat. High Octane Sega Genesis Metal.
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Grand Cadaver – Deities of Deathlike Sleep Review
For all the talented people involved in Grand Cadaver (featuring members from Dark Tranquility and Katatonia, among other bands), their mission statement is simple: to write Death Metal songs that are conceived spontaneously and quickly, letting their passion for the music guide the way. Grand Cadaver are anything but sleepy.
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Blut aus Nord – Disharmonium: Nahab Review
I’m convinced that Vindsval, the figure behind peerless enigmatic Black Metal entity Blut aus Nord, picks which styles they want the next BaN album to sound on a whim. On any album, the listener could face beautiful Atmospheric or Melodic Black Metal, such as on one of the Memoria Vetusta albums or 2019’s Hallucinogen. Always bet on black.
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Crypts of the Unknown: Bound and Gagged – Fornicate the Gutted
