Feb 052024
 

(Vizzah Harri was not necessarily invited to write about the most virulent verses and lullabies of the year just past, but he did ask rather nicely (read: forcefully) whether he could give it a shot in the dark. This guest says he works in education, is an occasional scribbler of self-proclaimed abstract poetry bordering on obscurantism and his only real skill is that of finding mistakes in the work of his (su)peer(ior)s. Not to mention his affinity for keyboard-racing. He resides in Hanoi, Vietnam.)

According to the CDC, infectious diseases can be either bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic in nature (other than the CDC link, unless you somehow reverted back to troglodytical proclivities and missed it completely this time ’round last year, them be the greatest hits of 2022’s most infectious lists). There also exists a rare group of mephitic and contagious diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

TSEs or prion diseases are a family of rare progressive neurodegenerative brain disorders with long incubation periods; progressing rapidly once symptoms develop, they are always fatal. I’m not saying that this list is so noxious it might kill you, but something has to kill you in the end, albeit the biggest predator here is the presence of overlong sentences. Full disclosure and disclaimer up next: Continue reading »

Aug 052023
 

Hey there, how’s your weekend shaping up? Is it shaping up like this, or like this? Either way, after you make your way through what I’ve picked for this Saturday’s roundup it may be re-shaped into something like this.

I decided to arrange the following new songs and videos in reverse alphabetical order by band name, mainly so I’d be able to start with…

WARCRAB (UK)

When I think of WarCrab‘s music I think of the kind of whumping sound that would be produced by a giant battering ram pounding against concrete pylons and ejecting the rebar out the other side. I also sometimes think of Bolt Thrower and Crowbar, and not just because Transcending Obscurity Records refers to those bands in the context of describing WarCrab‘s forthcoming album The Howling Silence.

But in the case of the first two singles from the new album, those aren’t the first impressions that come to mind. Continue reading »

Mar 192020
 


Afterbirth

 

(In this post Andy Synn provides reviews of six recent albums, all of them leaning in different deathly directions.)

As a companion piece to last week’s Black Metal Bonanza, and a follow-up to Monday’s Death Metal focussed “Short But Sweet” article, here’s a bunch of Death Metal artists/albums to help keep you all sane during these unsettled times. Continue reading »

Jul 272017
 

 

(Our old and good friend from the Dominican Republic, Vonlughlio, prepared this review of the new album by the Long Island death metal band Afterbirth, which will be released on July 28 by Unique Leader Records.)

Work has been killing me for the past few weeks and I’ve been meaning to write a review for one of my favorite BDM bands from Turkey (which I will eventually do). But thanks to the Big Boss Islander, nope, that would not be the case.

He reminded of an article he posted about a song by the band Afterbirth and suggested that I should give it a listen. Big Boss thought I might like it. He never is wrong, but in this case when I saw the cover, I was worried to say the least. Why, you might ask? It’s not a bad cover (yes, not bad). It’s just me. I’m a bit complicated when it comes to artwork.

Well, Islander, you were right, I ended up loving the song. I would also like to take the opportunity to say thank you for letting me do a small write-up of their album, The Time Traveler’s Dilemma. I was not familiar with their demos or EP, so I decided to check what I could find on YouTube and then listen to the full-length. Continue reading »

Jun 302017
 

 

Here in the U.S. of A. we’re about to begin a long holiday weekend that rolls through Independence Day next Tuesday (except for the poor souls who have to work anyway), and what better way to launch all the shenanigans than with a big heaping helping of Afterbirth!

And to be clear, I mean the band Afterbirth — the New York-based death metal maulers whose ranks include members of Helmet, Artificial Brain, and Buckshot Facelift. Their debut album The Time Traveler’s Dilemma will be released by Unique Leader Records on July 28th, and we’re revealing a track from it today named “Drills and Needles“.

Don’t be misled by the fact that this is a debut album. Though this music is fresh Afterbirth, their first discharges occurred long ago. Continue reading »