The Legion: A Bliss to Suffer
As agonizing as the cover art looks and the song titles read (culminating in “The Reaping of Flesh and Blood”), A Bliss to Suffer is hardly a ferocious monstrosity.
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Superchrist: Defenders Of The Filth
This three-piece Chicago band’s music is like an intriguing mix of Motorhead and The Exploited. Their new ten-song CD has some absolutely KILLER tracks like “Stay Black,” “Take You Out” and “Still Drunk Enough” with very heavy riffs, great guitar solos and choking vocals.
Asylum: The Earth is the Insane Asylum of the Universe
Shadow Kingdom Records has unearthed and re-released the 1985 demo of Maryland doom disciples Asylum, who later changed their name to Unorthodox and put out two classic albums in the 1990s.
Tyr: By the Light of the Northern Star
You’ve got to love it when a band strikes when the iron is still hot. With their first two big North American tours under their belts and not even a year after the release of Land, their best album to date, Viking metal heroes Týr have re-emerged from the remote Faroe Islands with their fifth full-length.
Primordial: Imrama (expanded reissue)
As a reissue of one of their first efforts, Imrama is still an impressive display of all of the elements that would come to define Ireland’s Primordial in more recent years.
Devin Townsend Project: Ki
Ki is the first of Devin’s new project of a four album release under the moniker Devin Townsend Project. At times heavy and laden with frustration, it gives a sense of searching. It is a release of emotion and past demons with tracks swirling from relaxation and a longing to let go.
Riot @ Scout Bar, San Antonio TX, June 2, 2009
I can’t think of another band so long-running whose output has been so consistently excellent. This truth led to my sole disappointment when I heard that the classic late-80s Thundersteel lineup had reformed: it meant that they were likely to ignore the past 20 years as if they never happened. Normally when some old band pulls a stunt like this, you wish they would ignore their last five or six albums, but Riot didn’t put out a single bad album after they retired the speed metal and screams of the Thundersteel years.
Wolves In The Throne Room: Black Cascade
The long awaited 2009 release Black Cascade had many people, including myself, wondering if it could own up to Two Hunters – the sprawling second release from Wolves In The Throne Room. Glorified by critics, embraced by both indie rockers and black metal enthusiasts, Wolves’ majestic soundscapes, beautiful and dark, has flowed into the ears of a rather unique audience of all sorts.
Satyricon: The Age Of Nero
I’ll be honest, even though I am a big fan of Norwegian metal in general, Norwegian black metal especially, I haven’t really cared for anything Satyricon has done since Rebel Extravaganza. The whole “black ‘n’ roll” thing they have adopted really makes my stomach turn… but there’s something about this record I really dig.
Opeth, Enslaved @ The Sound Academy, Toronto ON, May 4, 2009
With the early May sun setting behind the Toronto skyline, the Sound Academy was surrounded by an air of excitement on this Monday night as concert-goers traveled en masse to see Opeth and Enslaved.