Welcome to the final installment of Death’s Door, 2018. Wipe your feet on the mat and pull up a bone throne if you can find one. This entire place has been absolutely decimated by this year’s fresh crop of fantastic death metal. Our final analysis on the year’s best releases…
There are few literary universes that have been plundered as deeply by metal bands as that of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. While there are many other fictional worlds that have received their fair share of attention within the genre (Tolkien’s Middle-Earth being the most obvious and popular example), few if…
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…
This week we get hyped about announcements of albums and new music. Enslaved,
Since its inception, metal has been deeply entwined in the world of both fantasy and horror. The almost-unanimous pick for the genre’s first album, Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut, instantly separated themselves from other bands at the time with their lyrics about unintelligible and dark figures in the night, wizardry, and possibly rock’s first true tip of the hat to the genius author H.P. Lovecraft. With the title of the album’s third track, “Behind the Wall of Sleep,” Black Sabbath not only revolutionized heavy music from a sonic standpoint, but lyrically as well. Bassist/lyricist Geezer Butler’s fascination with black magic and campy horror flicks in the early years of the band could certainly be looked upon as the genesis from which the Lovecraft obsession in metal truly began.
