Dying Out Flame: Shiva Rudrastakam (2014)

When Death Metal Was Born Again for the Seventh TimeReview by joanismylover, the third metal attorney.

During law school my wife's Sikh friend got married in Vancouver and we were privileged to take part in the elaborate, striking and lengthy wedding ceremony. My wife had the henna administered (it looked totally metal!), I ate the Kara Parshad and the three days flew by. It was wonderful. Of

Opeth: Pale Communion (2014)

A Darker Shade of PaleFor about a decade, Opeth was the most important band in metal, to paraphrase an occasional contributor to this site. You are no doubt fully aware of their sound, and have probably heard most if not all of their music. And I don’t feel that anyone has a misunderstanding of the band, either; metalheads understand Opeth, whether they enjoy it or not. You are no doubt also

R.I.P. Countess Bathory

I just found out that the other day (August 21) was the 400th anniversary of the death of Countess Bathory. Since she inspired my favorite song, I thought that was worth noting.

Pallbearer: Foundations of Burden (2014)

Unoriginal?In their recent Decibel cover story, the members of Pallbearer seem perplexed at their sudden rise to prominence and the nearly universal, fervent adoration they've received among metalheads--and in some corners of the mainstream. I have been no less perplexed than them. Which is not to say that I don't adore them. My gut feeling is that they're not doing anything new, and that they're

Brimstone Coven v. Dystopia

Doom-Rock Showdown v.
I’m not sure how long “doom-rock” has been a term, but the music has been around for a while. It’s splitting the baby between hard rock and doom metal, and shows up alongside terms like “retro,” “proto-metal” and “occult rock.” I’ve always found it to be a nice change of color that allows for rock-style songwriting without losing the appeal of doom’s heaviness.

There’s

The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe (1980-1983)

The Color That Is Darker Than BlackGene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun is the best thing I've read in ten years, since the first time I read The Lord of the Rings. In fact, professional critics have placed it right alongside that work. If that doesn't grab your attention enough, let me also state that it's the most metal book I've ever read.

The most key point to explain what makes this book so

Botanist: VI: Flora (2014)

Fawning Over FloraIt’s always important to know where a reviewer is coming from. So in case you missed it, I’m a huge Botanist fanboy. I’ve been covering the band since the beginning, posting one of the earliest reviews and interviews with the band. The band has made multiple appearances on my year-end lists. I also have a Botanist patch from supporting the recent Kickstarter.* With that record

Pyrrhon: The Mother of Virtues (2014)

Not Spiritually HealingReview by joanismylover, the third metal attorney.

What is the purpose of listening to music? Why does one spend countless hours loading up iTunes with MP3s? Why does she put the stylus to the vinyl and the vinyl to the computer via USB cables? Why does she roam the back aisles of goodwill stores to ransack incoming record collections? Why does one jam out to the local

On the Suicide of Robin Williams

For some reason people seem surprised that Robin Williams committed suicide. If you had asked me a month ago to pick the celebrity most likely to kill himself, he would have topped my list. The last time I saw him on a talk show--several years back--it struck me just how desperately he wanted people to like him. (Which, in turn, made me desperately not like him.) The man was not psychologically

Monarch: Sabbracadaver (2014)

ViceroyProfound Lore is unassailable as the premier metal label. They release some of the best death metal, Lovecraftian and with an old-school ethos if not always old-school in style--Disma, Auroch, and Portal, to name a few. They release some of the most interesting black or blackened metal, not the least of which are Cobalt and Agalloch. They release some of the best truly experimental music

Unfortunately my Internet access is currently down. I'll find a way to post a finished review as soon as possible.

Pact: The Infernal Hierarchies, Penetrating the Threshold of Night (2014)

Pennsylvanian HungerBoy, that album title is a mouthful. Helpful hint: if your album title is a complete sentence, consider cutting it down a little nit. Pact is a black metal band out of Transylvania... no, wait, make that Pennsylvania. The publicity materials make a big deal out of the fact that this is the band's long-awaited, highly-anticipated second album, making it sound as if it has

Black Metal Briefs 2014

Thrice BlackenedYou know how these roundups work, so let's get to the black metal.

Bölzer: Soma
4.5 out of 5 stars

Bölzer has managed to be blistering, pure, and old-school, while writing songs that get stuck in my head for a good, long while. They haven't been terribly prolific, but maybe that's the key to success in an age of over-saturation: Make damn sure that every song you release is