Giant Squid – Minoans Review
The sea has long been a rich source of cultural, historical, and artistic inspiration. One of the earliest – and most potent – myths is the flood recounted in the Epic of Gilgamesh, which was …
Execration – Morbid Dimensions Review
As it was in the past, so it is again: something foul is creeping from the heart of Scandinavia. Morbid Dimensions is the Norwegian band Execration’s third album, and it emerges at an opportune time. …
Pallbearer – Foundations Of Burden Review
For any band, the stakes are rarely higher than when writing a second album. Writing a second album when one’s debut reaped a groundswell of attention and near-universal acclaim, then, is surely an even more …
Alraune – The Process Of Self-Immolation Review
Your affinity for The Process of Self-Immolation, the debut full-length from Nashville’s Alraune, may depend on your tolerance for genre traditionalists tinkering at the margins by melding together styles of black metal that don’t often …
Mastodon – Once More ‘Round The Sun Review
For two albums now, Mastodon has been a regular band. No matter how flimsily the ‘four elements’ scheme actually informed the band’s music, the Atlanta quartet’s run from the rampaging tumult of debut album Remission …
Eyehategod – Eyehategod Review
Eyehategod has always been easier to respect than to love. That’s understandable, of course, because at their rawest, the band taps into an uncomfortably visceral place of filth and abjection. Take as Needed for Pain …
Darkest Era – Severance Review
Here’s a melancholy truth: Most lusters fade. Sparks cool. Sheens dull. Some things, though? They stick with you. Such has been the case with The Last Caress of Light, Darkest Era’s 2011 debut album. Too …
Vanhelgd – Relics Of Sulphur Salvation Review
Though it might seem counterintuitive, there’s actually a bold calculus at work for a band digging in the blood-soaked trenches of a well-established style. Artistically speaking, the stakes are higher but the payoff is lower. …