Krzysztof “Derph” Drabikowski from post-black metal band Batushka is the first infected person in his region, supposedly due to touring in the Western Europe.
1 CommentTags: Batushka, coronavirus, covid-19, krzysztof drabikowski, post-black metal
Metal Blade Records Re-Issues Anacrusis Titles Suffering Hour, Reason, Manic Impressions, And Screams and Whispers
Metal Blade Records reissued the first four records from overlooked technical speed metal act Anacrusis during the last quarter of 2019. Hailing from St. Louis, Anacrusis incorporated crossover elements infused with familiar speed metal tropes, and later added more accessible progressive heavy metal elements while remaining musically astute.
No CommentsTags: anacrusis, progressive metal, Speed Metal
Metalhead Humor In The Time Of A Possibly Illusory Pandemic
Metal Again Takes A Central Role In The Free Speech/Association Debate
Metal worships the extreme and natural, such as death, war, disease, horror, and disaster. This allows it to snap out of the normal human social bubble, where we only talk about pleasant things, and to accept life as it is, which in turn enables metalheads to perceive the beauty inherent in our chaotic world.
24 CommentsTags: censorship, license plates, slayer
Nocturnal Metal
Slayer showed us the prototypical underground metal band, fusing together melodic heavy metal (Iron Maiden, Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest) and high-speed hardcore to make a new voice for metal. It kept the metal spirit entirely, and turned up the volume on that, but also gave the music the voice of desperation amid dystopian decay where everything is broken and wrong that made hardcore so apocalyptic.
14 CommentsTags: ambient metal, nocturnal metal, slayer, south of heaven, subconscious
Supuration The Cube: Death Metal’s Most Unique Album
It is commonly assumed that the most unique album in death metal is Nespithe and while there is a very strong case for such a claim, Supuration’s The Cube has a stronger claim to such a title. Demilich have a large number of failed imitators while Supuration have none at all. The first listen to Demilich immediately shows the band’s intentions and dizzying whirlwinds of ideas in elaborate riff mazes. Supuration sounds like a rock hybrid that borders on modern metal but with much depth and just as unique but requiring many more listens to dig past the highly accessible aesthetics. Here are a few tools that Supuration used to create the most unique album in Death metal.
21 CommentsTags: death metal, supuration, the cube
SMR – Metal Archives Edition
While it is not a surprise that the Metal Archives forum readers would vote for some terrible albums in their yearly list. It is however shocking that these albums were all well received instead of being left in the bin where they belong.
18 CommentsTags: a dawn to fear, caletonia, cattle decapitation, Cult of Luna, death atlas, elson complex, when a shadow is forced into the light
Best Underground Metal of 2019
While 2019 has shown that home studios are only getting better with the release of better emulators and cheaper “ready to record” prepackaged setups, the increase of quantity has not shown a proportionate increase in quality across the music spectrum. Metal has been in a particular weak state despite the best releases of the year being better than those of previous years, the overall quality was so low that even the present editor had to explore non-metal underground music in hopes of finding something of great quality. While such “expeditions” have been for the most part fruitless, the best of the year can only leave the metal listener with a sense optimism of what the new decade has to offer. Without any further ado, here is the best underground metal of 2019.
28 CommentsTags: angel of light, Angel Witch, best of, best of 2019, diplodocus, hatred prayer, sadistic drive, sammath, slow and heavy, trench warfare
Metal Comedy: UADA Cancel Show Due to Slightly Warm Temperatures
Hipster band and MGLA knock-off UADA were unable to play a show in Mexico because of a bit of sunlight in a country known for its year round high temperatures. Apparently playing droning songs with occasional Dissection like melodies in a vest is such a challenging feat that anything above room temperature is considered a battle against the elements. While UADA are in no way rockstars it seems that they have taken up such mannerisms and petty behavior. The fans who paid to see this band should consider themselves lucky after this. UADA may pretend to be some kind of profound art with an important message but in reality they are bunch of trendsters who falter at the slightest challenge. Hopefully the band die of heat exhaustion in the Sahara.
18 CommentsTags: hipster, metal comedy, mexico, uada
Angel Witch – Angel of Light (Metal Blade, 2019)
Mighty influential NWOBHM’ers Angel Witch is about to unleash their greatly anticipated follow-up to 2012’s As Above, So Below. The album, entitled Angel of Light, will hit the market on November 1 and will be available in a plethora of formats. Together with countrymen Satan, Angel Witch count as one of few returning old school metal acts who’ve managed to modernize their sound without having it reflect negatively on their past efforts. However, since As Above, So Below consisted primarily of re-recorded material from the golden days, this new effort could be seen as the true testing ground for the band.
No CommentsTags: angel of light, Angel Witch, Heavy Metal, NWOBHM
