Authors: Bryer Wharton
Local Reviews: Melodramus
In the realm of modern prog metal/rock, Melodramus have crafted one epic and diverse aural buffet of sounds on their second full-length album, Two: Glass Apple. It’s truly a record that not only rivals plenty of prog bands in the current world scene, but also puts a good hunk of them to shame. … read more
Local Reviews: Reveeler
Ogden’s Reveeler has grown leaps and bounds since the 2008 demo I reviewed. Their short but potent EP gets rid of the garage rock qualities of the demo, giving them a more refined sound. The production is definitively precise and propels the tracks into their own unique realm of metal goodness. … read more
Local Reviews: Invdrs
The only things you really need to know about the Invdrs’ Electric Church is it makes you feel alive yet doomed, and you need to own this album. With drum hits that sound like bones snapping and popping under the immense weight of the distortion-maximized guitar and bass, you will welcome this sonic atrocity to melody. … read more
Local Reviews: Sawed Off Smile
Ogden’s Sawed Off Smile play modern rock/hardcore on Chaos Theory. Heavy riffs and plenty of clean, yet well executed melodies that don’t excessively rely on breakdowns like some of their peers. If you enjoy the bands in the band equation above, the album is a good offering—think the melody and heaviness of Mudvayne meets the early emotions of Tool with a hint of the rawness of the Deftones’ first album. … read more
Local Reviews: Arsenic Addiction
Any band that has a song titled “Bruce Campbell” is cool with me, even if it’s only a minute long. In all seriousness, Salt Lake City’s Arsenic Addiction leave listeners wanting more instead of less with their EP Requiem of the Fallen. The band plays a nice, modern metal melodic/heavy mix with no damn chugga chugga breakdowns, thank goodness. … read more
Local Reviews: Various Artists
The first release from Utah Heavy Guitar Rock Records is a free compilation with Volume 2 already at its heels. The aptly-titled comp of 10 artists is a stark eye-opener, showcasing some serious guitar chops as well as strong songwriting abilities. … read more
Local Reviews: Yaotl Mictlan
After you listen to some albums, they leave you in awe, overwhelmed by the nature of greatness that has just laid claim to your auditory passages. Yaotl Mictlan’s second full-length Dentro del Manto Gris de Chaac is one of those albums. Dentro ups the extremity and pure enveloping blackness that was harshly and beautifully displayed on their debut album, but with more direct and potent songwriting that demands attentiveness to its listening experience. … read more
Local Reviews: IX Zealot
Prepare yourself for IX Zealot’s Articles of Ophidian Faith. It provides three tracks of damn good, scary-as-immortal-sin audio distortion that will help you open a door to your very own black hole. Combining elements of doom, death and black metal, each track is over nine (seemingly endless) minutes of sonic darkness that brim forth from the massive abysmal depths of metaldom. … read more
Local Reviews: Onesfate
Every band has a beginning, and those beginnings rarely strike lightning on their first shot. Salt Lake City’s Onesfate have provided four solid cuts for their debut demo CD that hark back to old school thrash and mix in some progressive metall and blues styles. … read more
Slayer, Anthrax, Death Angel @ The Complex 10.11
My desire to even go to the Slayer show came from wanting to see the mighty Anthrax again. That said, I had a great time by staying positive about something I could go on and on about in a negative way. … read more
Nile: Evil to Cast Out Evil
The gods of brutality and legend have given great gifts to Salt Lake City this year by way of the whispered household names of the extreme metal underground. Enter Nile, part of the Summer Slaughter Tour—a tour boasting maximum brutality—crushing The Complex in Salt Lake City on Aug. 6. … read more
Volcanic Birth: Interview with Dragged Into Sunlight
Dragged Into Sunlight, who have become widely known with just two full-length albums, is an experience best served without distraction. … read more
