Tangorodrim
Justus Ex Fide Vivit
Southern Lord (2007)
So what are we to think of this "pure, unholy black metal from Israel"? Well for starters, taking into consideration their country of origin doesn't mean a whole lot. Whether you're from Israel, South Africa, New Zealand or Paraguay, if you're black metal, you'll probably still sound Norwegian. Originality, you see, isn't one of the tenets of the black. Everyone roughly plays in the same fashion. High-end guitar production (and by high-end, I mean usually heavy on the treble), cymbal crashing blastbeats and grunts, screams and/or moans. Rinse. Repeat. By that standard, Tangorodrim measure up to others in the genre and as such, isn't bad. This just isn't to say that they're particularly good, either. For a band to stand out in the black arts takes dedication. Not necessarily to honing their skills as musicians, but to become blacker than black. More extreme. None more black. Tangorodrim (yes, it's a Tolkien reference, you geek) are only taking baby steps into the blackpool. And with this being their fourth full-length album since 1996, this puts them behind the times. Now a two-piece, the band doesn't seek to provide anything different from their predecessors and while not overly derivative, nonetheless provide an … Read more
Jackie Carol
Check Check
Speak Music Media (2007)
Allow me to get this little factoid out of the way first, I have been listening to Nathan Ellis projects … Read more
Modest Mouse
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Epic (2007)
Modest Mouse's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank have proven to be a difficult album for the staff … Read more
Ghostface Killah
The Big Doe Rehab
Def Jam (2007)
On his seventh album it sounds like Ghostface is handing over the reins to the less noted, giving more of … Read more
