The Asteroid Bullet Belt

Making up for lost time.  I’ve always had a vested interest in my hobbies and obsessions being as far removed from consumerism as possible. Obviously, in the big 26, a time where capitalism’s tendrils have infiltrated every aspect of your waking (and perhaps also sleeping) life, it’s nigh-on impossible to avoid it in the things you enjoy. Everything needs to be commodified and turned into an excuse to push you towards rampant consumption and expenditure, the big festival lineups that show up across the world are very much an indication of that, even when it comes to more underground fare. Big events, stacked with bands that people are sure to want to catch live, because “How could I possibly miss out on this lineup?”, and obviously spend money on accommodation, travel expenses, and merchandise. Concert tourism. Furthermore, festivals (and bigger shows in general) stifle the connection between artist and audience, more often than not trading it for a greater spectacle. Due to that, ...

More like “The Hyperactive Paradox” lmao gotem.  It took me a good 3 years, and a lot of prologues that amounted to “I don’t like prog, but…”, but we have finally reached the point where I can confidently say I enjoy prog metal in some capacity. Admittedly, it does come with a handful of caveats, as is the case with developing a taste in anything. Although I generally enjoy checking out stuff I’ve not had the (dis)pleasure of familiarising myself with, I find myself gravitating towards this particular strain of prog that has a sci-fi theme, which more often than not bleeds into the music itself. Enter Chaos Over Cosmos, and their 2025 release The Hypercosmic Paradox . It’s a release that at a glance ticks the boxes I have when it comes to checking out progressive metal, namely the theme. For all intents and purposes, the spacey veneer of the cover definitely set up some expectations, and seeing as I prefer going in blind when it comes to albums, I came in fully prepared for an ambi...

Hit 'em with the brain destroyer. I haven’t gone digging in a while, but I generally take great pleasure in stumbling upon up-and-coming bands, preferably ones that could be defined as “hungry”. Musicians pour their hearts into their art, and then thrust it upon an unsuspecting public in hopes of being seen and appreciated by however small a group. It takes a lot of courage and drive to do that, and it’s such a quality that defines Sacred Serenity, and their debut, Redefining Life . This one-man progressive deathrash (!) project is helmed by the young (even younger at the time of this album’s release) Jonas Doehler, who somehow managed to put together something that one would expect from veterans of the style, all while juggling five more active bands at the time of writing. Talk about having a busy schedule. Clocking in at less than 25 minutes (without the instrumental version of the album), this is a release that operates on “shock and awe” tactics. Though there are moments of re...

Albums I like a lot: Part II (Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on August 21st 2021)  Stoner doom’s always been a hit or miss genre for me. On one hand, it has a vibe and energy that can scarcely be matched by other styles, on the other you can only hear so many bands rip off Sabbath riffs before you get bored. As a whole it’s a very single minded style that rarely goes beyond being heavy and “weed lmao”. And I say rarely because Elder exists. While their earliest work falls in that category (more specifically their self-titled), they’ve always had a unique flavour to them. Ever since Dead Roots Stirring they’ve added these subtle psychedelic and at times progressive touches that helped them stand out from the rest of the bands in the genre. Their third outing, Lore stands out for being the perfect marriage of psych and stoner doom, and has cemented itself as my favourite album in the genre, and by extension the band’s catalogue. From the very first few...

 Moving to higher places. (Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on October 2nd 2020)   From Mars To Sirius, as you may know, is the 3rd full-length release by French metal giants Gojira, and the one that catapulted them to the forefront of modern metal music, thanks to its unique sound and style, both of which to this day haven’t been emulated by many, if any other bands. Album opener "Ocean Planet" starts off things in a somewhat calm manner during the first half of the track, where the heavy riffing is broken up by a more melodic passage, while the second leg kicks things up a notch with some heavy breakdowns, which help with maintaining the listener's attention, and enhance the somewhat melancholic mood of the song. The following tracks, "Backbone" and "From The Sky", are 2 tracks that showcase Gojira's tendency to mix things up and not just groove with no end in sight. The former is one of the more aggressive tracks on the a...