Tag Archives: Wil Cifer

ALBUM REVIEW: CMPT – Na utrini

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CMPT weaves an impressive atmosphere on Na utrini (Osmose Productions). The Balkan black metal band sets themselves apart from the pack by not just going full blast in your face. Not falling victim to the sophomore slump, the band is assured in what they are doing here. The choked rasp of the vocals to the most prominent element to ground the band in his sub-genre. It moves along with an eerie creep.  It’s not until the second song that the drummer begins to push for more momentum, This restraint is their strength, as there is no shortage of Black Metal bands out there still trying to bleed blast-beats from the late nineties era sound, that find too much conformity coming from a misanthropic genre. Here the guitars tap into the trademark metallic buzz of black metal, but the band has already set the stage for a wider range of dynamics, making this a more well-balanced listen.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Lacolpa – In Absentia Lucis

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Lacolpa’s new album, In Absentia Lucis (Brucia Records) finds the Italian band diving deeper into darkness. Their brand of darkness this time is more experimental than most heard this year. While they still self-identify as a Sludge band there is more common ground with Current 93 than with Neurosis. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Lord Sin – Confessions

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Black metal is to thank for bringing the mystique back to music. This duo from Portugal cloaks themselves in black shrouds, we can assume they are not playing in, but instead of blast beats Lord Sin hits you with some creepy dirges on their sophomore album Confessions (Larvae Records). The graveyard stomp of the riffs allows darkness to possess their sound organically, rather than having to pull out all the Halloween decorations to convince the listener. Halfway into the first song, it’s easy to hear where they fall in the middle ground between doom and black metal. For a duo, they are cranking out a great deal of sound and care about writing songs, rather than just bashing out riffs.  Continue reading →


CONCERT REVIEW: Better Lovers – Full of Hell – SPY Live At The Orpheum, Tampa 

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Photo credit: Gabe Becerra

Photo credit: Gabe Becerra

As we go to press with this review we learned that Better Lovers drummer Grayson “Goose” Holyoak’s daughter Sage has been diagnosed with a form of leukemia, and he has left the tour to support his family. Please donate to the GoFundMe set up to help defray the costs for her treatment and care.  

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-sages-battle-against-leukemiaContinue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Pillar Of Light – Caldera

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This Detroit-based Sludge band Pillar Of Light moves into their brand of Metal like a storm cloud on their debut full-length Caldera (Transcending Obscurity Records) with a hypnotic manner of riffing that allows the songs to flow.  Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Conjonctive – Misère de Poussière

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Swiss death metallers Conjonctive have released Misère de Poussière (Tenacity Music), an album that features their dual vocalists Randy Schaller from Voice Of Ruin and Sonia Kaya. Unlike many European Death Metal bands, there is a bouncing groove to their sound at times that might bring to mind the rougher moments of a band like Slipknot. Not that the band is trying to hop on the Nu-Metal revival train; things like the tremolo-picked guitars prove to the contrary. Though with ample Black Metal influence, aggression is more of a focus than a worship of darkness. They are skilled at delivering deliberate accents to provide more hooks than just battering your senses.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Tribulation – Sub Rosa In Æternum

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The direction Tribulation heads on Sub Rosa In Æternum (Century Media Records) has been a long time coming. You can’t call a band goth without them eventually turning to the dark side. The Swedes started as a Death Metal band that flirted with the shadowy atmosphere, but never bore the Sisters of Mercy Halloween trappings they were credited with. Until this album. The sung vocals that open the first song solidify this; this may be the final step over this threshold for them. Johannes Andersson has sung on their previous albums in smaller doses, but this album finds him committed to it. Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Nachtmystium – Blight Privilege

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The problem with American Black Metal bands, is they are often comprised of Punk Rock kids from Brooklyn or any other hipster city, who appropriate the sonic aesthetics that work for their indie-rock sensibility lacking any sense of darkness. There are a few bands who have proved an exception Tombs, Weakling, and Nachtmystium. Blake Judd’s struggles with addiction are responsible for giving Nachtmystium its legitimacy his harrowing accounts of inner torment are far more intense than faux Satanism. After all, exorcising one’s demons can not be faked. Blight Privilege (Lupus Lounge) is Judd clawing his way back up from the abyss to make music again. This album might not be as experimental as his past work but it feels more honest.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Dirty Shades – Stuck in Motion

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Hailing from France the Dirty Shades upholds the country’s legacy of birthing powerful atmospheric rock. Their new album Stuck in Motion (Modulor Music) offers a post-Hardcore punch to the dynamics as their sound swirls around you. They step on the gas at a few points in the opening track “Cannon Fodder” to keep the dynamics varied. Lead singer Anouk Degrande is backed by shouted accents where she allows her voice to wander off the swells of the guitar. The bass line anchors the second track “Mine,” as the ambiance thickens to a palm-muted groove buried in the layers. They build the song up into a heavier punch not unlike how Tool once commanded dynamics during the nineties. Continue reading →