Review by JD on July 13, 2016.

I have heard different people talking about Odin’s Court. Some have exalted how amazing they are both musically and lyrically and some dismissed them as half assed pseudo prog. With such a wide range of opinions and the controversy it was causing I was glad I had lucked out to be handed the assignment of reviewing Odin’s Court.

On the surface, this Maryland based band is a grouping of very talented musicians who want to expand the terms progressive metal and progressive rock through different instruments as well a very deep, thought out lyrics. On ‘Turtles…’, they ponder the universe and how we fit through the mind of a single person and the many questions the person has as he tries to make sense of it.

I liked the album as a whole. The feel of the complexities are more than accessible and the song subjects make you think and ponder things with the music as a backing story. Singer Dimetrius LaFlavors tends to go to the highest ends of his register many times in the songs and that actually stops the music flow dead. The music was the star, and yet the vocals tended to feel apart from it all, negating the music to simply doing its best to struggle against it to make it all whole.

I really have fought to make a very honest and fair rating to give Odin’s Court. Taking in all of the album and everything else I can glean from bio information all the way to lyrics and even the song structures themselves. I came up with what I have become comfortable with as a fair mark… and that is what I have.

Musicianship: 9 (vocal musicianship hurts the mark)
Atmosphere: 7 (vocals hurt here as well)
Production: 9
Originality: 9
Overall: 8

Rating: 8.4 out of 10

Review by JD on July 13, 2016.

I have heard different people talking about Odin’s Court. Some have exalted how amazing they are both musically and lyrically and some dismissed them as half assed pseudo prog. With such a wide range of opinions and the controversy it was causing I was glad I had lucked out to be handed the assignment of reviewing Odin’s Court.

On the surface, this Maryland based band is a grouping of very talented musicians who want to expand the terms progressive metal and progressive rock through different instruments as well a very deep, thought out lyrics. On ‘Turtles…’, they ponder the universe and how we fit through the mind of a single person and the many questions the person has as he tries to make sense of it.

I liked the album as a whole. The feel of the complexities are more than accessible and the song subjects make you think and ponder things with the music as a backing story. Singer Dimetrius LaFlavors tends to go to the highest ends of his register many times in the songs and that actually stops the music flow dead. The music was the star, and yet the vocals tended to feel apart from it all, negating the music to simply doing its best to struggle against it to make it all whole.

I really have fought to make a very honest and fair rating to give Odin’s Court. Taking in all of the album and everything else I can glean from bio information all the way to lyrics and even the song structures themselves. I came up with what I have become comfortable with as a fair mark… and that is what I have.

Musicianship: 9 (vocal musicianship hurts the mark)
Atmosphere: 7 (vocals hurt here as well)
Production: 9
Originality: 9
Overall: 8

Rating: 8.4 out of 10

Review by JD on March 14, 2017.

Norway is known for its black metal scene and one that always has intrigued me on so many levels… but the Norwegian stoner/doom metal scene needs to be discovered, and my eyes have been opened. A weird twist in that scene is the offering by the band known as Krakow.

Hailing from the city of Bergen, known for offering cold and dark black metal, comes stoner/doom/post metal band Krakow.  Low, sludge and doom driven metal that has a strong experimental angle to it is exactly the right way to describe this four piece act. Not afraid of pushing the boundaries of things, they eye on what they can deliver that is unique to them.

With slow, almost ponderously painful riffs and scant variations in tempos blending with spacy lo-fi vocals, Krakow hypnotises the listener into one unhurried world.  Going for an atmospheric feeling of a glacier, they move through the songs like a drugged sloth – heavy riffs and bass rumbles lets one’s mind drift. Songs like 'Atom' and 'Of Earth' tell tales of wonder, dark ideas and other things… the musicianship driving the idea home.

This album is a musical oddity… it does not shred or pummel us like most metal genres, but this artistry and musicality set in ultra-slow gear is a shining example of thinking a different way.  This was very refreshing, a stoner/post metal band that can keep my interest, while going off on varying tangents that are far from our world.  Brilliant!

Rating: 9 out of 10