airbag

Too many albums, too few reviewers…that’s the problem with all the metal blogs, not just this one. What do you do? How do you get a sense of what’s out there if you’re only listening to a fraction of what’s getting released? How do you open yourself up to new music? I’ll tell you how: you jump into all the unpicked promos each month and devote a sentence or two giving a sense of what you gleaned from it.

That’s right: we’re back for another round of “The Month That Was…” so enough preambling…let’s dive into this edition of Nine Circles ov… and see what’s been percolating in June 2024.

Continue reading →

Hey folks, Chris here. And man am I glad I’m covering for Fearless Editor Josh™ because the next couple weeks are going to be KILLER for metal fans in general and Initial Descent in particular. And it’s all kicking off with the long awaited seventh album from the New Zealand death merchants Ulcerate…the entire 9C office can’t stop raving about it. That not enough for ya? How about the return of the mighty, the modern heavy metal masters Crypt Sermon who might have just topped themselves with their third full length? Is that not enough? You say you want doom, with a little of that desert crunch to it? How freakin’ glad are you that Rezn have returned with another slab of molten riffs that will sweat the sin from your skin? All that heat is sure to wear you out, and for the return trip to reality there might be nothing better than some Floyd-inspired modern progressive rock with the new Airbag which I’ve been spinning for weeks when I need my mind to just drift away.

All that and more awaits you in this prelude to the official start of summer. Go blow the sonics and we’ll see you here with reviews, profiles and more throughout the week.

Continue reading →