australia

Traitors’ Gate (Hells Headbangers, 2009) has the makings of a classic. The first and only record by Shackles, who broke up after releasing it, it is one of the finest examples of Australian thrash to date. Shackles share the German edge of compatriots Hobbs’ Angel of Death and Deströyer 666, but are more melodic. (See […]

by Cosmo Lee Speaking of government funding, Earache’s blog has a great entry about how the label (and also Creation Records) started with the help of Margaret Thatcher. During her regime, the UK government set up an “enterprise allowance scheme,” which gave money to people to start businesses. The goal was to get people off […]

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt CheapAustralian album cover AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” has taken up literally hours of my life. It’s strange for a single – the breathing sounds on beats 2 and 4, rare singing by Malcolm Young, ridiculous lyrics about being a contract killer. When I tracked down covers of the song, […]

Fight Amp At Pitchfork, I’ve reviewed Fight Amp, a ’90s AmRep throwback whom I suspect has a Danzig fetish. The recording is tough; the guy-girl vocals are tougher. At All Music Guide, I’ve reviewed Avenger of Blood (German thrash from Las Vegas), Barbara (artful Israeli sickness), Bilk (Croatian drum ‘n’ bass ‘n’ rock), Brutus (Caesar-slaying […]

High on Fire When I saw High on Fire recently, I was astounded by the number of females in the crowd. Only Enslaved in Berlin had more girls – go figure. Actually, I kind of get that. Europeans invented metal, so it’s in their blood. There, black metallers actually have Norwegian names, and girls go […]

Occasionally, a record comes along and grabs my “too many releases these days,” “illegal downloading is cheapening music,” “tired of wading through Blabbermouth’s endless Aerosmith and KISS news, not to mention every single Megadeth micro-update,” “will vomit upon hearing another deathcore album,” “will vomit upon hearing another retro thrash album,” “Metallica should pack it in” […]

I don’t know why Devolved sent me its debut album (MGM, 2001) for review, instead of its more recent effort, Calculated (Modern, 2004). I also don’t know why it included a sampler CD containing two tracks each from Technologies and Calculated; no non-radio entity would want such a truncated offering. Finally, I don’t know why […]

Arboreal Eternity is a split featuring Florida’s Rainfall on two cuts of black metal and Australia’s Umbra on four tracks of dark ambience. Despite their frequent juxtaposition, the two styles don’t fit together well here, though they share a lyrical affinity for nature themes. Rainfall – MoonlightUmbra – Drawn to Rotting Caverns Rainfall’s black metal […]

Speaking of Sabbath, Professor Nicola Masciandaro of Brooklyn College-CUNY has published a gloss (.pdf file) on the song “Black Sabbath.” In this case, “gloss” does not mean “a brief, often shitty explanation,” but “a long-ass philosophical commentary.” It’s 18 pages, more than one for each line in the song! Honestly, most of it goes over […]

I’ve seen “funeral,” “doom,” “depressive,” and “suicidal” (and in various combinations thereof) used to describe the black metal of Elysian Blaze. Such labels don’t particularly interest me, although this interview with this Australian one-man act is provocative with regards to that last label. What interests me is what comes from the speakers, and on Levitating […]