where owls know my name

Best of 2018: Chris’s List

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EOY 2018 Header 9C

What does music do for you?

In the end, it’s the only question that matters.  An admittedly hard question to hear, what with the screaming of every opinion in every corner of the internet, but in the end when you step away from the noise and muck of screen shouting and scene guarding it’s your opinion in the end.  Every year that I’ve written an end of year list for Nine Circles it’s been a variation of the same theme: when we write about music, we’re writing about ourselves.  What matters is what the music does to you, and only for you.

But what’s the point, if you’re really only writing for yourself? Continue reading →

Album Review: Rivers of Nihil – “Where Owls Know My Name”

Chris5 Comments

Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name

There are few better things in life than when a band you write off as just not being in your wheelhouse surprises the hell out of you.  On their first two releases Rivers of Nihil crafted technical if slightly detached death metal.  Everything rang true and sounded great, and nothing stuck out.  With Where Owls Know My Name the band rips its sound wide open, laying bare exposed nerve endings that mesh with a sense of exploration to craft my favorite death metal release so far this year.   Continue reading →