ALBUM REVIEW:  Wolves in the Throne Room – Estuary


While I have certainly been a big fan of the “crushing” or “heavy” music, there’s something about bands that are able to produce music that really paints a soundscape in my brain. Atmospheric Black Metal legends Wolves in the Throne Room are one of the very best to do that, and prove it once again on their latest album, Estuary (Relapse Records). Conceptually, the album creates a glimpse into 1,000 years after the fall of humans, how nature reclaims the Earth, and how there are magical estuaries that act as portals for physical and magical realms to connect.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Anagnorisis – Caregriever


Anagnorisis is back after a ten-year absence. During this time, frontman Zachery Kerr acted as the caregiver for his father-in-law, which served as the creative catalyst for Caregriever (Negative Reflections). In processing the emotions connected to watching the terminal decline of a family member, it transitioned to a bleak sonic display of this more organic experimental direction. The darkness presented here is much more real and honest than Black Metal bands that dressed things up in obligatory occult fashion, appropriating belief systems they are immersed in. This dark emotional honesty is what gives this album its heaviness. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Tony Iommi – From The Dark

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Having emerged from the other side of an extremely painful, and emotionally draining year, trailblazing Metal pioneer and full-time Master of the Riffs Tony Iommi returns to do what he does best on a fittingly titled solo album, From the Dark (BMG).

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