LP Review: "Fringe" by Lurk

Fringe

There is just a time and a place for soul crushing doom metal.

That time is anytime. That place is any god damned place that has speakers. In previous epochs, doom metal, atmospheric metal, and avant garde metal would've been of little interest to me.

But over the years the avant garde metal set has largely coagulated into the doom metal sub-genre.

Lurk, for my money, has all of the hallmarks of what makes this music great. It's not just heavy, but dense. It's not just varied, but Lurk are likely suffering from multiple personality disorder.

Any fool with a guitar can go out and make an atmospheric doom metal record, but it takes a forward thinking band who's not sure if they're instrumental or not, to make a truly captivating doom album.

That's what Lurk have done...once they set their hooks in, you'll likely never leave the fringe again.

Release: 8/4/18 FACEBOOK ORDER

LP Review: "The Tides Will Prevail" by Kenoma

The Tides Will Previal

There have been a great many instrumental records reviewed on this particular website, because this guy right here is a fan of instrumental music.

Long have I wondered why it's loved by such a relatively small number of people in the world. There really seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.

There have been many artists, like Jimi Hendrix himself, whose concerts were largely instrumental and other artists, like Ahab or Dakhma, whose albums are largely instrumental.

Why is it so hard to move forward from 89% instrumental, to wholly devoid of lyrics?

Though, I'm a fan, it's easy to see why some people don't enjoy the works of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, or even John 5. Even some instrumental musicians have told why they don't like those particular artists. It's a small club I suppose....or a small series of clubs?

Hard to say really.

LP Review: "Lands" by Bereft

Lands

Life is a mean, mean thing that comes at you quickly when you're least expecting it.

In terms of life and death, how often do we have Life portrayed as a menacing criminal waiting for you in the shadows?

That sort of personification is always reserved for death.

The difference is that we as people only really know life. We have experienced nothing of the afterlife. So, all hopes and joys are ascribed to life and all terrors are ascribed to death.

Today though, life threw curves at me that were highly unexpected.

In times when things are going well, I've always waited for the shoe to drop. Life is always moving and there's a yin and yang to the world and to karma.