vhol

Receiving the Evcharist: Vhöl and Chocolatté Porter

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Receiving the Evcharist

Welcome back, readers. Sometimes, when the world gets us down, we look for ways to help others in need to boost our own spirits. I have seen first hand the way the metal community has banded together to help where it counts, and while metal as a whole is far from a utopia, I love that I have surrounded myself with people who are working towards making metal the kind of community it always should have been; one that is inclusive and safe for everyone, one that sticks together, and one that helps pick up those that need it the most. So with this Evcharist, I wanted to try to be the change I wish to see in the world and do what I can to help one of metal’s own, the legendary Mike Scheidt. If I can help someone find great new booze or tunes in the process, so much the better. The Metal: Vhöl’s S/T. The Booze: Evan’s Brewing Company’s Chocolatté Porter.  Continue reading →

Concert Review: Migration Fest, Part 3

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migration

Alright, I think I’m finally done dragging my coverage of Migration Fest out. But can you really blame me? It was an incredible weekend in an incredible area of the country all centered around a collection of bands I just assumed I would never see live at any point in my life. Yet, Gilead Media and 20 Buck Spin made it happen. There’s no doubt that Saturday was the highlight day of this particular festival, and I’ll tell you right off the bat that nothing from Sunday bettered the performance of Panopticon the night before. But I would also be lying to you if I said Sunday wasn’t also anything short of amazing. While the festival was on the way out on the calendar, you would never know that from the performances. One more time… let’s take a closer look. Continue reading →

CANTO: Ne Obliviscaris tour, AC/DC U.S. dates, a taste of new Behemoth, and more!

CoreyLeave a comment

neobliviscaris

“The constant struggle for a moment of quiet indulgence eventually stirred and quaked the earth so hard. It swallowed him in a dark and heavy cloud, slowly and gently starving him into insanity.”

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– Corey

Nine Circles ov… Album Art (Best of 2015)

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kontinuum kyrr
Kontinuum – Kyrr

Another year has flown by. We are all, all of us, closer to death. By roughly one year, depending on how rough a year it was for you. One thing that helped take the stress out of the year, aside from music, was the cover artwork on some of our favorite albums. Beautiful, twisted and sometimes insane, cover art gave us an initial glimpse into the music within as well as something to stare at while attempting to hold back the tears. With that in mind, Corey and I (Manny-O-War) sat down to parse out what some of the most inspirational and beautiful artwork of this year was. We considered not only the beauty, horror or intrigue but also how well the artwork encapsulated the music within. There were other albums that, while they had beautiful artwork, the artwork really didn’t have anything to do with the music. That’s a shame. So here are nine of our favorites. Continue reading →

Best of 2015: Dustin’s List

OldThunderKY2 Comments

Best 2015

Generally, you’ll find one of two types of music writers at the end of the year: Bitter codgers who bemoan that there’s not enough to write about and that there are no noteworthy albums, and the hyper-excited “EVERYTHING WAS AWESOME” type that honestly can’t pick a true “best” album of the year. It is, of course, easy to get bogged down by the amount of mediocre, unremarkable crap that you subject yourself to over the course of an entire year as a reviewer — or alternately follow the hype machine on everything — but all things considered, 2015 was a good year for basically every sub-genre of metal. Continue reading →