Cormorant – Dwellings (2011)

Listen to this while you read!

Cormorant’s third is the one! If you didn’t know Cormorant yet, their own blend of death/black/progressive metal, it is the time to, because Dwellings is one hell of an album!

Close to an hour of material goes on with this one!

And the artwork… Could you ask for a better artwork than this one? Seriously?

Mid-paced goodness, violence turning into contemplation, and some WTF moments. Dwellings feature great guitar playing and composition by Nick Cohon and Matt Solis. There are catchy riffs, soaring leads and solos. The bass is not too much hidden in … Read more

Neuromist – Move of Thought (2010)

Listen to this while you read!

Besides being known for… well, practically nothing, the Republic of Moldova can now boast for being the home of prog-death metallers Neuromist (it’s this or O-Zone).

The first thing that will hit you is the bass which is up front in the mix. That’s a really good thing to me because 1: I am a bassist, and 2: Bass is often hidden in the mix. Then, there are the weird scales (when scales are used), the often mindfuck-inducing time signature changes, the drum machine (although samples were taken from the band’s real drummer), and … Read more

UK #1 Albums Year in Review: 1980

I should do a brief introduction here. I’m a total music nerd. I thrive on it, live it, breathe it. Sadly, I can’t create it so I just listen to as much of it as possible. With that in mind, about a year ago I challenged myself to listen to every U.S. #1 Billboard album from 1980 to 2011. I failed, stopping at 2003 when the music got to terrible to bear. Life carried on until last week when I was looking at the UK #1s on Wikipedia. I noticed the music was much more varied and, for lack of … Read more

Zvoyn – Zealous Decadence Trilogy (2009-2012)

Listen to this while reading!

WHAT THE FUCKING UNHOLY FUCK???

Remember when before there was the universe, there was, like, absolute chaos?

Yeah, me neither.

But if I had to compare this to anything, it’d be that.

Hailing from France, Zvoyn is, from what I could understand, a one-man project, from some crazy bassist. The trilogy comprises three books of the “Onomatopeous Love Letters” series, and it is what it is: Onomatopeous. There doesn’t seem to be any true lyrics written to those ladies, to whom these love letters are destined, however. And I don’t know what these damsels did, … Read more

Om Mani – Apology (2009)

Download this album for free and listen to it while you read!

France has got some really nice metal, and if you don’t own any album coming from this very country, you now have the chance to, because this one is a killer!

Apology may not be quite metal as an album’s title, but you should know that “Kill’Em All” is just so ’83. So fuck you. Om Mani conveys messages coming from Buddhism, from what I can understand, as the band’s name is taken from a popular Sanskrit mantra; Om mani padme hum. This might sound kinda new wave, … Read more