Ebay is allegedly facing their worst day in two years, with stock holders panicking because of the forecasted lower revenue. Also, eBay is conducting a “mass layoff” in the Bay Area, consisting of an estimated loss of more than 260 jobs. It is repeatedly reported that the company has suffered massive revenue losses, and we may hope it may be the death of eBay.
(more…)
Tags: ebay, mystery, underground
Article by Salustiano Ferdinand
I was listening to Persecution Mania yesterday when I opened my email and saw some new releases thrown my way to sift through for potential reviews. Although I’m generally skeptical of newer metal releases, the Shadows in the Crypt album was a pleasant and recent surprise, so I figured why not.
(more…)
Tags: 2018, in inceptum finis est, odium totus, panegyric of death, sadistic metal reviews, smr, tatanhammer, the synoptic picture of negativism, vulturine, write good riffs or die
Death Metal Underground wishes to announce its support of new Colombian underground record label La Caverna Records. (more…)
3 CommentsTags: 2018, death black metal, la caverna records, siete lagunas, thrombus, underground label
Article by Salustiano Ferdinand
Shadows in the Crypt was the promising black metal act led by Lawrence Wallace, of his own long-running dark power/speed metal act Moonlight Prophecy/Lawrence’s Creation as well as being the former lead guitarist of bandmate Schatz’s power/black metal fusion Serpent ov Old [1]. (more…)
No CommentsTags: 2012, Black Metal, Cryptic Communications, power metal, Shadows in the Crypt
Canadian speed metal vortex band Voivod has announced their new album, titled The Wake, for release on September 21st. The artwork has, apparently once again, been created by the drummer Michael Langevin.
(more…)
Tags: 2018, obsolete beings, Voivod
Article by Bill Hopkins
“We might even say that to be fully modern is to be anti-modern: from Marx’s and Dostoevsky’s time to our own, it has been impossible to grasp and embrace the modern world’s potentialities without loathing and fighting against some of its most palpable realities.”
—Some overweight sociology professor
Metal, like any manifestation of culture, doesn’t emerge from a social vacuum. So much should be uncontroversial. This raises a question in need of reply: What set of ideas and social forces explain the existence of metal? One hypothesis is to view metal as a manifestation of European romanticism [1], the period of European culture from roughly 1789 to 1850. This article suggests a different hypothesis: namely, that metal must be placed against the backdrop of post-modernity in order to be properly understood. In order to make this case, it is vital to understand ‘post-modernity’. Many confuse post-modernity (1960s-) with modernism (1890s-1930s), especially when it comes to art. Thus, a secondary goal of this article is to illuminate post-modernity. I will argue that one key imputes giving rise to metal was post-modernity’s re-engagement with past forms [2].
One naïve view of post-modernity, especially in its artistic manifestations, views it as an elitist movement intent on offending traditional and bourgeoise sensibilities by embracing the ‘shock of the new’ and the absurd: think of the sort of art piece your intellectually disabled 3 year-old could do if given a paintbrush and a blank canvass stretched out on the floor. However, this is to mistake post-modernity with modernism[3]. Modernism preceded post-modernity by decades. It began in the late 19th century and had all but dissipated in time for the lead up to WW2. Not only this, modernism was primarily an artistic movement whereas post-modernity refers to sweeping social and economic changes in addition to artistic ones.
‘Blue Poles’ by Jackson Pollock
As we will see, post-modernity is characterised by a re-assessment of modernism’s ‘shock of the new’. In order to explore post-modernity and its connections with metal more fully, however, we need to take a few steps backwards before going forwards. We need first to understand the broader concept of ‘modernity’ (1789-). What is modernity, such that ‘post’-modernity is contrasted with it?
(more…)
Article by Salustiano Ferdinand
One of the hallmarks of great musical works is that every note has a purpose to move the mindset of the listener in some direction. Musical structure whether on a small or grand scale is what gives music much of its power and memorability; a focused work that wastes no note and moves with constant intent from distinctive point A to distinctive point B and on will embed itself into the mind of the listener not just for its general sound and aesthetic but in its entirety. Classical pianist James Rhodes said of Ludwig van Beethoven, likely the greatest composer of memorable themes in western art music, that with his works, “Every note was sweated over, every theme worked on tirelessly and chiselled into immortality. The manuscripts of Bach and Mozart look spotless next to the messy, crossed-out, almost indecipherable madness of Beethoven’s. While Mozart hurled symphonies on to paper as fast as he could write, barely without correction, Beethoven stewed and fought and wrestled and argued and raged until he forced what he was looking for out and onto the page.” [1] Sadly, however, the importance and art of structure is often ignored and neglected entirely within metal albums. Too often a death or black metal band is content to choose a tempo or two and proceed to restate the same content through interchangeable means for a length such that they overstay their welcome about halfway through the ordeal.
(more…)
Tags: contrast, musical motion, structure
Article by Belisario
Almost four years after their previous full-length, Varathron is back with a new effort that meets expectations and offers a fantastic black metal listening experience in the distinctive Greek variety. The veterans from Ioannina have been able to maintain a difficult balance between respecting their classic sound and developing new forms, something they had already achieved on Untrodden Corridors of Hades. These new forms are slightly different and more modern, yet clearly related to their older albums.
(more…)
Tags: 2018, agonia records, patriarchs of evil, varathron
Chilean speed metal trio Apostasy has released their new album The Sign of Darkness via Fallen Temple. After releasing two demos in the late eighties and early nineties, followed by a compilation in 2013, Apostasy started releasing demos in 2014. The new demos contain old and new material, with the album presenting the band’s fully developed voice.
(more…)
Tags: apostasy, chile, Speed Metal, the sign of darkness
