When Iowan trio Druids‘ EP Spirit Compass (Self-release) hit my ears sixteen months ago, I was staggered by the apparent ease with which the bandmelded the darkness of Sabbath and the violence of Mastodon with the joyous, Summery Grunge of Blind Melon. It made for a heady mix and new offering Monument (The Company) promises the same excitement amid a paradoxically heavy flexibility. Continue reading
Despite third album Paradise Gallows (Relapse Records) establishing Virginian quintet Inter Arma as one of the World’s premier exponents of Harsh Progressive Metal, it’s nevertheless arguable as to whether or not the band remains in the shadow of 2014’s staggering opus The Cavern (Relapse Records). Fourth full-length Sulphur English (also Relapse), surely their most brutal yet, will lay such doubts to rest. Continue reading
Kicking off a new concert tour in support of her brand new EP Juniper, Myrkur continues to surprise and enthrall with her choice of covers. After a fan messaged her to say how one of her interpretations of a classic Danish folk song sounded like the soundtrack to the game The Witcher 3, Myrkur decided to learn and cover the song ‘Lullaby Of Woe’ a date last week in The Netherlands. Check out the fan-filmed video below and Myrkur’s own take on the song. Continue reading
It’s December at Ghost Cult, so once again it’s time for “End Of Year” Guest posts! We’ll be sharing lists, memories, and other shenanigans from our favorite bands, partners, music industry peers, and other folks we respect across the globe all month long. We kick things off with Mem V. Stein of metal legends Exumer! Mem put out a new album with his side project this year, Skull Pit, with Tatsu of Church of Misery. Their self-titled debut is out now from Metal Blade! Here is Mem’s top 10 albums of 2018! Continue reading
If there’s one word in the English language that Pennsylvanian mob Outer Heaven is either completely unaware of or simply have no need for, its subtlety. Whether the five-piece from Douglassville are smashing Death Metal into your guts at a thousand miles an hour, or gradually reversing over your face in a steamroller built from slow, grinding Doom, then there’s not much room for nuance or sophistication. Continue reading
Much of personal significance has happened to the members of Virginia Doom troupe Windhand since third album Grief’s Infernal Flower (Relapse) dropped in 2015: the resignation of co-founder and guitarist Asechiah Bogdan, after which the band has remained a quartet; the death of a friend close to the band; and the birth of guitarist Garrett Morris’ child. Given the joy and despair surrounding such events, it’s understandable the new full-length Eternal Return (Relapse) is a different beast from the droning sound usually expected. Continue reading
Every now and then a band comes along to bring back all the emotional, raw feelings rock and roll thrives on. A typical trend within the genre for a while now, there have been a lot of misses and very few hits. Nothing, is a band of the latter. Continue reading
Reviewing technical death metal is always a double-edged sword, on the one hand, it sounds ace, but it requires some sort of advanced music qualification just to try and explain what on earth is going on. Anything labelled tech or prog is setting a pretty high bar for oneself, tech can often be an excuse for a band to push themselves to such heights of fretboard gymnastics it becomes inaccessible to most listeners, and prog can often descend into a ‘make sure you include the kitchen sink’ tick box exercise that it becomes formulaic. Continue reading
Survive Sunrise (Relapse) sees the release of ASG’s sixth album, their first since Blood Drive in 2013. Recorded, mixed and mastered by longtime producer Matt Hyde, their latest offering continues the North Carolina outfit’s signature sound; a heady mix of both psychedelic and stoner rock, with strong Black Sabbath, Kyuss and Mastodon elements throughout, complete with their trademark, and rather striking, album art courtesy of Malleus (Editor’s note: a.k.a. Ufomammut), whose previous work includes Foo Fighters, The Melvins and Queens of the Stone Age. Continue reading
Born out of a ferocious love and respect for Death’s early and face-ripping work, Gruesome, the brainchild of Exhumed’s Matt Harvey and Death To All’s Gus Rios are ready to unleash a new full-length onto the world in Twisted Prayers (Relapse). Some may wonder how they’ve stretched out so much from Death’s songbook to cover two LP and a couple of EPs, and the answer is by writing ferocious and infectious Death Metal…