heavy metal

Album Review: Red Dragon Cartel - Red Dragon Cartel

Submitted by Chris C on Wednesday, Jan 22nd 2014

There was a time when Jake E. Lee was on top of the world. He was a huge star while playing in Ozzy Osbourne's band, and then when he started the cult favorite Badlands. I must admit that while Jake is one of the biggest names in guitar to have emerged from the 80s, I am not familiar with most of his career. Not being a fan of Ozzy in the slightest, I couldn't tell you anything about Jake's time in that revolving door, and I have probably only heard two Badlands songs in all the time I have known of their existence.

Album Review: Sacrificial Blood - "SoulS for Sale"

Submitted by M. Drew on Tuesday, Jan 21st 2014

Sacrificial Bloods’s new record “SoulS for Sale” is a deliciously straightforward affair, unapologetic in its directness. I shall try to honor that by being equally direct in the discussion of it.

With all the image and promotion and jockeying for position and gamesmanship and preening that vies for our musical attention, it’s devilishly easy for artists to get drowned out by big voices and flashy showpieces. If you listen carefully, you can hear Sacrificial Blood calling all of that noise what it is; bullshit.

Shelf Space: "Demons" Blu-ray Review

Submitted by JakeD on Sunday, Jan 19th 2014

The audience at the Metropol Theatre in Berlin settle into their seats, crack open a Coca Cola, and prepare themselves for a little horror film. What they didn't prepare for, is to have the theatre become their own personal hell on earth-- run rampant with obscene, ultra-violent DEMONS. They must do their best to survive this blood bath and pray they don't become one of Satan's spawn. This movie pretty much describes my feelings on the movie theatre "experience." I feel old.

Album Review: Chrome Division - "Infernal Rock Eternal"

Submitted by wizard on Saturday, Jan 18th 2014

I like all sorts of music, from jazz to early rock and roll to standards to metal. And, when it comes to metal, I particularly enjoy metal with a groove. For our purposes we'll call it "bop-metal" (yet another sub-genre?). I like to bang my head with the best of them but metal you can also bounce to really turns me on. That leads me to this week's review.

Album Review: Pro-Pain - "The Final Revolution"

Submitted by M. Drew on Friday, Jan 17th 2014

If “Jurassic Park” taught us anything (and it most definitely did!) it was that ‘life finds a way.’ As the calendar reached the close of 2013 I noted one odd quirk in that musical year – my year end accolades did not contain any album that impressed me with the sheer volume and ferocity of its power. It was a conspicuous absence, to me at least; always there had been a Cancer Bats or an Indestructible Noise Command to whet my appetite for sonic destruction.

Album Review: Scythia - ...Of Conquest

Submitted by Chris C on Tuesday, Jan 14th 2014

The thing I love about self-proclaimed progressive music is that I never know what to expect. After listening to enough albums, it gets to the point where it's not hard to see where bands are going (especially new bands) after a couple of songs. They rarely change direction, and far too many bands these days play every song in the same tempo, with the same feel, and with the same tones. Eventually, it all blends together into one big song, and it almost never turns out to be a strength.

The Eleven Best Metal Albums of 2013

Submitted by M. Drew on Friday, Dec 13th 2013

By now, you all know the rules, but here’s a one phrase recap: New studio records only. Also, like a classic Spinal Tap joke, I went to eleven this year. What can I say, I couldn’t narrow it down farther from that. It happens. Let’s get started.

First off, I really don’t have a ‘Little Band That Could’ award to give out this year, though I am coming around on Bronze Honey. I just haven’t had a chance to really dig into it and see what I think. So hold that thought, you may see something more in January.

The Year That Was in Metal - 2013 (Part 2)

Submitted by M. Drew on Thursday, Dec 12th 2013

M. DREW: Addressing Wizard first, I had never before considered the possibility that glam existed as anything other than meaningless party rock. The revelation that glam was part of a quasi-realist take on the Cold War, an effective 'we're gonna get blown up, so we should have sexy parties now!' changes the entire nature of how I view the genre, and also how grunge could ascend thereafter. It makes entirely too much sense that the hubris of glam would have been a cover for the ever-present fear of nuclear annihilation.

The Year That Was in Metal - 2013 (Part 1)

Submitted by M. Drew on Monday, Dec 9th 2013

M. DREW: I'm still not entirely sure what to make of 2013 as it winds down, except to say that I think it was an excellent year for metal overall. Yet, the complication arises in that I can't pinpoint one single facet that was better or worse than the others. As I look back at the albums we covered (and the ones we didn't,) I feel like the metal offering this year was a mile wide and an inch deep. Even as I contemplate my own top ten (-ish) albums of the year, I find that they were produced by at least four or five different splinter genres.

An Interview With Notcum

Submitted by M. Drew on Sunday, Dec 8th 2013

Attentive readers have heard Chris and I talk a lot this year about the preponderance of retro metal bands channeling dark blues into the metal furnace. One of the movement's vanguard, and one of the bands who really gets it, is Noctum. Here to explain himself, his band and their release "Final Sacrifice," is drummer Fredrik Jansson.

M.DREW: Walk me through the concept of “Final Sacrifice.” What’s the album’s story?

FREDRIK JANSSON: It's a fictional horror story. Our bass player Tobias had the story rolling around in his head for a year or two before it was done. The lyrics, the music and the artwork is tied together and that's all I will tell you about it. People have to listen for themselves and make up their own mind of what it’s about.