viscera///

Initial Descent: December 2 – 8, 2018

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Graf Orlock
Graf Orlock

Sickness sucks. I’ve been fighting a damn cold for what feels like an eternity and it just won’t quit. YAY ME. Ugh. But, you know what makes me feel better? Hey WHAT, you don’t care?! FINE. But, I’m saying it anyway because I can: new metal makes me feel better and there’s another heaping load of it this week so let’s hop to it, shall we…

Graf Orlock, who define DIY hardcore punk these days, returns with their fourth full length (and 11th release overall) Examination of Violent Cinema, Volume 1 which features inspiration from, you guessed it, violent films released in 2017 and autopsied corpse packaging but really it’s another notch in the belt of a band that defines its own genre in 2018. Viscera/// return with a quick hitter EP in the form of City of Dope and Violence and it’s a twisted rail of hardcore, sludge and experimentation but a fast trip you’ll want to take. Svartidauði have been through a whirlwind of life happenings in their short existence but that didn’t stop them from releasing a stunning sophomore effort of epic black metal on Revelations of the Red Sword. Last up top this week is the labyrinthine maze of progressive / technical death metal from Zealotry on At the Nexus of All Stillborn Worlds which is the band’s maiden voyage for Unspeakable Axe, perfect fit.

After that opening four I’m already feeling better. Thanks for your concern…or not. Anyway, you know what to do next. GO. NOW. Continue reading →

Best of 2017: Zyklonius’ List

Zyklonius10 Comments

9C 2017 EOY Header Image

Another trip around the sun, another stellar year for metal, with a wealth of riveting riffage, pulverizing beats, blood-curdling growls and blazing tremolos. Verily, this is an era of abundance, where it is impossible to stay on top of the deluge of top-shelf metal released every week. Best of all, quality seems to go hand in hand with quantity. If there ever was an antithesis to the contemporary temptation for instant gratification and disposability, every album I included in my mid-year stocktaking exercise ended up on my end-of-year list, having continued to impress and astonish me as time went by, testament to the spectacular songwriting, boundless creativity and killer riff delivery of the bands that conjured up these stunning works of art. And just when I thought things could not get any better, both seasoned veterans and hungry newcomers arrived, bearing gifts of seismic impact. I hope the following releases enrich your life, even if only with a fraction of the effect they had on me. Now, dig in! Continue reading →

Circle Pit: Albums We Missed, Q2 2017

ninecirclesadmin3 Comments

purgatory

Remember how we all got together as a team (well, most of us) and shared some of our favorite albums from the prior few months that we either forgot to cover or didn’t feel like writing full reviews about? Well, now that we’ve passed the midway point in 2017, some of us are proud to bring you some overlooked highlights from the second quarter. Yes, I am aware we are over a month into Q3, but I really don’t know what to tell ya. We’ve been lazy. So, without further delay, let’s jump right into it. Album we missed in Q2 2017. Here. We. Go. Continue reading →