Our This Week in Metal post collects our thoughts on music released in or around this week in the music world. We cover mostly metal, but we consider other genres to allow our writers poseur flexibility. Follow us on Instagram too!
Anti-Peat's Perplexing Position
When Peat see names and album art that suggests a band has an interest in old European history, Peat — after a sad necessity of background checking — takes a look. And when a band, like Eldingar do on their second album Lysistrata, says they're drawing on black metal, folk, and melodeath, he hits play. You can bait a Peat with melodeath, but can you make him purr?
Cosmo's Chaotic Curveball
Black Curse had huge shoes to fill with sophomore album Burning in Celestial Poison, as the sophomore hump is the true test for bands to prove that they’re not a once-and-done affair. Thankfully, Burning in Celestial Poison not only surpasses the hump, but makes every other war metal album released this year appear as threatening as pool noodles in terms of sheer aggression and vitriol. So grab your pool noodles, we're going to war!
Scuttlegoat's Curmudgeonly Critiques
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.
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?
Bobo's Brainless Bearing
In the spirit of broadening my horizons I decided to dip my toes into melodeath waters. While I am not a huge fan of the genre, there are some standout albums I like. Unfortunately, Bobo found out the melo waters were a lot less worm than expected the hard way.
