Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Rotting Christ - Sanctus Diavolos

For years I never gave a shit about this band thinking that they were like the Greek Dimmu Borgir.  Turns out, that's not true at all.  Sanctus Diavolos, like their other works of the past 10 years, is a very ambitious and unique effort.  The clean production, vocal chants, and understated technicality combined create a very fresh alternative to "old fashioned" Black Metal orthodoxy.



Lahar - Umění Strachu

Remember when Municipal Waste were a good band and not poster-boys for trendy suckitude?  Lahar take me back to those humbler times.  Umění Strachu is an excellent (though, expectedly short) album of "Post-Grindcore" Crossover.  You'll hear a lot of influence of 80's Proto-Grind Thrash like Cryptic Slaughter and SOD, yet it still sounds honestly modern.  There's a generous helping of blast beats and borderline Death Metal riffs which help this album keep pace in this era of outlandish tempos.


Thursday, March 7, 2013

Archetype - Dawning

Over the past two months I've been listening to Angra more than any other band, but they're just too damn popular for this place.  Archetype are the next best thing and they've created a motherfucker of a Prog Metal album with Dawning.  Especially for a debut, the songwriting and musicianship are stellar.  The guitars and drums are particularly amazing.  Even with the hefty 70 min. length, they manage to still be interesting throughout.  If you're a Prog or Power fan at any level you need to hear this.