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Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

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Album Reviews

Album Review: Octoploid – Beyond The Aeons

Merriam-Webster defines pedigree in part as “2a: an ancestral line (Lineage) b: the origin and the history of something”. Well, when the bloodline of a band includes current/past members of AMORPHIS and SWALLOW THE SUN (among others), to say that OCTOPLOID has “an impressive pedigree” is a bit of an understatement. Still, that’s no guarantee that what emerges will be anything more than a blending together of two already near-cousins in sound; possibly even something that would’ve worked better kept within each’s respective outfit. Alright, that’s the last of the comparisons made, now let’s get to the important thing – […]

Music News

Gates of Hell Records Signs Detroit Power Metallers, Demon Bitch; New Album On The Way

Detroit (MI) – Gates Of Hell Records is proud to announce the signing of Detroit power metallers DEMON BITCH. The label will release the band’s long-awaited sophomore album, Master Of The Games, later this year. The label will also be reissuing the band’s 2014 Death Is Hanging… EP, as well as heralded full-length debut, Hellfriends. Stream ‘Into The Archway’, from the forthcoming Master Of The Games album. DEMON BITCH was formed in 2011, and after the aforementioned Death Is Hanging… EP, released Hellfriends in 2016, which was hailed by Toilet Ov Hell as “passionate, clever, and often outright bizarre, Demon […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: New Horizon – Conquerors

Conquerors starts with such an incredible barrage of quality that I really thought this might be the best power metal album I’ve ever heard. Well, things do start to slip by the middle of the album, but even with that “slippage”, this is still one Hell of an awesome melodic metal album. When God was handing out voices, he loaded Nils Molin up with more talent than just about any other human being I’ve heard. Good…God…Almighty! What a golden set of pipes Nils has! This is a singer for the ages, right up there with the late Ray Gillen, early […]

Music News

VANHELGD Unleash New Song, ‘Kerernas Törst’

The newest track from dödsmetall horde VANHELGD is now streaming! ‘Kerernas Törst’ comes off the band’s long-awaited new album, Atropos Doctrina. Listen now at THIS LOCATION After six long years, VANHELGD has finally installed a successor to 2018’s monumental Deimos Sanktuarium on the notorious Svensk Dödsmetall throne. But as the saying goes, good things are worth waiting for, and as the Fates would have it, the Swedes’ sixth opus Atropos Doctrina might just be the best of the bunch. Dark Descent Records will release Atropos Doctrina on July 12. Order the album at Dark Descent Records Webshop Dark Descent Records […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: QAALM – First Light Of The Last Dawn [EP]

QAALM arrived seemingly from nowhere in 2022, a quintet who kicked up its share of interest with debut Resilience & Despair. Now trimmed to a three-piece (Family Size to Snack Size…maybe I’m just hungry…), drummer Dave Ferrara and guitarist/vocalist Henry Derek join forces with guitarist Minsu Dylan Kim to “usher in” what purports to be “a new era” for the band. A droning intro, populated by sparse fingerings and even more spacious bass, QAALM never in the greatest rush to get anywhere. This can harm some bands more than help, as a good many just don’t know how to give […]

Music News

THUNDER HORSE: Dead Alive In Texas out now

Texas heavy and doom metal juggernauts THUNDER HORSE release their new live album, Dead Alive In Texas, on vinyl, CD and digital through Ripple Music. Known for their electrifying performances, THUNDER HORSE is set to reignite a cherished tradition with the release of their latest album, Dead Alive In Texas. Evoking the spirit of rock’s golden era, THUNDER HORSE channels the energy and raw power of live performances into a captivating 9-track record. In homage to the revered practices of the 1970s, where legendary bands would unleash three studio albums before delivering a monumental live experience, THUNDER HORSE follows suit […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Brazen Tongue – Of Crackling Embers & Sorrows Drowned

‘The Weight Of Self’ suffers from a more lightweight guitar tone than the style demands, session drums of Kevin Paradis busy as all Hell, but somehow coming across as laid down after too few listens to the scratch tracks sent ‘cross the pond to result in anything he’s emotionally involved in. Vocalist/guitarist/synth-ist (synthesizerist? synther?) Scott Skopec has a fine death delivery, no doubt heavily influenced by the other guitarist – and only other actual member – Ethan Gifford’s Gothenburg surroundings, and both ‘Metaviral’ and ‘Walking The Parapets’ wave proudly the flag of G-burg’s melodic death past both in arrangement and […]

Music News

Bob Mould Announces Solo Fall Tour Dates

Today BOB MOULD announces a 2024 fall solo tour through New England, the Midwest, and the Southeast in that order. The tour will take place through September and October. See below for the full list of tour dates or visit the tour page In conjunction with the tour announcement, today Mould also releases a live recording of a new unreleased song ‘Breathing Room (Live Solo Electric)’, his first since 2020, and one of many new songs to come. “I’m looking forward to bringing even more new material to everyone this fall. Generally speaking, the new compositions are brief, catchy, and […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Ascalapha – Somber Vampyric Night

Does the world need another bedroom black metal “band”? Turns out, “need” or not, we’ve certainly had far worse than ASCALAPHA foisted upon us. ‘Dark Moon’ slowly begins her westward arc, tasteful and tunefully caressing the sable half-dome of the night, belying the grim subject matter, the resignation to the end. Lyrically, we find Monstro – and thus, ASCALAPHA – to be sparse, more a collection of handfuls of water (tears?) from life’s cold stream than traditional rhyme, which then affects the musical form; no “verse-chorus-verse” here. After a ‘Ceaseless Drought’, we stride the ‘Nameless Path’, filled more of determination […]

Music News

ARX ATRATA release stunning new video for the title track of their upcoming album, A Reckoning

The new album from ARX ATRATA is nearly upon us, with A Reckoning set to be released on CD and digital formats on July 5th. Today, Ben Sizer, the man behind the music ARX ATRATA, presents a magnificent narrative video to accompany the album’s title track. Filmed beneath the boughs of ancient English woodland, the imagery and music entwining perfectly to create a captivating representation of the ARX ATRATA creative vision. Speaking about the new song and video, Ben offered the following thoughts… “The lyrics of the new album tell a story through each song, and the title track ‘A […]

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