Mini Reviews From Around The Bowl (3/27/25)
Petite but powerful
Bikini Beach – Cursed
La Pochette Surprise Records | February 7, 2025
Simply put, Bikini Beack play rock music. What kind of rock? Well, the psychedelic intro followed by the heavy fuzz and reverb-heavy vocals of the title track lay out some ground rules, as these elements make up a lot of the general vibe. “Last Words,” however, reaches back to the indie rock of the 00s before “I Feel” hones in on the retro fetishism of the acts from that era, channeling good-timey 60s rock through a noisy, somewhat chaotic lens. “Until You Die” and “Beg for Mercy” find time to delve a bit into surf rock, while “Blue” cooks up mild shoegaze vibes and enriches them with a healthy dose of creepiness. All the while, an aggressive insistence on musical and lyrical minimalism in sub-3-minute songs evokes a punk rock spirit – specifically, the odd “proto-punk” of outliers like the Monks. While Cursed brings its own flavor of darkness to the table and even the happier tunes feel irony-pilled, this nonetheless makes for a very varied and above all short breather from all the grim and evil metal. –Hans
Bonejammer – Carcinogenesis
Independent | March 7, 2025
Crusty crossover thrash from Denmark that’s predictably good at d-beating you over the head, but doesn’t throw the finer points of thrash out with the bathwater. Straightforward clobberings like “War” and “Way of the Bone” should whip any pit into a frenzy, but the title track and “Structural Violence” show off the band’s penchant for mid-tempo grooves that’ll even get the folks at the bar bobbing along. Still, at the end of the day, a swift punch to the head is clearly the main goal here, and that’s as it should be, although in an uncharacteristically flashy move, almost every song also boasts an over-the-top guitar solo. On the vocal front, there’s the occasional scream and well-placed “Ough,” but most of the time, as if all the nuclear imagery on the cover wasn’t already 80s enough, singer Jacob Goul employs a pissed-off yell that sounds like Bruce Dickinson when he doesn’t get his curry flown in in time. That took a bit of getting used to, but ultimately ended up contributing much to the entertainment. –Hans
LVLTR – God Bless Our Happy Home
A389 Recordings | February 14, 2025
Back to the 90s once again with another purveyor of the alt rock revival. This one’s a tad slower than I usually like—only “Born to Die” could be considered up-tempo—so it took a little patience, but before long, I was won over, and won over good. It’s got that trademark wistful lethargy in spades, with “3 of Hearts” being particularly good at switching between hymn and dirge, hopeful and despondent, uplifting and crushing. Even the slowest and most understated of the bunch, “Save it for the Papers,” should still have you swaying along to its bluesy waltz. Guitars are clad in fat, fuzzy fleece (and some feedback, of course), and together with the crooning vocals create an irresistible warmth filled with calm reverie. Even disregarding these comforting qualities, you just know that any song featuring the line “quit your job and flip off the cops” is a bona fide anthem, and indeed, I’ve not been able to get opener “Scripted” out of my head for days on end. All the more disheartening to see the credits listed in the past tense. –Hans
Eldamar – Astral Journeys Pt. II : Dissolution
Northern Silence Productions | April 4, 2025
Less than a year ago, I reviewed Eldamar’s Astral Journeys Pt. I : Creation. A few years back, I placed A Dark Forgotten Past as my number one album of 2017. The Force Of An Ancient Land frequently pops up in my listened-to songs list. Safe to say I’m a fan of this one-man atmospheric and ambient blackened metal band. One could easily rest on their laurels with the same style of synths and screams that has worked before, but not Eldamar. Astral Journeys Pt. II : Dissolution is an expansion on the well-established sound, but still unique enough to stand on its own. Keys, strings, and screams are all there, as always. Each track is a journey that makes me want to explore far-off lands with a sword in my hand, a mission in my heart, and a gnawing notion that I will never see home again. –365 Days Of Horror
Xiphoid Dementia – Spiral Rapture Holy War
aufnaehme + wiedergabe | May 2, 2025
Bleak. One simple word describes the entirety of Egan Budd’s Xiphoid Dementia’s Spiral Rapture Holy War. Picture traversing a bombed-out landscape, the wind stinging your face, filling your nostrils with the stench of death. No birds sing, no children laugh. Just the sound of your boots scraping broken glass and concrete to keep you company. That’s what it’s like listening to Spiral Rapture Holy War. A hauntingly devastating mixture of industrial, dark ambient, noise, and even some dungeon synth, this album is the soundtrack, not for the end of the world, but for the world beyond the end of the world. Many years ago, my band played a few shows with Xiphoid Dementia and it is an something everyone should experience, but it is just that, an experience. –365 Days Of Horror
