Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Blood Runner
even if this was more conventionally produced it'd still be one-paced and generic, but yeah hbb's description isn't too far off (i was thinking of ariel pink lol) and it isn't a plus for me here. i actually have a hard time believing their vocals are meant to sound like this, but i dimly recall saying the same about an earlier acid album too. 4/10
Miscreance - Alchemy
the minute from 2:40 onwards is by far the highlight here complete with that at the gates riff, but it's a solid atheist clone at worst. 7/10
Yob - Ablaze
i've always avoided yob; i guess i assumed them to be more of a stoned out groovin' band, not a purveyor of passionate dirges. found this all a bit overwrought and obvious though, right down to the big post-rock climax. 5/10
Sacral Rage - Necropia
not everything works for me here, but its peaks are super high and it's the kind of thing we need more of; a rare band that's able to burst with creativity while maintaining a strong traditional metal foundation. 8/10
Mooncitadel - Dance of a Dark Pagan Spell (The Dreaming Equinox)
lol that one passage reminds me of 'love will tear us apart', i'll have to jump on hbb's black metal is post-punk train. sorry but i don't want to rig the game by praising this on both my accounts (also this is boring). 4/10
Chemicaust - Vanished
doesn't have much personality to distinguish it, but i enjoyed the final minute and a half quite a lot. 6/10
Sigh - Homo Monini Lupus
the album art is amazing, and this song is completely ridiculous. too nonsensical to like, too goofy and catchy to dislike. 5/10
Beyond Creation - Surface's Echoes
surprised to find this actually flows and a number of the melodies are strong; ignore the slick production and their phrasing is quite reminiscent of conjuration-era the chasm. the vocals are ass, unfortunately. 6/10
Teleport - Beholder of the Silent Sea
fairly familiar with this demo already, and to keep with the chasm theme (just for you TB <3) there's some farseeing-era in there, although maybe not so much in this song. i'm not big on this kind of spacey soundscape, but it's a cool sound. 6/10
Communion - Secret Rites
i don't really understand having an extreme reaction to this band one way or another, they're perfectly solid homage to a cool era. it would help if the youtube wasn't dubious quality though, pretty sure that album sounds better than this. 6/10
Azusa - Interstellar Islands
i quite liked the first 30 seconds, then some retard started diarrhoeaing everywhere. 2/10
Blood Curse - Isabelle
baroque isabellend for submitting azusa. 4/10
Madder Mortem - Stumble On
i saw madder mortem live sixteen years ago. now i'm just fucking depressed. this is disappointingly normal for them actually, pretty generic metal ballad before the climax. 5/10
Manacle - Fight for Your Life
quintessential wainds-core. fucking amazing. 10/10
