pentagram vs believer vs conflicted = pentagram for the win

I went to sleep with a rotten throat and woke up will a full-blown virus infestation, so I did not imagine today was set to be a particularly good day. Surprise, surprise! It's a little chilly, but sunny. And the email gods have delivered the new Primordial album to my inbox!

Plus I remembered that Pentagram's Last Rites comes out today, and I like it. (see my Pentagram review at exclaim.ca, but for more background info you might also check out Sean Palmerston's review of Last Rites at hellbound.ca).

I discovered Pentagram late – courtesy of Max the Axe, a metal-loving, radio-listening taxi driver in KW. The discovery, not the lateness, was Max's doing when he requested I play the band on Kill Eat Exploit the Weak. Having gotten a sense of my doomy tastes from regularly hearing the show he figured I ought to know the band, or if not, that I should. Wherever you are, Max, thanks for the recommendation!

I was also considering reviewing Believer's Transhuman this week, but I couldn't settle into the record. It, and Conflicted's Never Be Tamed were grating on my nerves, but I can't tell if it's entirely due to the music or if I'm just predisposed to be edgy right now. Either way, I was disappointed. I wasn't familiar with Conflicted before but they had seemed promising. Knowing Believer, though, I had high hopes for that one. And the concept is an immediate draw for me:

"Transhumanism: The study of the ramifications, promises, and potential dangers of technologies that will enable us to overcome fundamental human limitations, and the related study of the ethical matters involved in developing and using such technologies." (www.believerband.com)

I like the opening track, "Lie Awake," but from there begins on in the complexity Maybe I'll let a few weeks go by, read the lyrics, and give it another try.