News, Reviews and Interviews

Heavy Metal Around the Globe

Lifelost – Dialogues From Beyond

Lifelost – Dialogues From Beyond

The riffs are dissonant ear worms that savagely burrow through your brain with the menace of Herbert’s Sandworms. They don’t so much sit in the back of your subconscious as tear through it to make it their nest.

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Aeolian – Silent Witness

production is lush and powerful, the playing flawless throughout, and the songs are as melodic and dynamic as they are fast and pummeling.

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Forn – Rites of Despair

Forn – Rites of Despair

From start to finish, I want to sit with my eyes closed, in a dark room while the music pervades every fiber of my being. I would walk away a changed man I would wager.

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Satan – Cruel Magic

Satan – Cruel Magic

Not only does the quintet maintain their vintage tightly-picked, highly-harmonized riffing style, but they also subtly include elements of black metal (lots of octaves and rigorous tremolo picking), as well as the bluesy licks, retro tones, and standard tuning of late ‘70s Pentagram, Budgie, or Judas Priest.

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Paragnosis – Clarity In Three (Redux)

Paragnosis – Clarity In Three (Redux)

atmospheric and esoteric, seemingly floating through a series of complex metal riffs, dissonant jazz chords, and subtle lead-guitar melodies laid atop a straightforward-yet-effective rhythmic foundation.

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Kadebra – Compass

Kadebra – Compass

Chelyabinsk, Russia and Indianapolis, Indiana? Two places that no one thought would be mentioned in connection with each other, let alone by such an excellent piece of cooperative heaviness

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Wild – Sin Piedad

Fans of classic melodic speed metal such as Painkiller-era Judas Priest, German legends Accept, Running Wild and Helloween, Vicious Rumors, and late-’80s Riot will go “Wild” over this

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