uk

Sometimes it’s nice when humans shut up and let their fingers do the talking. Vocals do sneak in on the last track of The Destruction of Small Ideas (Monotreme, 2007), but by then it’s thankfully too late. Perhaps the “small ideas” refer to genres; this album could fit under “post-rock,” “prog rock,” “atmospheric metal,” and […]

Evidently, the new American ambassador to Iraq is a heavy metal fan. One of his prized possessions is a poster of Iron Maiden’s “2 Minutes to Midnight” single (EMI, 1984). Pretty hip for a diplomat, though of course the song and cover has geopolitical significance, which a Maiden fansite explains in detail here. Mission from […]

This is easily the best demo I’ve received to date for review. London’s Scythian rolls out thrashy death metal with Swedish grit and touches of black metal atmosphere. The six songs on Suffering to the Conquered burst with nasty, memorable riffs and lots of little runs and switch-ups. The solos have an awesomely old-school, thin […]

Neurosis, upstairs @ GAMH, SFPhoto by Brendan Tobin It’s been a while since my last reviews update. There’s so much good stuff now, it’s almost overwhelming! At Stylus, I’ve reviewed Cephalic Carnage, Neurosis, Pelican, and Pig Destroyer. At Metal Injection, I’ve reviewed Akercocke, Toxic Bonkers, N.I.L., Deadlock, Merciless Death, Thought Chamber, and Watain. Neurosis – […]

The art of Stephen Kasner is one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. Although I’m now familiar with his style, it still d/haunts me. It’s a “take a deep breath and leap into the unknown” proposition, which I prize but find so rarely. I’m honored to have spoken with him; his interview […]

I haven’t followed prog metal/rock since the ’90s, and only recently reconnected with that world through the German label InsideOut. Some of its stuff is obviously prog (baroque songs and agile chops), while other “prog” now seems more like sophisticated pop music. Bullitts DominaeApprentice of the Universe Thus, I’m still figuring out that landscape. But […]

Akercocke Two recent and bizarre bits of black metal in the popular media (clips below) – the first is Akercocke on Irish BBC TV, in a somewhat hyped “debate” with Christian types. The band isn’t that articulate (hitting the bottle on live TV hardly advances one’s cause), but then again, the whole show is a […]

This recent quote from Frank Urbancic, coordinator of counterterrorism for the US State Department, got me thinking. “This is not the kind of war where you can measure success with conventional numbers. We cannot aspire to a single decisive battle that will break the enemy’s back, nor can we hope for a signed peace accord […]

Satanas Rex, the black metal offshoot of UK-based industrial/black ambient label Cold Spring, has signed Funeral Throne and will release the band?s first album, Nihil Sine Diabolus, in the spring of 2007. The band has posted two tracks from the album at its MySpace. A track from the Nun Fucking Black Metal demo follows below. […]

Suicide Solution (with guitar solo)Dee (Randy Rhoads studio out-takes) Epic1987 Today marks the 25th anniversary of Randy Rhoads’ passing. Five years afterwards, Ozzy Osbourne released Tribute, featuring live cuts recorded while on tour for Blizzard of Ozz. They’re good, not great. The band isn’t tight, and Tommy Aldridge turns in an amazingly boring drum solo. […]