Samael - Hegemony
Review by Daniell

8.5

I don't mind waiting forever for a new album by a band I like. I'd rather wait 10 years than get an album that disappoints. More frequent output may mean decline in quality. Samael certainly did take their time after Lux Mundi. 6 years is the longest we've had to wait between their albums. How does wait time translate into quality? I'm happy to announce that the ratio is more than satisfactory. Since 1996's seminal Passage,...

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Yhdarl - Antithesis
Review by ScreamingSteelUS

7.0

Periphrasis: a literary device in which inflated, circumlocutory language is employed in the place of a more succinct explanation purely for the sake of being tortu(r)ously oblique, much in the same way that we have all padded out writing assignments with minimum word counts by abandoning the concept of efficiency. Drone: that, but music.

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Blut Aus Nord - Deus Salutis Meæ
Review by Apothecary

 

A new Blut Aus Nord album inevitably raises anticipation high among black metal fans. Why is this, exactly?

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Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper
Review by ScreamingSteelUS

8.7

Bell Witch already had a broader emotional span and more colorful sonic palette than most funeral doom bands, but informed by the untimely death of former drummer/vocalist Adrian Guerra last year, Mirror Reaper embodies something even heavier and more personal. The sober, reflective nature of the band's sound feels even more palpable than before. Thrice now they have produced a serious contender for doom album of the year.

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Belphegor - Totenritual
Review by Doc Godin

5.9

Alright, alright, alright! Who is excited for a new Belphegor album?!... ...Hey guys?...Guys?

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Myrkur - Mareridt
Review by ScreamingSteelUS

8.5

Myrkur hasn't stopped making waves in the metal scene since unveiling her self-titled EP in 2014, and Mareridt, the project's second full-length, suggests that those waves are only going to get bigger and bigger with the passage of time.

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Tengger Cavalry - Die On My Ride
Review by ScreamingSteelUS

5.0

Tengger Cavalry has made it exceedingly difficult for me to care about them over the last few years. When the band debuted in 2010 with Blood Sacrifice Shaman and then found solid footing with 2012's Sunesu Cavalry, Tengger Cavalry was at the top of the Mongolian folk metal world. That might not being saying much, but the band was forging a strong reputation well outside that limited circle, even selling out Carnegie Hall with an acoustic performance in 2015. Things have changed.

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Jag Panzer - The Deviant Chord
Review by ScreamingSteelUS

8.4

Jag Panzer is that rare power metal band that lives up to the name of the genre in every aspect, radiating a sense of raw power and brute force that leaves a lot of extreme metal bands rolling in the dust. Thankfully, the band's second hiatus was considerably shorter than the first, and The Deviant Chord shows us a Jag Panzer renewed in spirit and ready to keep its good name intact.

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