Show Me Your Patches: Dread These Days

Jeff Apuzzo, vocalist of brutal Connecticut metal/hardcore outfit Dread These Days, shares a thoughtful ode to his battle vest…  The editor suspects many readers will find his sentiment of “adulting on the outside and metal on the inside” highly relatable. My vest.  Where do I even start?!?  It’s the single piece of clothing that still… Continue reading Show Me Your Patches: Dread These Days

Album Review: Thunderbird Divine’s Magnasonic

Thunderbird Divine’s debut full length Magnasonic, released on CD this month through Connecticut label Salt of the Earth Records, offers four tracks of spaced out stoner rock grooves that are sure to please genre enthusiasts.  But what distinguishes this Philadelphia outfit from the pack? First of all, TBD experiments with nontraditional instrumentation right from their… Continue reading Album Review: Thunderbird Divine’s Magnasonic

HEXVESSEL Delivers Thoughtful Pagan Folk with All Tree

Sometimes I’m jealous of artists who have “rich heritage,” living in storied places bursting with legend, alive with the magick of olde…  And meanwhile, here I am in suburbia, the native mythology of my location annihilated centuries ago, my own “heritage” a mishmash of European cultures I have no connection with, and my natural habitat… Continue reading HEXVESSEL Delivers Thoughtful Pagan Folk with All Tree

New Reality: A Review of Soilwork’s Verkligheten

I can’t think of a better way to start off a hopefully busy 2019 of album reviews. I’ve lost track of Soilwork’s output since the Natural Born Chaos days of yore. Verkligheten makes me think that I’ve been missing out. Last time I left Soilwork, they were in the process of reformatting their music to… Continue reading New Reality: A Review of Soilwork’s Verkligheten

Album Review: Ossuarium’s Living Tomb

Sometimes I think I’ve gotten too old to listen to death metal; my taste has gravitated towards groovier, less jarring metal subgenres.  But when I heard about a new release coming up on 20 Buck Spin — the label of my boyfriends Khemmis — for a “death/doom” band called Ossuarium, I figured I’d give it a,… Continue reading Album Review: Ossuarium’s Living Tomb

Show Me Your Patches: The Editor Takes Round One

Happy New Year, readers!  2018 saw the success of a guest column series called Nerd Talk, drawing bands from all over the globe to discuss their favorite books, movies, and video games.  While Nerd Talk will continue, we will also try out a new guest column series: Show Me Your Patches, where we invite bands… Continue reading Show Me Your Patches: The Editor Takes Round One

Atet Arises: A Review of Basilysk’s Emergence

I was pleased with what I heard from the forthcoming sophomore effort from Philadelphia death metal band Basilysk. I’m often left cold regarding a lot of recent death metal releases. There’s usually a lot of recall and a prideful tradition that lacks innovation. The only time I’m put in my place is if the band… Continue reading Atet Arises: A Review of Basilysk’s Emergence