(Andy Synn bows down before the timeless Black Metal magic of Vimur)
Now, according to official sources, the new album from US Black Metal warriors Vimur is scheduled for release this Friday.
But, apparently, it’s already available digitally via the group’s own Bandcamp page (with physical copies to follow via Avantgarde Music shortly).
So, here’s a little review to help clear up any confusion and encourage you all to check it out.
(Here’s Wil Cifer‘s review of the debut album by the Finnish band SARS, which is due for release on July 12th by Time To Kill Records )
With their new album Nothing Hurts Quite Like Life Finland’s SARS teach a master class in what is metallic hardcore and what is “metalcore”.
Perhaps it‘s the long dark winters of their homeland, and the high depression rate of their homeland, as there is nothing hopeful or anthemic about the sonic beatings they are dishing out here. Continue reading »
(In what follows Gonzo reviews and recommends four albums released in June 2024.)
Given that it’s been a few months since I’ve been able to crank one of these out, there’s no time like the present, right?
(Andy Synn picks out four more albums from last month you may have overlooked)
As always, thinning this column down to just four artists/albums was a hellish job, with the likes of Amarok, Inherits the Void, Perversity, Swelling Repulsion, Umbra Vitae, and Vomit the Soul all ending up (sadly) on the cutting room floor.
But that shouldn’t stop you checking them out… just maybe give the four bands featured in today’s column a look/listen first, and then come back, ok?
(On the day of its release we’re premiering a debut EP by the Chicago death metal band Trail of Entrails, and Christopher Luedtke provides the introduction.)
If there’s one thing that’s more than established about death metal at this moment it’s the enduring spirit and dedication to the riff. The genre might have slowed down in the mid-2000s up until the mid/late 2010s but there was never an all-out cease and desist for the genre. Like many genres, there are always dedicated people keeping it alive and death metal is seeing quite the heyday again. And once again, a new player has entered the arena.
Trail of Entrails are the latest death metal dealers out of Chicago, IL. The band consists of Robb Exhumed (guitar/vocals; Mutilate, Waifu), Zacky Bifid (guitar/vocals; Bifid Corpse, Coffinfeeder), and Alex Entrails (drums; Barrier). Having already played their first live show (check out the footage below), the band is here ready to unleash their debut EP Rot In The Cellar. Continue reading »
Trust me, writing about metal isn’t easy. The challenge of not using the same clichéd words over and over again in an effort to describe the music is daunting. That challenge is part of what keeps those of us at this place still engaged after so many years, i.e., we’re stubborn fools who strive to become better.
But trust me again, writing about metal in most of its kaleidoscopic shapes is a piece of cake compared to writing about the music of Rintrah, which is like a vine of many colors whose scandent twining runners have hooked into metal but whose roots and other branchings take their nourishment from far different sources of which we can claim no expertise and have little experience.
In other words, prepare for something completely different. Continue reading »
Groza
As I mentioned yesterday I’m flying to Iceland tomorrow to be present at Ascension Fest. I need to figure out what to pack, decisions like whether I should bring one change of underwear and socks for the week or 7. I’ve noticed from past Ascensions that people there don’t smell as bad as at U.S. festivals, so maybe more than one change, eh?
I’ve also got a couple of premieres to write for posting tomorrow before I leave, and some clothes to wash, and I might should spend some time with my spouse, to increase the iffy odds she’ll still be here when I get back.
So, even though it’s been two weeks since the last time I did this Sunday column and therefore I have an especially mountainous pile of new music to choose from, this will have to be short — at least in terms of my own words. Continue reading »
Last weekend I didn’t pull together new music for a Saturday SEEN AND HEARD or a Sunday SHADES OF BLACK. I was away from home at a Pacific Northwest beachfront on a short vacation with family and friends. That led to late nights and late mornings and a desire to pay attention to physically-present human beings instead of communing with headphones and computers.
The consequence is now staring me in the face: Two weeks’ worth of new songs and videos to choose from for today and tomorrow, instead of one, when even one week’s worth is usually overwhelming. I made lists of links but of course could only listen to a small fraction of them. I was first drawn to some familiar justified names and then just threw mental darts, though the aim was not completely random. Here’s the result:
No matter how deafening the racket or how urgent the whispers around the mouldering halls of the NCS HQ, we’ll always make time for new God Dethroned, and count ourselves lucky that Henri Sattler & co. are still alive and kicking. Continue reading »
(Andy Synn sinks his teeth into the new album from 200 Stab Wounds, out now)
I’m sure we’re all familiar with the concept of “meat and potatoes” Death Metal.
You know the type – it’s not flashy or fancy, but it’s filling, flavourful, and satisfies your cravings (at least for a while).
Well, what if I told you that the new album from Cleveland crushers 200 Stab Wounds pretty much dispenses with the potatoes entirely and instead aims to load your plate with nothing but raw Death Metal meat?
The origins of the word troglodyte date back to antiquity, where it was used by ancient Greek and Roman geographers and historians to refer to primitive cave-dwellers in different regions. Over time, of course, it has also been used to refer to any people “characterized by reclusive habits or outmoded or reactionary attitudes”.
The New Jersey death metal band TROG probably had their tongues in their cheeks when they chose that name. (When the band originally formed in 2019 the name they used was Troglorot, which obviously incorporated some other connotations too). On its face, the name suggests primitive caveman death metal, the kind that sounds like grunting hulks brutishly banging rocks together.
But even their first EP, Of Vomit Reborn, made clear that this wasn’t really what they were up to. Their debut album Horrors Beyond, which we’re premiering in full today on the eve of its June 28 release, makes that even more apparent, and no one with ears to hear would ever characterize the music as a reflection of “outmoded or reactionary attitudes” — far from it. Continue reading »