All posts by Chris C

Achelous – The Icewind Chronicles Review

Knowing nothing about R.A. Salvatore’s Icewind Dale trilogy, I am not the absolute, dead-on target demographic for Achelous’s The Icewind Chronicles. With song titles like “Mithril Hall” and “Halfling’s Gem,” the album has a fairly

The Mist From The Mountains – Monumental – The Temple Of Twilight Review

With a nifty logo, nature-based cover art, and winter timeliness on their side, Finland’s The Mist From The Mountains release their first full-length of melodic black metal, Monumental – The Temple of Twilight. Monumental –

Gore Brigade – Gore Brigade Review

Gore Brigade hides nothing. From the decomposed, hanging, and skin-stretched body on the cover art to song titles such as “Show Me the Gore” and “The Rot Becomes You,” the band’s first, self-titled EP keeps

Power Paladin – With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel Review

Icelandic power metal with heavy leanings is the kind of thing that immediately piques my interest. And the heavy part is not something I’d particularly expect looking at the richly textured, very much fantasy-based, (and

Eternal Evil – The Warriors Awakening Brings The Unholy Slaughter Review

Fast Rites: because sometimes brevity is fundamental. Whatever the band’s conscious influences may be, Eternal Evil’s The Warriors Awakening Brings the Unholy Slaughter sounds Teutonic in aesthetic. From the unrelentingly guitar-forward POV to the frantic

Best of 2021 – Chris C: It’s Been A Year

This has been a strange year in music. Blood Incantation announced their hour-long, ambient Century Media debut. Andi Deris proved the best bobbing head on the new and remarkable Helloween hydra. Melodic black metal not

Abscession – Rot Of Ages Review

Put simply, Rot of Ages finds the buzzsaw in good hands. It won’t bowl you over with inventiveness. But a good bowl-over will be had nonetheless. Good editing is at least half the battle when

Monument Of Misanthropy – Unterweger Review

Even ignoring that it’s a concept album about an Austrian serial killer, no one who has had the benefit of looking at Unterweger’s cover art would be surprised to learn that Monument of Misanthropy plays