spirit adrift — Blog - Crushtor.net

It’s cold. It’s cold, yet I refuse to believe it. I strut around in t-shirt and jeans, a lone beanie to stop all my body heat from escaping. I don’t feel it, because the crushtor compound™ could be used for meat and perishable storage during winter and not break any OH&S laws. Also, gives me licence to blast music real loud. Here’s what’s been in my six stacker:

Vanishing Kids - Miracle of Death

I tend to buy anything Angry Metal Guy puts in a top whatever list, so this went into my shopping cart without a thought. Yeah, it’s doom, but not as we know it. The slow crawl of first track Spill the Dark walks a line between 70s Hammond-drenched stoner anthem and murder ballad, amplified by Nikki Drohomyreky’s trance-inducing vocals. It’s a throwback without being all tassled jackets and flares, a fresh take on a well-worn genre. I’d try to pin them down as doom metal, but that’s like pigeonholing Hammers of Misfortune, something I refuse to do. It’s a weird one, but a good ‘un.

Suldusk - Anthesis

After being blown away by their set prior to Katatonia this year (was it this year?) and sacrificing a meal or two to buy their prior album Lunar Falls, these Aussies knock it out of the gloomy moor with Anthesis. Plucking bits of the darker end of metal, neo-folk, and atmospherics, carried on the back of vocalist (and multi-instrumentalist) Emily Highfield’s sublime voice. It’s like the reincarnation of The Gathering rinsed in black, a majestic and ethereal follow-up to Green Carnation’s Light of Day, Day of Darkness in tone and musicianship. Album of the year contender, for sure.

Judas Priest - Invincible Shield

I’m going to cheat a bit since I already reviewed this:

Is Invincible Shield as earth-shattering as its predecessor? Not quite. Does it live up to their legendary canon? Absolutely. It’s proof positive you can teach an old God new tricks, and then some. Horns up, metalheads. Priest rides once again!

Spirit Adrift - Ghost at the Gallows

Nate Garrett has feet in two worlds - that of the leather vest and big fuck off mo’ wearing Spirit Adrift and the gory t-shirt clad three-day-growth crustiness of Gatecreeper. Spirit Adrift is definitely a throwback to late-70s big arena band rock n’ roll, a time mere seconds before Maiden, Priest, and Mötorhead would dominate stages and airwaves. It’s eminently listenable and groove-heavy, and it was stuck inside my six stacker for ages. When it came around again, I was all too pleased to hear Garrett and co. trade licks and bellow bear-like harmonies into a green, smokey void. Recommended.

Vorga - Beyond the Palest Star

Sci-fi? In my black metal? Where do I sign up? Exploring dark regions beyond where Vektor or Imperialist have ever gone, Vorga propels toward relatavistic speeds, that being their compositions are compelling no matter whether they’re death marches (Voideath), Dimmu Borgir style mini-symphonies (Magical Thinking) or straight up old school headbangers (The Cataclysm.) If metal survives into the age of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, it would be illogical that musicianship of this quality wouldn’t be a prime directive on their 24th Century Spotifies.

Rotting Christ - Pro Xhristou

Rotting Christ, as far as I’m concerned is (groan) God tier black metal. Not much else comes close, and their latest platter Pro Xhristou was as eagerly awaited in the crushtor house like Christmas is in a spoiled kid’s. Rotting Christ have an innate talent for capturing the sublime within the depraved, grand choirs of damned souls lifting dirty, diabolical riffs to strike the cloisters of heaven itself. AMG hated it, but I think they doth protest too much; in a world of black metal clones, Rotting Christ at least stand on their own two feet like Colossus(ses) that bestrode the world. Can’t please everyone.