Iceland’s Sólstafir have for the past 25 years straddled genres including black metal, post-rock, and shoegaze. Singer and guitarist Aðalbjörn Tryggvason says he feels “privileged being able to mix all my favorite genres and get away with it.” With Endless Twilight of Codependent Love, the band’s seventh album, they don’t merely “get away” with incorporating… Continue reading Album Review: Sólstafir’s Endless Twilight of Codependent Love
Tag: album review
Album Review: Loud Night’s Mindnumbing Pleasure
Loud Night are a new band from Richmond, Virginia that feature former members of underground heroes Ramming Speed. Their mission this time is playing a d-beaten version of heavy metal, that would make Lemmy smile from beyond and make Cronos pay attention, because you can definitely hear both Motorhead and Venom in their sound. You’ll… Continue reading Album Review: Loud Night’s Mindnumbing Pleasure
Album Review: Pallbearer’s Forgotten Days
Forgotten Days, Pallbearer’s fourth album, is heavy in more than one sense. Placing the actual music to one side momentarily, the lyrics deal with some serious and difficult themes and concepts. Joseph D. Rowland (bass, harmony vocals), who wrote many of the words, talks about the songs often being a kind of dialogue with his… Continue reading Album Review: Pallbearer’s Forgotten Days
Album Review: Utgard by Enslaved (Nuclear Blast, Oct. 2nd)
The term progressive is tossed around the metal world often, an adjective readily applied to bands across the myriad of sub-genres. Throw “progressive” in front of any standard description and it instantly adds a level of technicality and arrangement not found in the genre as a whole. Taking it a step further, bands that operate… Continue reading Album Review: Utgard by Enslaved (Nuclear Blast, Oct. 2nd)
Album Review: Fear by Valkyrie (July 24th, Relapse)
My propensity for writing introductions has declined in old age, so let’s just launch right into it… Virginia rockers Valkyrie are releasing their fourth album on July 24th, 2020, once again via Relapse Records. If you liked Shadows, you’ll certainly be purchasing Fear— with the Adams brothers on dueling guitars and the same rhythm section… Continue reading Album Review: Fear by Valkyrie (July 24th, Relapse)
Album Review: Echoes from Deep November by Fires in the Distance
The debut album from Connecticut metal supergroup Fires in the Distance, Echoes from Deep November more than lives up to expectations from their local scene — and furthermore, the expectations placed upon a band that was signed before their first release in the midst of a pandemic. But these guys have been at it long… Continue reading Album Review: Echoes from Deep November by Fires in the Distance
Album Review: Subterranean Exile by The Wizar’d
Australia’s The Wizar’d have been churning out traditional doom metal since 2004, amassing a solid catalog of four full-length albums and several EPs. Their most recent long player, Subterranean Exile (released April 24th via Cruz Del Sur) is the work of a band comfortable in its own skin. Unlike the death metal-tinged war beat of… Continue reading Album Review: Subterranean Exile by The Wizar’d