Album Review: "The Peace of Solitude" by Arrant Saudade

The Peace of Solitude

Frankly, is there any better holiday than Halloween?

It starts off with the dreadful heat of St. Louis cooling into a brisk autumnal chill. Then we get to dress as anything we want without (much)  judgment.

Best of all, the veil is thin. There's more to that chill than just the drop in temperature....

But let's get on with what we've got shall we?

This one of those albums that the average person would call atmospheric, esoteric, mood music, and any and all other sorts of qualifiers to basically tell you that if you're looking for verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus...

Well you're just not going to find it here. It's nearly Halloween and let's pull back the veil.

Album Review: "Visions of Apocalypse" by Insanity

Visions of Apocalypse

BONUS REVIEW!

I decided to add an extra death metal review as a present to the month of All Hallow's Eve or Samhain if you're of the pagan bent.

It's the second best month of the year. So it deserves a little extra death metal. I hope the congressman trolling me on twitter sees this post, as Pink Floyd wasn't to his liking.

Insanity is a band that's come back from the void. They are proving that there is life after death metal, but old death metallers always come back.

They always thirst for more.

Visions of Apocalypse is the first album from Insanity since 1994. There have been nearly three complete presidential administrations since their last album. The Sega Saturn was still a going concern when this album came out....

Album Review: "All Is Left To See" by Moloken

All Is Left To See

Well, it's still October.

The chill is still in the air and the summer is still sometimes mounting a principled stand against beautiful weather from time to time, though we all complain about you now.

So, I suppose we're in Pumpkin Spice-Post Summer as opposed to proper autumn.

Well, that's a funny way of saying that I'm reviewing another post-(blank) album again.

In this particular instance, I didn't notice the genre listed when I went to spin it. I just looked it, the cover, and the title.

I then figured Moloken would do very well in my month long ode to Halloween, the fall, and everything that's good and holy in this world....and I was right about that!

Album Review: "Disciples of the Inferno" by Abysmal Lord

Disciples of the Inferno

It's October 27th and I'm closing out October with some more brutal death metal.

There will even be an added seriously scary metal album this week, because:

1) It's Halloween.

2) I love death  metal.

3) I took my daughter to the pumpkin patch to get a pumpkin that we can decorate like Darth Vader.

But enough about me....let's talk about Abysmal Lord for a bit shall we? They are releasing their full length debut on vinyl and digital and it comes as the follow up to last year's EP, Unholy Black Mass.

Album Review: "Shift and Shadow" by XIXA

Shift and Shadow

It's October 26th.

Who else is really thinking about Halloween? It's on the weekend at this point...after having a kid, I've only dressed up in a costume once!

Who cares.

It's still the best holiday there is. So, perhaps you've noticed that this month, I've been working a theme towards the big day. The day when the veil between the spirit world and the human world is thin...and perhaps that's why I read so much about Coheed and Cambria...

So, I've been trying to supply everybody with the perfect soundtrack for all the Elsas that will be  showing up at your doors trying not to scare you. Let's bring Halloween back! Frankly, this CD has been sitting on my desk for a few days now...I've held off.

Album Review: "The Hatred Inside" by Bleed

The Hatred Inside

It's always fun for me to take a look at where a band is from and see if I can hear that in their music.

Bleed is from Edmonton, AB Canada.

This is, obviously, the rich oil country of the Great White North. I've spoken a goodly deal of Albertans and they're a pretty happy lot.

When the oil industry is going well, they get checks from the government. They have NHL, WHL, AHL, and more kinds of hockey than you can shake a stick at.

This is their full length debut, so there's not much in the past I can base this on, so I'm going to assume that they're a bunch of happy go lucky Edmontonians who're more than happy to see Connor McJesus play for the Oil all year...let's look at their promo snap...

Album Review: "Shattered Shores" by Silent Line

Shattered Shores

All hail the concept album!

Well, at least I do anyway. On these very pages I have sung the praises of many a great concept record. Steve Vai, Coheed and Cambria, Chappo, Ahab, High On Fire, Wax Fang, and more.

There is a part of me that always gets very, very excited at the idea of an album that's more than just a collection of songs, but something that the band has really looked at, not as a collection of songs they wrote, but a piece of music.

What can I say...Pink Floyd and King Diamond sure did a number on a very young me.

Today's artist is Silent Line. When we say support independent music, Silent line is someone you should be looking at. Originally from rural Alberta, they've made their way into the second coldest city on earth, Edmonton, to ply their metal trade.

Interview: Robert Kersey of Psychostick Will Shank You

Psychostick

Some days I get that little old me is doing this kind of thing.

Especially for interviews...but really what do you care?

This is kind of an introduction to a band, Psychostick.

They put out and album last year and I didn't get the chance to review it when it was new. They've just played a show in my hometown of St. Louis, and I'm curious about some things if I'm being totally honest.

How many comedic metal bands do you know? They've been described as Weird Al on steroids and for fans of D.R.I...and that made me miss D.R.I. In the end, let's not take life so seriously.

Am I right?

Album Review: "Odio 666" by Certo Porcos!

Odio 666

I have an existential conundrum here.

Today's reviewee, Certo Porcos! is listed as a Hardcore Band from the famed Brazilian Underground.

Speaking to the level of undergroundlieness is something that can't be done by me, we'll skip that.

However...

I'm  having a hard time believing that they're a hardcore band. So could one of my dutiful readers please, in the comments, explain to me precisely what a hardcore band is.

This would give a troll a perfect opportunity to then call me a hack for not being able to describe Hardcore Music....but let's get to the music!

Album Review: "Notturno" by Australasia

Notturno

Let's have some real talk about the state of music in October 2015.

I've said for a few years now that we are living in the best time to be a fan of music and the worst time to be a musician.

As a fan, I can get music from artists all over the globe who have access to a computer. I can see bands I love, fairly big ones, in small clubs and theaters.

The musicians though, they're kind of getting the short end here. I started this blog in order to combat the prevailing opinion of my set...that new music all sucks.

Well, I'm proud of what I've accomplished here and thankful to the artists, labels, PR companies, etc who seek me out for my opinion. Today's the kind of day where I feel so lucky to be me.

The moral is...the music is there. The songs are strong. The artists need support.

Album Review: "Palace of Vision" by Saviours

Palaces of Vision

It's still October!

October is nearly my favorite month of the year. It comes in at fifth, behind December, January, February, and March...

Ya know...winter.

What's great about October is not just the weather, but in St. Louis our dreadful summer has passed on with the Pagan gods....

It's the entertainment industry. Hockey's back. Soccer's in full swing, and metal is king.

This month is metal, metal, metal! Today we're looking at the veteran band, Saviours and their latest album on Listenable Records. It's due out, appropriately enough, on October 30th.

Interview: Twilight Fauna Gets Folksy

There's an artist in the hills of the Appalachian Mountains.

He and I have exchanged many messages on twitter, but I honestly can't say I know a whole lot about the man himself.

We're about 2 months away from the release of his first music, a split with Jennifer Christensen.

It seems like it's high time that this man got a little light shined his way.

Even on twitter, he's fairly incognito. So, without much further ado, let's delve into the world of  the master of Atmospheric Folk/Black Metal From Appalachia, Twilight Fauna.

Album Review: "Gore Aberration" by Pathologic Noise

Gore Aberration

I have heard the phrase "metal is not music" so many times in my life that the phrase has lost all meaning.

It seems to me that I'm leading a fairly normal life with kids, a house (in the city), work, and hobbies, but I still listen to death metal.

When you tell someone that, nine times out of ten they ask you how you can listen to that noise? Well, for this old fella, aside from the face melting guitar solos, the bombastic double bass blast beats, and the demonic vocals...

Death metal reminds me of good times and great people that were taken from us too soon.

It also seems that most people who make the non-music claim also would be shocked to find out just how hard a lot of this music really is to play, even if the vocals might not be the hardest to learn, but hey, most of the vocalists play guitar too.

Album Review: Self Titled by Quiet Hollers

Quiet Hollers

I remember seeing an online post by some anonymous people on the net giving their top ten lists for the end of the year, probably around 2010-ish.

It was very hard for me to believe that these people had acquired enough albums to people an entire list for a top ten, much less the ones that didn't make it.

Good lord, how little I knew then.

If I had to guess, I'd wager there are more albums being produced today than in music's "heyday." Even being the small fry that I am, I am constantly deluged by managers, labels, PR,c ompanies, bands, and friends of bands to check out their music. (This is not a complaint. Don't stop!) What's hard is how in the world do I start?

I try to bring you the best music that comes across my desk, and sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail. So today, I bring you a press photo with a band bend on worldwide destruction in the Pacific Rim.

Album Review: "A Maze of Recycled Creeds" by Gorod

A Maze of Recycled Creeds

In our modern age, metal has really grown up.

The days of metallers just being able to offend parents with an offensive album cover with a picture of a buzzsaw on the bass player's crotch...

Well that's music (and antics) from a (mostly) bygone age.

Metal is no longer just played through a wall of amplifiers that cover up all the sloppy playing and mistakes.

That leads me to a conversation I had with an old friend of mine who was a big fan of punk rock. We talked about the mastery of the instrument that many bands had and she said, that doesn't impress me at all.

Well, if you've mastered your instrument and you can make it say whatever you want it to say and you have another four likeminded friends....that impresses the hell out of me.

Interview: James Leg "I've Got This Hard Copy" Part 2.

James Leg

When I spoke to the good reverend awhile back, he gave me much more than I could use for a single interview.

So, let's just get right to it and continue where we left off.

GM: We're getting closer. CD purchases are down and vinyl purchases are way up and the cost is way down.

JL: Fifteen, twenty, I got no problem with that and if it's
something I really want, I'll pay fifty bucks for a record. Something I'm searching for...

GM: When you get past thirty bucks, it's gotta be something special...

JL: Well, we're talking like Miles Davis first pressing...

GM: Not just something I'm getting on vinyl that I already have on CD, that's not a fifty dollar purchase..

Album Review: "Apparatus" by Apparatus

Apparatus

The self titled debut album.

Is there really any better way to introduce someone to your band and your music?

There's always a part of me that gets really excited thinking about a brand new band, a brand new sound. Hearing the first strains of music, trying to find their influences, and gauging their career trajectory.

It's very exciting.

Apparatus hails from the very metal country of Denmark and their first album is finally being released, as they put it, into the physical realm.

Performing in strange masks they play a brand of blackened death metal that ventures into art territory. Let's delve into this album and see what it's all about.

Album Review: "Purveyors of Death" by Souls For Sale

Purveyors of Death

Before the world changed, EPs were a legitimate form of release for music.

I've had EP's by Slayer, Metallica, Faith No More, and countless others.

Something changed though. The EP kind of died out. The argument could most likely be made that the iTunes era really changed all of that.

With a full album only costing between seven to ten dollars, why would anyone drop the money on an EP I suppose....

An Extended Play though, it's a great way to meet new artists and really get a feel moreso than a single. Today we are reviewing the very first 7" vinyl EP sent to Glacially Musical...it's by the German metal band, Souls For Sale.