219 total search results — Page 7 of 11
Isis – Live VI 11.16.07
Review — July 30, 2012
A year after their dissolution, post-metal powerhouse Isis is preparing to digitally re-release its entire live discography on a fortnightly basis throughout the summer of 2011. The set of five—wait, hold up a moment. I finished those last summer. What's with the new release?Turns out Isis still have a …
Cynic – The Portal Tapes
Review — July 30, 2012
In order for me to talk about this album, you're going to need some [CONTEXT].If there's one thing I absolutely hate about Cynic, it's their squandered potential. In 1993, right in the middle of the technical death metal craze that bore the likes of Atheist, Nocturnus and Suffocation …
Lento – Live Recording 8-10-11
Review — July 30, 2012
When a band releases a live album, there's usually some great importance behind it, whether it be documenting an important performance, showing off some otherwise unreleased material. or just the band sharing a once-in-a-career quality set. Live recordings released for the sake of releasing a live recording otherwise tend to …
Storm Corrosion – Self Titled
Review — August 6, 2012
Steven Wilson and Mikael Åkerfeldt are both two musicians I hold in incredibly high esteem. Wilson’s flabbergasting diversity of styles covered with Porcupine Tree or his various solo projects and Åkerfeldt’s amazingly thoughtful and moving compositions with Opeth both continue to astound me no matter how often I listen to …
Barren Earth – The Devil's Resolve
Review — August 6, 2012
If there’s anything I love, it’s some fucking metal. And if there’s any band out there that can deliver some fucking metal with astonishing consistency, it’s Finnish power/folk sextet Barren Earth. In that respect, their latest album, 2012’s The Devil’s Resolve, does not disappoint.Like their previous release, …
Periphery – Periphery 2: This Time It's Personal
Review — August 13, 2012
I don't have a good history with Periphery. Their debut album, though it had a few good moments, left a very sour taste in my mouth. Given that a lot of the issues I had with it could be chalked up to growing pains of a new band, however, I …
Cloudkicker – Fade
Review — August 13, 2012
If there's any one artist who should make you happy to listen to music, it's Ben Sharp, aka Cloudkicker. Though releasing free music on the Internet isn't anything new, it's safe to say that, in terms of quality, Sharp's in a class all his own. He also voluntarily remains unsigned …
Mårran – Mårran
Review — August 17, 2012
Mårran are a traditional rock band out of Sweden, playing only the most barebones, no-frills hard rock possible. They take their name from the Groke, a Swedish character from the Moomins, who is a ghostly figure constantly in search of warmth and light, and yet able to achieve neither due …
Arjen Anthony Lucassen – Lost in the New Real
Review — August 17, 2012
Few musicians are quite as busy as the Dutch composer and multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Though he's known principally for being the brain behind the immense collaborative project Ayreon, Lucassen has headed no less than four other bands, including progressive metal band Guilt Machine, ambient metal band Ambeon …
krokmitën – BWV565 Redux
Review — August 17, 2012
After releasing their debut alpha-beta last year, a single 45-minute track and accompanying video of unadulterated technical death metal ferocity, Montréalers krokmitën decided that the only way they could one-up themselves would be to do something completely different. The result is the only slightly more modest 10-minute EP, BWV565 Redux …
Absolace – Fractals
Review — August 27, 2012
Emirati band Absolace certainly know their stuff. After releasing their debut Resolve[d] in 2010, they easily paved their way for a followup. That album just so happens to be 2012's Fractals. How does their new album hold up? Unfortunately, not as well as you'd hope.The main issues stem …
Deathmøle – Meade's Army
Review — September 3, 2012
Jeph Jacques may be primarily a cartoonist, but he's somehow managed to turn that profession into an outlet for his musical passions as well, crafting a virtual band from his own fictional characters and recording real music for them. The result is his one-man post-metal project, the flippantly named Deathmøle, …
Tesseract – Perspective
Review — September 3, 2012
TesseracT made quite a splash in the djent scene with their debut last year, the aptly titled One. Though the album itself wasn't particularly impressive, it still struck a chord with a lot of listeners and garnered the band quite a following. It's no surprise they've rushed to produce …
Big Black Delta – IFUCKINGLOVEYOU
Review — September 10, 2012
Jonathan Bates, aka Big Black Delta, made me entirely rethink what pop music could be last year with the release of his incredible debut, BBDLP1. He took the standard pop music formula and twisted it so far on its head that I'm pretty sure it exited from its own …
Senmuth – Hagwalah
Review — September 10, 2012
Russian rocker Senmuth is known for his very overt fetish for all things Near Eastern. All you have to do is look at his website, and you'll see it's filled to the brim with pictures of him in Egypt, as well as the vast quantities of music and artwork that …
Devin Townsend Project – Epicloud
Review — September 17, 2012
You may never suspect it, but listening to the catalogue of Canadian musician Devin Townsend will cause you to run the gamut of extreme metal, new age, arena rock, ambient, and somehow even more. His last four albums, released under the Devin Townsend Project moniker, were supposed to be an …
Horseback – Half Blood
Review — September 24, 2012
I remember distinctly the first time I was introduced to Horseback. It was by their 2012 album Half Blood, and I'm told that my experiences were pretty standard. For the uninitiated, your first few seconds of listening to Horseback will inevitably go something like this:"Hm. This is some …
Heinali – Air
Review — September 24, 2012
I really wish I had the chance to review more classical music. While I don't consider myself an expert on the genre, I always find that listening to classical gives me musical experiences I truly could not get anywhere else, and when you've been listening to metal all day long, …
Ancestors – In Dreams And Time
Review — October 15, 2012
I'm not quite certain what the cover art for Ancestors's new release In Dreams and Time is supposed to represent, but one thing is for certain: it doesn't prime you for what the album actually sounds like. Depending on your artistic interpretation, that may actually be a good thing—but let …
