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Staff picks


Gaupa - Feberdröm
05.08.2020 | Psychedelic Björk rock

What would it sound like if Björk fronted a psychedelic rock band?

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RaduP
nikarg, X-Ray Rod
Kommodus - Kommodus
28.07.2020 | Atra metallum

One-man Roman-Empire-themed black metal from Australia. What more do you need me to say?

Picked by:
RaduP
Various Artists - Overgrow To Overthrow
04.07.2020 | Music to fight systemic racism to

Compiling 31 songs from bands such as Chaos Moon, Panopticon, Thou, Obsequiae and Doom, courtesy of Bindrune Recordings, this digital only release donates all proceedings to Black Lives Matter and Life After Hate.

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RaduP
ScreamingSteelUS, nikarg, Starvynth, Darkside Momo
Root - Zjevení / The Revelation
26.06.2020 | Goofy First Wave Black Metal

Though I doubt anyone knows when this album's 30th anniversary is exactly, today Withing Hour Productions reissued this album with a whole bunch of extras, so it might be time to remember this overlooked Czech classic. Though I admittedly prefer their compatriots in Master's Hammer, and I do think the cover art and the music is incredibly goofy, it's still a pretty incredible sample of first wave black metal, mid-paced, rooted (no pun intended) in heavy metal, but with an evil doom tone as well. It's incredibly simplistic, and even as goofy as it is, it still manages to feel authentic. Big Boss was in his late 30s when Zjevení was released, so it's never to late to start your own influential black metal band, and he is still fronting Root to this day.

Picked by:
RaduP
Uriah Heep - Very 'eavy... Very 'umble
13.06.2020 | The heaviest organ solo of the 70s

"One day I will go to him
Strong enough to fight and win
The kind of a man
That he'll understand
Aaaaaaaa
*the heaviest organ solo of the 70s*
"
David Byron didn't have Ian Gillan's vocal chops, but damned if he does not give it his all here. Mick Box's guitar does have plenty of great moments here, but I'd be lying if I said that Ken Hensley didn't absolutely steal the show with his organ. While not entirely "'eavy", there's no denying that this album, released 50 years ago today, and starting Uriah Heep's career, deserves its place as an early metal classic, even if just for the opener alone.
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Thumbs up:
RaduP
nikarg, ScreamingSteelUS
Deep Purple - In Rock
04.06.2020 | Hard Rock

I am fairly sure that the world in 1970, precisely 50 years ago, wasn't ready for Ian Gillan's screams in "Child In Time". Or for most things else in "Child In Time" for that matter. Or for Ritchie Blackmore's galloping guitars in "Hard Lovin' Man". Or Jon Lord setting a new standard for using organ in heavy music. It wasn't the first Deep Purple album, but it was the first in this lineup, the one which is the reason why we even talk about Deep Purple on a metal site. There were hard rock bands before, but none of them, sans the one that literally birthed heavy metal, was as heavy as Deep Purple was on In Rock.

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Picked by:
Thumbs up:
RaduP
nikarg, ScreamingSteelUS, Auntie Sahar, Dream Taster, Milena, Daniell, Darkside Momo, Ivor, Redel