hope attrition

immortal band — *there is no Immortal in this list. I just really like the pic.

The style and format of the Nine Cirles ov… articles is such that we limit ourselves to nine entries on whatever topic it is we’re blathering about. It’s a blessing and a curse: it really helps hone down what you want to cover but, as in the case of this week’s mid-year favorites it can really kill your groove, particularly when there’s so much awesome to cover in the first half of the year.

And man there’s SO MUCH GOOD STUFF OUT THERE. Someone on Twitter mentioned how he dug the list for the simple reason that none of my choices would have made his list. Now, after you pick yourself up off the floor in shock that sometimes (rarely, admittedly) social media can be a sensible and warm community, revel in the fact that this just reinforces the amount of quality out there so far in 2017. So, you all good with a second course? Let’s dig in… Continue reading →

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When we think about black metal it’s hard to forget all the times we’ve been disappointed by bands whose music we love but whose members we come to find out are piss-poor examples of humanity. While anti-fascist metal exists, it seems to be often drowned out by both right wing extremists and people who would prefer to keep politics out of metal entirely. The fact is, metal has always been a political vehicle, as all art forms have, and the time to be silent about the rise of intolerance in the world has long since passed. Enter New York’s Woe, who return with a scorching new album, Hope Attrition, as a rallying cry to those in the metal scene who would stand up for what is right.
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