Nightingale — Retribution
★☆☆☆ This is some lovingly crafted schmaltz. We’re talking album-oriented gloss, like a modern update on ending credits music to a movie from the 80s. I kept expecting a duet with David Coverdale. See the rest here
Category: First Listens
Earth — Primitive And Deadly
★★☆☆ This is a weird combination of drone metal, shoegazer, and Metallica’s “Lulu.” See the rest here
Bloodbath — Grand Morbid Funeral
★★☆☆ For the pedigree that comes along with this supergroup (Opeth, Katatonia), the resulting album is surprisingly so-so. It’s a perfect and credible fusion of Entombed, Morbid Angel, and a smattering of other classic deathgrind acts. And you’ll nod your head throughout your listening experience. Just don’t be surprised if you feel like you’ve heard this before. See the rest here
Beyond Creation — Earthborn Evolution
★★★☆ Since I’m a graduate of the Steve DiGiorgio School Of Excess Bass, it’s almost impossible for me to not admire this album from Beyond Creation, especially with some of the songs being thinly-veiled excuses for fretless bass worship. And to be honest, those egregious moments are when the album falters the most. See the rest here
Skyharbor — Guiding Lights
★★★☆ If you liked TesseracT’s last album, you’re going to like this one as well for a few reasons (not the least of which is that Daniel Tompkins is the lead vocalist for both bands). It’s lush and layered and gorgeous. I just wish it was slightly more metal than it is. See the rest here
Sidious — Revealed In Profane Splendour
★★☆☆ The second EP from this by-the-numbers blackened death group is good for what it is: a lovingly but self-consciously faithful homage to Dimmu and Behemoth. As such, the album is a faithful facsimile, but not a terribly moving one. See the rest here
Old Man Gloom — The Ape Of God II
★★☆☆ Oh, here we go. Do yourself a favor and turn the volume way down for the first two unfuckinglistenable minutes of this half of OMG’s double album. Pandemonium holds dominion over this recording. What music is allowed to take root here is reminiscent of “NO,” but these moments exist only as a reprieve from a lurking cacophony. See the rest here
Old Man Gloom — The Ape Of God I
★★★☆ The first half of this double album finds Old Man Gloom in an even more experimental mood than ever before. Sure, we still here the crushing noisescapes that we heard on the group’s previous album, “NO,” but these are shorter now, as are the more “conventional” songs. Speaking of which, the band seem to be caught between different identities. See the rest here
Nero Di Marte — Derivae
★★★☆ If you love Isis or The Ocean, and you appreciated last year’s Gorguts juggernaut, then this album will likely make you very happy. The metal here is dark and moody and lush. It goes on a bit much (this is an hour that feels like two), but there’s plenty of meaty earcandy throughout. See the rest here
Black Map — …And We Explode
★★☆☆ I wouldn’t exactly call it metal — more like a sludge/QOTSA hybrid — but it’s a metalish supergroup nonetheless (Far, Dredg, The Trophy Fire), and it’s pretty rockin’… at times. It’s also melodic and full of atmosphere. It’s worth a peek through, and certainly useful if you’re trying to lure any normies to metal. See the rest here
