castle freak

How Not To Do It: Social Media feat. Allfather, Castle Freak and The Glorious Rebellion

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The past few columns I’ve berated you on the different ways that bands fuck up  their PR and general promotion. This time around, I figured I would talk to a few bands that I personally think do it right when it comes to social media: Allfather, Castle Freak and The Glorious Rebellion. All three I personally met due to social media and I think that you can learn a lot from each of them.  They are all active on Facebook and Twitter and I highly recommend you follow their accounts and the advice they give. Continue reading →

Best of 2016, Q1: Manny-O-War’s List

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I’m not going to lie to you people. I think 2016 might be the best year in metal (particularly death metal) in a very, very long time. This is something I’ve been ranting about in my monthly recaps but it needs to be said as much as possible: each month in 2016 has provided an endless amount of terrific albums. Picking a top 18 for any month this year wouldn’t pose a significant hurdle. That’s just how good it’s been. So, with that in mind let’s take a look back at the last three months in metal. Continue reading →

Nine Circles Ov… March 2016

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Glasgow cathedral
Glasgow Cathedral as photographed by our Dæmoness of Design, Jaci Raia. For more of her beautiful work follow her on Instagram.
March proved to be yet another strong month for 2016 ending the first quarter on a high note. There were some excellent releases. Some larger releases that dropped included a new effort from Cobalt, an LP from brutal tech-death outfit Wormed, a sequel from K-X-P, multiple issues from Spazz courtesy of Tankcrimes, a single from Daemona, an LP from Xibalba, a discography for Phobia courtesy of Melotov Records and an LP from the completely redesigned Church of Misery. Below are nine albums, a bunch of EP’s this month, that deserve your attention which you might have missed. As a final note, if you’re into the stoner metal type stuff you might be interested in Blood Ceremony‘s Lord of Misrule.
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Initial Descent: March 18, 2016

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convulse band 2016

Another Friday is upon us! Leading the charge with this week’s new releases are Finnish legends Convulse! The band’s new album, Cycle of Revenge, comes just two-and-a-half years since after their last effort, Evil Prevails — which is kinda nice since they’d waited almost 20 years between albums before that. It’s a very un-Convulse-sounding record, but worth giving a spin all the same. We’ve also got new stuff from The Body, Decrepit Soul and a whole host of others dropping today, so let’s not waste any more time. Here’s what’s on tap for Friday, March 18:
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Album Review: Castle Freak – “Human Hive” (EP)

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Castle freak coverBefore the days of drum triggers, re-amped guitars, and multiple vocal layers, death metal was another thing entirely, a stranger even in the growing genre of heavy metal. Far removed from the thrash’s growing tendencies to rely on flash and technicality, and even farther removed from anything close to the realm of traditional metal, the rules were simple: Play fast, play hard, play dirty. Castle Freak‘s newest EP Human Hive follows these rules to a T and in its short runtime is a marathon of smartly played, simply written old-school death metal and grindcore that gets the job done.  Continue reading →