Staff picks
Sad Reminder: This is the swansong of the bizarre squad that is Japanische Kampfhörspiele.
Being both extremely brutal and fun, this album will make your head explode with its unothodox ideas and schizophrenic vocal delivery. It's not everyday you get your grindcore so forward-thinking.
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Mr. Doctor !J.O.O.E.!, Doc Godin, wormdrink414, Promonex, Baz Anderson |
Gritty hardcore with a slightly atmospheric edge that borders on black metal riffing from time to time.
Raw, pounding, and almost purely visceral. A great way to start off 2012.
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Doc Godin Mr. Doctor |
"Close your eyes, lean back; prepare yourself for liftoff. Rise out from your seat, through your ceiling, your roof, and into the sky above as Alrakis embraces you, freeing mind and body from this terrestrial realm. Soon, as you rise through the heavens, away from the reaches of the Earth, you begin a cosmic black metal journey not unlike that of Sun Of The Blind or Chaos Moon."
- Marcus
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Troy Killjoy Mr. Doctor, Ag Fox |
Forget Opeth, THIS is how retro prog rock is done! And despite its vintage sound, Orange still comes across as fresh and original. Fans of King Crimson, Pain of Salvation and Riverside, you know what to do!
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Promonex Dane Train, ylside, Introspekrieg, MoraWintersoul, Nefarious |
Take too many drugs and listen to The Devil's Blood.
A great adventurous, yet easily digestible piece of 70's style psychedelic rock, amp'd up for a modern age.
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Doc Godin Ag Fox, Darkside Momo, DerRozzengarten, Dane Train, Mr. Doctor, Marcel Hubregtse |
What? Isn't "Beautiful" descriptive enough? OK, fine then, what about "avant-garde atmospheric metal with BM roots"? Yeah, that's what I thought. Beautiful is better.
And Hungarian does really sound poetic.
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Darkside Momo !J.O.O.E.!, Ag Fox, DerXmasGarten, Introspekrieg, Daniell, Fat & Sassy!, White Winter Sun |
When Ulcerate emerged early this year like a Kraken from the dead oceans and turned death metal upside down with an usually innovative lunge toward a Neurosis-ian, post-death aesthetic, I for one thought it would be a one-off entity for 2011. Apparently not. Along with a smattering of others that could fall under this neologism, such as Baring Teeth, Owl and perhaps even Mitochondrion, Flourishing take more than a leaf from this burgeoning movement of a more textured approach to death metal (and post-hardcore) and manage to inject a level of variety and diversity not seen even in The Destroyers Of All (being the perfect remedy for those that found it too repetitive).
This is one record that does not deserve to slip by unnoticed.
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!J.O.O.E.! Mr. Doctor, Ag Fox, Nefarious, Darkside Momo |
Whenever I pick up Firewind's latest effort, Days Of Defiance, I always end up listening to this instead. Classy, polished, catchy, heavy and prog-tinged, nicely written and performed - probably as high as this band's gonna get. No cigar in 2011 for you, lads. But it's cool, this one has got enough swag in it to last for several years.
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MoraWintersoul |
Like walking through a home just as its owners are silently moving out, with different cities as their destinations, To Cast A Shadow finds a way to express warmth and desire within a lonely, gloomy atmosphere of doom-drenched gothic metal. Deliberate percussion, heavy bass and guitar, with a pulsing drama and internal struggle lyrically, they mostly keep it mid-tempo to slow, but with the occasional outburst that adds an urgency to the overall arrangements within. Distraught male growls & murky female vocals that yearn for an end to interpersonal distances, In Memory Of is a swansong to what two people once were, and the reality of what is left behind.
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dismaleuphony Ag Sox, Lyrinan, Dane Train, MoraWintersoul, Mr. Doctor |
The ultimate djent mind-fuck and the most extreme album of the year. TesseracT, Uneven Structure or Textures might be more accessible, but this is the real deal.
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jupitreas Introspekrieg, Mr. Doctor, Darkside Momo, !J.O.O.E.!, wormdrink414 |
If you ask me (and why wouldn't you) Forefather have long been the ultimate guilt-free way to enjoy cheesy and emphatically epic metal without having to give up your scruples and go to the Dark side that is power or folk metal. The hyper-melodic leads and soaring cleans are always in direct opposition to guttural rasps, blasting drums and heavy riffing.
Any fans of 'Steadfast' should luxuriate in this like a Viking bathes in the blood of his enemies.
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!J.O.O.E.! Baz Anderson, Fat & Sassy!, Promonex, wormdrink414 |
ThanatoSchizo may be unknown but they are talented. This year's Origami couldn't be a better testament to that. The album is very unique: you'll find many Portuguese and other folk elements and instruments, outstanding original female vocals and acoustic brilliance. If you like progressive rock or just acoustic sounds and experimentation in general, chances are this album will not leave you indifferent. Other than that, good music is always worth listening to.
Unfortunately, Origami was the band's swan song, precisely when they decided to revisit their metal career. But at least we got this goodbye note.
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BloodTears Dane Train, Ivor, Lyrinan, Fat & Sassy! |
Seven hymns to honor the beauty of chaos.
Disharmony reigns supreme!
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Mr. Doctor !J.O.O.E.!, Troy Killjoy, DerRozzengarten, Ag Fox |
A
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Ag Fox |