With a long and spicy Hungarian title, XII: A gyönyörü álmok ezután jönnek is by all counts a folk album. It uses folk music as a basis for its rhythms in bright and airy compositions, filled with a large variety of vocals. It’s also a metal album, which is what it presents as at first with the heaviest compositions landing in the first third of the album.
Read moreUlver – Liminal Animals Review
The opener on Liminal Animals sounds like a statement of fatigue in its lyrics: repeated words from previous songs, the nature of sound as “Moving objects / The music they make” all the while distinct eras of Ulver clash in intuitively written songs.
Read moreStenched – Purulence Gushing from the Coffin Review
From groovy rhythms to never-ending joy in the darkest riffs, Purulence Gushing from the Coffin feels like a celebration of death metal’s rotten core. The pacing of the tracks ensures no moment overstays its welcome, a rare achievement in this style. Praise gushing from the death metal loving bear.
Read moreThyrathen – Lakonic Review
“Thyrathen hail from Larissa, the birth place of Achilles, but have elected to honour a different group of the bloody-minded and bloody-handed with their second album, Lakonic. Laconia was home of the Spartans for those who don’t know, and as such, the name suggested I could expect some suitably belligerent, stripped back black metal.” If this is the case, Pete’s ears will rejoice, never to rumble in boredom again… if…
Read moreDefeated Sanity – Chronicles of Lunacy Review
Scuttlegoat just knew Chronicles of Lunacy would be good, and it led him to almost being resigned to it — “I was not excited or looking forward to it, I simply accepted that it would be good”. Oh, the drum performance! Beating some sense into your liking…
Read moreOpeth – The Last Will and Testament Review
Make Åkerfeldt growl again” (#MÅGA). This is the premise on which The Goat Review makes its firmest political stance.
Read moreIniquitous Savagery – Edifice of Vicissitudes Review
“The vibes are right” is not a sufficient review. Unless Scuttlegoat has his way and proves indeed that with enough words, “The vibes are right” is a sufficient review. Come found out if this slab of brutal death metal hits that sweet spot.
Read morePloughshare – Second Wound Review
Albums sometimes communicate things to Scuttlegoat before he has even heard them. Sometimes this is done via the promo blurb telling him to be wary. Other times, a combination of album cover, album and track titles will tell him what to expect. While more casual metal listeners often sneer about anything that pushes beyond the 5 minute mark, to Scuttlegoat colossal song lengths might also communicate to seasoned metal listeners like himself that the album at hand is advanced listening or at least making an attempt at being a more profound, distinguished work.
Read moreVeilburner – The Duality of Decapitation and Wisdom Review
The number seven often holds special significance in western culture; a significance that goes beyond intra-number cannibalism. Artists have at times tried to transport this mystique to musical composition. As standard Western musical scales already hold seven individual notes, many artists seem to have tried their hand at incorporating the number seven into their rhythmic framework. But has anyone ever tried cutting off its head?
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