LP Review: "Entropic Disillusion" by Shrine of the Serpent

Entropic Disillusion

In my younger years, the idea of making music with my high school best friend was something that was so unreal and so  mystical.

It was nearly impossible to endure those sessions of his trying to teach me songs on guitar and bass. Because he was my friend, I did it.

Years later, after I'd moved back to St. Louis and our friendship was fizzling out it finally happened. We hung out together and played music.

He was on his Stu Hamm signature bass and I on my Gremlin guitar through an amplifier that had two sounds: inaudible and broken down rusty chainsaw. There was no need for a distortion pedal in that setup. His father came downstairs and laughed at my tone...with good reason.

Video: "Repeat (feat. Will Ramos): by The Fallen Prodigy

There have been times when I've thought to myself, you know, fuck subtlety....actually that's large parts of my life.

That's kind of how The Fallen Prodigy has approached this particular track. Let's just bulldoze all this stuff to the ground. But before we do that, let's kick in as many different kinds of metal at the end.

Good on you, boys.Check their Facebook.

Norway's Ondt Blod: One Foot In The Black, The Other Is Missing

Ondt Blod

Every so often, there comes a band that's, frankly a bit off the beaten path. 

You know the mash up thing that's been hot with the kids recently? Since ya know, like 2003?

Well, Norway's Ondt Blod have an idea. They're kind of like Sweden's answer to Ghost? More like, oh, you're singing an Abba song?

Hold my beer.

Glacially Musical : Honestly, after spinning and spinning, it's been hard for me to get a handle on your music. Tell me what it is you do?

Ond Blod: We´ve got the attitude and sound of a punkrock band, the riffs of an your highschool ADD metal head, and huge poppy choruses.  The beautiful lovechild of the two extremes of Scandinavian music; hardcore and metal on one hand, and clever pop music on the other. 

Abbath and Refused meets Abba and Max Martin. Satanic verses, godlike choruses.

Video" Last Light before the Frozen Darkness" by Northwind Wolves

Just before we're all nice and warm, let's remember that there's the time when it all comes crashing down.

In the very near future, Northwind Wolves's debut album is being remastered and re-released on CD for the first time.

Check out below why this release on Black Lion Records should be getting you ready to go.

LP Review: "Pestilent Death" by Vomitor

Pestilent Death

The world is topsy turvy right now.

Think about yourself, the people you know, and your habits. Consider me, your friend and humble narrator. I'm equal parts a Luddite and Techie.

Right now, as I'm typing this review and listening to this album for the first time, I'm thinking...should I get this one vinyl?

How would this sound if I were listening to it on sound reproduction technology that's four generations old?

It's kind of nuts how King Ludd and Steve Jobs can live inside of me at the same time, relatively in peace.

However, there'll be no time when you'll see me as one of King Ludd's wives breaking framing machines. Thanks be to Stuff You Missed In History Class.

Video: "Night Owl" by Roaming Herds of Buffalo

Do you ever have one of those moments where you're like, wait a minute, that's not what it is?

That totally happened to me as I was getting ready to do this post. Like always, what I was about to say wasn't planned. It seemed to me that this band was called The Bugbears which is awesome.

Bugbears are a very underrated D&D monster. They're not even represented in the Capcom side scrolling video games.

Turns out though, the album is called Bugbears and the band is Roaming Herds of Buffalo. Well, honestly it's hard to know what to think anymore.

In the mean time, check them out below and sweep on over to that sweet, sweet bandcamp.

LP Review: "Devouring Mortality" by Skeletal Remains

Devouring Mortality

Congratulations, my new friend!

Or should we say good morning, Star Shine?

Right now, you as a human being are taking steps you never thought you could do. Right now, you're reading a website dedicated to new music.

The biggest hope is that reading this inspires you to purchase some new music. It's amazing how much great stuff there is in 2018.

This is what I'd say to every new reader of Glacially Musical. My hope of hopes is that here, you'll be directed to music that scratches that itch you didn't even know you had. Sometimes that idea is so easily explained and sometimes it's hard to really tell you why this album is more bad ass than Toshiro Mifune kicking Clint Eastwood in the junk.

Interview: David Majury of Slomatics

Slomatics

It would be easy to pontificate about Slomatics. In fact two of their last three releases have been reviewed upon these pages and the one that didn't, Live At Roadburn?

The vinyl release is currently sitting on my shelf and it's amazing.

GM: Right after I reviewed the split, Live At Roadburn came to my attention. There's nothing like a great live album, how would you rate that one?

SL: It would be a funny thing to rate our own albums really, but I would say that we think it’s a good representation of our live set. 

There’s no doubt the Roadburn guys did an amazing job with the sound and mix. In a way it felt like a relief as we thought the stage sound was great, but that doesn’t always translate out front, so it was good to hear it sounding as we remember it. 

For us the live recording should always be its own thing too, not just a perfect replication of the record, so we were happy that it sounded quite raw in comparison to our studio albums.

DLP Review: "(Untitled)" by Grave Upheaval

Indiscernible Title 

Back in my day, when I was a kid, we didn't have those fancy cellular phones with the Candy Crushers.

If you were lucky enough to have a video game system in your house, a single level of Pac-Man eating rectangular dots was enough to keep you entertained for hours on end.

If you didn't like one of the shows on the TV channel, you could always switch it to one of those other channels...we had a grand total of six if you include the three local channels as well as the three national channels.

Now, don't think that with our purchasing of records and the riding of the trains rather than flying on planes means that a long and flowing lamentation on what used to be is coming... because it's not. But in before we get to it all, let's talk about staring contests.

Video: "A Clearing" by CLAWING

Have you ever been  to Alabama? From time to time, I have to get down there in the real world. When my days are spent there, my legs are covered not with denim, but with slacks and my tattoos...well they're just plain covered.

Interestingly enough, there were houses that look just like the one below in North Birmingham. That's a rough area of town, but if you're ever in the area, make sure you get to World of Beer, just don't chug an Imperial IPA..I did that once and it took 3 hours to burp it out.

I'm sure ambient drone/noise metal band, CLAWING, have been to World of Beer. That's not really true, I just made that up.

Anyway, check out their track below and you can hit them up on Bandcamp.

Vinyloscopy with The Bad Larry's

The Bad Larry's are from a mystical, magical city called Philadelphia.

In the before time, a working class hero defeated his overlord and freed the whole world. Later on in life, that same working class hero began working with the son of the overlord.

It's a very, very strange situation and we're not going to dwell upon that, but let's not forget The Bad Larry's cannot escape the overthrowing of this dictator.

A statue celebrating the victorious and bloody coup stands on the steps of the museum where Rocky trained.

While they're not immersed in cheesy steaks, getting coffee at Wawa, or riding the trains, The Bad Larry's make music, and when they don't do that, they also LISTEN TO MUSIC ON VINYL.

1. Listening to Black Sabbath's eponymous debut the night I got it blew me away. What's the album that sounds the best on vinyl compared to digital sources?

LP Review: "Beyond The Reach of the Flame" by MICAWBER

Beyond The Reach of the Flame

When you're out there in the great wilderness of the stores, how do you decide what music to take a chance on?

Well, in the past, back when music was in stores, and not on Amazon.com, but the principle is really still the same.

For me, there are a few tells that make me want to listen to an album. When I check out a new record, it's typically a promo so I can bring all the best in new music to you.

So, I look at the promo photos, check the record label because most of them aren't sent from the labels directly, and look closely at their gear.

In this instance, you'll see that the band photo doesn't contain any guitars or amps, but it's a black and white noir photo in a desolate field. You could probably safely assume that their gear wasn't what caused me to bend my ear today....

Video: "Absence" by Carved

All the world is a stage and all men and women are merely players.

There is literally no reason for me to type out that quote from William Shakespeare other than it's what came to mind when it was time to start typing.

But, in the vein of men and women playing, here's the latest video from Carved. They're a little Ahab-y, but a bit angrier and a bit more intelligible when it comes to the cleaner parts.

Then there's also that overneath keyboard.

They've got a new record, Kyrie Eleison, out on Revalve Records. Check it out.

LP Review: "Scale and Probability" by Monsterworks

Scale and Probability

When you're a younger person, four and five band concerts are amazing, but not as amazing as the festival.

In my salad days, I must have seen about fifteen touring festivals in all, Lollapalooza, Ozzfest, all of them when they came through town.

Those shows give you some great value for your money, at least they did back when tickets were $30...and then there's all these different bands with different sounds and their own unique perspectives.

There are still all sorts of these touring festivals, radio station festivals and the like.

Right now, Slayer is doing their final victory lap with Testament, Lamb of God, Anthrax, and Napalm Death. Now how is that for a lineup with different views and the like?

Video: "Wait Up" by The By Gods

Sometimes negative energy and emotions can get the best of us. In those times, it's smart to stand back a little bit and relax.

In that vein, here's The By Gods's latest video, Wait Up.

Right now you can even catch them on the road if you're lucky!

3/22 Nashville, TN @ Radio Cafe

3/23 Bowling Green, KY @ Tidball's

3/25 St Louis, MO @ The Sinkhole

3/26 Chicago, IL @ Emporium

3/27 Newport, KY @ Southgate House

3/29 Columbus, OH @ Ruby Tuesday

3/31 Philadelphia, PA @ Creep Records

4/01 Brooklyn, NY @ Alphaville

4/04 Asheville, NC @ Fleetwoods*

4/05 Atlanta, GA @ Starbar*

4/07 Nashville, TN @ The East Room*

Concert Preview: The Eagles and JD Straight Shot

On Sunday March 18th, 2018 the legendary band, The Eagles will be descending upon the Scottrade Center in my lovely home of St. Louis, MO.

They're presently touring with Americana Act, JD Straight Shot, so make sure you arrive to the show early to catch this band.

Not only are they a fun band in their own right, but their peopled with  musicians who've been on the stage with legends like Roseanne Cash, BB King and Robert Plant.

JD Straight Shot takes a deep swig of Maker's Mark bourbon whiskey then chases it down with some Jameson.

They've recently released their acoustic record, Good Luck and Good Night. This is something you don't want to miss. The show starts at 7pm so make sure you show up in time to check out JD Straight Shot.

See below for an accurate representation as to why you should be there. You know as well as I do that your toe is tapping right now. You know how metal I am and I'm bobbing right along.

Be there with me!

DLP Review: "The Incubus of Karma" by Mournful Congregation

The Incubus of Karma

Over the past few months, there's been a serious pain in my neck and shoulder.

This makes driving painful, walking with my family painful and it's been generally a pain in my ass...er neck for far too long.

In an attempt to alleviate this pain but while still continuing to cower away from doctors and their pills, it was suggested to me that massage therapy might be just thing to do the trick.

Let's start off with saying, it was an extremely painful experience. My therapist has amazingly strong fingers that were able to probe into the most sensitive areas in the upper regions and she really hurt me.

Before my second appointment, an idea occurred, instead of the foresty sounds of nature and squirrels chirping....why didn't we use something that would actually relax me?

LP Review: Charnel Ground's Self Titled Debut

Charnel Ground

And now for something completely different.

Here's the description of the band's name in the press release I got today...it's the listen to this band email, if you will....

"CHARNEL GROUND: an above-ground site for the putrefaction of bodies, generally human, where formerly living tissue is left to decompose uncovered."

Oh yeah... so far this reeks of putrefaction right?

I like where this is going. Right now, your friend and humble narrator is prepared to have his face melted clean off. This is going to be the kind of metal that'll blow your head clean off to the end of the auditorium.

It's going to be so blasphemous, you're going to have to ask for forgiveness  just because you now know the name of this filthy band from the Northeastern USA...

Video: "The Last Duel" by De La Muerte

Sometimes, but  not often, it's time to get involved with spaghetti westerns and ignore the fact that Kurosawa is the one that really made those stories and he's the awesome one.

It wasn't John Wayne but Toshiro Mifune. Also, it wasn't Clint Eastwood that was a badass, it was also Toshiro Mifune.

Toshiro would've beaten up both of them at the same time. Toshiro Mifune.

Oh, we've gone around the bend. Check out this new track from De La Muerte. Check out the rest of the album via Revalve Records.

Vinyloscopy with Into The Storm

Into The Storm

Into the Storm has put out some great music. For me, Where The Merfalo Roam is a modern sludge classic.

They were cool enough to put that disc on teh vinylz. The packaging was superb and even included a book about the goodness contained therein.

After Merfalo, they've not been resting on their laurels and there have been two splits with Twingiant and Smooth Sailing.

They're also vinyl guys, so let's get them in here and find out how they do.

Listening to Black Sabbath's eponymous debut the night I got it blew me away. What's the album that sounds the best on vinyl compared to digital sources?

Video: "Mañana" by Formosa

Some days you wake up after a bender of watching Canadian Football, playing the Atari Jaguar, and watching that weird Jagermeister commercial.

When that happens, this is pretty much what happens when you come to.

Check out what Formosa are up to now. Take a few minutes to watch it instead of arguing as to why the Turbo Grafx-16 is superior to the Sega Genesis...

Because we all know the Panasonic 3DO nailed it.

LP Review: "Cosmic Progression: An Agonizing Journey Through Oddities of Space" by Deconstructing Sequence

Cosmic Progression: An Agonizing Journey Through Oddities of Space

To be perfectly honest, this particular review was a little hard to get started.

Well, perhaps by now, you've picked on the style of my reviews?

An album transports me somewhere in my personal history, a Sam Beckett styled Quantum Leap, if you will.

Then nerdy references are made, and we move forward from there.

So, this album, takes me back to this article I read (seriously a legitimate article without pictures) about pornography. Now, we're assuming no one reading this has any experience, so there were two folks interviewed, neither of which were performers....

Video: "Void" by ZON

Normally, I'd be telling you a funny little story, cute anecdote, or what have you.

I just want to you check out this video by ZON.

Watch the video and go to their Bandcamp page.

LP Review: "Neon Crosses" by Leechfeast

Neon Crosses

To be quite frank about own personal history, it would be difficult be both honest and forthright about my personal television viewing habits should sitcoms and romcoms be avoided.

Perhaps it was the lonely life I led as a bullied nerd back in my younger days, or the Arnold Rimmer level of confidence I had with the opposite sex, or just the plain old life has gotta be better than this that led me to these fictional, idealized worlds.

The it's not you it's me line.

There've been no less than 872 romcom movies and 3,248 sitcom television episodes where this was the central tenet.

Now, in my more senior, though still younger days, heartbreak was no stranger to me and folks have left me, suave though I am not, now. Never once in any ending of a romantic coupling, friendship, band, or family separation was the line, it's not you, it's me been uttered.

Video: "Stay by Stab" by Ben Blutzukker

It's song of the day time, my friends.

Here we have a track that's off of the Ben Blutzukker EP, Riptide. The story behind this song was interesting enough for me to give this track a taste.

Apparently, somehow the German release of the Keanu Reaves/Gary Oldman vehicle Dracula and a short story called The Squaw has lead to this song.

The fact that this confused me was enough to make me want to hear the song and now that I've heard it, I feel like it needs to be brought to you by me for all of us.

Good crunchy guitars, growled vocals, and creepy pictures....it's fun.

You can get the whole EP on Bandcamp for a mere Five Euros.

Vinyloscopy with Tommy Stewart of Dyerwulf, Hallow's Eve, Etc

Tommy Stewart

Tommy Stewart has been around and paying metal on a professional level since 1985 when Hallow's Eve put out their debut record, Tales of Terror.

Even before that he was in other bands and in the recent years, he's started a couple of other projects, most notably the doom metal band Tommy Stewart's Dyerwulf.

Check out what Stewart has going on these days over at Bandcamp.

Because I'm me and you're you, I'm going to point out that their current album is available on vinyl....

So, let's find out more about his listening habits and what he thinks about the great vinyl revolution and the revolutions of vinyl....