iron bonehead productions

Album Review: Vesicant – “Shadows of Cleansing Iron”

Chris1 Comment

Vesicant_-_Shadows_of_Clensing_Iron

“Blackened death” or whatever you want to call it seems to be the genre du jour this year, and I’ll be the first to admit the scuzzy, filth-ridden sound is not a favorite for me. The switch hasn’t clicked in my head that seems to be the default position for so many online writers who fawn over this kind of thing (there’s a reason I didn’t review the latest from Triumvir Foul), but I keep trying to crack it, to find some hook or jagged spike I can latch onto and wallow in the muddied waters with the rest of you.

So, biases and trepidation laid out, let’s take a listen to the debut from Vesicant, Shadows of Cleansing Iron.   Continue reading →

Initial Descent: June 25 – July 1, 2017

JoshLeave a comment
Witch Vomit
Witch Vomit

By the time you read this I’ll be somewhere between Florida and my hometown returning from a much needed vacation, very sunburned but very relaxed. Well…except for that whole “returning to the real world” and the plethora of idiots that populate the road ways who will inevitably be in my craw. But, I digress. It’s another week of mucho metal here on Initial Descent so let’s not delay any longer. Kicking things off, Oregon’s Witch Vomit return for another (short) round of killer death metal on Poisoned Blood, Weregoat get bestial and downright nasty on their debut full length Pestilential Rites of Infernal Fornication, keeping with the theme established thus far is Pig’s Blood with their debut full length Pig’s Blood which offers little in the way of good feelings and rounding out the top slots is Weapönizer with their second full length Lawless Age which features a wicked amalgamation of black metal, thrash and crossover. An overall brutal way to start a Saturday but as always there’s so much more to check out right after the jump. So go, now. Continue reading →

Album Review: Jordablod – “Upon My Cremation Pyre”

Vincent1 Comment

GDOB2-30CH-001.cdr

It’s always an interesting experience when what you think an album will sound like and what it actually sounds like end up being vastly different.  When I took the promo for Jordablod‘s debut album, Upon My Cremation Pyre, I thought based on the logo, promo pictures, and label associated with them, I had this band pegged for that ugly blackened death metal that is commonplace now.  Not that I would have minded if that were true, but I think the fact that Upon My Cremation Pyre was almost the opposite of what I was expecting contributed a lot to why I love this album as much as I do.  The sense of having the rug pulled out from under me made me appreciate all the unique touches the band puts here even more. Continue reading →

Album Review: Versifist – “Cipher” (EP)

Al NecroLeave a comment

versifist-cipher-cover

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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Album Review: Black Cilice – “Nocturnal Mysticism” (EP)

Al Necro1 Comment

Black Cilice - Nocturnal Mysticism

The time that has passed between the second wave of black metal’s earliest manifestations and the evolution of the black metal template leading to new forms has been genuinely exciting to behold. Once, black metal as a genre manifested itself closely by resembling styles that took in a smaller degree of other elements. It has now incorporated a variety of more disparate elements to create several iterations of the genre no longer closely aligned with second wave black metal. This has largely been a triumph for bands who wished to branch out and expand said template. Perhaps a disgust of playing the same iteration over and over and the collective docility of bands that aimed to continue to play true to the genre’s roots led to a free-falling of the genre as we knew it. Bands like Black Cilice stay true to the first forms of second wave if nothing else. But, there is more to the necro production that Black Cilice uses to its contemporary uniqueness on Nocturnal Mysticism.

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