Barghest
The Virtuous Purge
Gilead Media (2014)
This black metal act from Louisiana continues to spread destruction and devastation. Barghest released their debut album back in 2011, unleashing an echoing shout of misanthropy and obliteration. After their self-titled album, the band put out a split EP with fellow black metal act, False, which also marked their first work for Gilead Media. So now the band carries on … Read more
Bark Bark Bark
Haunts
Retard Disco (2007)
Jacob Cooper, the solo man of Bark Bark Bark, is quite an ambitious fellow. Though, I regret to say that his ambitions don't take him that far. Bark Bark Bark is an electronic effort fused together by "synthesizers and keyboards, borrowed musical equipment, and sampled cuts and clicks." Look a little confusing? Well it is. Haunts is Cooper's debut album, … Read more
Barnett + Coloccia
VLF
Sige (2019)
Alex Barnett and Faith Coloccia are both distinguished members of the experimental ambient music scene, and have already proved that they are a force to be reckoned with when they collaborate. The duo has previously released two intriguing records of experimental, drone goodness in their debut record Retrieval and their sophomore full-length Weld. What was striking about the collaborations of … Read more
Baronen & Satan
Why Does The Blood Never Stick To Your Teeth/Satan Is A Lady
Dirty Water Records (2017)
Every now and then I find it entertaining to randomly pick something out of the promo-bin without overthinking what to review. Sometimes this way I discover brilliant stuff, sometimes I question my choices. Baronen & Satan’s short and snappy promo chatter sounds promising enough. This quartet is from Gothenburg, Sweden. There’s more than enough quality music coming from Sweden. That … Read more
Baroness
Blue Record
Relapse (2009)
Much like their previous full-length, Red Album, Baroness' follow-up, Blue Record has been hyped quite a bit by the metal community. Red Album saw Baroness go in a very interesting direction as they shifted away from the straight-up heaviness of their EPs to a more drawn out and atmospheric sound, while still holding onto their sludge roots. Regardless, Red Album … Read more
Baroness
Purple
Abraxan Hymns (2015)
Through their career, Baroness has spawned a series of excellent works. From their early Mastodon-ian EPs to the evolution of their own unique sound with Red Album and Blue Record and the adventurous routes that led to the release of their most ambitious work Yellow & Green, the band has remained a constant force in heavy music. A horrendous accident … Read more
Baroness
Second
Hyperrealist (2005)
Baroness have been one of music's best kept secrets. With the release of their first record, an EP titled First last year, some ears began to perk up and some eyes were opened. Now, with their sophomore effort, Second, everybody who is anybody has taken notice to this Georgia band who are looking to take the metal scene by storm. … Read more
Baroness
The Red Album
Relapse (2007)
Forget everything that you have heard from or about Baroness to this point in your life; even their split record with Unpersons (A Grey Sigh in a Flower Husk) earlier this year does not prepare you enough for the dramatic leap that they throw at you with The Red Album. Baroness effectively rewrite their place in the current musical maelstrom … Read more
Baroness
Yellow & Green
Relapse (2012)
When a band decides (yes, the band, not you and your fanboy mates) to make a little change in their musical approach and try out something new, a couple of things happen. Aforementioned fanboys get up in arms and take to the internet in droves or have the same conversation with different people over and over and over again about … Read more
Baroness / Unpersons
A Grey Sigh in a Flower Husk
At A Loss (2007)
Baroness and Unpersons team up for A Grey Sigh in a Flower Husk. For Baroness, it serves as a precursor to their forthcoming album for Relapse Records and as a send off for former guitarist Tim Loose. For Unpersons, this split serves as some people's - like mine - first exposure to the band. The two bands have vastly different … Read more
Barren Earth
The Curse Of The Red River
Peaceville (2010)
Barren Earth is like an ex-members of who's who. Sporting members from Swallow The Sun, Amorphis, and Moonsorrow among others. The band is veritable Swedish metal powerhouse. The band makes the most of the sum of their parts. Cultivating parts of melancholic metal of Swallow The Sun and the metal with Swedish folk touches of Amorphis. They songs have a … Read more
Barren Earth
The Devil's Resolve
Peaceville (2012)
If there’s anything I love, it’s some fucking metal. And if there’s any band out there that can deliver some fucking metal with astonishing consistency, it’s Finnish power/folk sextet Barren Earth. In that respect, their latest album, 2012’s The Devil’s Resolve, does not disappoint.Like their previous release, there is a clear folk influence at work on their music, but its … Read more
Barren Harvest
Subtle Cruelties
Handmade Birds (2014)
It is quite difficult to define what Barren Harvest is offering in Subtle Cruelties. The duet of Jessica Way of Worm Ouroboros and Lenny Smith of Atriarch and Trees has found an intriguing way to present a neo folk album. But, it seems like there is always something underlying the initial folky sound of the album with its majestic melancholic … Read more
Barren Womb
Lizard Lounge
Loyal Blood Records (2020)
Barren Womb can hardly be accused of stagnation. Lizard Lounge, the fourth album by this hard working two-man band is again an interesting step further down the road. The band once started with a heavy Refused influenced framework on which they added whatever came to mind. The albums that followed showed slightly more focus, but Barren Womb kept writing songs … Read more
Barren Womb
Old Money/New Lows
Spartan Records (2018)
Shortly after releasing their debut full length I had the opportunity to have a chat with Barren Womb. They then told me they liked playing in a two-man band as it gave them the opportunity to work really fast. The decision making process is so much easier without a lot of different opinions around. These words seemed to be true … Read more
Basement Benders
Lydiad
No Idea (2015)
Side projects aren’t supposed to invite other band comparisons, they’re supposed to separate, to show artisticrange. Who are we kidding here? Basement Benders is a punk project out of members of This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb, Hidden Spots, Future Virgins, and Black Rainbow—DIY bands who live the scene, meaning that being themselves and having fun with friends probably outweighs … Read more
Basement Benders
Shrapnel Songs
Dead Broke Rekerds (2019)
I recently wrote about Future Virgins, stating that the band tempers their anger, choosing more subtle reflection in their songwriting to express that always important human emotion. I guess I know where the band’s members let it out.Basement Benders play a somewhat lo-fi melodic punk with a lot of vocal tradeoffs that pull together with joined melodies. It’s a pop … Read more
Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash
Mile Markers
Texicali (2005)
Be not afraid. Mile Markers by Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash is not the soundtrack to Aunt Edna's covert line-dancing ops at the Iron Horse Saloon. This is good country. Mellifluous, melodious, easy on the ears and heavy on the heart; it's where the best of country music always meant to go before it got sidetracked by private jets, monster … Read more
