Destruction
Spiritual Genocide (Nuclear Blast) by Phil Freeman In February of this year, I traveled to Berlin to give a talk as part of a lecture series held at Centrum. I spoke about the German thrash metal scene...
View ArticleNico Muhly
Drones (Bedroom Community) by Steve Hicken Nico Muhly composed his Drones “as a method of developing harmonic ideas over a static structure. The idea is something not unlike singing along with one’s...
View ArticleGregg August
Four by Six (Iacuessa) by Phil Freeman Bassist Gregg August has a sound on his instrument that’s simultaneously warm and almost intimidatingly strong, the sound of a well-toned muscle repeatedly...
View ArticleNorthumbria
Northumbria (This Quiet Army) Buy it from the label (digital only) by Phil Freeman Northumbria are a duo—a guitarist and a bassist—making “ambient metal” heavily dependent on drones, rumbling and a...
View ArticleMelencolia Estatica
Hel (Temple of Torturous) by MacDara Conroy Scant information exists about Italian black metal act Melencolia Estatica, the (mostly) solo project of a woman who goes by the nom de guerre Climaxia. Not...
View ArticleMostly Other People Do The Killing
Slippery Rock (Hot Cup) by Phil Freeman The fifth studio album by Mostly Other People Do The Killing (sixth release overall – the live The Coimbra Concert, their only album not to appear on...
View ArticleMiles Davis
Live In Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Legacy) by Phil Freeman This second volume of Sony Legacy’s 3CD/1DVD sets of live Miles Davis material documents a band that never made it into the...
View ArticleDying Embrace
Era of Tribulation (Armée De La Mort) by MacDara Conroy It’s temping to judge the merits of music produced in the developing world through the tinted lens of cultural sensitivity: to let certain...
View ArticleLee Hyla
My Life on the Plains (Tzadik) Buy it from the label by Steve Hicken The three sections of Wallace Stevens‘ lyrically epic (or epically lyric) “Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction” are titled “It Must...
View ArticleDarcy James Argue
Brooklyn Babylon (New Amsterdam) by Steve Hicken Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society made an impressive debut with Infernal Machines in 2009. Machines features tightly-written and expansively-played...
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