During the middle to late 1990s, metal fell into panic because it was clear that the genre needed to become progressive without falling into the usual mishmash of jazz, lite rock, and protest music that has made progressive rock a cursed entry since the 1970s.
1 CommentTags: Black Metal, solitvdo
After slaying the world with North From Here, Sentenced reverted to the Iron Maiden and Queenrsyche side of the equation, trying to come up with a hard rockin’ version of death metal, in the process turning off most of their fans.
6 CommentsTags: Heavy Metal, sentenced
Fathers, Brothers, and Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, and Anthrax
by Frank Bello
Rare Bird Books, 206 pages, $28
Almost all popular music interviews and autobiographies address the how more than the why which disappoints the teenage fan in all of us. Frank Bello attempts to express the why with his story of a broken childhood and how it partially led him to being in speed metal band Anthrax.
2 CommentsTags: anthrax, frank bello, Speed Metal
Legendary floaty nebulous ambient band Biosphere returns with a new album due out January 21, 2022. Following previous efforts, the soundtrack-influenced background sound with evocative themes the listener must meet halfway remains, and the sample track almost trails off rather than conclude definitively.
No Comments
Submitted by Ton Basileion
Unleashing a spirited interpretation of the older, darker variant of grindcore found in acts such as Blood, early Carcass, Terrorizer, and Repulsion, Vomit Spell propel their debut album with thrashcore riffs at the frantic speeds of early grindcore with interpolations of melodies clearly inspired by both the death metal and black metal approaches to melody.
No CommentsTags: Grindcore, vomit spell
Everything must run its arc, and for grindcore that arc apparently ends in being commercialized just like everything else. Rendered in plastic, served up on styrofoam, simplified to obsequious edginess, and yours for the low, low price of $19.99, the new Napalm Death Scum “Reaction Figure” glows in the dark just like your FBI agent.
34 CommentsTags: Grindcore, merch, napalm death, toys
Some months ago, a good friend asked for advice on pipe smoking. It was clear at that moment that no top-level guide existed, mainly because most got stuck in a muddle of gear and preferences, but few mentioned the core of the practice: technique.
17 CommentsTags: listening, music, stochastic resonance
It is somewhat difficult to fail to enjoy the theory behind this holiday, even if — like everything in the hands of a human social group, committee, cult, clique, echo chamber, hug box, or hive-mind — it has been turned into an excuse for carnies to sell garbage to apathetic narcissistic morons.
13 CommentsTags: commercialism, eugenics, halloween
Following the lead of South American bands like Mortem and Krisiun, Evil Damn charge ahead with fast riffs from the early days of death metal before the genre fully separated from speed metal, but keep the influence on speed rather than choppy riffs, making an energetic and seamless listening experience.
1 CommentTags: death metal, evil damn
Most things that slide across the desk, you wonder why they got made, why a label supports them, and why anyone has invested in something so obviously mediocre. Then you realize: they are all just doing their jobs, producing work churn, and no one cares about quality.
1 CommentTags: consecration, Doom Metal
