Best Of 2020 – Dan Obstkrieg: Only Kindness Matters
For reasons largely unknown, I gave myself precise word limitations for the blurbs which follow. For those of you playing along at home, this means that I wrote 100 words exactly for each metal album, …
Grayceon – Mothers Weavers Vultures Review
Because they belong to San Francisco’s diverse and recombinant music scene, Grayceon is hardly alone in making genre-agnostic but undeniably progressive heavy metal. They are, however, almost singularly adept at summoning big, unguarded emotions with …
Enslaved – Utgard Review
The greatest artists tap into something beyond themselves and speak elemental truths from everyday syllables. Certainly in the case of music, the presence of a sympathetic or at least engaged listener helps to close the …
Körgull The Exterminator – Sharpen Your Spikes Review
On album number five (and first in five years), the black / thrashing maniac Spaniards in Körgull the Exterminator have turned over a new leaf and found their sensitive side. From the meditative Nick Drake …
Neptunian Maximalism – Éons Review
The Belgian collective Neptunian Maximalism is not, apparently, interested in half-measures. Éons, their full-length debut, spools its more than two hours’ worth of music across three conceptually separate discs which span genres and blend improvised …
Dauþuz – Grubenfall 1727 Review
In just a few short years, the German duo Dauþuz has established itself as a powerful voice in atmospheric black metal. Since its start in 2016, the band has released three full-length albums and two …
Aara – En Ergô Einai Review
Here’s something that sounds like a shitty non sequitur of a lead-in to a review of an excellent black metal album: The quest for perfection often inhibits the quest for betterment. We want the best …
Worm – Gloomlord Review
A few preliminaries: before note one of Worm’s Gloomlord plays, it is recommended that the canny listener pause a moment and wonder at its tremendous title and cover art. Are you a gloomlord? Am I? …