When it comes to writing quality music, context isn’t always everything. A tragic death of a loved one in the artist’s life, or a harrowing event that reshapes their existence, does not by itself good music make. Not every personal hardship breeds art at the level of YOB, Mount Eerie,…
2018 has been quite the year for metal as a whole. With big releases from big bands hitting all the high notes, and several subgenres experiencing some of their most consistently impressive output in decades, it’s fairly safe to say that this has thus far been a premium year for…
Only a few times a year (if that) do I find myself utterly enamored by a work of art. Most consumers of art and culture know this situation well: An experience where the outside world recedes into a distant corner of one’s consciousness as the sights/sounds/words being engaged with consume…
Another week, another review of a Transcending Obscurity release. What else is new? 2018 appears to be the year of the underground, and with some unique and talented international bands on their roster, the India-based label seems poised to propel some awesome music into the spotlight for many years to…
Let’s talk about Transcending Obscurity Records for a minute. Based out of India, the label has only been around since 2013, but you wouldn’t know that when perusing all the quality metal on the label’s roster. In their five-year existence their amount of quality output is staggering. With bands like…
This post has been a long time coming. Heavy Blog has been around for almost 10 years now, and in that time we’ve grown in every possible way. The breadth of music that we cover has grown. We’ve launched new initiatives, such as the podcast Noyan and Eden have made…
The most interesting thing about metal as a genre is just how liberal the definition of the genre is. It’s a genre that encourages experimentation and invites reinterpretation. At a certain point, one has to argue whether something isn’t metal. As a result, metal fans benefit from having artists who…
Some music doesn’t want you to be happy. It doesn’t care to lift spirits or engender triumphant emotional release in its listeners. Instead, it attempts to drown you. To suffocate and brutalize you. To lay bare torment through audio in order to suck you into the chaos and anguish in…
Greetings Heaviest of Heavy Bloggers! Let me be the last to wish you a Happy New Year and welcome you back to Doomsday, our monthly roundup of the most noteworthy doom-centric releases from the past few weeks that deserve special recognition. As you may have already noticed, 2018 is starting…
Experimental black metal in this latter portion of the 2010s brings to mind a particular sound and aesthetic. I’m here referring to the angular, jagged riff building of bands like Thantifaxath, Dodecahedron, and Deathspell Omega, who use versions of anti-melody and severe technicality to create a swirling maelstrom of sound…
