Ferox

Blasting the cannons of truth

Slob – Deepwoods Shack of Sodomy Review

By Ferox on March 2, 2022 in Reviews, 50 comments

“These here boys ain’t right in the head. UK duo Slob graces the world with a debut that dares to ask the question: “What if the hayseed rapists from Deliverance started a brutal death metal band and wrote a whole bunch of songs about sodomy?” It would be tempting to nickname these gentlemen “Gay Panic: The Band,” except Slob isn’t just interested in the kind of sodomy practiced belowdecks in the Royal Navy. Instead, they present us with an expansive and all-inclusive vision of the act.” Sodomy, sodomyou.

An Evening Redness – An Evening Redness Review

By Ferox on February 23, 2022 in Reviews, Drone, 14 comments

“”Only that man who has offered up himself entire to the blood of war, who has been to the floor of the pit and seen the horror in the round and learned at last that it speaks to his inmost heart, only that man can dance.” So goes a notable passage from Cormac McCarthy’s bleak masterpiece Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West. It’s a brilliant and endlessly quotable novel that serves as the source material for An Evening Redness’s debut offering of Americana-tinged drone/doom.” Harvester of Moon.

Embryonic Autopsy – Prophecies of the Conjoined Review

By Ferox on February 16, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 20 comments

“Listen to this record and it might just put a baby in you. Not by the traditional means, interesting though it might be to imagine those mechanics. Instead, Arizona’s Embryonic Autopsy debut with a concept album about the experiments, designed to birth human/alien hybrids, that may or may not have been performed at Area 51. With songs like “Telekinetic Insemination” and “Craving of the Mutated Fetus,” these gentlemen have a very specific kind of breeding on the brain. The sci-fi milieu, and some elements of the music, put this offering of brutal death metal squarely in Artificial Brain territory.” Newgenics.

Ectoplasma — Inferna Kabbalah Review

By Ferox on January 24, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 24 comments

“Reader, we have before us a scabby and indelicate piece of business. It’s been a busy few shifts at the filth factory for Ectoplasma; Inferna Kabbalah marks the fourth time in recent years that they’ve dropped a compost heap filled with dung and rotting offal on our doorsteps. And a ghastly pile it is!” Nasty plasma.

Bullet Ride – At the Gates of Hell Review

By Ferox on January 16, 2022 in Reviews, Power Metal, 37 comments

“Can heavy music make you a better person? France’s Bullet Ride seems determined to answer that question on At the Gates of Hell, which may just pioneer the sub-genre of “self-help metal.” Here are ten thrash-adjacent tunes that lean heavily into their themes of overcoming an ever-shifting combination of adversity, despair, and shitty exes. These veterans of regional acts like Methadol and Divine Punishment have crafted a bright, melodic debut that was not at all what I expected when I requested a blackened thrash promo from Dr. Overlord Himself.” Handling the unknown is an important part of successful n00bery.

Torii – Torii Review

By Ferox on January 11, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Post-Metal, 38 comments

Self-releasing an album can be a viable path to success in 2021, but if you’re still at it after seven tries, most bands would find it tough to keep the flame burning. This isn’t an issue for Torii mastermind Bill Masino, whose apparent need to create has seen him persist with the project through years, lineup changes and numerous shifts in approach. Their latest, self-titled platter finds the act returning to its origins as a solo outfit, intent on bringing Masino’s blend of post-metal, doom, and death metal to fresh audiences.” Torii is the word.

Krolok – Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky Review

By Ferox on December 19, 2021 in Reviews, Black Metal, 19 comments

““Delve deep in and listen… listen to the atmospheres of an arcane night and return within your thoughts into bygone times.” So goes Krolok’s description of their second offering of ESL-inflected black metal. The band, hailing from a literal Carpathian forest, bills itself as “atmospheric.” Their actual sound, however, riffs on the age-old question: “What if trve and kvlt, but also having of dungeon synth keys?”” What would Krolok do?

Cadaveric Fumes – Echoing Chambers of Soul Review

By Ferox on December 6, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, 33 comments

“Five eventful years after EP Dimensions Obscure enticed Grymm with its fusion of old school death metal, occult rock, and Gallic idiosyncrasy, these Frenchmen have released their first full-length Echoing Chambers of Soul. This debut is also a swan song, as the band is now calling it quits. Is Cadaveric Fumes leaving the stage with the grand statement hinted at by their early work, or has their creative engine sputtered to a stop?” It feels like a “or does it smell like a corpse” joke was the obvious thing to do here, doesn’t it?

Dead Space Chamber Music – The Black Hours Review

By Ferox on November 30, 2021 in Reviews, Folk Metal, 37 comments

“A doom band emerges from the hills of Southwest England. So does a dark neoclassical outfit, along with a group of ambient specialists dedicated to building sound collages… oh, and a neofolk collective is there, too. They’re not going to do battle, as metal as that might be—they can’t, because they’re all the same unit. Dead Space Chamber Music channels their restless muse into The Black Hours, an ambitious fusion of techniques that spends much of its run time reinterpreting material from the medieval and Renaissance periods.” Chamber of horrors.