When is a Post Rock album not really a Post Rock album?
Welcome to the world of Northern Irish group And So I Watch You From Afar who take the template of Instrumental Post Rock and infuse it with a large dose of summertime Pop and Progressive musicianship. Continue reading
Pentagram (Chile) may be a name unfamiliar to many still, but they have been causing a stir for those with an ear to the ground since 1987.
Massively influential on so many of the major players of Death Metal and Black Metal today, they finally release their debut full length on September 6th.
So why is this such an important release and why have most people never had the privilege before? Why are bands like Napalm Death, At The Gates, Dark Throne, Avulsed, Destruction, Emtombed and Dismember huge fans… some of whom are guesting on this debut album…? Continue reading
The Oxfordshire based Candlelight Records hosted it’s now annual feast of delights from its current roster of bands at The Underworld in Camden Town, over 3 days. Sadly I couldn’t attend days 1 & 2 because of other commitments, but I hear from other notable attendees that Anaal Nathrakh laid waste to the subterranean venue on the Friday with Altar Of Plagues bowing out for good apparently on the Saturday with an emotional set. I wish that I could have been there.
However, I made it on Sunday for what was for me one of the best line ups for ANY gig/festival thus far in 2013. Continue reading
Having favourite bands and venues can be a frustration when they rarely combine; the preferred bands are frequently placed in less than ideal venues. However, sometimes the stars align and the experience is enhanced by the act and the location making the performance more than the sum of its parts. Unfortunately, when such a pairing is such a long way away from home, it is a battle for common sense and compulsion to decide… so a flight was booked to take me back to one of my old haunts in England. Compulsion is so much more rewarding! Continue reading
Athelstan is one half of the project called ‘Forefather’ whom together with his brother ‘Wulfstan’ has created some of the best historical based metal ever, bar none. Therefore it was a little bit of a very pleasant surprise to learn that he had a solo album on the cards, and hence forth it came, ‘The Ride’. Continue reading
Last summer I made a diversion on a business trip North via the home of Metal, Birmingham of course, to attend a Sirius Promotions gig featuring 2 of my favourite bands from this fair Isle, Wodensthrone and The Gentleman’s Club of A Forest Of Stars.
Acolyte were the first band on that evening Continue reading
So after 26 years as a band, 11 albums and counting, Rotting Christ have just written and recorded a masterpiece. Not many bands of this maturity will always pull this off, so I have so much respect for the Tolis brothers Sakis and Themis, the men whom are now solely behind the recording of the band’s music. Continue reading
Grind with banjos. I’ll let that sink in for a minute; actual grind… with actual banjos. OK? You ready now? I’ve had the honour of reviewing this before elsewhere, but due to the format it was about as long as this opening paragraph, and I never had chance to say about it what I wanted to! Continue reading
I have been following Antimatter for a number of years now, loving every minute and every stylistic twist and turn along the way. Continue reading
As Roo would attest, I’ve always avoided anything ‘doom’; I fear, however, Zatokrev will become a bridge into the doomy mire, dragging me into his world of Hawaiian shirts, whereby words like stoner will become a common term in my lexicon. Zatokrev’s self termed sludge-apocalypse is ideal for this bridge to that psychedelic realm due to the wide variety of sounds it incorporates; with elements of Sludge, Stoner, Black Metal, Prog-Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Post-Hardcore. Continue reading