Aug 242015
 

Rearview Mirror

 

(This is a second Rearview Mirror post for Sunday that is being posted on Monday because your humble editor was distracted and screwed up. The author is Austin Weber.)

In technical death metal circles, Pavor are a highly regarded name that sadly few still know. Which might have something to do with the band’s irregular output, shall we say. In the course of their existence, which started back in 1987, the band have released only two records and an EP, both of which have only gotten their long-overdue recognition with the rise of the internet spreading the word about their 1994 album, A Pale Debilitating Autumn, as well as 2003’s Furioso.

Since Furioso is their more accomplished work, I’ll post two tracks off it to give you an idea of what the record’s all about. Although I’m of the opinion that it’s flawless from start to finish, we’ll move on to the two songs at hand instead of ranting further. Continue reading »

Feb 052013
 

(Welcome back Louisville-based music writer Austin Weber with some thoughts about a diverse array of artists and albums from 2012 that he missed in his year-end list for NCS. Might be some new discoveries in here for you, too.)

Last year there were a few bands who released absolutely stunning albums that even I forgot about….until now.

HivesmasherGutter Choir

Pig Destroyer’s Book Burner was rightly hyped as grind album of the year, and while I loved the hell out of it, Hivesmasher does something very different for me. Theirs is a grimey, nastier kind of grind, similar to the utterly hopeless filth Crowpath used to conjure up.

This is on a whole other level, better written and better played than most who reside within the hyper-focus on speed and punk atittude to cover up weak songwriting and poor instrumental capability. The tropes that now consume the genre have led me to try and find those groups who are trying to elevate grindcore instead of just being a barrage of (albeit awesome) sound.

Hivesmasher knocked me on my ass from the first track, which made abundantly clear how good these guys are. Continue reading »