★★☆☆ A high two-star on First Listen, although I’ll admit that I gave it a second listen (after which I liked it even more). It’s uneven as fuck, but that’s part of its charm. The vocals are the weak link here, but a small price to pay for really interesting post-core metal. See the rest here
☆☆☆☆ Admittedly, I’m not the world’s biggest doom metal fan… but this album is even worse than the Cathedral swan song. Self-congratulatorily boring, and the production values are solidly in “early 90s demo tape” territory. I want that hour of my life back now, please. See the rest here
★★★☆ This unholy mix of Mastodon, Opeth, and Baroness manages to surpass recent offerings from each of those seminal bands by not being as proggy or technical as any of them. Instead, we’re treated to a massive hofbrau slab of all of the above. Their swagger and unapologetic heft (not a single tune under 7 minutes, yo) yield a truly surprising and refreshing (if not wholly original) debut album from these mad Canadians. See the rest here
★★★☆ It’s easy and tempting to dismiss this album as nothing more than the lowest, sludgiest layer of The Ocean’s Pelagial… but Sky Burial repays the patient listener with a deft and nuanced exploration of heaviness. While it’s easy to tune out at times, the second half of the album has a few tasty surprises. See the rest here
★★☆☆ Surprisingly good, if overlong. This album has an air of self-parody vibe to it: all the things you’d expect from a Deicide album are here, but there’s a staleness to the whole thing. I will say that the solo work is very tasty, though.
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★★☆☆ This sounds like a cross between vintage albums from Entombed and Carcass. That’s a blessing and a curse, as the album has a tendency to feel dated or underevolved. See the rest here
★★☆☆ This is a brutal slab of death metal, not unlike the latest Gorguts… but there’s an inherent goofiness that brings it down a peg. Too bad, as its loudness and brutality are quite pleasing. See the rest here
★★☆☆ There’s actually plenty to like about this release (clocking in at 17 minutes, I can’t bring myself to think of it as anything other than an EP, even though it has 13 tracks). It reminds me of the best parts of anything that Kurt Ballou has touched (which, by the way, includes this recording too). See the rest here
★★☆☆ It’s good, it’s dynamic, but it’s frankly a little difficult to get excited about or pumped by. You know how you’ll say, “Oh yeah, I fucking LOVE baklava!” but never actually think about it unless you see it in front of you? This album is like that. See the rest here
★☆☆☆ I’m giving this a huge helping of optimistic benefit of the doubt, as it probably plays better as a soundtrack to the cartoon than as a standalone album. That said, it’s best described as an archipelago of decency in a deep, cold ocean of unlistenability. See the rest here
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