Amenra’s Mass VI (Neurot Recordings)… the type of album you spin on the record player for the misanthrope who found Deafheaven’s Sunbather (Deathwish Inc) to be too cheery and saccharine. The type of upbeat fellow whose balanced breakfast consists of piping-hot black coffee and two Marlboro reds. He’s lots of fun at parties, and by party, I mean the dive-bar where he pounds Guinness and quotes Nietzsche. Yeah, Mass VI is a motherfucker of the highest command. Continue reading
If God took the seventh day off for some rest, then Satan was hard at work piecing together Denver, Colorado’s Primitive Man. The nihilistic and tortured sounds encased in Caustic (Relapse) are the proof you need that the devil is not only kicking but that his influence is still very much among us. Approach this beast on your own accord, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Continue reading
For a band and musical landmark that is rapidly approaching its 30th anniversary, New York City’s Unsane remain steadfast to their noise/metal vision. Outside of improved yet not overwhelming production and mix, Sterilize (Southern Lord) is vintage Unsane with its jagged guitars to the blood-spattered album art. It may all seem foreign to younger heavy metal converts, but to those in the know it’s a lovely revisit to the musical wild west that were the 1990s. Continue reading