Home » Entries posted by Stanley Stepanic (Page 39)
Adam Kristian Gallen \ orthodox black metal \ Scotland \ The Sinister Flame
Ifrinn – Caledonian Black Magick (Orthodox Black Metal)
Black metal orthodoxy is usually anathema these days. There’s the conundrum of “should it be from Norway to be troo?” or “should we keep playing these same cold riffs?” Those are the two biggest issues with the classic vein. I prefer submissions that change expectations, but doing things the presumably easy way can work. […]
Blood Harvest Records \ cosmic death metal \ Houston \ Lucas Corte \ Texas \ United States
Universally Estranged – Reared Up in Spectral Predation (Real Cosmic Death Metal)
I knew this shit was going to be deep. Actually, better to say I knew it wanted to be deep, because it’s trying out that “cosmic death metal” thing. Whether or not it was was up to the task depended on my blackholes (ears) and my existential consumption of conflagration (brain). See? Deep shit […]
Australia \ Bitter Loss Records \ death thrash \ Demura Artem \ melodic death metal \ Technical Death Metal
The Plague – Within Death (All of the Death Metal)
I receive a lot of death metal submissions with the ole’ skull cover aesthetic. Usually you can’t expect much out of such things but I dig bones so I give any skeletal art a try just for that reason. The Plague is yet another Australian death metal outfit that got my attention for their […]
505 Games \ All in! Games \ cyberpunk \ Nintendo Switch \ One More Level \ platformer \ PS4 \ PS5 \ Slipgate Ironworks \ Steam \ Xbox One
Ghostrunner (Cyberpunk Head Removal Sword Game)
Phew dang do I have a huge backlog of games to review. Here I am thinking I have all my serious life work pretty much done and then I convince myself I need to edit a textbook. Damn it. Well, I’ll have more time to play and stream in a few months, don’t worry, […]
David Thièrrèe \ melodic black metal \ plague-ridden black metal \ Russia \ Saturnal Records
Hymnr – Far Beyond Insanity (Plague-Ridden Melodic Black Metal)
Usually I see some “insanity” reference and I want to cry. It’s like late works of Gothic literature that tried to creep with “scary” mental illness. Honestly, it’s not that scary. Really it’s not. So to see the same trope with black metal of the melodic variety? Come on now. That’s what I thought. […]
Lithuania \ Néstor Ávalos \ Néstor Avalos \ occult death metal \ Transcending Obscurity Records
Crypts of Despair – All Light Swallowed (Abyssal Death Metal)
This is…just good. I don’t know how else to say it. It’s good. Actually very good, so I can add at least that word to the review here to be more verbose. I can probably manage more than that, we’ll see. First off, congratulations to Crypts of Despair, because this is the first Lithuanian […]
Monarch – Future Shock (Retro Post-Apocalyptic Alien Stuff Thrash)
Well make this the second thrash band of recent development I reviewedm but I still have the same opinion I’ve always had; thrash needs a few things to survive these days. Obviously the music needs to slam, that’s without need of explanation. But theme and lead are key. Devils and shit is blackened in […]
catacomb synth \ Cloven Hoof Brewing & Releasing \ depressive black metal \ Norway \ Terratur Possessions
Syning – S/T (Catacomb Synth Depressing Black Metal)
Oh groan, I said, scoping the cover of this. I like my corpses in black and white, but though I’m not 100% certain I’m pretty sure this is yet another metal cover utilizing a shot from the Capuchin catacombs. If not, something close to it and when repetition of this nature is strong, you […]
blackened doom metal \ Caligari Records \ Czech Republic \ Czechia \ death doom
Můra – Doom Invocations and Narcotic Rituals (Opium Addicted Death Doom)
Lol these filthy shits. I can’t remember the last time I reviewed a Czech band but I’m not going to bother to look because these guys are all that matter at the moment. I often wish blackened metal, of any attached genre, would just slow the hell down now and then. Really does it […]
Lavadome Productions \ No Peace at the Gate \ Shaari Moth \ Technical Death Metal \ Texas
Cambion – Conflagrate the Celestial Refugium (Conundrum Inducing Technical Death Metal)
It’s been a bad week or so for promos, let me start there. Everything I’ve received has been a disappointment; either failing miserably with the art, or reaching, at best, average achievements in the music. That brings us to Texas’ Cambion. To be honest, I found this to be a goddamn conundrum at first. […]
