Zach Duvall’s Top 20 Albums of 2011
What. A. Year. Can’t say much else. I probably had 30 albums to try to squeeze into 20 spots and 15 into the top 10 this year. There was just so much wicked stuff I’d …
Lvcifyre – The Calling Depths Review
A year ago I was just finishing up my top ten list when Svart Crown dropped a freakish slab of blackened death metal called Witnessing the Fall at my reviewing doorstep. Their Immolation-inspired cacophony gave me a nice pile of hate to …
Klabautamann – The Old Chamber Review
At one point early in my collegiate career, I was in art school. I never much bought into the philosophical / existential / post-modern side of all of it (I did gain a keen sense …
An Autumn For Crippled Children – Everything Review
Lost, the 2010 debut from Dutch act An Autumn for Crippled Children, was a pleasant surprise: a moody, expansive, atmospheric and dynamic album that threaded the line safely between depressive black metal, doomy dirges and …
Thy Catafalque – Rengeteg Review
About a year ago I was introduced to the 2009 offering by Hungary’s Thy Catafalque, Róka Hasa Rádió, an outstanding combination of black metal, post-everything-but-Ulver recklessness, prog structures and many of the freakish elements that …
Giant Squid – Cenotes Review
There are difficult bands to put into words, and then there is Giant Squid. Quite frankly, none of the descriptive qualities of this band adequately paints the picture of what they bring to the table. …
Acherontas – Vamachara Review
It’s always refreshing when a band doesn’t make a guy guess. Greece’s Acherontas plays a very familiar, easy-to-digest and dare I say comfortable brand of dark, “occult” black metal. Their combination of intertwining, countering tremolo …
Nile – Worship The Animal – 1994: The Lost Recordings Review
A trait I’ve noticed in lots of metal fans (including myself, admittedly) is our tendency to become obsessed and, as a result, turn into collectors of our favorite band’s “stuff” (alternate takes, live albums, demos, …