Best of 2025: Lone Watie – Hey There. Look At These Nice Rocks.
Like most people, I keep lots of things around the house that mean something to me and nothing to anyone else at all. I hold on to these things because they represent some meaningful time …
Oromet – The Sinking Isle Review
[Artwork by Ted Nasmith] Of course, a funeral is bleak, the very idea of it. Grief, loss, despair, the shock of a vital presence suddenly become absence, all of it placed in a fishbowl for …
Dissona – Receptor Review
[Cover artwork by David Dubenic] It’s tempting to call Dissona a passion project. Based in and around Chicago, they’ve been making progressive metal for more than 15 years, outlasting the tides of misfortune and disappointment, …
Reflection – The Battles I Have Won Review
[Cover artwork by Alexandros Vasilopoulos] Founded in 1992 by guitarist Stathis Pavlantis in Athens, Greece, Reflection has released five albums (and a split) of epic heavy metal celebrating the spirit of the titans of the …
EchoSoul – Time Of The Dragon Review
Who knew the end times could be so much fun? Well… not these times. Not that we’re literally living out the end of days; although, what better sign of the times than the plausibility that …
Ancient Death – Ego Dissolution Review
[Cover art by Maegan LeMay] Now one certainly doesn’t need any special context to understand the appeal of Ego Dissolution, Walpole, Massachusetts-based Ancient Death’s debut LP after an EP and a split. If you’ll go …
Katoaja – What We Witness Review
[Cover art by Waltteri Lahti] Albums hitting in December and early January almost don’t have a chance in the floodwaters of List Season, so Katoaja’s debut record, What We Witness, was already struggling against the …
Best of 2024: Lone Watie: Can You Give Me A Minute, Please?
Something at work got me thinking a little while ago about The Ant and the Grasshopper. The gist of the fable, of course, is get stuff done now or you’ll regret it later. Now look, …