You’ve seen it. You’ve debated it. You’ve cried over it. But what’s done is done: Our list of the best albums of the year is behind us, and there is much rejoicing. But what about the albums we loved that didn’t make the final cut?
Given the nature of these columns, it might seem counterintuitive to include a subpar album among our selections for the month. That’s why I’ve accosted this intro spot to say my piece about Deicide, and specifically their latest album Overtures of Blasphemy. Coincidentally, the same month these Floridian antitheists released their 12th…
Heavy Pod Is Heavy Cast!
This week we have a bunch of weird shit. Dr. Phil performing with Good Charlotte, Betraying the Martyrs covering Avenged Sevenfold, and then some normal news. Like new music from Black Queen, Psycroptic, Cryptopsy, Irreversible Mechanism and Arsis. Also, a feel-good story about The Ghost Inside. Then we do a cool people section on Ozark, Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4) and Destiny 2. Enjoy!
Each month, we always seem to come to the same conclusion when it comes to our Editors’ Picks column: Friday release days open the floodgates and unleash a seemingly endless stream of quality new music. But while some of our Editors and Contributors sit down gleefully each week to dive into this newly stocked treasure…
Man, technical/progressive death metal’s really been having somewhat of a boom at the moment, huh? Rivers of Nihil, Obscura, Alkaloid, Monotheist, and Augury have all put out great albums this year, and 2017 saw some landmark drops as well with the likes of Archspire, NYN, Artificial Brain, and Cytotoxin. And as much as I enjoy name-checking bands to remind…
Heavy Pod Is Heavy Cast! A bunch of good stuff this week! And some not so good stuff. So pretty usual. New
Those who have their fingers on the pulse of technical death metal might recognize the name Dark Matter Secret. Their EP Xenoform, released in 2015, was a great piece of instrumental prowess. Featuring members of Irreversible Mechanism and Arkona, this group was set to make some waves in the future. Well, that…
We’ve been closely following Belarusian rising death metal stars Irreversible Mechanism since their signing to the notorious Blood Music early last year. Their debut album Infinite Fields was celebrated by critics and fans alike for picking up where The Faceless’ Planetary Duality left off and elaborated upon the style with symphonic elements to create a grandiose technical and progressive death metal powerhouse of a record. To bolster the debut’s power, it featured production from Sami Raatikainen (Necrophagist) and session drums from former The Faceless drummer Lyle Cooper.
Technical death metal is based in a duality of sorts: the music has to be both smart enough to lead the listener through the insane technicality with a sense of cohesion, yet not so out-of-this-world that it loses its audience. Combining deft, speedy guitar leads with fast-paced backing, tech death…