ALBUM REVIEW: Blood Ceremony – The Old Ways Remain


 

After a seven-year wait, psychedelic rockers Blood Ceremony are back with their new album The Old Ways Remain (Rise Above Records). This is their fifth record and it sees the Canadian quartet successfully add Folk, Pop, and Jazz elements to their already multifaceted, woozy psychedelic rock.

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CONCERT REVIEW: Soen – Oceans of Slumber Live at Lincoln Hall


 

Chicago is renowned for being home to some of the country’s most acclaimed concert venues. Lincoln Hall resides just north of downtown and has been voted as one of the best spots for live music in the city by sites like Yelp and Foursquare. The owners of Schubas Tavern opened their second location in 2009 in a hundred-year-old building and have been hosting transcendent live appearances since. Soen picked well to make this their Midwest stop on their one-month-long North American tour.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Getsemane – Viimaa


 

Part experimental jazz, part progressive, part sultry but all Getsemane – the newest work of art they’ve created for Svart Records is entitled Viimaa. There is a darkness to the sound, like mushrooms and the mycelial network dark. It’s taking the Hobbits to Isengard black. It’s underground clubs in New York City and Frankfurt, the ones with the brick on the inside; smokey, dense, hot.

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CONCERT REVIEW: Jinjer – P.O.D. – Vended – Space of Variations Live at Saint Andrew’s Hall


 

Saint Andrew’s Hall is one of the most treasured music venues in Detroit. It once was home to The St. Andrew’s Society which has been around since 1849. Like most of the buildings in Motor City’s downtown, there is a rich and interesting history that goes along with it. These repurposed places carry a rare kind of magic which feeds directly into the pleasant experience attendees have at Saint Andrew’s. It was the perfect spot for one of Modern Metal’s hottest bands to bring their headlining 2022 USA tour last weekend. Jinjer came to town, and they came ready to show off.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Soen – Atlantis


 

It is hard to believe that the Swedish supergroup, Soen, has only been making music together for ten years. Their first full-length, Cognitive procured high praise for its progressive proficiency and emotional maturity. They have stood out for their Tool-like compelling intensity and wide range of sentiment. They have remarkably managed to expand on these ripened abilities with each album they release. Now this quintet is getting ready to celebrate their tin anniversary by releasing a concert film of their classic numbers and a cover with live orchestral accompaniment.

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INTERVIEW: Jesse Matthewson of KEN Mode Discusses “Null”


 

Like a deadly, grizzled beast that lurks in the shadows, KEN Mode emerges every few years with a new record, tearing off limbs as it goes, before skulking back into its pit. With September 23rd seeing the release of Null, on Artoffact Records — the band’s eagerly anticipated follow-up to 2018’s Loved — founder and singer/guitarist Jesse Matthewson talks about the new record and what keeps the KEN Mode fires burning. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Clutch – Sunrise On Slaughter Beach


Clutch, the irrepressible quartet from Maryland, America have just graced our ears with a new record Sunrise On Slaughter Beach (Weathermarker) – their thirteenth record, coming four years after Book Of Bad Decisions. It is unmistakably a Clutch album, full of hearty riffs and deft turns of phrase, but it is a shorter and more varied one than its predecessor.

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ALBUM REVIEW: The Mars Volta – The Mars Volta


 

It’s 2022, September already, a busy time for album releases, a welter of “product” and, more importantly, a feast of music. And I can safely say that – until now – I haven’t heard an album quite like The Mars Volta. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Dreadnought – The Endless


There is something mystifying about records that are able to mix beautiful melodies and soundscapes with the aggressive signature of a metal band. Dreadnought has been doing this for a decade now and has released its fifth collection entitled The Endless (Profound Lore). The mix of progressive song structures, jazz, and classical elements, and elegantly placed influences of black and doom metal really tie the band’s sound together. The album is deceptively forty-plus minutes long as listeners will surely lose themselves in the midst of this one.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: The Callous Daoboys – Celebrity Therapist


Celebrity Therapist (MNRK Heavy / Modern Static Records) is the brand new LP from the six-piece Atlanta noise merchants, who announced themselves to the world with their debut EP My Dixie Wrecked in 2017 and have since continued to consistently put out new music including the Animal Tetris EP and their acclaimed 2019 LP Die On Mars which was also re-released as an instrumental version. Continue reading