National CD Reviews

Annotations of an Autopsy
II: The Reign of Darkness
Nuclear Blast
Street: 01.22
Annotations of an Autopsy = Job for a Cowboy + Suicide Silence + Suffocation + Behemoth
As much as I do it I get tired of putting particular labels on what style of metal and it’s particular sub-genre a band fits in but with metal it’s a necessary evil because let’s face it us metal fans can be finicky about our style preferences. What’s my point, well the UK’s Annotations of an Autopsy seem like they’re trying to deceive listeners by masking their hardcore elements in a hail of death metal thus we have yet another deathcore band. It’s frustrating too, if the band decided to play full on death metal this album wouldn’t be a half bad version of Suffocation, but no they have to add a bunch of generic breakdown crap in place of what could have been guitar soloing or nice leads with some good tempo changes, because in all honesty the songwriting for this album is actually a bit catchy this could have been a great groove based death metal record but since the trend is to do the core thing we get a dud instead of a mediocre record. –Bryer Wharton

Aosoth
Ashes of Angels
Agonia Records
Street: 12.15.09
Aosoth = Antaeus + Balrog + Merrimack + Blut Aus Nord
Aosoth certainly don’t try to go outside the styles of black metal that encompass the already large and growing French scene, which is fine by me. Ashes of Angels accomplishes two black metal feats that make the album a worthy listen, the first is it’s production, clear yet blisteringly raw, the second is it’s core riffing structured and thick enough to give every song a clear direction but played with off kilt melodies and a nice atmospheric presence creating a darkened bleak musical realm that isn’t too muddled to differentiate sounds. The album is populated by mid-paced and blazer tunes all written well enough to hold finicky black metal fans attention especially those looking for a band with meat to their riffing instead of much of the paper thin sounding fare that populates black metal. –Bryer Wharton

The Beast of the Apocalypse
A Voice from the Four Horns of the Golden Altar
Transcendental Creations
Street: 10.19.09
The Beast of the Apocalypse = Brown Jenkins + Wrath of the Weak + Xasthur but not boring
If death and sludge metal had a black metal baby, it would be The Beast of the Apocalypse. This, being their first release, will fill your ears with six tracks of demented and fuzzy insanity. Much of the mid-tempo material here feels like Death might on your blown out car speaker system, but it is all tuned lower to give it a nice heavy feel. If I had to point out what I like best about this however, it would be more of the unconventional elements like fucked up choirs, twisty guitar leads, and other minor layers of melody strewn tastefully throughout most of the tracks. This really isn’t for everyone, including some black metal fans, but it’s almost always refreshing to hear a black creation that isn’t another Transylvanian Hunter tribute worship album. –Conor Dow

Brainstorm
Memorial Roots
AFM
Street: 01.12
Brainstorm = Thunderstone + Pharaoh + Symphorce + Iron Maiden
Now with eight full-length albums under their belt while retaining a bit of their own comfort level in consistency and similarity amongst albums German power metal crew Brainstorm have offered up a catchy record sure to appease longtime fans and any newcomers. Yeah this record doesn’t sound too different from the bands last Downburst and after a few listens I find myself wishing for more of a vocal range but the instrumentation is solidly played and cohesively catchy. Any album will get old if you repeatedly listen too it Memorial Roots has enough strength with it’s songwriting that it gives reasons for return listens. The best part of Memorial Roots is the guitars retain a heavy groove laden value even during the ballad type tunes, leaving the normal power metal cheesiness to a minimum. –Bryer Wharton

Clipd Beaks
To Realize
Lovepump United
Street: 01.26
Clipd Beaks = Bardo Pond + Sweep the Leg Johnny + HEALTH
Clipd Beaks claim that To Realize is “a tribute to love, to moving forward, to rejecting doom.” This is a head-scratching claim given the claustrophobic, sometimes overwhelmingly caustic moments of violence that erupt across the 11 tracks. Hailing from Oakland, Clipd Beaks layer disorienting, swirling drones over tight, sinister grooves and frantic tribal drumming. Their lyrics, delivered in a scratchy caterwaul, paint broad strokes of surrealistic imagery like “screaming reptiles” and “clouds that become mushrooms.” It would seem this laundry list of nihilistic elements would render the Beak’s earlier claim null. Where does “murdering the apocalypse” fit into love, moving forward, and rejecting doom? Even though To Realize dwells on the negative aspects of life, it is only to take ownership of them, embody them for a time, and then move past them. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this end up on my ‘best of’ list in December. –Ryan Hall

Page:  [1]  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  Next >>

Comments on this article

Be the first to comment!

Add a comment

Please keep your comments on the subject of the article.
We will delete your comment if it is racist, misogynistic, sexist, bigoted or just plain lame.
No HTML allowed!