If the name doesn’t give it away already, Scalp is your one-stop shop for anything and everything devastating enough to rip the top of your dome clean off.Continue reading
Tag Archives: metal album reviews
ALBUM REVIEW: Tèlma – Ανθρωποβόρος
Heavily rooted in the traditional Doom Metal-centered alignment, Athens-based Tèlma has consistently presented melancholic sounds with ceremonial atmospheres. They have been around for roughly eight years and are profoundly inspired by many names across the globe when it comes to musical influences – including Russia’s Scald, Finland’s Reverend Bizarre, and Chile’s Procession – though most listeners probably also can sense some Candlemass-esque hints of references in their sounds.
ALBUM REVIEW: Toxic Youth – Still Hungry
Sometimes you just need a good thrashy, Crossover Punk band to get your blood pumping. Toxic Youth have been dishing out what you crave now for thirty-five years with no signs of slowing down. Their latest album, Still Hungry (Time To Kill Records), continues that mission statement relentlessly for over thirty minutes.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Daron Malakian and Scars On Broadway – Addicted to Violence
Daron Malakian of System of a Down is back with his solo project, Scars on Broadway. Addicted to Violence (Scarred For Life) marks the project’s second album without the drummer who played on the project’s first album and made it feel like a more direct extension of System of a Down. Much like the band that put these guys on the map, there is, at times, a punk feel that owes a great deal to the Dead Kennedys. Where this project finds its own identity is stepping away from some of the Hip-Hop bounce that drove Nu-Metal. This does not mean it forsakes groove; it approaches it differently, which can be heard on a song like “Satan Hussein.”Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Hypomanic Daydream – The Yearning
Hypomanic Daydream is the brainchild of an artist who goes by the name Manic Dream Girl. The Yearning (The Fiadh / self-release) is Hypomanic Daydream’s first full-length, following a split album and two EPs. Almost everything on the record, including the mixing and artwork was done by MDG herself, with some bass clarinet solos by Quetzal Tirado and additional drum production by Garry Brents (Gonemage, Sallow Moth, many other projects). Mastering was handled by Breandan Sloan (Convulsing).Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: King Potenaz – Arcane Desert Rituals Vol. 1
Sweden’s DIY Stoner/Doom label Majestic Mountain Records is always best-known for releasing the most eccentric, adrenaline-fueling tunes possible, and fair to say that Arcane Desert Rituals Vol. 1 by Southern Italy’s King Potenaz is one of them!
ALBUM REVIEW: TSS – End of Time
Nestled somewhere between Bad Omens and Breathe Carolina is a lesser-known French gem that’s set to appease a wide audience. TSS –formerly The Sunday Sadness– is following in the footsteps of so many modern alternative bands in the method of genre categorization; it’s a bit of a catch-all. Elements of metalcore, alt rock, synthwave, emo, and even neo-metal can be found across their latest album, End of Time (Fearless Records)
ALBUM REVIEW: Deadguy – Near-Death Travel Services
New Jersey’s Deadguy formed in 1994 and existed for a mere three years before their 1997 split. During their original run they put out the White Meat and Work Ethic seven inches, 1996’s highly influential debut full-length Fixation on a Co-Worker, the Screamin’ with the Deadguy Quintet EP, and the posthumous I Know Your Tragedy (Live at CBGBs) set.
ALBUM REVIEW: Sodom – The Arsonist
Seventeen albums in and German thrash legends Sodom are still out there throwing riffs like hand grenades, and singing about war while worshipping at the feet of Motörhead. Of course, after forty-plus years in the business, this is a very different band to who started out in 1982, and not just in terms of personnel. The raw, youthful enthusiasm of their early years has long since been replaced with maturity and experience.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Puppe Magnetik – Laudans Deum
Puppe Magnetik has existed since 2022 as the brainchild of Finnish musician Aina Virtanen. Laudans Deum (Rune Serpent Europa) is the project’s debut record, and it promises to blend elements of Neofolk, Dark Ambient, Death-Industrial, and Avant-Garde music.Continue reading