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 …
Messa – Close Review
If I were forced to pick a single word to describe Messa’s third album, Close – just one word – it would be patient. Don’t mistake me: Messa’s doom is not slow or directionless or …
Deathless Void – Deathless Void Review
It takes a lot to summon a whole root system of possibilities in 14 minutes, but that’s precisely what the Dutch outfit Deathless Void accomplishes on this ferocious debut EP. The opening track writhes and …
Best Of 2021 – Dan Obstkrieg: A Map Of All Our Foolishness
Friends, if we’re being honest, I probably spend less than half of my overall music listening time with heavy metal. (This is what they might call a “reverse straw man,” whereby I provide you with …
Mortiferum – Preserved In Torment Review
Fast Rites: because sometimes brevity is fundamental. Even using the most expansive definition, death metal is still not even 40 years old. And yet, on Preserved in Torment, Mortiferum plays the kind of death metal …
Dold Vorde Ens Navn – Mørkere Review
Do you ever get the feeling that the idea of discrete musical genres is more useful to fans and critics than to musicians themselves? The reason I’m asking is that Dold Vorde Ens Navn is …
Wharflurch – Psychedelic Realms Ov Hell Review
DID YOU KNOW… ? – Sarah McLachlan once recorded a cover of Morbid Angel’s “Chapel of Ghouls” for a scrapped ASPCA commercial benefiting neglected swamp monsters. Florida’s tentacular hooligans Wharflurch have at last heaved forth …
Diskord – Degenerations Review
Friend, I don’t know how your brain works. For me, the most unsupported, errant thought will sometimes get stuck up in there like Phineas Gage at a magnetic cocaine party. A lyric reminds you of …