Album Review: Contrarian — “Sage of Shekhinah”

Contrarian - Sage of Shekhinah

Where does an album get their genre descriptor from? And who has the authority to give an album, and the band who created the album in the first place, said genre descriptor? If anyone has listened to both prog death and tech death long enough, you’ll notice there is a fine line between both genres, especially when their descriptions become subjective to the listener. Casting the finer points of metal music vernacular aside, the reason for this thought was that Contrarian’s fifth album, Sage of Shekhinah, straddles the line between the experimental nature of prog death and the technical instrumentation of tech death. Let’s discuss.

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CANTO: Suffocation, Eight Bells, Backslider, and More

To make 2022 even worse… I’m pretty sure I lost my entire photo and music library. Help.

  • Let’s start with tour news, some good… some bad. First some good. Suffocation have announced a new 2022 North American tour with Atheist, Soreption, and Contrarian. The dates cover late May through late June, and tickets go on sale Friday at this location.
  • Less positive news has emerged from Khemmis, who has postponed their West Coast tour until June. All previously purchased tickets are still valid, and it sounds like some more dates might even be added. Read up on all that here.
  • Philadelphia sludge punk collective Backslider released a new track and video today, titled “Pseudomessiah”. That’s taken from the upcoming new album, Psychic Rot, which drops on February 11th through To Live A Lie Records.
  • Som shared a new track from their upcoming new album, The End of Everything, which is out on January 21st through Pelagic Records. Listen to “Center” here.
  • We’re going to wrap up with the first new Eight Bells material I’ve heard in forever. Check out “Destroyer” below. Legacy of Ruin is out on February 25th through Prophecy Productions.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 158 (12.5.2020)

playlist - mixtape

Welcome to another Saturday morning mixtape. This week, we’ve got new Fuming Mouth, classic Wolves in the Throne Room, and one of my favorite jams from The Cure. Check these out and more below.

– Vincent

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 154 (11.7.2020)

playlist - mixtape

Welcome to another edition of our Saturday morning mixtape series. This week, we’ve got an incredible reworking of a pop music staple by Khemmis’ Ben Hutcherson (subscribe to the man’s Patreon to fund further hijinks), plus some classic Glassjaw, the new music video from Schammasch, and even outlaw country for good measure. Check it out below.

– Vincent

Circle Pit: Albums We Missed Q1, 2019

purgatory

I don’t know about you, but 2019 started a little thin and then by the first quarter’s end just exploded all over the good linen like a beast.  This year, more than most, we’ve been a little behind the ball in getting reviews out, but with a lot of new blood coming in I have a feeling that’s going to change soon.  In the meantime we got your quarterly round up right here of all the stuff we wanted to review, should have reviewed, but didn’t.

Until now.  So let’s dive in. Continue reading