Metal playlists from the underground
In order to celebrate the release of Dream Theater’s latest studio album, Black Clouds And Silver Linings, I will offer detailed reviews of each of the six tracks throughout the week. Track 1: “A Nightmare To Remember” What better way to begin a record with the words “Black Clouds” in the title than to include […]
Re-released from 2007, Texas grindcore trio Insect Warfare’s WORLD EXTERMINATION gets the re-release treatment courtesy of Earache, and hail Satan for that! This disc yields a blindingly-fast and corrosively abrasive metallic mauling, essential for fans of Brutal Truth, Napalm Death, and Nasum to get their crusty claws on. Broken down into 20-tracks clocking in at […]
NYC trio Tombs masterfully juxtapose metal subgenres to develop a blend of bleak yet menacing shoegazing sludge on the 10-track disc WINTER HOURS. Post-hardcore pondering and black metal brutality collide many times over on this stirring affair (“Filled With Secrets,” “Gossamer”), creating explosive waves of intense aggression laden with dense dollops of doom and darkness […]
Laying down a confrontational and caustic foundation of apocalyptic heaviness, Architect’s abrasive metallic hardcore tackles weighty sociopolitical issues while crashing through aural receptacles with the grace of a piledriver on their nihilistic nine-track affair GHOST OF THE SALT WATER MACHINE. Channeling the red-faced, well-informed aggression of Deadguy, Coalesce, and Ringworm, this sextet boasts the scathing […]
When a band replaces a lead singer, issues with identity are bound to arise. Yet Swedish powerhouse metal squad Darkane, who are no strangers to singer shakeups having undergone multiple changes behind the microphone since their inception, appear to be a rare exception to the rule judging by the quintet’s fifth installment of extreme metal […]
BEST SERVED COLD is an all-encompassing posthumous offering by revered UK grindcore gang Narcosis. Containing 51 tracks chronicling all of this face-shattering troupe’s split 7″‘s, EP’s, and full-lengths, this disc is perfect for completists, as no stone is left unturned when this noise mongering squad scoured their vaults. This caustic affair does a fine job […]
Dark and dramatic, Swedish symphonic metal trio Netherbird adorn their latest 13-track effort with a brash production chock full of the accoutremental bells and whistles similarly heard by acts such as Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir. Championing a sound that distributes black metal malevolence (“Blood Orchid”), classic metal composition, and doom metal heft, THE […]
Canadian squad Buried Inside return after a four-year layover with SPOILS OF FAILURE, a viscous and vitriolic affair curiously titled only in roman numerals. Produced by underground guru Kurt Ballou, this eight-track offering yields an elaborate mix of sludgy guitars, gut-wrenching vocals, and mammoth percussion, at times breaking through with the majestic fury of Isis […]
Fortified with a well-rounded extreme metal assault, the sophomore release by Philadelphia, PA’s Rumpelstiltskin Grinder merges classic metal aspects with a blistering delivery on the 10-track LIVING FOR DEATH DESTROYING THE REST. Meshing galloping black metal, thrash metal guitar runs, beatdown breakdowns, death metal rhythmic devastation and a hardcore punk attitude (“Revolution of Underground Legions”), […]
Despite their cosmic name, the spawn of Taking Back Sunday and New Found Glory has no interplanetary connections, as From Jupiter’s 11-track offering NO, SERIOUSLY follows in their proud parent’s footsteps to a fault. This Vermont-based outfit churn out power pop punk with panache, as tracks like the keyboard-assisted “Karmaward,” the sappy yet effective “Slow […]