Matt versus Dragoncorpse: The Drakketh Saga Review

From premise to name, Dragoncorpse is not a band that exactly begs to be taken seriously. The elevator pitch of “power deathcore” gives you an honest and clear idea of what to expect: a gimmicky juxtaposition of two genres that are generally gimmicky to begin with. (Leading off the album with a guest appearance by a member of Brojob doesn’t help matters.) They’ve taken the “Dragon-” prefix that is necessarily required to indicate your power metal status. My friends and I half-started a joke band called Dragondragon more than a decade ago mocking this very phenomenon. Toss on “-corpse” to … Read more

Sinularia, Sonic Assault, Mad Fellaz, and Xiranda

Sinularia – Subwater Beats


What if you mixed wonky beats hip-hop, jazz, and AAL-style compositions and technique? Well, you get Sinularia. The unique character of the music that’s shown on Subwater Beats is utterly fascinating. The band consists of a drummer, a double bassist, and an electric guitarist. All of them seem very fond of effect pedals and post-production shenanigans. Regarding the composition, the songs move from one section to the next like tides ebb and flow, and it’s a real rhythmic challenge at times to decipher what’s going on. It’s real fun when bands make rhythm their main focus,… Read more

Eggs of Gomorrh, Crust, Miscreance, and Anal Stabwound

Eggs of Gomorrh – Wombspreader


Welcome to the world of blackened deathgrind, or black grind—literally how I make my coffee—with Swiss band Eggs of Gomorrh. I’ve been keeping a close eye on them for a short while now, and I think that’s thanks to their split with the offensive Weregoat. Well, here I am a new fan! With Wombspreader, Eggs crank the speed to the max and unleash a deluge of riffs, blast beats, and growls that’s terrifying enough to raze everything in its wake. It’s a real vile album you ought to play at this Halloween’s party.

Crust

Read more

Best of Progressive Metal 2021


The “progressive metal” category casts such a wide net that I had to subdivide it into several subcategories. So, instead of making a top 5 for every one of them, let’s see only the best concept album, the best experimental album, the best instrumental album, the best vocal album, the best prog-power album, and the best prog-thrash album from 2021!


Best Prog-Power: Æphanemer – A Dream of Wilderness


It’s got the cheese, it’s got the shredder, it’s got the pasta.


Best Prog-Thrash: Cryptosis – Bionic Swarm



Throughout the many really cool thrash metal albums the year gave us, Cryptosis’s stood … Read more