2020 Albums

Album Review: Behold… The Arctopus – Hapeleptic Overtrove 7.8 (Experimental)

I love the way this album opens, it’s such a tantalising progression to begin with. The percussion is unlike anything else I’ve heard with all sorts of rattles and satisfying timing. It’s a very stripped back but hyper focused album that displays a lot of instrumental versatility and storytelling in league with Bongripper. It’s not just an instrumental album, it manages to push boundaries and explore some shit. It’s a bit front loaded but it was a great space to start off in nonetheless. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Ara – Jurisprudence 8.5 (Death Metal)

Long wormy kind of crawling technical death metal. This a death project consisting of three members of Northless, a sludge/post metal band, so it’s pretty evident that they are more comfortable playing in that longer form. It’s pretty damn good. The artwork is by Eliran Kantor, who is a metal art superstar right now and much like Adam Burke, his work varies with each piece and has a long lifespan. It’s a fantastic wrapping for this sound. […]

Black Metal

Black Metal Week Vol 1

Black metal week is upon us. Some of it is balls to the wall grim and some of it is that “hipster” post black stuff we just can’t get enough of. Noob Heavy embraces musical evolution. I haven’t listened toa huge amount of black metal but almost everything I heard was great. Let’s get into the newest recommendations followed by an overview of everything we’ve covered in 2020 thus far. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Tulus – Old Old Death 7.8 (Black Metal)

This is the first Tulus LP in eight years and they are coming back fully loaded. In that down time they formed the band Khold so they weren’t completely without practice. Now they’ve returned to their original project with this new album Old Old Death and I gotta say, it starts off with a lot more pep in their step than I was expecting, many of these riffs would be just as fitting on a blackened speed metal record. Modern black metal albums have a tendency to take too long starting up but not Tulus, they’re bringing the noise up front. The first impression from the artwork on the cover nails it. It’s a fantastic blending of castles, cosmos, forests, bats and a skull. You always expect one of these things on a black metal cover but all of them? They’ve cornered the market. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Igorrr – Spirituality and Distortion 8.5 (Avante Garde)

Alright! Been excited for this one. The first single that dropped for “Very Noise” with the weird ass video was a strategic move on the part of Igorrr as it was very much a track that was hard to decipher and didn’t give much away, being purely a noise orientated and atmospheric piece with a bit of a technical guitar melody at the end. The opening of Spirituality and Distortion however, assures us of the heavy, more metal aspect of the Igorrr sound. Mixed in various ways with contrasting genre elements, naturally. […]

2020 Albums

Asarhaddon – Reysa 8 (Black Metal)

For anyone who knows me, you know that I love black metal and most of its subgenres. Asarhaddon fall into the melodic black metal category, which just happens to probably be my favorite. With bands like Actros, Abigail Williams and Wormwitch releasing some of my favorite records of last year, this side of black metal has been getting a lot of love from me recently. I believe this is the band’s first full length and it’s my first encounter with them as well. I must say it’s an overall positive first impression, this record is solid. I’ve been listening to it for a few weeks now and it’s only grown on me in that time. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Tommy Concrete – Unrelaxed 2 7.5 (Prog Metal)

Bizarre. Really. Also interesting and competent music. Tommy Concrete is familiar yet alienating, like an estranged family member or lover returning after many years. It combines a lot of old school heavy metal and power riffs with elements of sludge and death, funneled through a progressive metal kind of song writing structure. The themes are deeply personal and, much more self aware of behaviour than typical of these genres which are often laden with bravado and self assurance. Musically the comparison to Devin Townsend is most apt, both in relation to the sound and the unique edge that comes with the lone creator. If you support underground music then check this out. […]