Sigh – Shiki Review
Genre Funeral Theatre Heavy metal is about a lot of things. I guess you can try to bang out a list of restrictive musical requirements, but in the lyrics department, heavy metal music on the …
Lathe – Tongue of Silver Review
Sound has a mind of its own. That’s a pretty thought, isn’t it? It’s completely wrong, but maybe an easier pitch is that sounds can become so freighted with contextual baggage that they summon entire …
Defect Designer – Neanderthal Review
Here’s an undeniably sexy way to start a review of some heavy metal music: sometimes what ends up shaping one’s impression of a piece of music is dictated much more by the frame of reference …
Inexorum – Equinox Vigil Review
Minnesota’s Inexorum, now on album number three, offers a stirring example of the power of summoning feeling through form. The duo of Carl Skildum (guitars, vocals, keys, drum programming) and Matthew Kirkwold (bass, vocals) plays …
Blue Heron – Ephemeral Review
I ride a commuter train into downtown Chicago to get to my office. (Yes, I am going somewhere with this.) Several years ago – likely late 2019 or very early 2020 – there was a …
A Sound Of Thunder – The Krimson Kult Review
The great thing about heavy metal (apart from, well, most of the things about it) is how many different moods it can summon. From the most decrepit, wizened metal crone (hi, hello, how are you) …
Skumstrike – Deadly Intrusions Review
[Mother Superior, jumping the gun*]: When the band is called Skumstrike and the cover art looks like that, Brother Francis, you know just what you’re getting: beach-tinged acoustic strumming, lavender incense, and sensitive crooning. The …
8 Kalacas – Fronteras Review
Dear brothers and sisters, dear enemies and friends, here is a hard truth: nobody really gives a shit about your record collection. This is a particularly bitter pill for those of us who end up …