Author: Saif Shaikh

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…