Authors: Henry Glasheen
Review: Blood Ceremony – The Eldritch Dark
While many listeners may expect to hear the overdriven Black Sabbath worship of Living With The Ancients, Blood Ceremony take a clear step toward their folk influences on The Eldritch Dark. … read more
Review: Blood Ceremony – Let It Come Down / Loving...
Blood Ceremony = Jex Thoth + Mount Salem … read more
Review: Age of Taurus – Desperate Souls of Tortured Times
Three years after their promising debut, Age of Taurus return to bring down the heavy hammer of doom. Desperate Souls of Tortured Times might take some time to sink in, but once you give in to the unrelenting rhythm of its leaden dirge, there’s no going back. Very few modern metal bands are brave enough to draw comparisons to doom metal giants Candlemass, and fewer still do justice to the classic sound. Yet Age of Taurus seems to have hit on a unique sound, both heavily influenced by the golden age of doom metal and bravely departing from tradition. … read more
Local Reviews: Spell Talk
Salt Lake City seems like the last place anyone would expect to hear tunes like Spell Talk’s most recent LP, but this combination of minimal, mellow blues and psychedelic haziness feels like a hot summer day in the valley. Punctuated by Jared Phelps’ half-shouted singing, Touch It! sounds like it was recorded in a concrete basement, with every tremulous note aching out of Andrew Milne’s tortured guitar bouncing off the walls in a strange, hypnotic fashion. … read more
Review: Dungeons & Dragons: Curse of Strahd
If you’re in the mood to seriously shake up your D&D group or just want a chance to explore one of the greatest pre-made worlds in the history of the game, Curse of Strahd is your jam, and you owe it to yourself—and your players—to pick it up and give it a try. … read more
Review: Heritage of Cyador
L.E. Modesitt plays a long game with his Saga of Recluse series. Eighteen novels into this epic tale, Heritage of Cyador continues with the exploits of the grey mage Lerial, whose aid in the defeat of the Afritan army in Cyador’s Heirs turns out to be far from decisive. … read more
Review: Madness in Solidar
While I’ll openly admit that Modesitt’s got a talent for introducing rich detail into his political plots, Madness in Solidar took some serious patience to get through. … read more
Review: Neverwinter Tales – The Legend of Drizzt
Look, I enjoy the Forgotten Realms as much as your average D&D enthusiast, but I’ve always found Drizzt Do’urden to be an exceptionally dull character. It should speak volumes that the most interesting character in this collection is, by far, a dwarf named Pwent, who is struggling to overcome a vampiric curse. … read more
Review: Gunnerkrigg Court – Volume 1
Its kind of funny to go back through the early events of this now-epic webcomic and see just how much it has changed and grown over the last decade. Volume 1 collects the first 14 chapters of the series, and even over the course of the book, Sidell’s art style and storytelling matures considerably. … read more
Review: Rat Queens – Volume Two
It’s refreshing to read a series that treats equally with the fantastical stories of a well-run Dungeons & Dragons game and genuinely touching personal backstories. The Rat Queens are a team of rough-and-tumble adventurers-for-hire who drink heavily and live as large as they can in the little city of Palisade. … read more