Dodecahedron – Dodecahedron Review
The unfortunate reality about diving ass-over-ankles into the mystical forests and blood-stained steppes of extreme metal (or any other niche art-form, for that matter) is that the longer one spends banging the heads that will …
The Devil’s Blood – The Thousandfold Epicentre Review
It’s a good time to be a rock band in the metal press, especially when one has seen support from such respected underground labels as Ván and Profound Lore. Still, the as-yet-unflagging growth of the …
Dan Obstkrieg’s Best Of 2011
2011, huh? Political and economic turmoil throughout the world, major life changes here on the home front, all the usual anxieties and insecurities and tiny insignificant victories, and through it all, a certified fuckload of …
Wolvhammer – The Obsidian Plains
Wolvhammer wants to mess you up. On its second album, this Minneapolis / Chicago collective seethes with a barely contained malevolence and a passionately ill-tempered delivery. The base of the band’s sound is black metal, …
Vallenfyre – A Fragile King Review
The backstory of the formation of Vallenfyre has been fairly well bandied about, but bears repeating: founding member and guitarist of Paradise Lost Gregor Mackintosh, in coping with the recent death of his father, starts …
Cormorant – Dwellings Review
No matter what genre I’m listening to, whether weepy-face indie rock diaper-wetting, robots-having-a-seizure electronic angle music, or fjord-gargling black metal of the least children-and-small-animal-friendly variety, my favorite music tends to do two things: feel both …
Woburn House – Sleep Summer Storm Review
For those interested in quirky experimentation, restless progression, and a decided absence of preening pretension in their heavy music, the interconnected family of bands on the roster of German label Zeitgeister Music (including, in addition …
Krisiun – The Great Execution Review
For no real reason other than the foolish human yearning for order and symmetry, I’ve often thought of the ‘Big Three’ of German thrash – Sodom, Destruction, and Kreator – as having a cross-hemispheric counterpart …