Category: Reviews
Venus Star – Nigredo Expulsion Review
Artistic minimalism can be a tough act to pull off convincingly. When it’s done well, the end result can be courageously focused and direct, clearly unwilling to allow anything extraneous to blur the edges of …
Autopsy – The Headless Ritual Review
By my count, The Headless Ritual took exactly twenty-five seconds to make its argument for being a supremely ass-kicking album. The remaining forty-four minutes or so? Just a victory lap. Autopsy has never seen nearly …
Jucifer – The Russian Album Review
Originally written by Chris Redar “I am Russian. I am soldier. I am ready.” This, the final line of “First Narration,” which opens the new album from Athens road warriors Jucifer, sets the stage for what …
Lord Dying – Summon The Faithless Review
Originally written by Matt Longo “Get lost every day / Surviving our way / Get drunk every night / Got nothing to hide” proclaims vocalist Erik Olson on “Dreams of Mercy” — one of the …
Svart Crown – Profane Review
Better late than never, as they say. Despite Profane being released a few months ago, I couldn’t in good conscience let the third album by the kings of French blackened death metal Svart Crown go …
Orphaned Land – All Is One Review
Originally written by Chris Redar Let’s get this out of the way: I’m not a folk metal guy. It’s not that it’s poison to my ears or anything, but I was weaned on the more …
Queensryche – Queensryche Review
It’s no grand revelation that an established band changing singers is a daunting task. For every Bon-to-Brian smooth transition, there’s a Dave-to-Sammy changeover that alienates fans, or worse, a Sammy-to-Gary trainwreck that alienates everyone. A …
Orchid – The Mouths Of Madness Review
Originally written by Matt Longo The classic masters Black Sabbath released a good comeback album a few weeks ago, and it’s proven to be quite a grower. But when you’re a band who heavily invoke …