Seidr
Ginnungagap
Bindrune Records (2013)
Existing on the outer realms of the galaxies, where space and time collide, Seidr return with their sophomore release,Ginnungagap. Led by A. Lunn, also of Agnosis, Kolga, Throndt and most importantly of Panopticon, the band is here to build further upon the impact that their debut album, For Winter Fire, caused.Even though the band is at its core a doom … Read more
Self Defense Family
You Are Beneath Her
Iron Pier (2013)
Surely there has been a band (not just a group of musicians) that is as forward thinking about what the concept of being a “band” is as Self Defense Family (the band formerly known as End Of A Year), but none that I can think of other than say SunnO))) in the way that collaborators shape the music; You Are … Read more
Self Evident
We Built A Fortress on Short Notice
doubleplusgood (2012)
Self Evident have been a band for over 15 years, but unfortunately, I’ve been in the dark until I heard their most recent endeavor, We Built a Fortress on Short Notice. This would be my introduction to Self Evident and truth be told, it led me to their back catalog of 5 previous full lengths and some EPs. They construct … Read more
Send More Paramedics
The Awakening
In at the Deep End (2006)
The Awakening is the third offering from back-from-the-dead thrashers Send More Paramedics. Coming as a two CD set, the first disk is the same onslaught of thrash-punk that we've come to expect from our anthropophagic friends. The second disk, however, becomes the moody, brooding soundtrack to the coming zombie apocalypse of 2025. Send More Paramedics patented sound, zombiecore, is hard … Read more
Send More Paramedics
The Final Feast
Independent (2021)
When Send More Paramedics announced a brief reformation to play a handful of shows celebrating 20 years of reanimation no one expected them to chuck out a brand new 9-track album but they surprised us all by doing just so. The Final Feast is their first studio album release in 15 years, the last being The Awakening (2006). Listening to … Read more
Send More Paramedics / Zombie Apocalypse
Tales Told by Dead Men
Hellbent (2005)
So you know the story; you wait all your life for a band to sing about zombies and the living dead tearing at your flesh and then two come along at the same time! However, unlike the number 33 bus to Castlefield this is not just a small annoyance that makes you grumble all the way to work. Having the … Read more
Seneca
Reflections
Lifeforce (2009)
Although they aren't breaking any new ground, especially in the already worn-down genre of metalcore, North Carolina's Seneca are talented at what they do. Though everything they've written on their sophomore album Reflections has been done before, they execute it with such precision and emotion that it gives it a new feel. This isn't to say that their songs were … Read more
Senmuth
Bar-Do Thos-Grol
Independent (2012)
After writing ethnic music for over half a decade at this point (over the span of one hundred and forty-three individual studio albums), it's no surprise that Russian musician/history buff/general crazy man Senmuth has gotten rather good at it. Bar-Do Thos-Grol, his most recent foray into dark ambient music, shows off just how proficient he's become at it. The album … Read more
Senmuth
Hagwalah
Independent (2012)
Russian rocker Senmuth is known for his very overt fetish for all things Near Eastern. All you have to do is look at his website, and you'll see it's filled to the brim with pictures of him in Egypt, as well as the vast quantities of music and artwork that interest has inspired. But then, amongst all of that, there … Read more
Sentenced
The Funeral Album
Century Media (2005)
Legend, and probably some interview posted somewhere on the internet, has it that halfway through recording The Funeral Album the members of Sentenced decided it would be their final project together. I suppose there's the potential for criticism in giving this album a stellar rating. Such a move might smack of the silver medals awarded to aging figure skaters because … Read more
Senyawa
Alkisah
Phantom Limb (2021)
Indonesian duo Senyawa are experimentalists of the highest order on Alkisah, a record the dives head-first into the strange and unusual through improvisation with homemade instruments from Wukir Suryadi and a voice that ranges from the manic to the beautiful from Rully Shabara. Senyawa link the traditional to the modern as Alkisah progresses through structures that are formed as if … Read more
SepticFlesh
Modern Primitive
Nuclear Blast (2022)
I have been listening to and following SepticFlesh for over a decade now. It only made sense that a new album from them on the horizon got me excited. I honestly didn’t know what exactly to expect given that Titan and Codex Omega didn’t do much to expand further in any direction than the mapped realm by Communion and The … Read more
Sequences & Isolated Existence
Graminaea / Poaceae
Music Ruins Lives (2011)
Graminaea / Poaceae is one of those releases that I love but have an extremely difficult time explaining just what draws me to the release over and over again other than that I find all three pieces rather soothing in a creepy sort of way (of course as with any work of this nature, what you get out of the … Read more
Seraphim
The Light In The Distance
A389 (2011)
Seraphim created a good bit of buzz with an EP release last year on A389. What the Ep proved is that this 3 piece was capable of creating an immense amount of power with very little bells and whistles to speak of. While many bands are capable of making a memorable first release very few can take those strengths and … Read more
Sergio Mendes
Magic
Okeh (2014)
Sergio Mendes is a Brazilian legend. His name might not be a big draw here at Scene Point Blank, where the focus is on punk, hardcore, and metal, but—hey—we gotta branch out now and then, right?Magic is the 73 year-old’s latest offering, and it comes with a smorgasboard of rhythmic styles and special guests. While it’s true to his roots … Read more
Serpe
A Night in Gin's Hollow
Home Recorded Culture (2006)
I don't think I can do it. I consider myself to be at least a capable writer, but it's going to be hard as hell to do a review of this album in any kind of acceptable length without five or ten non-sequiturs skewing off into long-winded tales of personal medical scares, pet deaths, and the time I was an … Read more
Servile Sect
Svrrender
Handmade Birds (2012)
Sitting down and listening to Servile Sect’s companion album to the great TRVTH has been a sincerely surreal experience in part because I have only just started diving into TRVTH on a regular basis in the attempts to suck all the marrow of its impressive soul and for the other part due to a nagging feeling in the back of … Read more
Servile Sect
TRVTH
Handmade Birds (2011)
Do you ever cringe whenever a music critic or what have you precludes a genre of music (which sometimes makes me cringe... crunk-core... seriously?) with another term, which even more ridiculous word that is supposed to further clarify what exactly a piece of music sounds like while in reality the word means nothing? This happened to me when I first … Read more
