LP Review: "Blood Oracle" by Morgengrau

Blood Oracle

In four or five years, it will be interesting to look back on this time to see what the reviews were like.

Full disclosure, my cat died this past week.

This is the first thing I've written since then. Yes, she was just a cat, but she was my cat. My special cat.

So, there's a hole in my soul that's cat shaped right now.

The best thing right now to do with this information, naturally, is to think about brutal death metal and submerge myself into that realm of black death right?

Well, in true metal fashion, that's precisely what we are doing today. The great beyond and the grim reaper, they can go to hell, fuck right off, or use your particular favorite euphemism.

Album Review: "Sentient" by Nucleus

Sentient

During the last gasps of the Cold War, well the last decade or so, the United States and the USSR weren't doing anything to show the other that their way of life was better than the other one.

Both the USA and the USSR struggled mightily to arm themselves more heavily than the other. Saved By The Bell addressed this when Kelly couldn't go to the prom because world peace broke out.

So her father no longer had a job building weapons. St. Louis lost a major source of employment when McDonnell Douglas no longer was building fighter jets by the score.

The rivalry of the two nations was the stuff of legend. It has really shaped quite a bit of our culture here in the States. Just thinking of pop culture alone, how many places were there in 1985 when without the Soviets popping up. In the end, it was simply might makes right.

Album Review: "Biological Enslavement" by Hemotoxin

Biological Enslavement

In the before time, there were all sorts of these things called commercials that were on the TV during these things they called shows.

So many of them spoke about what we kids were going to do with our lives after we grew up.

Many times they attempted to convince me that going into the army and getting the GI Bill was the way to go. Suffice it to say, it didn't work as the military and I would never get along.

Even commercials that had nothing to do with finding our place in life tried to tap into this youthful indecision. McDonalds had all sorts of commercials with groups of kids having Macs, presumably, after school. This is the time where apparently the teenagers of my generation hung out to plan out their lives. Of course this was well before Facebook and Twitter. They were trying to sell us things under the guise of helping us cross the precipice between who we were and whom we wished to be....with a side order of fries of course.

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: "Fractured Frequencies" by Shards of Humanity

Fractured Frequencies

Duo groups are cool, but you know what's cooler than a duo?

A trio. The wisdom of Bender Bending Rodriguez was not lost on the subject of today's review, the full length debut album of Shards of Humanity.

Several extreme metal duos have been traipsing into my sphere, but I wonder how they would tour?

Shards of Humanity went from a duo to a trio with the addition of guitarist Larry Mercado on guitars in 2013 joining Ryan McAlister, drums and Todd Cochran, guitars/vocals.

Our new friends hail from the City of Memphis, TN which is also the home of Beale Street...a section of town that your friend and humble narrator greatly desires to visit, but that's neither here nor there. Memphis, obviously, is not well known for metal, but for another oft maligned genre, the Blues.

Album Review: "Feed The Ego" by Algebra

Feed The Ego

For today's consideration, we have a thrash band from the not so very metal, but very neutral country of Switzerland.

They go by the name of Algebra.

Personally, hearing the word algebra gets me angry as all get out. This has always been the Achilles Heel of my Mensan mind....I'm still thrilled I passed a math course and ended up with my degree.

But that's neither here nor there.

Feed The Ego is the sophomore release from this group. Their first album was released back in 2012 and later re- released by Stormspell Records.

"Endless Asphyxiating Gloom" by Sabbatory

I hope I didn't just bring you down there. This album is rather gloomily titled, but it's death metal and it is what it is. This is the debut effort from the quartet, Sabbatory.

It is a widely held belief that the location of a band will add to its air, its msytique, and even its sound. Consider Black Sabbath came from the poor industrial town of Birmingham, England. Tony Iommi even lost a finger in an industrial accident.

The biggest disconnect between location and music, naturally, is Tampa, Florida, but we're going to let that ride.

Sabbatory is not from a sunny beach town. They are not from an affluent metropolitan area. They are from Winnipeg, Man. If there ever was a cold, metal heart of Canada, Winnipeg would be it. The cold is so unbearable there that during the winter, the people walk in underground tunnels. The cold is beyond oppressive...it's asphyxiating there.