As the summer in the Northern Hemisphere approaches, I always find a nice doom or sludge album really sets the mood for a day of yard work, or just sitting on the deck with a cold beer. The new album from Thou, Umbilical (Sacred Bones Records), may not fit that exact moment, but it certainly would fit in for after the sun sets and the flames rise in the firepits and the tips of our joints. Continue reading
To try and place Four Stroke Baron neatly into a category of music is akin to trying to describe the Higgs field to a classroom full of ninth graders on the last day of school before summer break. Continue reading
A dark, dramatic, intense collection of relatively extreme music, Death.Horses.Black. (Listenable Records) is delivered with commitment and no small expertise by Belgian prog-stoner outfit My Diligence.Continue reading
If Death Metal on the extreme end of the heaviness meter is your thing, then Cutterred Flesh’s Love At First Bite (Transcending Obscurity Records) is worth a listen. Continue reading
When I received the news that I would cover a split between the US-based Häxanu and the Sweden-based Greve for review, I was immensely enthusiastic about it as I’ve always had high expectations of the craftsmanship of both Black Metal acts– all-round mystical, atmospheric, and heavy on belligerent blast beats. Continue reading
Having reemerged from its dank void of horror to release To Be Cruel in 2023, deconstructed-avant-doom entity Khanate continues to be pulled piece-by-piece from the mud, as the band’s third and fourth records — 2005’s Capture & Release and 2009’s Clean Hands Go Foul (Sacred Bones Records) — get shined and buffed for physical reissues. Continue reading
It is well-known to not judge a book by its cover.
However, Canadian sludge titans, Dopethrone, dropped one of the coolest album titles yet, Broke Sabbath (Totem Cat Records). Super descriptive for anyone who has not given these Stoner, Doom-infused sludge gents a shot yet. Seven tracks spanning just shy of forty minutes is the perfect length to see what the group is all about as they drag you through the muddy waters out to a clearing to end you.Continue reading
For quite some time now, Toronto has been the undisputed hotbed of Technical Death Metal, and what’s more, the sounds emanating from up in Ontario only seem to get better and better.Continue reading
Violins will and should always belong in various subgenres of Metal, and when done right, the addition of a classical string instrument can transport listeners to vast transcendent landscapes – see Dawn Ray’d (RIP).Going even further and introducing new or grossly underutilized techniques can (and often does) represent a beacon of freshness for both the musicians and fans alike.Continue reading
Slash’s much-anticipated blues cover album is studded with fine performances – Chris Stapleton singing on “Oh Well”, Iggy Pop on “Awful Dream”, Brian Johnson loving it on “Killing Floor”.Continue reading