Ketzer – Cloud Collider

Pete Williams
Reviews
What is it about black metal that keeps us coming back? In the last few years, I’ve personally become a bigger and bigger fan of black metal. Anything blackened has my attention. There’s a certain artistry and... Read More...

Into the Pit – A Semi-Defense of Anthrax…Sort Of

Pete Williams
Into the Pit
Guys, I really tried with Anthrax. I fully intended to write a defense of Anthrax as a Big 4 band. Ask my girlfriend. Ask the editors. Ask anybody who lets me talk about the blog to them. I really wanted to do that. I had a great plan! I intentionally started the Testament column with “ANTHRAX SUX LOL” because I wanted to write, “And whoever that idiot was who said Anthrax sucks can go play in traffic!” It was going to be so great. Self-deprecating humor is disarming, even if total comment thread dopes can’t understand tongue-in-cheek humor via the written word. I had listened to some Anthrax records before, so I had some idea of what I was in for. “Sure, there might be some stinkers here, but overall I’ll find what I need.” And then I started listening. And I kept listening. Fistful of Metal. Spreading the Disease. Among the Living. State of Euphoria. When I got to Persistence of Time, a thought occurred to me. I still can’t defend Anthrax. I just can’t do it.

Black Fast – Spectre of Ruin

Pete Williams
Reviews
Few things in metal go together better than thrash and black. Black metal essentially evolved from thrash when the two were initially entwined in the first wave, and the second wave embraced some aspects of it via a full rejection of death metal as “fake”. While that may seem like an extremely subjective reason to disregard an entire group from your community, it did push the two subgenres closer together. Now we have a host of bands who combine these elements to push forth a new extreme metal, and Black Fast is doing a lot to bring the two ideas closer together.

Goatwhore – Vengeful Ascension

Jonathan Adams
Reviews
Goatwhore might be the most metal band name in existence. I have a hard time imagining anyone hearing that name spoken in conversation and reacting in any other fashion outside of “oh, that must be a metal band. I’m leaving this conversation. What a bunch of nerds.” Sucks to be them, because they’re obviously missing out on some premium content. Straddling the worlds of death, black, and occult-oriented metal, Goatwhore are as difficult to categorize in this subgenre obsessed musical circle as they are to stop listening to. With musical output that is in equal measure intimidating, playful, heavy, and (dare I say it) fun, Goatwhore have carved for themselves a unique and immensely enjoyable niche in the world of metal. Vengeful Ascension does little to dispel this notion, as the band have here released another excellent album to add to an already solid discography.