2017 : Shadow Records Format : LP/CD/Cassette The most surprising thing about the coming of a new Ofermod album was exactly how little fanfare had greeted it. Perhaps not so much upon further reflection though, as a friend had astutely pointed out that the oversaturation of the black metal market with covens of void-worshipping, qilipothic…
2017 : Debemur Morti Productions Format : LP/CD Yes! It’s happened, a new album from Norway’s, Dødsengel. And it’s every bit as magical as one could hope. A follow up album to the mammoth, two-part, Imperator, Dødsengel’s fourth LP, Interequinox is given a much more straightforward presentation than its predecessor. I have to admit, while Imperator…
2017 : Poison Cult / Symphony Of Destruction Format : Cassette / CD / 7″ In today’s immediate gratification era of Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Spotify. Itunes, etc. it’s rare to “take a chance” on a band. Why would you? Hell, why even buy music when it basically exists for free now? Well, I occasionally like to be…
2016 : No Remorse Records Format : LP / CD Cut to late teens Jeff, driving a tanker truck, working insane hours hauling water to drilling rigs in the Sahara-like heat of the West Texas oilfields. You’d get about 30 minutes of downtime with each loading and unloading of water, so most of us read.…
2017 : Heiðrunar Myrkrunar Format : 7″ It never really went away, but with the success of projects like Survive and the Stranger Things soundtrack, bands cranking out 80’s themed, John Carpenter-esque themes are at an all time high. Take a quick gander at eBay for “vintage synths” or hell, even companies like Moog reissuing classic analog…
2017 : Heretic Thorns Format : CD For a lot of us into “extreme metal”, the forefathers that shaped our listening habits are pretty well entrenched as legends in the overall music landscape: The Misfits, Samhain, Danzig, Motörhead, Slayer, Bathory, et al, what I guess the youngins now call Dad Rock, but fuck all of those…
2017 : Brave Mysteries / Shadow of the Stone Format : Cassette / CD The highland Clan known as Campbell takes it’s name from the grandfather of Sir Colin Mor, known by the Gaelic “CAM BUEL”, or “Crooked Mouth”. There are many legends behind the origin of that epithet, but the truth is lost to…
2017 : Urban Yeti Format : CD / Digital There’s a thread that runs through the latest from the Pennsylvania-based Dreadlords, and if you tug hard enough for the stitches to unravel it will lead you straight to Samhain. Not the Gaelic high holiday that became the toned-down version that we now call Halloween, but…
2017 : Désordre Nouveau Records Format : 7″ File this one under “out of left field” for me, it’s one of those splits your not sure how or why came together, only glad that it did. For those that don’t know, Dreadlords is basically the flipside to the Black Industrial unit TOMB. Make no mistake, it’s…
2017 : Sepulchral Voice Records / The Ajna Offensive Format : LP / CD Now that I’ve been able to sit down with it for a bit, I’ve been struggling to find words for this one. I know a bunch of people were expecting a sequel to the debut MLP that shook the Death Metal scene way back…
2016 : Aurora Borealis Format : Cassette/Digital I’ve been a fan and ardent follower of Anji’s work since stumbling across it a couple of years back. I’ve featured her on the podcast, asked her to contribute to our yearly “best of” (which she’s so graciously complied), but I’ve never actually reviewed one of her releases.…
MMXVI Yes, 2016 was a dumpster fire, but the flames are not burning any hotter or reaching higher than the ones before…or the ones to come. Politicians are a corrupt lot and most answer exclusively to mega corporations. Few, if any, hold our best interests at heart. We live in a world where religious extremists kill…