Rage and Frustration

Dead Hawk – No Safety On Other Worlds

In the final analysis, Dead Hawk has created a space outside of music, and possibly outside of our reality, in which to provoke passion and angst in our psyche.

Odradek Room – A Man of Silt

‘A Man of Silt’ is exceptional. The strangest thing you will hear for a long time.

Blood Hunter – The End of Faith

If Melodeath is your thing, you’d be an idiot to miss this. But be prepared, because this leans more to the nastier than the nice.

Billed as black metal, the EP is actually black metal with atmospheric leanings that incorporates a ton of emotional hardcore influences in the way the material is presented. In terms of actual playing, it is fair to call this black metal.

Goat War – Warwolf

It’s raw, it’s not the best quality, but what you can hear in the mud is blackened punk-thrash brilliance.

Sutekh Hexen/Hissing – Split LP

While the two sides are noticeably different, they do make a coherent whole, as both projects reach outside the box for their sound.

6 Prong Paw – Redact

They feature more extreme influences than ever before, weaving elements of black and death metal into their modern metal sound.

The Black Dahlia Murder – Nightbringers

The band doesn’t seem to have missed a beat, as they pick up exactly where they left off, but with some extra attitude included.

Drug Honkey – Cloak of Skies

All of it is carefully pieced together to sound like the internal monologue of a serial killer.

Hexis – Tando Ashanti

Tando Ashanti is a knife fight to the death caught in sonic form. There is no guarantee of survival.

Vuur – In This Moment We Are Free – Cities

Vuur will be a force to reckon with in the prog metal genre in the years to come, provided the project stays together.

Primitive Man – Caustic

There is nobody else that I’m aware of doing what PM does. They are masters of a genre all their own.

Hallas – Excerpts From The Future Past

On this second release, they put forth an album oozing with true fantasy prog that is missing from the scene today.

Pereplut – V Starodavnie Goda

V Starodavnie Goda is a romping album that calls to mind a medieval tavern filled with victorious warriors after battle.

Encyrcle – Burning Child EP

Fist pumping and sing-alongs with surely follow, and I certainly feel like donning my battle vest.

Nailblack – Envied

Nailblack approach evil in a manner so old school that Immortal could have developed from them.

Downcast Twilight – Under the Wings of the Aquila

Melodic death metal is the order of the day. Upon this foundation, the band uses folk flourishes, including a violin, to round out the sound.

Yellow Eyes – Immersion Trench Reverie

The album showcases the particulars of the Yellow Eyes style, including the way they take the majestic, mournful sound generally found in the Cascadian subgenre, and turn it inside out so that it becomes a ravaging sickness worming its way through your brain.

Wolves In The Throne Room – Thrice Woven

My initial impression is that the albums falls somewhere between the beauty and grandeur of Celestial Lineage and the harsh aggression of Two Hunters.