Back after a five-year hiatus are Glasgow’s Bleed From Within with their new record Era (Century Media), and while it may have been an agonising wait it has been well worth it. The band themselves have always been greatly underappreciated; their back catalogue is impressive and they have never really stuck to the same formula throughout their career.Continue reading
The Venn diagram of people who like symphonic metal and people who like Christmas music is most certainly not a circle, but it is statistically probable that there is some kind of overlapping area in there. Is From Spirits and Ghosts (Score for a Dark Christmas) (earMUSIC) the perfect album for this niche crowd? NO.Continue reading
Opeth released Sorceress to the world last year, and as I said in my 10/10 review, “this is the progressive masterpiece from Opeth we’ve been waiting for.” Continue reading
Chicago’s Disappears have been an interesting, if sometimes frustrating band to follow. Their garage rock sound, typically drenched in reverb, tremolo and plenty of distortion is fairly straightforward on the surface. But listen closely and there are subtle nods to everything from Krautrock, deathrock, shoegaze, psychedelia and funk. Suddenly they become a monstrously groovy prospect. Their first two albums, Lux and Guider set them apart as a band to watch. But the momentum was somewhat derailed thanks to a lacklustre third outing on Pre Language.Continue reading