reviews

My review of the new Agalloch album Ashes Against the Grain is up at Stylus. An excerpt: Agalloch has been tagged “gray metal” or “post-black metal,” awkward terms that connote black metal as a point of departure. While its riffs are muscular, with vocals occasionally dropping into a black metal rasp, most of this album […]

This post owes its existence to Albert Mudrian, editor-in-chief of Decibel, in two ways. First, Nicke Andersson, who used to drum for Entombed and now sings for The Hellacopters, was inspired to return to death metal and form this band after reading Mudrian’s book Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore. Second, […]

My review of Year of No Light’s Nord is up at Stylus. An excerpt: The proliferation of Isis-alikes has reached epidemic proportions. Every time you turn around, there’s another band with atmospheric riffs, eight-minute songs, understated artwork, and a beard (or two). It’s easy to see why this sound has caught on: Black Sabbath, Godflesh, […]

This is a demo, but it aspires to more, with eight tracks and fairly involved artwork. I must note that this Chilean band emailed me this demo as MP3’s and jpeg’s, citing the high cost of postage. That’s fair enough. However, most labels don’t accept MP3 submissions, and if the band wants to get anywhere, […]

Jared Anderson recently passed away at the tragically young age of 30. He was the bassist/vocalist on Morbid Angel’s Gateways to Annihilation tour and on Hate Eternal’s first two albums. He also had a solo project called Internecine, which released one album, 2002’s The Book of Lambs. On this album, Anderson handled bass, guitars, and […]

Converge makes intensely painful sonic workouts that sometimes feel like scraping knuckles over rock. But they’re also emotionally fulfilling, if only for the feeling of, “Man, I thought I had problems.” Converge albums are definite moments in our lives, and No Heroes (on Epitaph) is a fine addition to the legacy of one of the […]

This past weekend, I attended a wedding that was half Jewish. One of the Jewish customs observed was dancing the hora. If you’re unfamiliar with the hora, it’s a lot like a mosh pit. There’s tons of circle pits dancing around the bride and groom, who get raised above the crowd on chairs – kind […]

My review of the new Trivium album The Crusade is now up at Stylus.

My review of the new Ludicra album Fex Urbis Lex Orbis is now up at Stylus. It’s awesome, hands down one of my favorites of the year. I usually listen to music in headphones before I go to sleep; this album is one of the few I’m afraid to hear before bedtime. Not even the […]