Grayceon – IV Review
The California trio Grayceon’s music is, admittedly, difficult to categorize. (While this means there is likely no one right answer, it does not mean there are no wrong answers: do not call it sludge. This …
Dimmu Borgir – Eonian Review
Listen, I don’t feel like spending a lot of time apologizing or contextualizing or tiptoeing around my point, so I’ll get right to it: I am of the opinion that A) Dimmu Borgir is a …
Ghastly – Death Velour Review
In this business of writing words about sounds, some things are just easier to convey than others. If a band is slow and sounds like Black Sabbath, I can call it doom and there’s a …
Wild Hunt – Afterdream Of The Reveller Review
Michael Pollan’s best-selling book The Omnivore’s Dilemma posed a fairly simple question: Because of various environmental and evolutionary reasons, humans have developed the capacity to eat more or less everything. That being so, what should …
Messa – Feast For Water Review
Sometimes it’s good to begin with where you intend to end up: Messa’s Feast for Water is an unhurriedly brilliant album that overflows with truly remarkable songcraft and a consistently enthralling atmosphere. If you’d like …
Monolithe – Nebula Septem Review
For reasons both unknown and likely unknowable, I am a complete mark for the sort of mathematical and musical formalism with which Monolithe has constructed Nebula Septem. For this seventh album, the seven musicians of …
Primordial – Exile Amongst The Ruins Review
Two facts are indisputable: Primordial is a Very Good Band, and Exile Amongst the Ruins is a Very Bad Album. Maybe those facts seem difficult or painful to reconcile, but let’s face it: great bands …
Summoning – With Doom We Come Review
As someone who loves Summoning unabashedly, here’s a bit of a strange angle to lead with: Summoning is… boring. Or maybe a little more to the point, Summoning’s music is at its best when nothing …