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Haken – Affinity, an Analysis Of

by Jeff Nixon

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I wasn’t introduced to Haken until early 2014 when I discovered their 2013 release The Mountain. I loved that album and immediately listened to the rest of their discography. Later that year, they released their EP Restoration which was an awesome look into their past, re-imagining and re-recording songs from their demo with higher production quality. Now, nearly two years later, we’re graced with a new full-length album called Affinity.

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If you followed Haken’s facebook page closely in January of this year, you might have seen them post a few times about the name and content of the … Read more

OSR: April 19th, 2016

by Dæv Tremblay

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Mantispidae‘s latest album, The Difference between Heaven and Hell Is Just in Your Perception, is comprised of three songs of ambient, atmospheric drone/doom with stretched out guitars and drums. There are no real riffs in there, so to speak, but there are some tremolo-picked sections. Overall, it gives off a very ethereal and relaxing yet oppressing kind of sound. Rudra Bhakti is Drought‘s new black metal album. It takes lots of atmospheric and ambient influences, such as in the first track, and the rest is some very good dissonant black metal a bit on the raw side,… Read more

OSR: April 14th, 2016

by Dæv Tremblay

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Do it.

Bog of the Infidel‘s Asleep in the Arms of Suicide is a traditional black metal album more on the melodic side of things and with a purposely raw production. It’s pretty good, even though it’s not personally my thing; I prefer when it comes to experimentation or unorthodox black metal.
The legendary prog rock act Frost* [fɹɑstæs·tərˌɪsk] will release their upcoming album, Falling Satellites on May 27th through InsideOut Music. Musically, it sounds like post-D’Virgilio Spock’s Beard, but they seem to like to go out a bit more with stylistic shifts. Jeff will write a full review… Read more

OSR: April 9th, 2016

by Dæv Tremblay

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From Argentina, Aeuphoria released Æthernal Velum back in January. It’s a pretty good albeit rather normal technical death metal album. What does set them apart, however, is their penchant for atmospheric passages on a few tracks, but they would gain much by developing the atmospheric side of their sound and embedding it in their tech-death songs as well so they don’t sound so bland.
The new Haken album, Affinity, is a pretty good progressive metal release. It doesn’t do anything groundbreaking, and not all songs are good at all. For example, “Earthrise” feels like a cheesy 80’s pop song… Read more

Book of Sand – Occult Anarchist Propaganda & Elegy

by Dæv Tremblay

Book of Sand is an experimental one-man band shrouded in mystery. Just trying to put a name on the person behind it would require an extensive investigation; for now, they refer to themselves only as “d”, or “dcrf”. Since 2009, they have nine releases, one of which being a split with The Skin Horse. Last year, I reviewed The Face of the Deep, which I described as unworthy of listening, but upon further reflection provides a unique albeit rather abstract experience, and can be enjoyed for what it is, simply.

Earlier this year, Book of Sand released two albums: … Read more