I wanted to like this album. When it would occasionally meander and tread its careful footsteps into the world of electronic-infused pop like on yes baby and make you mine, I was there. I wanted more of that, more of that sound, more of those grooves. But everything else around and between moved, for me, toward the unremarkable.

This sounds exactly like something that would be playing in my crypt as I rise from a slumber of a short millennium. For that, I think it lives up to its symphonic black metal mantle. Though it did get a little old to me after a while, making a quick nap of a few centuries enticing.

Overall though, I did enjoy the opening to the album. Flesh Throne and Eternally Within Us have a delightful blend of symphonic elements and the trademark black metal shrieks that build such an oppressive, and at ... read more

Just sheer, delicious instrumental acrobatics. It's only an EP and yet it still felt short and had me wanting more. The production felt a bit mushed to me, but still so many great elements popped out to me from the whiplash of groove changes in Binocularize which hooked me immediately, to the mix of heavy riffs and sick synth solo in Ernie Ball Worship, to the ambient-esque atmospherics of Foglier and the straight forward riffage of Pushing Rope. This EP feels like the beginning of a world ... read more

The first thing that stood out to me about this record, and that persisted throughout my listen, was the guitar work. The guitar solo on The Ghostship Diaries is a fantastic blend of shredding and soulful, melodic riffs. The soulful, emotional elements are just further exemplified through Our Place Among The Stars which, if I'm being honest, I found to be a bit of a drag of a song until the guitar showed up, then I was hooked again.

Still, the guitars I don't think were enough to ... read more

Something about this reminds me, fondly, of times long past that I can only revisit in memories, can only enjoy soaked in nostalgia. Cool summer nights riding around town with friends, no destination in mind, music like this playing and drifting out the hand-cranked windows of our car. I don't know what it is - perhaps it's how effortlessly the group moves between the peaks of the album, their massive blankets of sounds, and their softer more somber moments, all overlaid by vocals ... read more

I love an album that sounds so unapologetically satanic that it would make my elderly grandmother, upon hearing it, immediately ascend into the heavens in order the escape the sonic devilry desecrating her ears.

But seriously, Cradle of Filth have had a longstanding career of delivering hauntingly massive and immersive works. They have a truly solid balance of the harsh and abrasive black metal themes, the dark atmospherics, and a tinge of orchestral elements that give their work an almost ... read more

Kickass album cover. In general, I felt like the riffs and melodies were on-point. A little top-heavy for me though, with the standout tracks being toward the top with "The Black Swords Of Winter" and "The Serpent Of The Void" being the two that really caught my attention on first listen through. Definitely going to check out their previous work!

I don't know what it is about industrial-influenced albums like this that I just don't quite feel like I understand, but that I also can't tear my ears away from. The album starts with a wail, Mistakes Have Been Made making me consider whether or not, I had indeed, made a mistake putting the record on, and then I proceeded to listen to the next 37 minutes in rapture before the album lays us, unnervingly, down through harsh, fading atmospherics on Mandelbrot Anamnesis.

This album ... read more

A great blend of straight-up death metal peppered with pockets of prog and unique, experimental sounds. This record has a strong foundation of groovy riffs, but I feel like it really shines when their guitar and bass-work takes off into sprinting acrobatics and they break out the hand drums in the percussion part.

Sadist has effortlessly woven the experimental soul of prog metal throughout this album, often breaking into odd time signatures, at least one bass solo, along with a smattering of ... read more

When I was in high school, a friend and I went to our small town CD Tradepost to sniff out bargains. When I was checking out, I told the clerk behind the counter, a large, gruff man with a huge, orange beard, that I liked hearing Between the Buried and Me's "Colors" while I was browsing, the album playing from the speakers tucked into the corners of the store.

He got really excited and told me, "The first time I put this on, I had no idea what it was and when the double ... read more

Hand pressed above your forehead, shielding your eyes from the soft, wisping snowflakes falling around you, you squint into the distance. The light is fading and before you stretches a vast tundra, a blanket of pure white, fading into the farthest reaches of the horizon. Where you are, you have no idea. Which direction to walk in, you have even less of an idea.

This album feels like wandering alone in an endless winter landscape, or a forest that's perpetually bathed in evening rays. In ... read more

What a delightful record. Track after track this release impressed me. From the smooth and delightful UNEXPECTED LOVER to the driving, F-Zero soundtrack-esque TRUTH to the sheer, exceptional musicianship in BREEZE AND YOU, this album was a never ending box of surprises for me. I adored it.