Cherd

Sludge is the word.

Houkago Grind Time – Koncertos of Kawaiiness: Stealing Jon Chang’s Ideas, A Book by Andrew Lee Review

By Cherd on August 16, 2024 in Reviews, Death Metal, Grind, 34 comments

“It’s a reliable pattern that every two years, Andrew Lee (Ripped to Shreds) crawls out from under his waifu body pillow, clears his work bench of Haikyuu!! figurines and Mountain Dew Code Red cans, and assembles a new full-length LP of otaku-themed death grind. Houkago Grind Time’s appropriately named third album Koncertos of Kawaiiness: Stealing Jon Chang’s Ideas, A Book by Andrew Lee finds Lee bowing to his senpai of Discordance Axis and Gridlink fame, the first to deem anime an appropriate theme to explore through the lens of grindcore. If you’re familiar with past Houkago Grind Time material, or anime culture in general, you’ll be well prepared for these 21 minutes of completely unserious meme music packaged as brutal death played at neck-snapping speed.” When anime attacks.

Void Witch – Horripilating Presence Review

By Cherd on July 29, 2024 in Reviews, Death Doom, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 52 comments

“One of the joys of being a music scene deep diver is liking what you hear of a brand-spanking-new band’s demos and EPs, watching them sign to a label, and anticipating their debut full-length. The Austin, Texas death-doom outfit Void Witch caught my attention with their first demo in 2021. The songs were remarkably fleshed out for being a band’s first-ever output, and I enjoyed the funny little black-and-white illustration of a hooded figure with five legs all pointing to the side. We’ll call him Five Feets Francis. A couple years later I noticed that Everlasting Spew re-released that demo with an additional song and a new illustration in the same style. I call that guy Pope Alligator Hands the Third. This was a great sign.” Witch void is which?

Lord Buffalo – Holus Bolus Review

By Cherd on July 16, 2024 in Reviews, Not Metal, 48 comments

“Four long years ago, just at the onset of the Great Plague, in the face of uncertainty and anxious hand-wringing, I found myself agreeably distracted for the briefest of moments by Lord Buffalo’s sophomore LP Tohu Wa Bohu. These Austin, Texas boys culled fruit from the darker corners of Americana music and spat out an oaky mélange of gothic country-psych rock that spoke to the sullen farm boy in me. The Plague has since waned to a sniffle, but there’s still plenty of uncertainty and anxious hand-wringing when one surveys the news headlines. Can Lord Buffalo once again pull me away from doom scrolling long enough to fall under their Middle American spell?” HERD!

Kvaen – The Formless Fire Review

By Cherd on June 20, 2024 in Reviews, Black Metal, Blackened Death Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Viking Metal, 49 comments

“Three albums into Jacob Björnfot’s run as quasi-one-man meloblack band Kvaen, certain areas of dependability have become apparent. For one thing, you know each release is going to be all about the guitars: the riffs, the leads, the melodies, the harmonies, the blistering, soaring solos. Any “atmosphere” is incidental. It’s not the point. You know those riffs and melodies are going to be easy breezy, memorable, and highly repeatable. You know on the songwriting front, you’ll get some scorching sprints and some rousing epics. And at least one song about fire.” Fire in the Home Alone.

Black Wound – Warping Structure Review

By Cherd on June 7, 2024 in Reviews, Death Doom, Death Metal, 43 comments

“Death metal has always been about ugliness, but after 40 years of refinement and cross-pollination with other genres, a lot of death metal is less stained cargo shorts and tattered t-shirts and more black-tie formal, or at least business casual. Sometimes you just want it dirty. Filthy fucking vile. Really icky poopy. For times like this, Stockholm, Sweden’s Black Wound have you covered.” Reeking wounds and deceptive promos.

Thou – Umbilical Review

By Cherd on June 1, 2024 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Hardcore, Sludge, 52 comments

“When I first came on as a writer here, I had all kinds of ideas about what bands I’d be reviewing before the reality of seniority fully hit me in the solar plexus. I wanted to review Pallbearer. I got there, but I had to wait until they…uh…weren’t that good anymore and other, more senior writers moved on. I wanted to review Panopticon. Still waiting on that one. Same with YOB. I wanted to review Inter Arma, and Grymm surprisingly took pity on a n00b, so I’m forever grateful for that. Today I get to check off another goal. When Akerblogger left these halls, I loudly proclaimed dibs on any future Thou records.” Thee, Thou, wow.

Pallbearer – Mind Burns Alive Review

By Cherd on May 15, 2024 in Reviews, 175 comments

“It’s time to revisit a conversation that became necessary in 90s metal circles with the advantage of almost 30 years hindsight. How do we deal with beloved metal bands when they lose their interest in metal, either abruptly or over the course of several albums? Back then, it was complicated. When Paradise Lost decided they weren’t a death/doom metal band anymore, there was disappointment and confusion. Same when Ulver left black metal tied to a tree whimpering in the woods and never looked back. Some fans of their metal work remained open minded and found merit in the new directions. And the bands certainly found new fans who would never touch metal on principle. I’ve surveyed the general metal media consensus around Pallbearer’s output since 2017’s Heartless, and I’ve come to the conclusion that in the 2020s, things aren’t so complicated. Everyone’s a simp.” Simptons of the metalverse.

Inter Arma – New Heaven Review

By Cherd on April 26, 2024 in Reviews, Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Sludge, 103 comments

“It’s been almost exactly five years since Inter Arma’s last full-length, not counting their album of cover songs, Garbers Days Revisited. Not that the vicious take on Neil Young’s “Southern Man” wasn’t a welcome addition to their catalogue, but after the gut-churning aural ruination that was 2019’s Sulfur English, you could hardly blame fans for hoping the band would follow it up in short order. A global pandemic and personnel turmoil intervened, so here we are in 2024 just getting our ears around the band’s fifth LP, New Heaven.” Large things arrive late.

My Dying Bride – A Mortal Binding Review

By Cherd on April 18, 2024 in Reviews, Death Doom, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, 60 comments

“I’ve been listening to My Dying Bride’s entire discography, including this new one, nonstop for a good two weeks straight. It’s begun to affect my daily life. A couple nights ago, after putting the Cherdlet to bed, my wife asked me what I’d like to do with the rest of our evening and without thinking I said, “Drink deep of your neck chalice.” While she was still quietly processing this, I complimented her on the whiteness of her breasts. She decided she wanted to watch “one of her shows” instead and bid me good night.” Gothic suave is tricky.