Dimmu Borgir
Eonian
Nuclear Blast (2018)
For Dimmu Borgir, who haven’t released a full length album in over seven years, Eonian marks a shift for a band that have kind of been the butt of many black metal jokes for the best part of a decade. Dimmu Borgir make no apologies for their bombastic sound and on Eonian they fully embrace their theatrical side. Still, the … Read more
Dimmu Borgir
Forces of The Northern Night
Nuclear Blast (2017)
There’s no denying that Dimmu Borgir come from a solid black metal background but what these Norwegian’s have done in the (nearly) twenty five years that they’ve been active is turn their version of black metal into a massive spectacle, one that involves orchestras and a full scale choir. Not many black metal acts could get away with such grand … Read more
Dinosaur Eyelids
Left Turn on Red
Independent (2017)
Dinosaur Eyelids may have an bizarre moniker (where did they come up with it?) but their music is far from mysterious. Garage rock may have had its heyday long ago but the influences are still keenly felt through many projects kicking around today, Dinosaur Eyelids being one of them. Stating their main inspirations as Kyuss, Soundgarden, Fu Manchu and a … Read more
Dinosaur Jr.
Farm
Jagjaguwar (2009)
This may be going out on a limb here, but Dinosaur Jr.'s reunion album in 2007, Beyond was one of the best albums of said year, if not one of the best reunion albums ever. Bands reuniting is always seen as a lame cash-in attempt by artists going bankrupt, but with Beyond it felt more like Dinosaur Jr. were making … Read more
Dinosaur Pile-up
Celebrity Mansions
Parlophone (2019)
Celebrity Mansions, the fourth album by the UK’s Dinosaur Pile-Up, has been like finding a needle in a haystack for me. I’m not good at looking for new music and I feel that it gets harder as I find more grey in my beard, especially finding music that is actually good and/or listenable. Maybe my standards are getting too high? … Read more
Direct Effect
Sunburn
Tiny Engines (2014)
With roots in Orlando, Florida but now touching down in Philadelphia, members of hardcore outfit Direct Effect have presumably fallen victim to the general awfulness that is otherwise known as traveling up and down I-95 for extended periods of time. A slow crawl on a good day, traffic on this expanse of east coast highway has been actually known to … Read more
Direct Hit!
Brainless God
Red Scare (2013)
Direct Hit! get filed in the Midwest pop-punk scene and, while they deviate throughout the course of Brainless God, that’s definitely a fair starting point. While there are some harder influences at play, the band’s core is in that school of Dear Landlord and The Dopamines. It’s melodic, catchy, and peppy. There’s some Screeching Weasel in there, but it’s more … Read more
Dirge
Elysian Magnetic Fields
Division (2011)
Dirge, the self-described 'neurotic post-core' band from France, may have gotten just a bit big for their britches. Ever since Blight and Vision Below a Faded Sun was released in 2000, Dirge have been pushing the limits of how much space they can cram into their music and get away with it. 2004's And the Sky Shall Descend saw this … Read more
Dirty Three
Toward The Low Sun
Drag City (2012)
The things I like about this album start with the art itself; guitarist Mick Turner's beautiful artwork perfectly captures his music's mood and sound. In fact, it's the best visual summary I can give of Dirty Three's newest album, Toward the Low Sun.Primarily, the album seeks to obtain this extremely casual, laid-back atmosphere, as if just a collection of rough … Read more
Disappearer
Disappearer
Trash Art (2006)
Disappearer is the latest creative outlet for the majority of the short lived band, There Were Wires (which also includes a member of Doomriders). Whereas their previous outfits were and are more metal oriented, Disappearer is a post-rock group more akin to bands like Pelican and Red Sparowes (both of which they share a definite similarity) that also eschew the … Read more
Disappearer
The Clearing
Magic Bullet (2009)
Massachusetts-based Disappearer returns with their long-awaited second release. The Clearing marks the band's first full-length effort, which follows up the band's 2006's self-titled EP release (which is actually the group's 2004 demo reworked). So it has been, in a way, five years since we've gotten fresh material from Disappearer. For the super-fans, I am aware of last year's Steven Brodsky … Read more
Disappears
Irreal
Kranky (2015)
Fifth album for the rock band from Chicago, and they are still at it, blending the elements of shoe gaze and kraut rock in their alternative rock base. Irreal is an album that finds Disappears pushing their sonic identity to extremes, with the dark quality of the album remaining always present as does their search of finding the most intriguing … Read more
Disembodied
Psalms of Sheol
Prime Directive (2009)
As the crushing, bottom heavy sonic force of "Enochian Prayer" plays, the only thought running through my mind is: "YES! Disembodied rules where would I be without their destroying my ear drums right at this moment?" If you have ever given a spin or two or more to any Disembodied record, than you kind of have an idea of what … Read more
Disfear
Live the Storm
Relapse (2008)
After what is quickly becoming a normative hiatus for this Swedish five-piece band, Disfear delivers their latest blast of d-beat influenced mayhem onto the masses. Live the Storm is their second full length with Tomas Lindberg, vocalist of At the Gates and an innumerable number of other heavy bands, and the first with former Entombed guitarist Uffe Cederlund, as well … Read more
Dismantled
Standard Issue
Dependent/Metropolis (2006)
Gary Zon's blurb about the ethic behind Standard Issue reads something like, "a sarcastic take on the simplicity and emptiness of the current musical climate." What this means is, either it sounds exactly like what it says, or it means that Dismantled have disappeared into the chasm of banality that seems the staple of the current popular set of industrial … Read more
Dispensing of False Halos
With Prayers and A Scalpel
Init (2003)
So comrade, this elderly man walks into a bar and asks the bartender, "Where can I find the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated?" Then out of fucking left field, sometimes inadvertently perceived as right, Dispensing Of False Halos busts through the adjacent wall and tears that geezer a new blowhole. Now, what exactly instigated this odd situation and, better … Read more
Dissolute
Demo 2004
Independent (2004)
Every city has that one local band that should be signed to a label and off touring Europe because they are that phenomenal. For Cleveland, that band is a three-piece metal outfit named Dissolute. Previously, the band was restricted by the members additional projects, but with those endeavors out of the way, Dissolute can finally evolve into the musical juggernaut … Read more
Dissolute
Intermittent Parasitic Oscillatior
Daredevil (2006)
For this Cleveland math-metal band, this release has been a long time coming. It was several years ago that I heard their first demo; the contained music was raw and frantic, yet it showed great promise. Now, seven years later, I am listening to the band's debut full-length, well sort of. Throughout their time as a band they have recorded … Read more
