In Flames revived a spark of their old selves with the surprisingly listenable Foregone, and last year's debut from The Halo Effect was a much better recapitulation of the band's classic style in a modern context. But if you want another truly capital-g Great Gothenburg album, this is the one to pick: it's not just the groove, not just the guitar tones, not just the screams, but the feeling that Majesties have harnessed. Vast Reaches Unclaimed has the mystique, the darkness, and the infernal romantic luster that made albums like The Jester Race, With Fear I Kiss The Burning Darkness, and Skydancer so rich and beautiful. The red in the sky may, in fact, be the glint of a new star on the horizon.

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Endorsed by: Nejde, nikarg, Starvynth, Dream Taster

The first CD I ever bought was Far Beyond Driven all the way back in 1994 when I was 13 and just hitting puberty. Back then this was the most brutal thing I had heard in my entire life and this album would become the one album that would define my musical taste up until this day and age. From the initial onslaught of opener "Strength Beyond Strength", through the grooves of "Becoming" and "5 Minutes Alone", leading to "I'm Broken" which probably have the grooviest riff ever written, to the psychotic "Good Friends And A Bottle Of Pills", my mind was blown and we weren't even at the midpoint yet. Half-way through we got "Slaughtered", the most brutal song they've written without losing even an ounce of the grooviness which permeates the entire album. And then we have "Shedding Skin", the highlight of the album and the one song that made me fall in love with metal music. Without namedropping every song I can only state that there are no fillers on this album and to round things up we get a soothing cover of Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan" to calm us down before we press Play again and give it another go.

When speaking of Pantera albums people are most likely bound to mention Vulgar Display Of Power and Cowboys From Hell but Far Beyond Driven shouldn't be overlooked. This is the grooviest Pantera album and the one who really steals the spotlight here is Vinnie Paul who delivers some of his best drumming ever. So what are you waiting for? Press that Play button now.

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Endorsed by: RaduP, nikarg, Daniell, ScreamingSteelUS, Yaniv, Dream Taster, Darkside Momo

Didn't you say Jesus was coming?

A few years ago, I started the tradition to listen to Immolation's masterpiece, Close To A World Below, every Easter. I pass down the tradition down to you, the uninitiated. For Close To A World Below stands out as one of the most infernal and meticulously put together death metal albums of all time. It has an impeccable production that blurs the riffs which sound as if they are coming behind a curtain of hellfire. The growls are so monstrous yet so well performed that every blasphemous line roars loud and clear. The frightening drumwork is maddening in all its complexity and brutality, giving you the sensation of falling down a hole for all eternity. From the terrifying intensity of "Higher Coward" to the apocalyptic grand finale that is the title track, Close To A World Below is a sublime album every self-respecting heretic must listen to.

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Endorsed by: RaduP, Dream Taster, nikarg, Yaniv

After three ambient albums, Anamnesi goes all-in on a style he calls “solar metal”, which makes a lot of sense considering La Proiezione Del Fuoco is melodic black through and through, but with its seven songs having the same uplifting, spiritual, ritualistic quality to them that you might find on such albums as Rotting Christ's Theogonia or Bølzer's Hero.

You should be hooked already from the opening song "Origine Prima”, with its simple core of hypnotic, start-stop rhythms, mediterranean guitar plucking break, and fantastic drumming which characterises the entire album from start to finish. The song “La Precessione Degli Equinozi” is, quite simply, the most memorable song I've heard in a long, long while, and the rare case of a simply perfect metal song. As the final moments of La Proiezione Del Fuoco echoes out with choirs praising the unconquerable sun god Mithras, you will want to hear it all from the beginning again.

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Endorsed by: RaduP

Megaton Sword had the hard task to follow an epic heavy metal album that defined the genre in modern times (Blood Hails Steel - Steel Hails Fire), and they succeeded in releasing something even grander and more ambitious. The band mixes hard rocking catchiness, Manowar-esque epicness, and Manilla Road-like melodicism to create music that is very much their own. It is admirable how this sounds at the same time classic and fresh, without being trapped in either trying to be retro or over-modernizing a style that is meant to be ageless. The vocals of Uzzy Unchained are an alternate version of Cirith Ungol’s Tim Baker, and Megaton Sword are courageous enough to close an album titled Might & Power with a ballad named “Babe Eternal”. And damn, it just rules.

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Endorsed by: Yaniv, ScreamingSteelUS

What would happen if you mixed death and doom and black and stoner and 70’s prog rock, gave it an oriental touch, and dressed it all in a psychedelic gown? Here’s what would happen; you’d get Cosmic Fires: The Enlightenment Reversed. Vāmācāra's debut full-length is adventurous extreme metal with clearly heard instruments that play wildly off of each other, it is a bridge between blastbeats and groove, and a marriage of melody and dissonance. And what’s most impressive is that this rich instrumentation and sound comes from just two people.

Head over at Bandcamp and check out one of the most innovative and inspired albums of 2022.

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Endorsed by: Starvynth, RaduP, ScreamingSteelUS, Nejde

Coming somewhat unexpectedly, Jade’s debut album, The Pacification Of Death, is an end-of-the-year treat for any death metal fan. Incorporating elements of Bølzer, Sulphur Aeon, and The Ruins Of Beverast, this band offers an engrossing take on death metal that is doomy, blackened, melodic, progressive, and exceptionally atmospheric. The synth arrangements give it a cosmic edge, while especially interesting are the clean vocals, whose delivery reminisces the ones used on Mayhem’s Grand Declaration Of War.

Gift-wrapped in Adam Burke’s spectacular cover art, this is a present you need to give yourself, so head over at Bandcamp and get it.

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Endorsed by: Starvynth, RaduP, Nejde

This Halloween celebrate with a horror punk classic that turned 40 this year. I don't think the Misfits need any other explanations.

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Endorsed by: ScreamingSteelUS, nikarg, Yaniv, Redel, BitterCOld

I'm two weeks late for the 20th anniversary of this masterpiece. But trust me: This is not an album you celebrate in the normal sense. 2013, I was 20 years old and blasted this album in one sitting. Alone, at midnight, with all the lights out. It remains the most devastating and terrifying musical experience I've ever endured. Today Is The Day's Sadness Will Prevail is a massive, 144 minutes long soundtrack of all that is wrong with the world. The sludgy guitars, the high-pitched screams and wails, the bizarre samples, the schizophrenic songwriting. Everything is designed to harm you. Not even the acoustic guitars, violins or piano can help you as they only make the music even more surreal. I'll leave my late friend Marcel's warning as my final message to all of you who want to endure one of the most challenging albums ever created in the name of extreme music:

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 06.02.2007 at 12:00
I don't believe that listening to music can make you go out and kill random people but Sadness Will Prevail is the exception to the rule.
SWP is the most terrifying haunting piece of music ever set to disc.

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Endorsed by: RaduP, Starvynth, ScreamingSteelUS

It is only now that I realize how ironic it is that one of the most wintery albums out there was released in the summer. The August from 20 years ago gave us this masterpiece, and this is one of those kind of albums where it's very uncontroversial to call it as such. "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion" only gets competition from "East Hastings" as my favorite song of all time, and I've mentioned time and time again how discovering this album about ten years ago was a paradigm shift for me and my music taste. It's interesting see how I still connect to The Mantle after all these years, even though sometimes I feel it's either too pompous or meandering for its own good, there are very few albums with such a great interplay between electric and acoustic guitars, and that so effectively merge atmospheric black metal into post-rock structures. And all of it feels magical years later.

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Endorsed by: Starvynth, ScreamingSteelUS, X-Ray Rod, nikarg, Daniell, musclassia, Darkside Momo, corrupt, Dream Taster, Nejde, Redel

By the will of the hallowed Re, I, Wennefer, the inspired forth - speaker of Memphis, doth proclaim the 20th anniversary of Nile's In Their Darkened Shrines.

A groundbreaking tome from the Nineteenth Dynasty, this work could easily be interpreted as representing the artist at his absolute peak. Bold, invigorated, and propelled by a seemingly unstoppable forward momentum, delighting in the lust of the conquest. Authoritative and firm in its writing, yet also quiet, contemplative, and eerily inviting. In Their Darkened Shrines was and remains a seminal work from this period, that would serve as a lightning point of reference to other artists and scribes of the Land of the Pharaohs, both at its contemporary date as well as further along, into the various Dynasties that succeeded it.

Begin your study of this legendary text, and rejoice unto the halls of Amenti that we have been blessed with its passing down to us from the Heavens.

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Endorsed by: Starvynth, RaduP, X-Ray Rod, nikarg, Darkside Momo, Nejde

Talk about underrated. Satan is the only NWOBHM band that has released only quality albums throughout their career. And, if Court In The Act is an untouchable classic, these geezers have been crazy consistent in putting out stellar album after stellar album since their reunion. Earth Infernal is another incredible release and features all the ingredients that make Satan special; analogue-sounding heavy metal with an evil, sinister, and dark edge, catchy riffs that touch on thrash and speed metal, triumphant lead guitars, Brian Ross’s powerful vocals that have aged like fine wine, a hard-hitting rhythm section, and the band’s trademark bridges that are simply to die for. You will not find better classic metal anywhere else, no matter how hard you look for it.

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Endorsed by: RaduP, Daniell, ScreamingSteelUS, Yaniv, X-Ray Rod, Dream Taster

Twenty five years ago Ulver released this paean to wolves, eight glorious tracks with blistering pace coupled with some great harmonies and production that basically buzzes like a power drill. None more lo-fi. Hell even the cover art is so cool it finds it's way into the bedroom walls of both Soprano kids, the pretentious Meadow and annoying AJ. And that's not horseshit like "this was recorded at night in the Norwegian woods", it's legit.

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Endorsed by: X-Ray Rod, Daniell, Deadsoulman, nikarg

Storm Of Magic is evocative, arcane, bardic, and magickal heavy/doom, with elements of folk and prog rock, making brilliant use of acoustic guitars and dungeon synths. A medieval aesthetic dominates the album, the sound is lo-fi and organic, and the songwriting and musicianship embrace the sincerity of their roughness and imperfections. Maija Tiljander’s ethereal voice along with the enchanting music both produce a charming blend of Pagan Altar, Lordian Guard, Manowar’s Into Glory Ride, and Pentagle. The epic title track is sublime. From the cover art to the last lyric, this is Oskari Räsänen’s DIY approach in making music, and it is an absolute triumph.

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Endorsed by: RaduP, ScreamingSteelUS

Paraguay is not a place for bold tastes. Mild wings at Pizza Hut have a flaming chili pepper on the menu. If this slab of blackened death were on the same menu, they'd be Carolina Reaper wings and would have 666 flaming chili peppers taking up the next half page on the menu. So what's it sound like? An assault of guttural vocals and underproduced, ugly blackened death played violently, at velocity and with frenetic energy. So pretty freaking awesome . Or pretty awful, depending upon your proclivities, I suppose. Absolute shame I spent three years there and it wasn't until a couple weeks after I left that this was dropped. Grr. So go to bandcamp and help "Spread the Vomit of Misery and Scorn" or, well, japiro!

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