Atmospheric black metal has been doing a lot of things in the last five years or so. Beyond “just” an explosion in release numbers, atmospheric black metal also seems to be undergoing another (re)negotiation of what constitutes its basic parts, with the genre splitting off into further sub-genres. You have…
Another day, another album where the album cover simply screams what the album is like. Arriving amidst the deluge of fantastic black metal that’s already releasing in 2020, Skyforest add a brighter tone to things, as A New Dawn’s cover will quickly tell you. The music is the same, “meeting”…
I said in my write-up for Of Rot and Ruin for our April Editors’ Picks post that it was going to take “something pretty special” to beat it out as my album of the year. Here we are eight month’s later and, while the year produced some strong contenders, nothing…
Editor’s Note: I’m glad to welcome longtime reader Remi VL as a regular guest contributor to our Release Day Roundup posts! He submitted several of the albums listed below. Join his Facebook group for more recommendations. -Scott Murphy Each month, we always seem to come to the same conclusion when it comes to…
Heavy Pod Is Heavy Cast! Some good stuff, some not so good stuff. Decide for yourself! Gone In April, Shaped In Dreams, Leprous, Borknagar, Nile, Despised Icon, Jacob Collier, Weeping Sores, Melodicka Bros. Then we do cool people time with It Chapter 2, Hbomberguy’s video about Director’s Cuts, and Don’t Let Go. Enjoy!
Heavy Pod Is Heavy Cast! This week we have some news and announcements. The black metal poser who burned a church, Megadeth frontman Mustaine’s throat cancer, Facebook’s prevention of The Ocean monetizing their climate change-related video, Slipknot and Five Finger Death Punch launching new lines of products, Borknagar and Insomnium having new releases coming up, and Unprocessed. Then, cool people time with Neon Genesis Eva-GET IN THE ROBOT SHINJI, The Terror, and Charles Stross’s Laundry Files series. Enjoy!
It’s really hard to find good power metal these days. I’m not saying it’s not out there but it’s buried deep within layers and layers of bands that don’t seem to understand that imitation only works if you add a layer of your own personality to it. Tanagra, however, understand…
Heavy Pod Is Heavy Cast!This week we have a salty one, where I’m salty and I get Eden salty. This galaxy brain article about the environmental impact of streaming, then new music or whatever from Shokran, Aenimus, Devin Townsend, Dream Theater, Origin, Deviloof, Fountainhead, and Vintersorg leaving Borknagar and that Denzel Curry Rage Against the Machine cover everyone is talking about. Then, cool people time with Eden’s adventures in Berlin with Peter Watts, Observer, Onimusha, and Jeff Noon’s Nyquist Mysteries. Enjoy!
Heavy Pod Is Heavy Cast!
We’re back! And we’re bringing you new old content! The Haarp Machine crowdfunder, the Arch Enemy debacle, Blood Music disbanding, Baard leaving Borknagar (but new album!) and The Most Feared Song in Jazz, by Vox (but sub to Adam Neely instead!), then cool people time with You (the show), Kingdom: Two Crowns, Atomic Blonde, Sundered, and Donut County. Enjoy!
“We’re going back to our roots” is something that a lot of bands say. So often, that the phrase has almost lost its point. It’s more interesting, though, when uttered by a band that aren’t backed into a corner. While many bands say this to reinvigorate interest after a series of releases that meet lukewarm reception or are creatively bankrupt, Vintersorg are clearly not one such band. In fact, they’re pushing along steadily, and frontman Andreas Hedlund also helms Borknagar, so he has a lot of room to explore his writing. Still, he has chosen this direction for his tenth album, making a sequel to their debut. It’s an odd choice, but it works!
