This year, Gramaglia has released the follow-up Vertebra Atlantis album, A Dialogue With the Eeriest Sublime. Combining harsh, gnarled riffs and hypnotic dreamscapes, this specific blend of Progressive Death Metal may just be his magnum opus. This album is not afraid to show some real backbone, so make sure you don’t leave it at the bottom of the ocean.
Read moreStortregn – Finitude Review
Stortregn produced my favorite record of 2021. Impermanence stands as what most Tech Death, and even fewer Melodic Death, Metal bands could not achieve—a Progressive album without using any of the tropes of the genre, forming instead full songs of smaller themes and motifs. I couldn’t tell you what the album was about—the cover art displaying Girardi’s patented space-bunghole lost all meaning years ago—but I surely felt it, on an emotional and intellectual level alike. Drink deeply of death metal and cosmic anus.
Read moreThis Week in Metal, 2023 Week 38
Another week, another round of metal reviews in the bag. Words are tough, so we assembled the highlights. And if you want to read the latest reviews for the new offerings from Fabricant, Courtney Gains, Alkaloid, Terra Builder, Uada and Blood Oath, you can do that too!
Read moreAlkaloid – Numen Review
Alkaloid have not changed much of their formula of Morbid Angel meets Yes in 2023. New to the mix is a slight push towards Heavy Metal leads that crop up here and there, as seen in “A Fool’s Desire” that opens with some acoustics recalling Caprae Idolum’s Matches EP before mixing and matching Heavy Metal with Death Metal outbursts. It doesn’t have any viola da gamba though.
Read moreThis Week in Metal, 2023 Week 37
Another week, another round of metal reviews in the bag. Words are tough, so we assembled the highlights. And if you want to read the latest reviews for the new offerings from Tomb Mold, Altarage, Bekor Qilish, Feral, Crawl, Ôros Kaù, and Undergang, you can do that too!
Read moreTomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit Review
What we get on The Enduring Spirit is certifiably fantastic, but I cannot say that I could have foreseen the direction Tomb Mold would take with this album – or that anyone could have, really. This new album utilizes the dichotomy between different textures, tonalities, timbres and moods like I haven´t heard a metal album do in quite a while. Dining on that fine mold.
Read moreAltarage – Worst Case Scenario Review
Altarage have shifted the focus of their formula a bit more towards the War Metal and Grindcore aspects previously present in their work. There is some furious riffing here, that is overwhelming in one moment and commandingly grooving in the next. Best case scenario?
Read moreThis Week in Metal, 2023 Week 36
Another week, another round of metal reviews in the bag. Words are tough, so we assembled the highlights. And if you want to read the latest reviews for the new offerings from Acausal Intrusion, Dying Fetus, THORN, Gridlink, Sylosis, and Wyrgher, you can do that too!
Read moreAcausal 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.
Read more