LP Review: "Death Revenge" by Exhumed

Death Revenge

It's been too long since death metal has worked it's oily fingers through these here pages.

My twitter followers have already heard this, but it's time to allow the wider universe to hear about it. This year my car situation was upgraded from a dying Honda Civic to a very much alive Toyota Prius.

Not only for the environment, but for my personal pocketbook, having that Prius has been great. My car goes over 400 miles per ten gallon tank.

Now, most folks who listen to my kinds of music don't drive hybrids, and Priuses especially due to the Left Wing Stigma attached to them. Me, I think it's totally cool that my life straddles this juxtaposition.

So, a few days after buying that car, I placed an order online for a Death Metal sticker. Not any particular band, but a sticker featuring several skulls, and the words "death metal" written in a conventional album cover font.

LP Review: "Sacred" by The Obsessed

Sacred

Welcome to a tale of little woe.

The best fringe benefit of this endeavor is that every single day I have the opportunity to experience music by bands I'm not familiar with.

More often than not, they are brand new or on their second or third albums. In today's case, we're cranking up an old school doom band.

Funny thing about this review, I asked a friend of mine if he'd heard of The Obsessed, as I hadn't. This unleashed a torrent of his fandom that left me a bit bewildered. This...I was not prepared for.

Two hours after his floodgates had opened, he was playfully calling me out on twitter for not jumping up right then to have streamed old albums on YouTube.

I was not prepared for this at all!

LP Review: Self Titled by Obituary

Obituary

There are times when I absolutely love a band. Many times during my life, when this has happened, I've torn through albums only to burn myself out for a time.

The ebbs and flows of life are a wonderful thing that will always confuse me.

American Death Metal and by extension, Obituary, was something that I did burn out on. There was a period of years where I didn't listen to anything extreme.

Upon my musical reawakening, I sought out Blues, modern rock, and scoured the classical aisle for anything I missed.

But, for Christmas, I purchased for myself, the Roadrunner Obituary Boxset. It was a lot cheaper then....and it had been so long since I'd heard from my old friends in Florida that they were a refreshing change.

Album Review: "Ten Thousand Ways To Die" by Obituary

Seminal death metal band Obituary's primary achievement has been their tone. The deep grizzled crunch of their guitars sounds like a shovel scraping pavement as it loads dirt upon a casket.  

I was very, embarrassingly and tragically late to discovering Obituary. I had always considered Mick Mars guitar on "Shout at the Devil" to be the premium guitar tone, but once I heard Obituary, I knew there was a new king in town.  This sound, born at Morrissound Recording in Tampa, was carefully crafted and expertly delivered within the confines of one of the world's preeminent studios.  The question is could it be duplicated in a live setting.

The new album Ten Thousand Ways To Die contains thirteen songs, eleven of which are live recordings, recorded in eleven cities during their 2015 Inked In Blood tour.  As their first proper live album, this would be a true test.  

Album Review: "Dimensions of Horror" by Gruesome

Dimensions of Horror

After nearly four years of writing at Glacially Musical, oftentimes I must confess myself overwhelmed what I have been able to accomplish.

Until very recently, it was only me writing here. (Big thanks to Danny for coming on board and we're really enjoying his contributions as well.)

Because of the smallness of the staff here, mistakes are made.

My personal goal is to bring music to your ears that you may not have heard otherwise. In doing that, there's a lot of guesswork, homework, and just plain work to do.

Gruesome debuted last year with Savage Land and after listening to a bit of it, I passed on reviewing it. Their follow up, Dimensions of Horror, arrived to me today. Knowing full well mistakes were made on their first album, it became today's work to listen and review their sophomore release.

Album Review: "All Empires Fall" by Tombs

Tombs: All Empires Fall

One thing I have discovered during my foray into music journalism is the amount of incredible music being produced which flies under the radar, and would have likely escaped my notice, had I not been actively been covering new music.  

The rise of so many platforms for delivering music to the world has greatly reduced the role of mainstream radio and ensured a vehicle for many bands who never could have existed if reliant solely on airplay.  

Hence the existence of a website such as this, and my mission to call attention to bands which might otherwise have not found their way into your ears and eyes.  Brooklyn based Tombs is a perfect example of this.   

Tombs has existed since 2007, with "All Empires Fall" being their sixth release (if you count EPs). Yet before now, I had not heard their music.  Clearly I have been missing out as I could not have been more impressed.

Album Review: "Akroasis" by Obscura

Akroasis

As human beings we tend to congregate, bet it in a place of worship, at concerts, out shopping, and any other make and manner of activity.

We are social beings.

In every group, congregation, or running crew, there's always one person who just doesn't quite fit in.

It's not necessarily because they're strange, but in my personal case it usually is.

There are people who we've known for our whole lives and even though our people have changed, they're still in the circle even if just outside of it. So picture your group of friends. Say that you're all out at your favorite watering hole, singing some karaoke, or just relaxing after a long hard week.

Who's the one that's just a bit different from the rest?

Album Review: "Only The Ruthless Remain" by Skinless

Only The Ruthless Remain

I've been saying for awhile now that it's really a great time to be a death metal fan.

Of course you're not hearing it on terrestrial radio, but maybe other services.

What's amazing about this time is the resurgence of classic death metal, the original stuff.

We're living in a world where the greats like Carcass and Obituary are touring together. Deicide is playing festivals. Orignators like Master are still out and bashing.

It's also worth  noting that other great metal bands have cropped up and playing traditional death metal, melodic death metal, and even symphonic death metal.

Today's review, Skinless, like Carcass had a long lapse in activity. This is their first album in over ten years. Let me say, welcome back, Skinless.

BONUS REVIEW: "Gore Metal: A Necrospective 1998-2015" by Exhumed

Gore Metal....

It's been a bit too long since we've had any classic death metal around here.

Due to my vacation, my latest business trip, and more I am still behind in my reviews and I have missed some, what I consider to be, important reviews.

Today I received an email that this record is out today and after having seen them open for Carcass and Obituary in November, I couldn't let this pass without my having mentioned it.

I became a fan of death metal in the heady early days of the Tampa Bay scene. A classmate of mine had Napalm Death, Carcass, Entombed, and many more.

In those pre-internet days, we didn't have the ability to learn about other bands as easily as we do today. So, long running death metal masters, Exhumed never arrived into my record collection. In fact, I'd never heard of them until they hit the stage on November 2nd.

Album Review: "Obsolescence" by Abysmal Dawn

Obsolescence

From Los Angeles, California:

Abysmal Dawn.

Every now and again, a veteran band will pass into my purview and I kind of wonder how I'd never come across them before.

The biggest example of this was Chicago/The Czech Republic's Master. I'm still flabbergasted that I'd never gotten my ears on any of their music back in the old days.

Abysmal Dawn is another act that kind of feels this way. The band was formed in 2003 and they released their first full length LP in 2005, From Ashes.

Over the years their line up has remained relatively static. In eleven years, they've only added a bass player. Obsolescence is their fourth album and being released on Relapse Records.

Album Review: "Inked In Blood" by Obituary

Inked In Blood

The mighty Obituary.

When I hear the term Death Metal, there are a handful of bands that come to my mind immediately. Napalm Death, Carcass, Deicide, Morbid Angel...

And Obituary.

Back in the 90's when I was in a mood for the heaviest of the heavy, their seminal Cause of Death would be placed into my 5 Disc Changer. Oh those days.

They've been dormant for the past five years, since their Darkest Day record, but they are now unleashing their ninth studio record to the masses and embarking on a North American Tour with Carcass and Exhumed. There's a St. Louis date on 11/02 at Pop's.