Monday, January 27, 2020

Review: Wolfbrigade - Damned



These crust/d-beat Swedes incorporate some of their homeland's melodic death metal influences - hear Ride the Steel in particular - with heartening results. The album can overwhelm, with so many tracks of so little length, but at its best it is a wonderful headbang-fest. My metalhead ears are of the opinion that Wolfbrigade hasn't equaled Damned since.

\m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ - seven horns out of ten
Highlight: Ride the Steel
- Magus

Listen at: Spotify
Band: Wolfbrigade
Release: Damned
Date: 23rd of April, 2012
From: Sweden
Label: Southern Lord
Genre: crust punk, d-beat, death metal
Artwork:
(from Bandcamp)

Sunday, January 26, 2020

New: Caspian - On Circles



I must credit Caspian with being one of the first bands to get me into post-rock, back in my school days. I listened through all of their albums before I even knew what "post-rock" was!

On Circles is their first full-length release since that time in my life. (I suppose that dates me as a young'un.) Now six(-ish) albums deep, they shouldn't be expected to be - and aren't - going in any radical directions; however, two songs (Nostalgist and Circles on Circles) feature vocals as their centerpoint. This is not exactly a novelty for Caspian, but it is clear that unlike previous tracks featuring singing (Gone in Bloom and Bough comes to mind - a favorite of mine), these songs were built around the vocal parts, rather than using singing as an additional atmospheric instrument.

Not my cup of tea, but at least cleanly executed.

The first two tracks (Wildblood and Flowers of Light) grabbed me and held my interest, but the rest of the album seemed to sprawl, meander, and slump. Start from the beginning, and continue as long as your interest holds!

\m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ - four horns out of ten
Highlight: Flowers of Light
- Magus

Listen at: https://orcd.co/caspianoncircles
Band: Caspian
Release: On Circles
Date: 24th of January, 2020
From: USA (Beverly, MA)
Label: Triple Crown
Genre: post-rock
Artwork:
(from Bandcamp)

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Review: Inexorum - Lore of the Lakes



Melodic black metal, blackened melodeath, call it what you will: these Minnesotans bring their northern despair to bear! Lore of the Lakes is an epic in the original sense, with black metal's more abrasive tendencies tempered by melodic sensibilities. Keep your eyes on Inexorum! (I hear there's a 2020 album coming...)

\m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ - eight horns out of ten \m/
Highlight: Raging Hearts
- Magus

Listen at: Spotify
Band: Inexorum
Release: Lore of the Lakes
Date: 27th of July, 2018
From: USA (Minneapolis, MN)
Label: Gilead Media
Genre: melodic black metal, melodic death metal, black metal
Artwork:
(from Bandcamp)