Death Metal Grows Up

AMORPHIS Am Universum
KATATONIA Last Fair Deal Gone Down
OPETH Blackwater Park
An exceptionally brutal form of heavy metal, death metal uses depiction of destruction, mutilation, putrefaction, indeed, every aspect of death imaginable (from the cause to the effects) as metaphors (presumably) for society's numerous ills (or the songwriter's various dysfunctions). Terms like decay, grave, annihilation, corpse, evisceration and leper pepper the lyrics and song titles as if the wordsmiths sat down with H.P. Lovecraft's thesaurus before going into the studio. (more)

Tripping Through the Past

THE GREEN PAJAMAS
Ghosts of Love
Originally released in 1990 on vinyl and cassette only, Ghosts of Love gets new lease on life via Get Hip, bringing much-deserved attention to the Green Pajamas, one of America's greatest underground bands. The Seattle-based psych rock combo has been gracing us with luminous slices of paisley pop since the early 1980s, and Ghosts of Love is the apotheosis of their sound... (more)