Where last year’s Down In Albion gave a medicine-headed snapshot of the singer’s opiate use, Shotter’s Nation has a clarity and energy that the former lacked.
Aeon borrow the eerie intervals and dirges of Morbid Angel, Legion-era Deicide’s rhythmic mastery, and new Cannibal Corpse’s penchant for quick tempo changes.
Matt Pryor started The New Amsterdams when The Get Up Kids were still active, devoting his folkier/mellower output to the moniker. They’ve never sounded better.
The spurting post-Zep string strangle winnowed through The Cult’s resurrection of that feel via the best moments of late ’80’s “hey baby” cock rockery.
Chthonic on their turf, playing to thousands of screaming Taiwanese fans with a backing choir, laser light shows, and, of course, the prerequisite corpse paint.
The years haven’t calmed former Brutal Truth skinman Rich Hoak. The first ten cuts are justifiably pure mayhem, the four that follow are acoustic and melodic.