Pestilence — Obsideo
★★☆☆ 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
Author Archives: arse
Meek Is Murder — Everything Is Awesome Nothing Matters
★★☆☆ 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
Russian Circles — Memorial
★★☆☆ 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
Dethklok — Metalocalypse – The Doomstar Requiem
★☆☆☆ 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
Living Sacrifice — Ghost Thief
★★☆☆ It’s good, it rocks, but it doesn’t really stick with you after the first listen. Definitely recommended as a once-through, though. Hopefully more good things will come from this band in the future. See the rest here
Holy hell
Last night, I went to see Warbringer, Overkill, and Kreator. Warbringer impressed, but I’m here to tell you that Overkill literally kneed me in the taint. See the rest here
How To Death Metal
HEY GUYS.
Motörhead — Aftershock
★★☆☆ This is a thoroughly decent continuation of what Motörhead has been consistently doing for years: churning out well-produced high-octane hard rock. That said, only the briefest of moments on this album will get you anywhere near the memorability or caliber of… well, anything you’d hear on a “Best Of” album (and, let’s face it, that’s pretty much as much Motörhead as I’ll ever need anyway). See the rest here
Doin’ it
Authorities working to account for the tens of thousands of people missing in wake of Typhoon Haiyan are also facing the challenge of getting desperately needed aid into a region devastated by one of the most powerful storms in history. See the rest here
Ihsahn — Das Seelenbrechen
★★☆☆ The entire album features Ihsahn at his most cinematic. This is both a testament to one of the most inventive and prolific musicians in metal today… and a big problem for the listener. Every track sounds like it’s excerpted from somewhere in the middle of a soundtrack. There are no real starts or finishes here, so the whole thing is more comparable to Fantomas than any concept album, or anything else that Ihsahn has done post-Emperor. See the rest here
