pig destroyer

Best of 2020: Ian’s Honorable Mentions List

IanLeave a comment
Best of 2020

A lot of things about this past year sucked, but the one thing that absolutely didn’t was the music.  Between the scheduled releases and the surprise ones few were expecting, it’s been a stellar year of powerful, emotionally charged music, and I’ve been in a very fortunate position to be able to sit back and take it all in.  So fortunate, in fact, that I couldn’t contain a year end list to just one article.  So, here’s the first installment, the honorable mentions.  Truthfully, any of these albums could have ended up on the “main” list on a different day, so really, this is just my way of extending the fun and talking about more of my favorite albums.

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CANTO: My Dying Bride, Wolf King, Dark Tranquillity, and More

CoreyLeave a comment
Dark Tranquillity

We got a whole bunch of new videos to get to, so let’s jump right into it!

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

The Third Circle of Bandcamp: August 2020 Edition

ChrisLeave a comment

third circle of Bandcamp header

Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines.  You got ’em, I got ’em, but more pertinent to this post Charles has ’em, so I’m jumping in to put together a batch of great music you can find on the grand poobah of digital music, Bandcamp.  We got metal, we got stuff that’s tangent to metal, and we got stuff that is unequivocally not metal.  Is that a typical Third Circle post?  Hell if I know, but let’s jump in and see what you think…

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Album Review: Pig Destroyer — “The Octagonal Stairway”

Ian1 Comment
Pig Destroyer - The Octagonal Stairway

Grindcore isn’t really a genre where bands are known for taking risks and pushing the envelope, but Pig Destroyer have always been the exception to that generalization.  Mixing whiplash grindcore with thrash riffs, doom atmosphere, harsh noise, thoughtful lyrics and smart songwriting, all while staying true to grind’s fast and furious structure might seem like a challenge but they’ve always made it seem like second nature.  This is no less true on the band’s upcoming EP The Octagonal Stairway, which sees them take their newly (relatively) expanded lineup and hone the edges into a razor sharp focus.

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Initial Descent: August 23 – 29, 2020

Josh1 Comment
Necrot
Necrot

Catch that Enslaved Below the Lights stream last week? Maybe it’s still up but if not, and you missed it, shame on you is all I can say. Anyway, another new week and another massive pile of bloody metal to sink your teeth into. Shall we? Rhetorical, of course. The Bay Area’s death metal behemoths Necrot are back with a vicious slab of old school infused death that’ll set your head on fire and make your ears bleed, everyone’s favorite grind masters Pig Destroyer have an EP that is at once familiar but boundary pushing on the backside, Exist chair an all star class on how progressive metal should be done, and Panzerfaust hit us right in the raw yet hypnotic black metal feels and those are good feels, to be sure. See? I told you this week would be massive, and there’s still a ton more below. Enjoy.

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