illusionist

Hooded Menace blend their customary Death Doom sound with traces of 80s Metal, Candlemassian Epic Doom, and MeloDeath, making their overall sound a bit more melodic and sweeping than before. (While still being crushingly heavy at times). Right up my alley. This thing kicks ass.

I love this thing. A groundbreaking album in terms of bringing black queerness to mainstream acceptance, but it's also just great feelgood music. More than half of the songs on here could be really strong earworm singles. Lil Nas X is in a great creative groove writing catchy melodies, and I love the personality, individualism, confidence, and heart-on-his-sleeve emotion he brings to the whole record. The addition of grandiose horns to many tracks ensure the listener KNOWS this album is a big ... read more

Man, where to start with this thing. You've got funky guitar grooves married to klezmer horns (of all things) providing the most colorful of musical backdrops to the manic spoken-word vocals, which evoke Slint in their visceral anxiety and La Dispute in their vivid lyrical storytelling. This all combines for a very refreshing sound that is at once familiar and new and exciting. "Athens, France" (what a jam), "Science Fair" (love the dark and gothic direction this one takes), ... read more

Stormkeep had me absolutely bought-in on first listen. Dark, melodic, grandiose, passionate, intense... it fully captures what I love about this style of music, with traces of all-time favorites like Dissection, Emperor, Windir fully manifested into a comprehensive piece. I only wish there was more.