EP Review: "Integra" by Anomalie

Integra

The thing about metal is that deep down most metalheads wants to feel like they're listening to something evil when the record starts spinning.

This is doubly true of fans of extreme metal and doom metal. Well, Austrian multi-dimensional metal duo, Anomalie, seem to understand this idea.

25 years ago, Jerry Falwell may have been on TV decrying this record.

This EP, even though it's only twenty seven minutes long treads much ground. It's almost as they had a pile of musical ideas and this was the brainstorming session.

Earlier, I referred to the band as the press release refers to them as I cannot quite divine where to place them in the pantheon of metal subgrenes. Integra features black metal, doom metal, folk metal, acoustic metal, heavy metal, and death metal.

The weird thing is, they're all done superbly well, Nothing sounds like a put on. There's nothing resembling Geddy Lee rapping here.

Check this EP out on November 9th.

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EP Review: "Reborn" by Sunterra

Reborn

As this review is being written, we are sitting in the waning hours of 2016 and the world is still reeling from the news that Carrie Fisher has died.

2016 has been a year of amazing highs and terrible lows.

But, as we must, we forge into the future with a grim determination that there isn't a damned thing in this whole world that's going to stop us!

Princess Leia taught us that.

I will simply beg your forgiveness today because it's hard to think of anything other than Princess/General Organa and the legacy left behind of a very strong woman who never quit. 2016 has taken its toll on us. Let's not forget that we can still fight, smash, and win.

DLP Review: "Weltenasche" by Karg

Weltenasche

October is the best month of the year if we're not counting the months of November through February. December is, naturally, the best month having New Year's, Christmas (Yule, Saturnalia, etc), Hannukah, My Birthday, My Anniversary, and of course, the Winter Solstice.

But, getting back to October.

Not only is the veil between the living and spirit worlds thin, but the veil between myself and black metal grows very thin as well. Normally, this guy is no fan of Black Metal.

But October brings something out in me. Perhaps that this is the time of year when record labels start putting out the creepy music is what draws me in. It's more than that. When the world starts growing cold, we all change.

Album Review: "Midnight Chaser" by Liquid Steel

In the late seventies and early eighties a new sound emerged from Great Britain, which built tremendously upon the foundations established by Black Sabbath and borrowed heavily from the energy and enthusiasm of punk rock. Unlike their forefathers in Sabbath these bands largely steered away from lyrical content about despair, depression, doom and the devil, and instead wrote songs about fantasy, mythology or history. 


They were also different from punk rock due to a focus on musicianship, often with long epic songs, full of operatic vocals and searing guitar solos.  This sound gained momentum within the British Isles and then hit the shores of the United States like a hurricane, earning the movement the name of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM).  Spearheading this invasion were bands such as Raven, Samson, Angel Witch, Girlschool, Saxon,Venom, Rainbow and most significantly Def Leppard and Iron Maiden.

As the popularity grew, and the sound expanded to dozens of other countries and hundreds of other bands, the moniker of NWOBHM gave way to the simpler, but still accurate description of power metal, spawning such noteworthy acts as Dio, Sabaton, Hammerfall, Accept, Helloween, Kamelot, Armored Saint, and Manowar.