Nine Circles ov…The Binder of Forgotten Metal

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There is a significant real estate issue in my house when it comes to physical media.  I have one room that is totally mine, but there’s only so much you can cram into a 9×12 foot office.  So I began to make concessions: in addition to moving largely digital I’ve been transferring a lot of my CDs into binders, relegating the towers (thank you IKEA Gnedby) to the music I listen to the most.

When I first got back into extreme music, I was buying whatever I could to get a sense of what it was I liked and identified with.  Now I have two fat binders full of stuff I probably haven’t listened to in years, so for this edition of Nine Circles ov… I decided to grab one of those dusty old binders, open it up and grab some metal to see what I moved in error, and what rightfully deserved its place among the forgotten. Let’s dig in…   Continue reading

Album Review: Versifist – “Cipher” (EP)

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Versifist sees the benefit of one of the most unholy unions between underground metal labels in history with Vault of Dried Bones and Iron Bonehead Productions releasing their latest EP, Cipher. Clearly metal loves its analog and if you haven’t fallen back in love with a virtual treasure chest of underground metal on analog that’s been released over the past few years, take your Slipknot CDs and flush them down your cesspool of a toilet. Versifist plays black/death metal that romps, gallops, then blasts to levels of melody and musicianship few bands can milk from the strings of a guitar, beat out of a solid drumkit, bludgeon with the basso profundo magic of a six-string bass guitar. Only Versifist’s second EP thus far, Cipher is a great two-song soundtrack to your melatonin-filled days and reverie-laden nights. Hail Satan. Hail Versifist.

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