Here we go again! Part wishful thinking, part playing detective while piecing together social media updates, and part actual facts! We could only be talking about our latest crystal ball viewing as we look to the year 2023 and hope for the best that those “confirmed” releases actually come out and that maybe our thoughts and prayers are answered when it comes to those with less concrete plans as of this posting. Join us, won’t you?
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My experience with the legendary Cannibal Corpse is owning/enjoying the only album (so far) by Serpentine Dominion, the supergroup that features CC vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher (Along with Shannon Lucas of The Black Dahlia Murder and Killswitch Engage’s Adam D) and that’s it. So stating that I’m a Cannibal Corpse noob is a vast understatement, okay? As a lifelong Metalhead, though, I respect the hell out of the legacy and, while I can’t recite “Devoured By Vermin” from memory, I sure as shit appreciate their continued existence especially when it comes to their latest, Violence Unimagined.
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Etemen Ænka, the latest slab of awesome from Dvne (Pronounced “Dune”) is like the perfect Prog pinnacle when At The Drive-In’s more raucous moments collide with Mastodon’s refined riffage. And as far as second records go, Etemen Ænka is undeniably a triumph from the first blast straight through to the last gasp.
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I’m a late-to-the-party metalhead, okay? As in started my Thrash education with …And Justice For All and Countdown To Extinction kind of late. But from there, I went back and discovered the rich history of the genre and opened my ears to the outliers like Testament, Flotsam & Jetsam, and the band of the hour in this particular piece, Sacred Reich. I fell in love with the Phoenix-based outfit because of 1993’s Independent which is still beautifully brutal as much as it is lyrically potent and poignant.
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It’s an understatement that 2020 was a pretty fucked up year, right? Machine Head was the last live band I saw back in February and a few days after that I found myself in an emergency room with some unexpected surgery to be had (Don’t worry, I’m fine now!) followed by the shutdown across the country. There’ve been ups, downs, and everything in between in 2020 but one constant has been the music. Artists have adapted with some keeping those schedules and releasing new albums despite not being able to tour behind them while others are holding off altogether. Some have done well with the new norm of livestreamed concerts and while I’ve checked out a few, personally they’re just not my cuppa.
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Confession time: John Bush was my gateway drug into the world of Anthrax. My musical awakening hit around the mid-’90’s where the Big Four was at a crossroads and, in the case of NYC’s resident Thrash titans, going through a major personnel overhaul as well as a musical one. As I got older I appreciated the old stuff but Bush will always be my guy and underrated albums like Volume 8: The Threat Is Real still stand the test of time and remain in my regular rotation to this day.
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Death Atlas, the latest slab of metallic mayhem from Cattle Decapitation is a revelation. As a non-fan, I respected the musicianship and the intense intricacies with what they did but never found myself really getting into them. Before now, that is.
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Who’dve thunk that in the year 2019 we’d be drooling for the release of Sacred Reich’s first new recorded outing in nearly 23 years? But here we are. Drooling. For a record that is DEFINITELY worth the 23 year gap between full-lengths.
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Backed by a new label (Metal Blade!) and a seemingly renewed fire ignited under their collective asses, MA metallers Killswitch Engage return with Atonement, an album that might just be the best of their career and easily one that stands as their best effort since the seminal Alive Or Just Breathing record.
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It’s beautifully serene at times. Terrifyingly brutal at others. Add an ominous air overall and you have the recipe for the most exhilarating Behemoth record yet! I Loved You at Your Darkest is also Behemoth’s most diverse collection of songs and easily the most accessible slab of Black Metal for wary fans of the genre or folks looking to find that perfect entry into the world of Behemoth. [Read more…]