Home » Posts tagged with » California
blackened death metal \ California \ Hells Headbangers \ Los Angeles \ Nestor Avalos \ United States
Though part of the original guarde of black metal in the United States, I’ve never really considered Demoncy to be black metal, though I have always considered them to be awesome. Their earlier work certainly hearkens back to the early 1990s wave from Norway, but as time went on they developed their own, Californian, […]
California \ cold wave \ dark wave \ darkwave \ Los Angeles \ synth wave \ synthwave \ United States
I tell you what here’s another shat week for promos. I had only a single submission I wanted to review (already done before this one) and in desperation I thought “hey, been awhile since I heard some good Goth licks.” Search a tag and sometimes you come upon gold, this time under the moniker […]
20 Buck Spin \ California \ Daniel Butler \ erotic death metal \ San Francisco \ United States
For some bizarre reason it took me some time to get into this one, but don’t let that fool you, it’s an absolute ripper. I’ll blame the weather or something, because clearly my mind just wasn’t ready for it. Again, strange, because I find a certain site rating this much lower than would I, […]
bestial death metal \ blackened death metal \ California \ Goat Throne Records \ Sacramento \ Sentient Ruin Laboratories \ Silvia Palmeroni \ Stygian Black Hand \ United States \ war metal
Well get ready to consume this one at face fooking value. A multitude of upside-down crosses hide within a festering logo above an image that summarizes the album title below. What’s this one like? Well it’s a Climax of Disgusting Impurities! What else? Honestly though, the face on that child-like goat being is freaking […]
20 Buck Spin \ Alexandria \ California \ Ian Miller \ Oakland \ Oregon \ Portland \ United States \ Virginia
Ulthar can do no wrong at this point, pretty sure about that. When we last encountered them I was thrilled by the music, but disgusted at the thematics, which were, ugh, Lovecraft BS; a theme far too many metal bands have milked dry until only blood remains, and you don’t even want any of […]
Ainul Iblis \ California \ Los Angeles \ New York \ Osman Ramadanović \ plaintive black metal \ United States black metal \ USBM
Well that’s a black metal logo, right? But that art…something…more to it…something sinister and plaintively classique perhaps? Whatever that vague feeling is, I knew it was going to totally crush. But wait, this is USBM, which sometimes like to think it crushes but makes us blushes from embarrassment? Not in this case. LA’s Vaamatar, […]
California \ Caligari Records \ experimental death metal \ San Francisco \ Stefan Thanneur \ The Flenser
Oooohhh, tasty, tasty, tasty be this. First thing, released partially by The Flenser. Second thing, wow. To be wowed anymore I need to be challenged and surprised. Well, hard to challenge me so just stick with surprise. Make it a jump scare of riffs. I want riffs to bend mental states, I want the […]
California \ Carbonized Records \ grindcore \ San Jose \ Stephen Bower
Well this was surprisingly enjoyable for an album that first appears to be a rip off of some Teitanblood shit, but not nearly as long. In fact it’s not even half of that or so. Albums that deliver in such a short span of time are amazing to me when they work. Most bands […]
California \ Gothic death metal \ Transcending Obscurity Records \ Zé Burnay
At first I thought there was something wrong with this promo. Two tracks of “death metal”, WTF? That’s practically single length, barely an EP in my books. But okay it’s an EP I guess. So here’s the thing about EPs. You have to prove yourself fast and hard or it’s all over. You hear […]
California \ hardcore punk \ Los Angeles \ Southern Lord Recordings
I typically review punk submissions when I get them unless they’re absolutely awful, so even the average I’ll give a shot just because it’s so rare I receive anything from the genre that doesn’t reek of stagnancy. When I saw the quintessential post-punk look to the cover of this I figured it would be […]