Louisville melodic black-metal quintet Volcandra announced their arrival in style in the winter of 2020 with a striking debut, Into the Azure. Brimming with versatility and creative energy, the record blended some of the best elements of Scandinavian and American black metal with a progressive lightness of being that gave a certain radiance to their […]
Tag: metal
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Gomorra trample all beneath their metal assault
As soon as you see the ridiculous “Iron Maiden meets fantasy novel with skulls” cover art for Dealer of Souls (Noble Demon) and hear the demi-classical opening, you know what Gomorra have to offer. And these German metalheads do not disappoint. Guitarists Damir Eskic and Dominic Blum blast out adrenaline-pumping, assault-by-lightning thrash riffs, while drummer […]
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Hulder spreads the dark wings of her black-metal hybrid on her first full-band tour
Named for a type of eerie forest spirit from Scandinavian folklore, Hulder is the project of multi-instrumentalist Marz Riesterer (aka Marliese Beeuwsaert, formerly of Bleeder, where she was known as “the Inquisitor”). Born in Belgium and based in the Pacific Northwest, this one-woman force of nature commanded attention for last year’s full-length debut, Godslastering: Hymns […]
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Seb Alvarez of Meth leaves his comfort zone in noise-centric collective Virgin Mother
Chicago group Meth are known for their big and burly scorched-earth mash-up of mathcore, noise rock, and ambient music, which they execute with surgical precision. At the center of their dissonant sprawl is vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Seb Alvarez, who started Meth as a solo project before developing the current six-piece iteration. The band put out […]
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Temple of Void delve into the abyss on the genre-bending Summoning the Slayer
Death metal gets stereotyped as a one-trick pony, but plenty of bands in the genre are thoughtfully breaking the mold. In the midwest, they include Michigan death-doom outfit Temple of Void. Formed in 2013 by veterans of Detroit’s metal and hardcore scenes, the five-piece have earned accolades for their gritty, genre-bending albums—in 2020, The World […]
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Cave In rise from the ashes with their most direct and focused release to date
The title and story behind Cave In’s 2019 LP, Final Transmission, led many to believe that the eclectic rock band’s two-and-a-half-decade run had come to an end. Following the tragic passing of bassist and vocalist Caleb Scofield in 2018, the group fleshed out the last demos they’d made with him and turned them into a […]
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Duma show that the future of metal is in eastern Africa
Africa’s metal scene has been quiet compared to its counterparts on other continents. Duma rectify that, and loudly. Vocalist Martin Khanja (aka Lord Spike Heart) and guitarist and producer Sam Karugu hail from Kenya, and they relocated to Uganda to release their self-titled 2020 debut album on Kampala’s Nyege Nyege Tapes. That label is known […]
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Chicago’s Nequient want to rile you up with Darker Than Death or Night
Chicago’s Nequient hit the ground running in 2015 with the EP Infinite Regress. By the time of their 2018 full-length debut, Wolves at the Door, they’d solidified into a brutal, versatile metallic-hardcore unit. They’d also established their studio methods and favorite producers (Pete Grossman at Bricktop Recording), and they accumulated some DIY touring experience. The […]
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Everson Poe’s powerful vision focuses the expansive metal of The Night Country
Chicago multi-instrumentalist Mae Shults began self-releasing heavy rock laced with doom metal under the name Everson Poe in 2009. In the ensuing years, she’s moved deeper into metal, amplifying her ambitious, cinematic vision with its grim cacophony and outsize theatricality. Last year’s Grief, for example, closes with “Acceptance,” whose oceanically distorted guitars and minimal, thundering […]
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Earthless return to form on the psychedelic Night Parade of One Hundred Demons
Earthless started releasing anachronistic 40-minute jams steeped in 70s hard-rock riffing at a time in the early 2000s when spindly postpunk seemed to dominate the underground rock landscape. A new wave of psychedelic metal was also beginning to take shape, though, and the Southern California trio’s studio debut, 2005’s Sonic Prayer, opens with a track […]
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On the new W, Boris find serene sounds amid their continuous sonic explorations
As Boris continue to steer in and out of avant-rock territory, the 30-year-old Japanese band increasingly splinter genre ideas and expectations fans might foist upon them. The trio have been prolific during the pandemic, releasing nearly a dozen albums whose variety almost necessitates a disregard for boundaries: they include studio full-lengths, EPs, and live and […]
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Baroness play fan-picked favorites on their first tour since the pandemic
Savannah metal band Baroness have named all their albums after colors, which before you even press play can evoke a sort of psychedelic synaesthesia and prepare your mind for what it’s about to receive. Led by guitarist and vocalist John Dyer Baizley, who’s also unquestionably one of the greatest album-cover and poster artists of his […]
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Portrayal of Guilt’s Christfucker is just as gnarly as the title suggests
Look, if you’re going to name your record Christfucker, it better be next-level gnarly. Otherwise, what’s the point? Luckily the second LP of the year from Austin’s Portrayal of Guilt is next-level gnarly and then some. The band leaned toward screamo from their formation in 2017 till their second album, January’s We Are Always Alone, […]
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Chicago’s Starless merge shoegaze and metal on Hope Is Leaving You
Chicago four-piece Starless launched in 2014 with a lineup including members of local bands Beak, the Timeout Drawer, and Our Earth Is a Tomb. This month the four-piece (not to be confused with the Japanese prog band or the Scottish art-pop band of the same name) are releasing their second full-length, Hope Is Leaving You. […]
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Where the water flows
About a month ago, I saw a magnet being hurled over the 18th Street Bridge. Initially, I brushed it off and I continued to stroll along the Chicago River bank with my friends. But the sound of the splash carried some weight, like an anchor or rock colliding with the water. I expected the line […]