ALBUM REVIEW: Allfather – A Violent Truth – Trepanation Recordings


 

There is nothing – nothing – clean about Allfather.

Not the production or tuning; not the various vocal methods; not the atmosphere or tone.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Witch Ripper – The Flight After the Fall


 

Thunderous. Anticipatory. Windswept. A Bugatti Veyron driving at top speed through the Uyuni Salt Flats. Batman. Witch Ripper’s The Flight After the Fall (Magnetic Eye Records) is all of this and more.

Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Big|Brave – Nature Morte


 

Big|Brave, along with recent collaborators The Body (on Leaving None But Small Birds), Sunn O))) and Earth, are one of those bands whose music while fundamentally heavy and ‘Metal’ (for all intents and purposes) nonetheless expands far beyond the sometimes self-imposed conservative restrictions of the genre. Being a somewhat inactive member of a Metal group on Facebook, I am all too familiar with the more traditional brand of Metalhead for whom the genre stopped being ‘true’ after Iron Maiden‘s Somewhere In Time or Metallica‘s …And Justice For All. If you are of that ilk therefore, I have a sneaking suspicion that this album possibly won’t be for you.

Continue reading


CONCERT REVIEW: Royal Thunder – Spotlights – Boozewa Live at Saint Vitus Bar


1-5-23, St Vitus, Brooklyn, NY

This was a hell of a show from start to finish and the best way I could have started the 2023 year if you want to quantize it that way. Boozewa (ˈbooze-ˌwä), features members of Backwoods Payback, hailing from West Chester, PA started the night off. Good lord, riffmas stayed late this year and treated Brooklyn with a healthy heaping of head-banging, fun time signatures, thick bass, and caveman drums.

Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Re-Buried – Repulsive Nature


It hasn’t taken long for the bright and shiny optimism of the new year to be well and truly soiled by what is sure to be one of the filthiest and repugnant releases of 2023. Hailing from the land of grunge, Seattle, Re-Buried were formed in 2018 and feature bassist Clayton Wolff and drummer Alex Bytnar from sludge/doom act Un. With guitarists Ed Bingaman and Paul Richards providing the stomach churning riffs, the line-up is completed by frontman Chris Pinto, although the vocals on this recording are actually performed by his predecessor Mat Chandler.

Continue reading


EP REVIEW ROUND-UP: ft. Black Veil Brides – Oversize – Sugar Horse – Bayside


 

Black Veil Brides – The Mourning (Sumerian)

There’s an underlying belief that interim releases are merely disappointing cash-ins comprised mostly of filler and cast-off material. A strong title track usually followed by cover versions, demo versions, live cuts or songs simply not worthy to make it onto a full length record. A theory to which Hollywood based five piece Black Veil Brides clearly do not subscribe.

Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Stake – Love, Death and Decay


 

The concepts and the all too real, bleak experiences of mental hardships and loss of loved ones will be well known to many people and additionally to many people we know. For Stake, these have been the fuel for the band since their inception (previously under the Steak Number Eight moniker), a vehicle for vocalist/guitarist Brent Vanneste’s grief and anxiety.

Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Conan – Evidence of Immortality


For years, Conan has shaped themselves into one of the heaviest bands on the planet. With their fifth release, Evidence of Immortality (Napalm Records), they maintain sole possession of that throne with their enemies’ heads at their feet. While the “caveman battle doom” pioneers have their own sound, they continue to push their own boundaries of their older releases ever so slightly to keep everyone coming back for more. Continue reading