A friend of mine describes bands that just seem to pop off in their respective subgenre of music as “having the sound.” Bands that really found the secret sauce for their artwork that resonates with many. Drain has been one of those bands in the crossover thrash space as they drop their third release, …Is Your Friend (Epitaph Records). Keeping it under thirty minutes but above the max of the energy meter.
Anna von Hausswolff has a healthy back catalogue dating back to 2010’s Singing From The Grave, 2012’s breakthrough Ceremony, and most recently 2022’s Live at Montreux Jazz Festival and now of course, Iconoclasts (YEAR0001).Continue reading
Being from the New England area, I have been absolutely spoiled in both professional sport team championships and local music. One of the absolute titans of that discussion, The Acacia Strain, continues to march forward with their thirteenth album, You Are Safe From God Here (Rise Records). The depressing nature of both the instrumentals and the lyrics makes you feel the grief behind each beat.
Alpha 1128 (Seeing Red Records) is the debut album from LA-based Cattlemass. They are a band that crosses heavy sludge with Hawkwind-like vocals. They do not get started roaring like lumberjacks, which makes them more interesting than most of the bands doing this sort of thing. More aggressive than doom, their strength as a band lies in the fact that they are not afraid of taking chances, nor are they slaves to the sludge bible. To their credit, they are also not just another band that is smoking weed and trying to be Black Sabbath. The chanted drone of the vocals seems to be the approach they are sticking with, going into the second song. The chug is a little faster on this one. Continue reading
It can only be attributed to an act of divine blessing that the world has been treated to the match made in heaven that is Mastiff and Church Road Records.
The new Tombs album, Feral Darkness (Redefining Darkness), is another chapter in the sonic tome chronicling Mike Hill‘s travels to throb of the abyss. To say this sounds like a Tombs album is a broad statement that neglects the stylistic shifting due in some part to the band’s revolving lineup. The first thing you might notice upon first listen is that there are fewer Black Metal moments. Instead, the album is driven by the kind of aggression that characterizes Death Metal. The vocal approach is not all guttural. Forceful declarations, not unlike what you might have heard on a Celtic Frost album. Continue reading
Despite Dissonance Theory (Century Media Records) being Coroner’s first album in 32 years, there is little effort to ride the coattails of former glories and revisit what they did on masterpieces like “Punishment For Decadence”; instead, they have updated their sound to smooth out any of the wrinkles from the eighties to present something very vital for 2025. This means some things have changed. Tommy Baron and Ron Royce return without Marquis Marky behind the kit, a change that is more pronounced when you are a trio.Continue reading
Was the year’s best Death Metal album coming from the Goregrind/Slam side of the fence on your bingo card?
Sanguisugabogg are here to fucking bring it on Hideous Aftermath (Century Media).
It seems with every listen, Vestiges (Fiadh Productions) has something more somber to offer.
Intraether, the Atmospheric Black Metal outfit responsible for the new album, succeeds in creating distinguishable songs that all still contain a common thread of melancholy and bombast that brings everything together.Continue reading
