Jump to content

Blogs

Featured Entries

  • MacabreEternal

    Immortal Bird "Thrive on Neglect"

    By MacabreEternal

    Immortal Bird have been on my radar for some time now.  Having thoroughly enjoyed their debut full length of 2015, 'Empress/Abscess' (and their debut EP - 'Akrasia' some 2 years earlier) I have been eager to see what their sophomore full length would offer.  The label I commonly see applied to the band is of a "blackened crust/sludge metal" description which whilst accurate for the fledgling part of their career does not by any means cover the plethora of styles, genres and sounds explored on 'T
    • 2 comments
    • 11,040 views
  • MacabreEternal

    Gorguts - Full Length Discography Review (1991 - 2016)

    By MacabreEternal

    1991 – Considered Dead – R/C Records It is hard to remember Gorguts as anything other than boundary pushing, avant-grade and unique purveyors of some of the most challenging music out there.  But everybody has to start somewhere and their debut was a straight up death metal record.  No evidence was shown in 1991 of much of anything in the way of technicality with the focus instead being on the release of the familiar sound that was infecting much of the metal world in the early nineties.
    • 0 comments
    • 819 views
  • MacabreEternal

    Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark (1992)

    By MacabreEternal

    Today we commemorate the final passing of Iron Maiden, some thirty years on from them being so cruelly taken from us by whatever it was they morphed into thereafter.  I know that quality was waning on the previous release, but the fact is that No Prayer for the Dying and Fear of the Dark where both important albums for me as a youth, being the first two new albums from a band I had discovered via someone else's vinyl collection to date back in 1989 that I could go out and buy and discover at the
    • 4 comments
    • 931 views
  • FatherAlabaster

    Obsequiae - The Palms Of Sorrowed Kings

    By FatherAlabaster

    Obsequiae established a very well-defined style on their first record, and they've stuck with it ever since. The Palms Of Sorrowed Kings is their third album, and much like the second one, it offers subtle refinements and expansions of their sound, but no big surprises. If you haven't heard them, it's a great place to start; if you have, you know what to expect. That's not a bad thing at all. If you like what they do, you'll like this album. It's chock full of flowing, triumphant medieval-E
    • 2 comments
    • 1,528 views
  • MacabreEternal

    Sacred Reich "Awakening"

    By MacabreEternal

    Whichever tier of thrash metal you consigned Sacred Reich back in the 80's/90's they still had their moments.  "Ignorance" & "Surf Nicaragura" did a great job of establishing the band, whereas "The American Way" just got a little too comfortable and accessible (the title track grates nowadays) for my ears.  A couple more records better left forgotten about and then nothing for twenty three years.  2019 alone has now seen three releases from Phil Rind and co.  A live EP, a split EP with Iron
    • 10 comments
    • 10,235 views

Legion of the Damned "Slaves of the Shadow Realm"

Variety is the spice of life, so they say.  Someone might want to mention this to Legion of the Damned.  Picking up right were Venom left off last week in the the generic stakes, "Slaves of the Shadow Realm" churns out largely unvaried, unremarkable and unmemorable thrash metal with the odd splash of death and black metal smatterings here and there.  To give you some idea of how hard going this is I have to wait three whole tracks to here a lead guitar!  I love good chug fest as much as the next

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Venom "Storm The Gates"

So, my first review of 2019 is of the latest offering from UK legends Venom.  37 years after the debut full length and the band are still active, albeit as a much changed line up from that which recorded "Welcome to Hell".  I'll be honest, I haven't bothered with Venom beyond "At War With Satan", so I really had a blank slate in terms of expectations when I put "Storm The Gates" on this afternoon.  To say it is generic is something of an understatement.  Each track just morphs into the next

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal's Top 10 BM Albums 2018

At the start of pulling this list together I had thought it to have been a "light" year for BM releases.  It was only when I got into compiling my "Best of 2018" that I realised it had in fact been quite a good year.  2018 in BM saw the return of some well established acts, some of them doing what they have always done well whereas others took to the recording studios minus long standing members.  When all is said and done, I think it all turned out rather well. Honorable Mentions It i

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Corpsessed "Impetus of Death"

It was 2014 when Corpsessed released their debut full length and mighty fucking good it was too.  Some 4+ years later and it is time for the sophomore release to land in my music stream and seek my attention.  When I say seek I actually mean possess my attention.  Although the album is by no means perfect, this record grabs hold of you by your very soul, dragging it off on a journey littered with horror, darkness and crushing heaviness to boot.  One of its main successes is the atmosphere that i

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Soulfly "Ritual"

Surprises are nice aren't they?  I mean, not socks for Xmas type surprises.  Not even tax rebate on your birthday-esque proportions either.  I am more concerned with those times in your life where you tell yourself you will hate something before you even get round to trying it, convincing yourself in the process this unheard, untasted, unseen or unfelt thing would be a waste of your time.  When you eventually throw caution to the wind and give it go you find no repulsion, no bile in your throat

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Behemoth "I Loved You At Your Darkest"

The first song I heard ahead of the full 2014 release ("The Satanist") from Behemoth was "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel".  It immediately peaked my interest, setting the tone nicely for what was to become one of my favoured full lengths of that year.  This time around I heard "God = Dog" (which I think means the band are more cat people?).  It sounded blunted and frankly restrained.  Yes, there was a brief passage of some interesting string work towards the end but generally it just passed me by. 

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Deicide "Overtures of Blasphemy"

Glen Benton is 51.  Fuck I feel old now too.  Deicide are 30 years old (32 if we count the Amon era).  Album number 12 from the fathers of Florida death metal is a strong effort considering yet another change of personnel has occurred.  It is bye-bye Jack Owen, hello Mark English of Monstosity fame taking up guitar duties and ironically I like "Overtures of Blasphemy " a lot more than Monstrosity's effort this year. Whilst it can never make the "beast of a DM record" title I would give to t

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Redemption Release New Album "Long Night's Journey Into Day"

On July 27, 2018, Redemption released their seventh full-length album, Long Night’s Journey Into Day. The release was mastered by Jacob Hansen, who has also worked with Amaranthe, Doro, Primal Fear and Volbeat. It is the first album to feature Evergrey vocalist Tom Englund on vocals, replacing longtime frontman Ray Alder, also of progressive metal institution Fates Warning. Englund’s highly emotional, husky vocal style could lend a rougher edge to Redemption’s simultaneously melodramatic and con

Iceni

Iceni

Khemmis "Desolation"

I have heard a lot of metal over my 29 years of listening to little else genre wise.  I have seen the birth and death of genres and sub genres and even witnessed things come back full circle as the twenty teens (?) churn out the likes of Visigoth with their traditional take of heavy metal that was the audible catalyst for me at 13 years of age to go down this route as a fan. Khemmis are a band that embrace that "older" or more "traditional" feel to metal in 2018 that has been popular over t

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Immortal "Northern Chaos Gods"

Behind every great man, there's a great woman.  Behind every camped up, shape throwing, garrulous Black Metal vocalist there's a great song writer.  Both of these statements are true, except the second one actually does not commend Abbath as being the imaginative, creative and artistic driving force behind Immortal.  This is blatantly obvious if you have heard his solo pop/rock record of a couple of years ago. What "Northern Chaos Gods" does is essentially pull off one of the best tattoo re

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Winterfylleth "The Hallowing of Heirdom"

Okay, so I will admit that the prospect of an acoustic only Winterfylleth album didn't exactly fill me with joy.  The pagan, black metallers have long existed on the fringes of my radar but never somehow managed to make much more than a fleeting blip historically.  The fact is that this is one of the most heartfelt records I have listened to in quite a while.  I have more than once found myself stood stock still, completely captivated by the atmospheric beauty of what I have heard on this r

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Circle II Circle "Burden of Truth"

I invite you to come with me to a time before 2008. It may surprise you to learn that at this point, Circle II Circle was actually a pretty damn good band. They did eventually become prog Godsmack, as history will record with bitter regret chronicling the storied tale of Savatage. For now, however, let’s make like boomers and complain about how things used to be better. Burden of Truth sounds like sentimentalism, at times. It feels rather like Skid Row filtered through Phantom of the Opera,

Iceni

Iceni

Ministry "AmeriKKKant"

No matter how much you dislike Donald Trump, Ministry's overt and constant attack on his administration doesn't mean that "AmeriKKKant" is actually a good album.  I mean it isn't entirely a terrible album either but you will struggle to remember much of it after even a couple of listens, beyond the endless stream of frankly confusing and almost barrage like snippets of Trump audio bites that is, they are the only really memorable part. It isn't really an industrial metal album either.  It s

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Judas Priest "Firepower"

When I was 14 I witnessed the video on Raw Power TV to the title track from Judas Priest's "Painkiller" album.  I hadn't heard any Priest up until that stage despite me having a good selection of Iron Maiden and Saxon records under my belt by that age.  "Painkiller" blew me the fuck away!  I mean, what was not to love?  Thunderous drums, a mix of gruff and shrill vocal antics and duelling lead guitars.  I went straight out that afternoon and bought the album on blasted it for consecutive days fo

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Portal "ION"

One of my favourite urban myths is that you will go blind if you masterbate too much.  Listening to Portal might make you go blind as you ears frantically take resource from your brain that was needed for mundane tasks such as vision and bladder control as they try to cope with the relentless auditory assault of "ION", however pulling your pud won't affect your eyesight boys.  Science bit over, on with the review. "ION" seems instantly more refined than previous outings.  Don't get me wrong

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Machine Head "Catharsis"

Fucking hell.  Where to start really? Nu-metal is apparently alive and well in 2018 and I don't like Nu-Metal, so the prospects for positive words in this review are slim.  It is not that I don't like Machine Head.  I mean I am not one of the mindless internet troll brigade who respond to every release with "These guys made "Burn My Eyes" and listen to this!".  Get over it bell ends, there's no more "Burn My Eyes" nor is there anymore "The Blackening" left to come.  Whilst I will openly adm

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Watain "Trident Wolf Eclipse"

Watain's last album "The Wild Hunt" got slated on one internet review for being "Nu-Dark Funeral with the heart of Bon Jovi".  Whilst a certain amount of butthurt contributed the scribe of aforementioned review choosing such a frankly ridiculous statement, it was unfortunately indicative of the direction change of the album that saw the raw and ferocious nature of the band be trimmed back to make way for more melodic, progressive and accessible aspects. "Trident Wolf Eclipse" is a return to

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Shining "X - Varg Utan Flock"

Two album reviews in one day today.  Boy, will I sleep tonight.  Although perhaps not as easily as I might think.  "X - Varg Utan Flock" has a bit flustered, a bit confused yet in a good way - like when I saw a magician at my friend's wedding and he wasn't just counting cards even though he didn't walk through a wall either. Shining's latest album twists and turns as it unfolds in front of you like some venomous snake.  Depressive tone? Tick.  Demented vocals? Check!  Sad piano track?  That

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Seventh Wonder - New Album Details

After two singles – 2014’s poppy “inner Enemy” and the somewhat more straight-laced “The Promise” in 2016 – Swedish progressive metal maestros Seventh Wonder have recently announced their new album “Tiara”. The release is being mixed by Oyvind Larsen, the man responsible for mixing on the already-mentioned singles. The album has undergone mastering by Jens Bogren at Fascination Studios. Bogren has previously worked with other progressive metal stalwarts such as James Labrie, Katatonia, Opeth and

Iceni

Iceni

Summoning "With Doom We Come"

I call false album title.  There's no doom on here folks.  Any flare-wearing readers can stand down at this point of the review.  I imagine the doom aspect of the title refers to the medieval threat of some Tolkien inspired fictitious army that Summoning have kindly recorded a soundtrack for.  If you are familiar with Summoning there's little in the way of anything new here as the Austrians again bring their own brand of epic/atmospheric black metal to 2018.  I would be interested to know what @

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Amaranthe "Maximalism"

Sorry deathstorm, I don’t like it. It took me a while to come round to Amaranthe. I first heard them when they were announced for the roster of ProgPower XIII and thought they sounded too poppy, sage musical critic that I was. I did entertain the idea that that was the entire point, but dismissed them as being too technically lacking in any case. Their second album, The Nexus, featuring the least inventive album art I’d seen in a while, was a marked improvement, with its title track nearly

Iceni

Iceni

Morbid Angel "Kingdoms Disdained"

Is there any success in avoiding failure?  I mean there are no bones to make about it, Morbid Angels last offering was fucking terrible.  In comparison to that "Kingdoms Disdained" is an absolute triumph with all hints at "experimental" (or just downright "shite" bits) thankfully lost to the annals of catastrophic album releases from 2011.  But is it enough to improve on one of the worst releases ever by harking back to what you know with such totally that, inevitably, you risk judgement of bein

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Spectral Voice "Eroded Corridors of Unbeing"

The thing I like about Death Metal is that it is not something that (to my ears at least) always needs to be evolved/done differently/combined with the chants of Goatherders.  Don't get me wrong I like - what my old English teacher in High School would call - "a plethora" of DM styles/genres/sub genres/other neat pigeonholes and nicely labelled boxes, but motherfuckers a lot of the time I just want my DM rammed straight down my fucking throat by a large boot. In this instance I am talking D

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

×
×
  • Create New...