While I've spent much of this time stuck at home listening to great new music, I've also spent some time watching complete trash TV. A recent favorite of mine is the ridiculously stupid yet ridiculously entertaining Ancient Aliens. I sort of knew what I was getting into when pressing play, but I didn't know my … Continue reading Xibalba – Años en Infierno Review
A few weeks ago Ancient Hand posed this question on Instagram: "Have any of you had THAT album hit you this year? Y'know that album you hear and know it's going to be a favorite right away?" Up until now, my answer to that would be "no." Don't get me wrong, 2020 has been a … Continue reading Lesser Glow – Nullity Review
At this point, it's no longer a hot take to say that nerd culture has gotten out of hand. I imagine in thousands of years when the Earth starts to resemble Mars, the only remaining trace of human life will be an open grave of deep-cut Funko Pops. That being said, I am a huge … Continue reading Temnein – Tales: Of Humanity and Greed Review
Hey do you guys remember that Kanye album last year? You know, the shitty one that a bunch of old people strained really hard to enjoy? Well what if it was a powerviolence album that was 4 minutes shorter, had better politics, and - most importantly - was actually good? That album would be Satan … Continue reading ACxDC – Satan Is King Review
With the despairing state of the world at the moment, you would think this metalhead would convert to poptimism to maintain some sense of sanity. And to give poptimists their due credit, 2020 has been a pretty great year for pop music so far. But alas, I find myself delving further into the worlds of … Continue reading Foretoken – Ruin Review
When you think "black metal," Australia may not be the first place that comes to mind. But like that Snorlax album I reviewed earlier this year, the land Down Under has its fair share of blackened greatness. The latest installment comes from Graveir, a five-piece from Melbourne, with their new album King of the Silent … Continue reading Graveir – King of the Silent World Review
Spotlights are part of a legion of bands (see also: Holy Fawn, Niights) who take their shoegaze and post-metal influences beyond the My Bloody Valentine and Deftones aping of their peers to create something they can truly call their own. Their last album Love & Decay made my Top 20 list last year, so naturally … Continue reading Spotlights – We Are All Atomic EP Review
Several years ago I had the pleasure of seeing Crowbar open for Carcass. While I was a much bigger Carcass fan at the time, I was floored by both bands' performances. They're on different ends of the subgenre spectrum, but in the moment the booking made sense. However, the thought didn't occur to me until … Continue reading Beggar – Compelled To Repeat Review
Hyborian are cursed in the sense that every review of them mentions Mastodon and Baroness. But it's hard not to - Hyborian takes cues from those bands' riff-driven Leviathan and Blue Record periods respectively, but with vocal heights that neither band could reach at the time. Their 2017 debut album Volume I was top notch. … Continue reading Hyborian – Volume II Review
"Progressive metal" can be a loaded term. On one end, you could be in for some engaging, envelope-pushing music. On the other, you'd be hearing dudes with gauged ears ripping off Meshuggah and Tesseract. While I can't speak to the state of Vancouver band Neck of the Woods' ear piercings, I can say their new … Continue reading Neck of the Woods – The Annex of Ire Review
