A recurring theme with this site anymore is a focus on death and black metal releases. Truthfully, these styles are what mostly grace my inbox on any given day. While I do love the two, I love me some solid trash as well, which my diet has been sorely lacking as of late. So, whenever one creeps in as an unread promo invitation I typically gravitate towards it without much hesitation. With a little time to spare before family comes to visit I happened on The Art of a Maniac by Tymo waiting to be accepted. You clearly know what happened next…
After two demos and an EP, Spain’s trio known as Sepulchral have signed a deal with Soulseller Records to unleash their debut full-length album. Which just so happened to cross my inbox from the awesome folks at ClawHammer PR. Intrigued by the black and white artwork supplied by Jaime P.S, I hit play expecting just another underground or “cavernous” black/death metal group to cast into the pile. My expectations, thankfully, were greatly mistaken.
The underground sensation Lord Mantis was regarded as one of the more important new acts in the sludge community. The blackened touch they brought to their performances stuck out like a sore thumb in all the right ways until the band split in 2017. Fast forward about two years and differences have been mended, a new line-up forged, and the fire re-lit to reform and remind everyone who they are with a long overdue new album that sadly does not include founding member and former drummer Bill Bumgardner. It’s evident there is honor to his contributions, but what Universal Death Church lacks in his presence it more than makes up for with the inclusion of the turbulent history that brought the beast down to its knees once before. All of this takes little time to pick up on within just the first few minutes of your first spin, but those first impressions can be a bit deceiving. I know this due to multiple impressions in one sitting…
A title that has been on Apoch’s wishlist for a little while now, Project RIP has finally dropped on Steam. The first-person shooter title pits you as a hired gun to go out and harvest the souls of the undead, a description prime for live streaming. Right? Well, a few nights ago, Apoch gave it a shot and was left shouting “Bring out your dead!” during this half of the live stream.
What’s that old saying? You either die a hero or live long enough to play the villain? Yeah, something like that. Well, sometimes that becomes true in the toxic world the Entity has created, where the hero of this tale tries to make reality as he sees fit…
