Impressive sludge metal with a thrash-touch is offered to us by Lord Dying on their debut-album and will bring each fan of High On Fire, Mastodon, Black Tusk, Red Fang, Ancients or Lair of the Minotaur to tears of anger! Because this stuff is absolutely excellent.
This “Doom” Metal band from Oulu (coastal town by the Botnic Gulf at the mouth of the river Oulujoki, situated NW & middle of Finland – with over 130,000 inhabitants, it is the 5th largest city in the country, and one of the northernmost largest cities in the world) was founded as a quintet in 2003.
Truly one of hard rock great survivors UK’s Deep Purple return with their 19th album and Now What?! is already being heralded as one of the best records the group has released in not years, but decades.
Sweden has always been the breeding ground of many great metal bands. One that has been taken from under the dust is the female fronted rock 'n roll band Sister Sin. Ten years ago, they released their debut record, called Dance Of The Wicked. But as the band didn't get the success they deserved back then, the American label Victory Records decided to re-release the album.
I wonder if there is something like brutal panda bears, but according to Brutal Panda Records, this is a perfectly plausible combination. They released the first record of the San Francisco based band Kowloon Walled City. The band's name refers to the walled city of Kowloon in Hong Kong, a refugee where mobs, prostitutes, criminals and all other sorts of outcasts hided from the government.
One of Mother Earth’s most eerie Doom acts is this two-piece, The Body, consisting of Lee Buford and Chip King. Again the duo recorded its new material at Machines With Magnets, and additional vocal contribution was provided by e.g. Reba Mitchell (Whore Paint), Otesanek’s Leslie Weitz, and Chrissy Wolpert (of Assembly Of Light Choir).
About twenty five years ago (we’re talking about the late eighties and early nineties), a couple of Extreme Metal acts added keyboard lines to their music, not only as introduction to a recording, yet as an important ‘full’ instrument. Best known example probably are Nocturnus, but acts like Torchure, The Gathering or Sinoath are other comparable possibilities as well. This goes for Dutch act Phlebotomized too.
Pandemics and plagues, who does not like them? It is, I think (no, I don’t think so; I’m sure) one of the final solutions to save our Earth from that other sickness, called Humanity. Pest is a possibility (no further comment for this writing is a new album’s review and not my personal opinion about the detestable place of the human being within Nature and Earthly Life).
J’adore le scène de Québec – cela a toujours été le cas, et cela ne changera jamais. At least, not as long as labels like Sepulchral Productions continue releasing material by superb acts from out there. This excellent label focuses on local bands, especially francophone. A small selection: Forteresse, Utlagr, Gris, Borgne, Sombre Fôrets or Neige Et Noirceur.
Since John Schaffer recruited Stu Block (Into Eternity) on vocals, it seems the career of Iced Earth has been relaunched. Since the release of ‘Dystopia’ in 2011 they’ve toured over the world and played countless gigs.
