edit (7/16/23): still bumps but ......... my enthusiasm has dwindled. hasn't had as much replay value as i expected

original review: do y'all really have this much of a problem with extended samples? as someone who listens to a lot of brutal death metal and grind which can prominently feature movie samples and whatnot, i don't. i do, however, wish the actual hardcore meat of a new tomorrow lasted longer, because it comes and goes so fast! it's REALLY GOOD when it's here and i wanna reach out ... read more

this is the kind of debut release i was hoping to hear from SLUG; still a very short EP at a lean eight and a half minutes, but just a bit more developed. encouraging steps forward! axe and cold are both great cuts. though i must say...and this is no knock on the EP cuz it's wicked and i'm looking forward to whatever SLUG are cookin up...i feel like they were more destructive on the 2021 demos. those songs were a bit heavier to me. they're by no means "soft" here, with some dark and ... read more

see my review of the first SLUG demo. really strong cuts--still a demo

this demo is tantalizing in all the most painful ways: so short, so bare-bones, so minimal...yet the glimpses we get at SLUG's musical identity are priceless. MAN, am i into what these fuckin guys are doing. i'm tryna acquaint myself with more ohio hardcore bands and while i've found a handful of pretty great groups, SLUG may be the one i want a full-length from the most (alongside volcano). again, this demo is quite bare-bones; the production quality is good and they don't SOUND like an ... read more

this was a good EP to eat chicken to for like 7 minutes. a lot of good hardcore's been coming outta ohio lately and this doesn't annihilate the game or anything, but it's really solid if you ask me. S.M.I.L.E. play driving, headstrong hardcore punk with loud guitars and some almost anthemic choruses which reminded me more of late 70s punk rock than the modern hardcore scene. the last two songs (god of greed and SMILE) are my favorite. the brief nature of their releases leaves me wanting more, ... read more

as far as pop metal goes, this has always been some of my favorite shit; no matter how schlocky or mainstream or blah blah shut up dude grab a beer or something. i'll be 19 in a handful of months and this still bangs as hard as it did in middle school, kinda. it's groovy, crunchy, catchy, super danceable...it's a good times metal album. the sense of spooky evil is very playful and a lovely theme, very much inspired by B-movies and old school horror flicks. schlocky in concept and musically ... read more

motörhead are one of the bands you HAVE to like as a metalhead. if you don't like them you're a poser and fuck you. we'll see how i feel when i review the rest of their discography, but i always held overkill (along with 1916) up as this band's greatest album--the title track is a top 3 motörhead tune and essential metal in general, capricorn is one of the most unique and underrated cuts of their classic era (love that smokey, almost heavy psych sound, very 70's), the stretch from ... read more

motörhead's debut is basically proto-NWOBHM, with a bluesy, hard rock-rooted sound that doesn't hold up as too heavy in 2023 but is still pretty enjoyable, especially at its punkiest. this record is super historically significant cuz it was probably the first major metal record (not fact checking) to embrace the then-emerging punk rock, which opened the floodgates for decades of lovely metal/punk crossovers. the production is a bit murky and lo-fi; to its benefit i think. the opening title ... read more

gutsy, volatile motor city hardcore punk from the old days! negative approach and zero boys were the pinnacle of midwestern hardcore in the early 80's in my opinion, although to be fair i'm sure there were/are tons of amazing underground bands that are just under my radar. in any case, negative approach's self-titled debut EP is a lightning-fast cut of raw punk. the mix is super lo-fi which is a plus to me. the second half does the real heavy hitting, with awesome bangers like nothing, lead ... read more

edit (5/6/23): the review below is only a few days old but i'm already gonna bump this LP up a few points because i'm completely willing to look past all its flaws. i love it that much. the misfits comparisons are definitely apt (as is standard for all horror punk bands) but cancerslug are actually more original and creative than they might seem on the surface. apparently their hook-writing chops in '99 were on par with peak descendents shit cuz this is just as addictive and replayable as milo ... read more

10 years ago today, jeff hanneman died. hanneman was a prolific mastermind whose work with slayer changed the metal landscape in the 80's and went on to influence...basically MOST of the extreme metal that's come out since. needless to say, they were one of the most revered thrash bands of all time, considered one of the "big four" alongside anthrax, megadeth and of course the 'tallica. i mean, is raining blood not one of the most enduring and exemplary anthems in the history of metal ... read more

purtenance's debut (and for decades, their only release), member of immortal damnation, is one of the greatest finnish OSDM offerings of the early 90's. maybe it's because it was one of the first classic finnish death metal records i ever heard, but i consider this an essential slab of buzzing, booming nordic ferocity. they probably could've trimmed some fat off this tracklist but it's not like it's stuffed with gratuitous filler or anything. while it gets off to somewhat of a slow start, ... read more

dipygus are a californian death metal band who fall into that OSDM nostalgia category, but they're thankfully one of the great ones whose creativity and skill set them apart from the unoriginal groups flooding bandcamp. bushmeat will definitely remind you of old school bands; the common comparisons i've seen thrown around at these guys are autopsy and impetigo, which is a very on-the-nose assessment. there's no need to reduce it to mental funeral worship, though, cuz a.) it's really not and b.) ... read more

i've never thought of myself as the biggest morbid angel fan. i definitely appreciate 'em and i enjoy all the music i've heard by them, but unlike many of their contemporaries, they're simply not a name that comes to mind when i think of my favorite death metal bands. as i pondered the potential causes of this bizarre logical quandary, i thought "maybe i just don't listen to 'em enough" and decided to run through their discography. y'know, just to brush up on a classic catalog! i ... read more

fair warning: i've been extremely hyped for this album's release since december. i listened to the first two singles that dropped (gates of horn and an offering to the night), intentionally avoided silver lining and tunnel vision, and now here we are. i'm a bit of a jesus piece stan, if you will. i plan on seeing them perform ...so unknown live in a few weeks, which i'm sure will be a blast because THIS THING IS FUCKING SPECTACULAR, IT'S EASILY THE BEST THING JESUS PIECE HAVE EVER DONE AND IT'S ... read more

one of my absolute favorite hardcore releases of recent years, jesus piece serve up a sickeningly heavy formula of pummeling, sludgy metalcore with undertones of deathcore scattered here and there. it's oppressively crushing. it's short as fuck too, with the last two cuts being instrumental ambiance and cavernous death-doom, respectively. the real meat of only self is to be found throughout the first eight tracks, and boy is this thing meaty!

workhorse, punish, curse of the serpent and ... read more

individual thought patterns is another phenomenal slice of progressive techdeath from the masters of the sound. it gets overshadowed a lot by the LPs which preceded and followed its 1993 release, and to be fair, surpassing either human OR symbolic (let alone BOTH) in quality is a tall order. i don't have any hot takes to declare here, not tryna claim individual thought patterns is actually top 3 death--in fact, it's definitely bottom 3, though to be fair there are no bad death albums and this ... read more

the technical experimentation of spiritual hearing was only a preview of what was to come on 1991's HUMAN, a record i think one could rightfully make the argument to be death's masterpiece. on many days i consider it my favorite. now fully immersed in progressive techdeath, it features some of my all-time favorite songs period: suicide machine, together as one, lack of comprehension, that shit's all top tier death metal. i'm not sure if better techdeath exists--the only record of its kind i can ... read more

this was death's first foray into the more artsy side of death metal, embracing further instrumental technicality and progressive songwriting to somewhat mixed results. it's never bad--definitely a great album and all, just a tad inconsistent. there are some instrumental sequences in these songs that just go nowhere, plodding along at a sorta mild pace...minutes of that stuff, and it gets boring. if i'm really gonna nitpick, i'd also say this is one of the weakest production jobs of any death ... read more

perhaps the most mindblowing death-thrash album i've ever heard. it harkens back to the early days of extreme metal, back when lines dividing thrash, death and black metal were a little less defined and punk influences were incredibly common--if you know anything about my taste in music, you'll be able to imply how on board i already am. and good fuckin GOD, dude! sepulcher perform some of the most energetic, invigorating, most authentic-sounding death-thrash...maybe ever? i'll try to refrain ... read more