ALBUM REVIEW: Death Goals – A Garden Of Dead Flowers


 

Imagining what sounds the absence of something emits can be as intangible as it is incomprehensible. A garden of dead flowers, for example, would presumably lack much in the way of disturbances or noises. Yet, Death Goals penned a soundtrack for that scene and it’s deranged, cantankerous, and irrepressible.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Fires In The Distance – Air Not Meant For Us


 

 

Fires In The Distance do not do anything halfway.

Since 2021’s debut Billboard-charting opus Echoes From Deep November, the melodic doomsters set out on a course to carve out their colossal identity. As a response, Air Not Meant For Us transcends music. With larger-than-life compositions and stunning atmospherics, the Prosthetic Records release averages nine minutes a song and impressively builds on FITD’s earlier success.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Dawn Of Ouroboros – Velvet Incandescence


 

Since the release of their single and accompanying music video, the anticipatory excitement for Dawn Of Ourboros’ sophomore record has been palpable, to say the least.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Foretoken – Triumphs


 

In late 2020, Foretoken warned the entire world of one thing: the Virginia Beach-based duo is on a mission to completely shake up the status quo. Three years later, Triumphs (Prosthetic Records) is proof positive the mission is so far a smashing success.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Dryad – The Abyssal Plain


 

The vaunted Mariana Trench is nearly seven miles deep underneath the ocean surface. Or in other words, it plummets down into the Earth more than Mt. Everest stands tall. The creatures that occupy that type of ecosystem need to withstand unimaginable pressure, cold temperatures and a complete lack of light.

 

And if that’s not terrifying enough, Dryad took this notion to the next level and crafted a thirty-five-minute opus that does as good a job as anything else in positing what the environs found down there might actually sound like via the medium of biting blackened metal: The Abyssal Plain (Prosthetic Records) captures and exploits the paralyzing nightmare of finding oneself in such an alien, unknown world. Foggy, muffled production represents the complete disorientation that would be felt so far below.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Languish – Feeding The Flames Of Annihilation


 

To follow the seven-year trajectory that is Languish’s ascent from debut to their third and most recent offering is rewarding and comforting. The Arizonan death grinders were born as an independent group that had neither the backing of a record label nor even song titles for their first album, opting instead to use Roman numerals. Now, the foursome has harnessed the support of Prosthetic Records and is finally starting to carve out a compelling identity, and that journey crescendos with Feeding The Flames Of Annihilation, the first full-length to feature artwork that isn’t monochromatic.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Phobophilic – Enveloping Absurdity


 

If Phobophilic was a tangible entity, it would resemble the abhorrent grime found inside of a dilapidated kitchen before Gordon Ramsay loses his shit.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Tómarúm – Ash In Realms Of Stone Icons


Tómarúm is a band tailor-made for extensive, elaborate compositions, overflowing with equal parts technicality and atmospherics. The Georgia-based progressive black metal group put the general public on notice with their scintillating debut full-length, Ash In Realms Of Stone Icons (Prosthetic). Just as each glance at the album cover (courtesy of Mariusz Lewandowski) presents new findings, so to does each listen trigger new emotions.Continue reading