Author Archives: arse

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Amon Amarth — Jomsviking

✦✦✦✧ At first listen, something feels very off about this latest album from Amon Amarth. The first half in particular finds the band sacrificing their trademark ferocity in exchange for a catchy menace that feels more at home among Soilwork’s darker tunes. Still, the songwriting is tighter than ever, and each member of the band gets props for mixing things up a bit, instead of sticking fast to formula (all of which makes me suspect that this album will grow on me over time).

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Metal Church — XI

✦✦✦✧ This could just be the feel-good hit of the summer: high-quality thrash, updated for a newer generation without feeling like it’s overly pandering or forgetting its roots. Kurdt Venderhoof’s songwriting is consistently strong throughout the whole album, the musicianship as polished as ever… but the real standout here is vocalist Mike Howe, which is reminscient of Blitz Ellsworth at times.

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Fallujah — Dreamless

✦✦✧✧ The band’s third album finds them slightly farther afield from their signature progdeath sound and into trancier territory. While laudable in their ambition, and not completely surprising given the band’s trajectory up to now, their choices make it harder for the listener to build up a head of steam, as the heavy parts are isolated islands awash in a sea of atmospherics and tonalities.

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Rob Zombie — The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser

✦✧✧✧ This is an excellent caricature of Rob Zombie. All the superficial elements are here: big guitar tone, over affected vocals, infantile lyrics, and a fetish for utterly disposable B-movie and porn audio samples. What is regrettably new here is a penchant for out-of-nowhere pauses (including flourishes of acoustic guitar!), which disrupt any hope for decent pacing.

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Tombs — All Empires Fall

✦✦✧✧ This is a marked improvement over the band’s last album, “Savage Gold.” It’s more mature, and the band are more self-assured in their exploration of black metal (laced with metalcore elements). And it’s heavy, thanks to a delightfully prominent bass. Worth a listen? Sure.

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Aborted — Retrogore

✦✦✦✧ This album is as subtle as a root canal. But that’s what you want from these Belgian death metal masters. So what if nothing here really stands out as an instant classic? Your knuckles may wind up bloody nevertheless. There are notable cameos on “Retrogore” (from the likes of Revocation and Origin), but that’s like putting a parsley garnish on a flambé.

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