Sylosis — Dormant Heart
★★☆☆ A meatily-produced album of post-metalcore (I just made that up) that nevertheless manages to feel both overlong and disposable. Good for a listen, but I’ve already forgotten it. See the rest here
Author Archives: arse
This is a project that I wholly endorse
My proclivity to fix other people’s audio problems is well-known. So I’m excited about this, a note-for-note remake of Metallica’s St. Anger, recorded by guys from Adust and Grace The Skies. No, I’d never heard of them before either, but it’s a great way of getting your name on the map. See the rest here
Cloud Shugah
This handy tool for generating fake band names is 100% spot-on. I’ll never need to struggle again! (Thanks to @sfbrian for the link.)
For your listening pleasure
Awww yeah, it’s about ten days before we get started with the Arsies. And for your listening pleasure, I’ve put together a TIDAL playlist of all the contenders. (I’ll also be added battle-specific playlists to all our installments as we go along.)
See the rest here
Tortorum — Katabasis
★★★☆ This is quite simply one of the finest black metal albums of 2014. With the right kind of ears, you could hear this as if Deliverance-era Opeth decided to fully commit the dark. And the reverb. See the rest here
Nervosa — Victim Of Yourself
★★★☆ This is satisfyingly straightforward thrash, not bogged down by overthinking or overproduction. There is a sameness to the material and pace that starts to bog you down after a while, but the overall sound is just different enough to not sound too derivative (while still be very firmly rooted in the genre it so lovingly emulates). See the rest here
A Sense of Gravity — Travail
★★☆☆ I’m going to throw out some names that crossed my mind as I listened to this prog metal epic, and you tell me if you can resist the siren call: Textures. Chimp Spanner. Allan Holdsworth. Fredrik Thordendal. Compelling, right? And yet, about halfway through, the album loses its footing and starts sounding like just another djent band. See the rest here
Gamma Ray — Empire of the Undead
★★★☆ A throwback? Perhaps. But this album from Helloween-offshoot Gamma Ray also offers an updated take on some vintage power metal, with hints of Savatage, Queensrÿche, Blind Guardian, and yes Helloween. And Priest. And Queen? And to be honest, the album starts to overstay its welcome about two thirds of the way in. See the rest here
Equilibrium — Erdentempel
★★☆☆ Holy fuck, is this folksy. With most other bands, folk metal tips over too easily into awkward caricature. But somehow, not only do Equilibrium avoid this trap, but their unflinching commitment helps them create an authenticly uplifting headbanging experience. At its best, “Erdentempel” sounds like Týr as performed by DragonForce. See the rest here
Lvcifyre — Sun Eater
★☆☆☆ Blech. I mean, for blackened death metal, it’s pretty good. But it’s so self-consciously de rigueur that the whole thing reeks of awful familiarity. See the rest here
