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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Lunar – Tempora Mutantur Review
As a patchwork ensemble centered around a few fixed members, Lunar have always seemed to be chasing a cohesive vision. Where sleights of hand have given way to frosted and fixed landscapes, has Tempora Mutantur crystallized the Lunar sound in proggy bliss?
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Aitheer – The Serpent Review
Many a reviewer will tell you that music PR is good mainly for laughs or danger warnings, but I find it a useful guide to a band’s intentions. You see, where most PR releases cite influential and benchmark bands, Aitheer’s mentions none and instead throws around words like cinematic and theatric. And just like that, I have a way to frame The Serpent.
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Crypts of the Unknown: Loss – Horizonless
