2013: The Year In Review
Now that the dust of the Fifth Annual Arsies has settled, I can take an unvarnished look back on 2013, listing possible trends, and making the case for its classification as a watershed year for metal. See the rest here
Author Archives: arse
Call For Papers
This is right up our alley… especially yours, Boydo: Metal and Cultural Impact: Metal’s Role in the 21st Century Metal Studies is a growing interdisciplinary field, connected to, though not limited to fields as diverse as Popular Culture, Leisure Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, History, English Studies, Music, Cultural and Critical Studies, Gender Studies, Critical Theory, and Business and Economics. See the rest here
Call For Papers
This is right up our alley… especially yours, JaPaBo:
Metal and Cultural Impact: Metal’s Role in the 21st Century
Metal Studies is a growing interdisciplinary field, connected to, though not limited to fields as diverse as Popular Culture, Leisure Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, History, English Studies, Music, Cultural and Critical Studies, Gender Studies, Critical Theory, and Business and Economics.
See the rest here
Tempel — On The Steps Of The Temple
★★★☆ The debut album from this two-piece band from Phoenix is a surprisingly inspiring exploration of doomy wanderings. It’s interesting, listenable, and provocative… three words that don’t typically come to mind when listening to something so inherently sludgy. I am impressed! And I’m going to listen again right now. See the rest here
Tungsten — The Reservoir
☆☆☆☆ This is deadly boring, a lackluster blend of Orchid, Bonnie Tyler, and Boston. It’s well done and all, but it’s weighed down by a heavy blanket of downtempo indifference. Also, we should be very clear about this: it ain’t metal, by any stretch. See the rest here
Mustasch — Thank You For The Demon
★★☆☆ This is an odd bird. On the one hand, it’s really excellent at what it does: it’s a ballsy rocker that packs a few surprises. On the other hand, it’s a stretch to call it metal. All that said, though, it’s worth a listen or two. See the rest here
The Haunted — Eye Of The Storm
★★★☆ Too short for serious consideration, but what little is here is fantastic. This is The Haunted at their most metallic, a sound we haven’t heard from them in years. Very thrashy, and the last track sounds like something you might find on Slayer’s “Undisputed Attitude.” See the rest here
Periphery — Clear
★★★☆ This little album rocks. While you can still here the sampler quality of this quiltwork EP in places, it’s still generally successful as a document of the band’s ambitions and directions, and manages to be cohesive enough to not be a total dysfunctional mess. It’s also both poppier and more metal at times that Periphery II (with standout tracks “directed” by the band’s rhythm section). See the rest here
Caliban — Ghost Empire
★★☆☆ Djentcore! That’s a thing, right? This specimen has all the notes, but not much of the heart. As such, I found myself nodding my head like a good soldier, but not really feeling it or caring so much. So, this album isn’t bad. It just isn’t great, either. See the rest here
Monte Pittman — The Power Of Three
★☆☆☆ Should a modern metal album aspire to sound like a poor man’s post-Layne Alice In Chains? There are a handful of interesting moments on The Power Of Three, but they’re momentary distractions from the many, many flaws that abound. See the rest here
