Author: Saif Shaikh

Posted on: November 21, 2025 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Steps to Take After a Choking Accident in a Nursing Home

Choking is something that can happen to anyone, but the risk increases in elderly people suffering from various health conditions, such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, or certain disabilities caused by a stroke. Choking incidents, especially when there is no one to oversee, can be life-threatening.  In a place like a nursing home, where there are a lot of elderly people, it is the duty of the staff to provide the…

Posted on: August 20, 2025 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

What to Expect in Your First Week of Alcohol and Drug Rehab: A Grounded Journey Toward Recovery

Beginning rehab can feel like stepping into the unknown, especially when it’s your first time. The decision to seek help is deeply personal and can be filled with a mix of emotions—fear, hope, uncertainty, and even doubt. The first week is particularly important because it sets the tone for the entire journey ahead. While many assume it’s just about detox or therapy, the reality is that the initial days are…

Posted on: January 28, 2020 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Roniit – XIXI

Dark pop is a niche genre at best, but thanks to a few indie artists, the genre whispers on in the shadows. Colorado-raised California-resident Roniit is no stranger to the undercurrents of the indie electropop and darkpop scene, and her newest record “XIXI” is less of a music album and more a contiguous journey through the wilderness of her subconscious. The crickets overlaying the introduction to opening track “Noumenia” is…

Posted on: November 15, 2019 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Wolf Parade – Thin Mind

Canadian indie-rockers Wolf Parade have been around the scene for a while, yet their five-year hiatus in 2011 gave fans pause and wondered if the magic would come back. Following Cry Cry Cry in 2017, the band seems to be back on steady ground and are back with their latest full-length Thin Mind. Granted, Wolf Parade hadn’t popped up on my radar, I took a dive into their back catalog…

Posted on: September 23, 2019 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 1

Geowulf – My Resignation

The British indie dream-pop duo have a heartfelt and wholesome story to tell us with their newest record My Resignation. This is the third record from Geowulf and is a narrative follow-up to 2017’s Great Big Blue. To cut a long story short, My Resignation is among those records which will prompt a listener to take a dive into the archives and dig out past records, and is a stellar…

Posted on: September 15, 2019 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Coffins – Beyond The Circular Demise

When you think of Japan, you think of sushi, manga, anime, bullet trains, and the samurai; what you do not think of is solid death metal. And Coffins are a prime example of why we cannot spend any more time sleeping on Japanese death metal. The death/doomsters are back with their fifth release “Beyond The Circular Demise” an infernal release with grit and teeth. It is a crime that after…

Posted on: April 5, 2019 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Whitechapel – The Valley (Metal Blade Records)

If there was ever a big 4 of Deathcore, Whitechapel would be among them, along with Job for a Cowboy, Suicide Silence, and perhaps All Shall Perish. These are the bands that invented the genre and created the foundation for what would become nearly a decade of future copycats and a mire of mediocre ripoffs. But Whitechapel are back in 2019 to show us why they truly deserve their seat…

Posted on: October 14, 2018 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Obscura – Diluvium (CD)

Few names in technical death metal actually stick around to be instantly recognizable in the genre, and with Diluvium, German sluggers Obscura find themselves genre veterans, often in the same breath as critically acclaimed acts like Necrophagist and Death. This new offering is the fourth and final chapter in the album-saga and is a direct sequel to the 2015 banger, Akroasis. Is Diluvium the crescendo of the story?

Posted on: August 13, 2018 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Morne – To The Night Unknown

Doom metal is usually a miss for me owing to a slew of bands devolving into a formulaic trudge through molasses of mediocrity. But ever so often, there comes a piece of music so gargantuan and animalistic that you cannot help but get excited. The fifth release To The Night Unknown by Boston doomsludgers Morne released on Armageddon Records and the first to be released on the band’s own eponymous…

Posted on: May 29, 2018 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

LLNN – Deads

The Swedes in LLNN understand abuse, they understand depression, anxiety, fear, nausea, and pain. On Deads they have given voice to everything we lose, and every time we hurt, carving out a landscape with the listeners’ fingernails.

Posted on: May 17, 2018 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Light This City – Terminal Bloom

At the Gates did a lot for metal music, giving a melodic edge to the oft-brash death metal genre, birthing melodic death metal, a genre now as established as any other, and Light This City are back after a decade long hiatus to rekindle our love for the band and genre with their newest record Terminal Bloom.

Posted on: April 8, 2018 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Abjection Ritual – Soul of Ruin, Body of Filth

Let’s face it, we all have genres and subgenres and microgenres that we don’t get into not for any reason but because there is just so much content from bands in genres that we do like that we rarely find reason to stray. Doom and it’s microgenre drone metal is one of those genres, that I hear only good things about, but seemed so far away from the metal I…

Posted on: March 11, 2018 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

At the Gates – To Drink From The Night Itself (single)

At the Gates requires no introduction, not from someone the likes of me at the very least. Hailed among the forefathers of the Gothenburg melodic death metal scene, these Swedes have been iconic in shaping a genre and spawned a legion of like-minded bands in their decades-long career.

Posted on: September 10, 2017 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Leprous – Malina (CD)

There is a constant tug-of-war in the progressive music community, especially among the more popular bands in the genre, the push-and-pull of being as esoteric as possible and adopting a more standard poppy arrangement.  Though Leprous may be accused of veering dangerously close to capitalizing on the lowest common denominator demographic with their newest effort “Malina”, this is by no means a weak record.  Malina is the sonic onion whose…

Posted on: June 25, 2017 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Dying Fetus – Wrong One to Fuck With (CD)

Dying Fetus is one of those artists that are always on the list of bands I use to scare away my non-metalhead friends, especially those who subscribe to the “metal is noise” school of thought. Just to bristle their jimmies some more, the band name itself is like adding cayenne to their already bleeding ears. I cannot get enough!

Posted on: August 30, 2016 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Bad Omens – Bad Omens (CD)

Imagine the metalcore-world we live in now, where Asking Alexandria is still trying to find its way back to its metalcore roots, and Bring Me The Horizon have arguably made the decision to go in a more commercialized direction with their new record. Pray tell where should we find our new Warped Tour-core messiahs now? I have found the answer: Bad Omens. They are setting the scene on fire with…

Posted on: August 21, 2016 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Dræmings – The Eternal Lonesome (CD)

Sumerian Records are one of my favorite modern metal record labels and its founder Ash Avildsen has a keen eye for up and coming artists. Veritable modern metal juggernauts like Periphery, Animals as Leaders, Veil of Maya, Born of Osiris, etc. have been pushed into the limelight by Sumerian Records and they have instantly become crowd favorites in the metal scene. So when Sumerian signed Dræmings, I was admittedly confused.…

Posted on: August 21, 2016 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Aborted – Retrogore (CD)

Belgium, home to arguably the best waffles, arguably the best beer, and certainly, the best deathgrind band in the world, Aborted. It seems that the Lords of Gore decided to turn the crazy dial to maximum insanity on the 12 track, 43-minute carnivorous abomination that is their newest record, Retrogore.

Posted on: August 17, 2016 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Heaven Shall Burn – Wanderer (CD)

  You cannot talk about German melodic death metal and metalcore and not mention the two giants, Caliban and Heaven Shall Burn. We are lucky to see stellar new releases from both bands. Gravity by Caliban is already on my lists of must-listen albums, and HSB’s new banger Wanderer proves to be another favorite for a long time to come.

Posted on: August 16, 2016 Posted by: Saif Shaikh Comments: 0

Caliban – Gravity (CD)

  Oh boy, this one yanked me straight back to my high school days. I grew up as a melodic death metal and metalcore fanboy, and the German dudes in Caliban were always a staple on my playlist. To tell you the truth, in my earnest effort to be a trve metalhead, Caliban were one of the unfortunate bands to fall through the cracks, but when I was asked to…