Tag Archives: metal adjacent

ALBUM REVIEW: Mogwai – The Bad Fire

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Robert Smith once called these guys his favorite band and it is easy to hear why. Eleven albums into their career, Mogwai has a clear focus on their sonic journey on The Bad Fire (Rock Action Records). Vocals appear right from the first song, serving as a smooth texture that sits in the swirl of sound. Things get more into their older bran of majestic melancholy on the second song. It’s less pop-oriented than the opening track. If you came here wanting post-rock this is the song for you. “What Kind of a Mix is This” feels like it just spills out from the end of the lingering ebb of the previous song. It takes a minute for a guitar melody to establish the song’s footing.Continue reading →


EP REVIEW: Graywave – Dancing In The Dust

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Starting out as a solo project for singer and multi-instrumentalist Jess Webberley, Graywave have released two previous EPs – Planetary Shift in 2021, followed swiftly by their first for Church Road Records, Rebirth in 2022. Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Semuta – Glacial Erratic

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On their debut full-length record, Glacial Erratic (Self-Released) Portland, Oregon’s Progressive Rock duo Semuta, featuring members of notable Rose City bands Burials and Dark Numbers, weld weighty subject matter, with heavy, but melodic riffs and no shortage of atmosphere and dynamics. Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Wardruna – Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven

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Kvitravn — First Flight of the White Raven (ByNorse / Sony / Columbia Germany) is a special release for Norwegian dark folk outfit Wardruna; it follows in the footsteps of 2021’s studio release Kvitravn  (“white raven”) and documents a live-streamed lockdown concert that took place in the same year. The live album’s setlist contains only four tracks from Kvitravn itself, with the remainder of the 74-minute record comprising pieces from Wardruna’s earlier output.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: The Body – I’ve Seen All I Need To See

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Metal, for all its anti-establishment credentials, can often be quite conservative. Many of the same old tropes have been rolled out again and again for the past four decades or so. Whilst that’s not a major problem for many metal fans, it is arguable that the same recycled ideas just don’t have the same impact that they once did. What once seemed impossibly heavy, deafeningly loud, even shocking or transgressive, can now be played on mainstream radio without anyone raising an eyebrow.

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