Oceano – “Depths” released April 14, 2009 by Earache They claim to be “the heaviest, most pissed off band on the planet.” I don’t know how you quantify ‘pissed-off-ness,’ but they are one of the most physically imposing bands I’ve seen since Crowbar (bassist Jason Jones is the one skinny dude). Does the deathcore quintet measure up to not only that, but the exhaustive 11-part allegorical definition of ‘depth’ in the liner notes? No, and there isn’t a band that does. The Chicago natives do branch out from the trunk a bit, incorporating keyboards (9) and some damn fine [...read more]

Gollum – “The Core” released April 07, 2009 on Rotten Records Listening to the debut album from this North Carolina quartet, one feels like Thomas Hutter on the carriage ride to Nosferatu’s castle. At times it’s a real rocky road, down a path obscured by murk and mist, with unexpected twists and turns along the way (the guitars in 8, the female vocals in both that and 3, the midalbum psychedelic break, “Amor Fati”) that make this a most interesting trip. Keyboards and samples are often employed by vocalist Shawn Corbett, who also commands a wide vocal range, akin [...read more]

Pestilence – “Resurrection Macabre” released April 14, 2009 on Mascot Records Well it’s been about 15 years since Spheres, and just like their Floridian technical death metal brethren, Atheist and Cynic, they reformed and are producing new original material. Don’t expect any of those atmospheric keyboards or jazz fusion that surfaced on their last output; this is some seriously blistering death metal. The production is a full-on head crush, with keen attention to overall clarity on guitar and vocals. This is not surprising, since mainman Patrick Mameli wrote the whole album.  It’s played at a mostly breakneck pace, but [...read more]

The Number Twelve Looks Like You – “Worse Than Alone” released March 10, 2009 on Eyeball Records Open letter to TNTLLY: Please replace former vocalist Justin Pedrick with an additional guitarist, preferably one that can sing. Musically you all have potential, with glimmers of greatness akin to Dillinger Escape Plan or Between The Buried And Me. But without better compositions and improved vocal dynamics, it all just sounds messily slipshod. They say if a band hasn’t figured out their sound by the fourth album, they need to reexamine themselves; I suggest you do so. What’s worse than being alone?  [...read more]

Leprous – “Tall Poppy Syndrome” released April 28, 2009 on Sensory Records Norwegian quintet’s brilliant debut album of experimental progressive metal. They’ve got a lot of momentum behind them. Vocalist/synthist Einar Solberg was hired for Emperor’s 2006-07 reunion shows, and the whole group recently performed as Ihsahn’s live band––a daunting task indeed. Stylistically similar to Opeth, their explorations are mostly successful, delving into lounge swing (2), funk (3), spoken word (7), and even a Beethoven-cum-black metal recurring riff on “Not Even A Name” which relents to jazzy jaunts and mellow moments. They never let their inventiveness get ahead of [...read more]