Metal Storm's outlet for nonmetal album reviews
The place where we'll talk about music without growls or blast beats
unless they still have those but still aren't metal
unless they still have those but still aren't metal
We here at Metal Storm pride ourselves on our thousands of metal reviews and interviews and article; metal is our collective soul and passion, which is why we bother with this junk. That being said, we'd be lying if we stuck to our trve-kvlt guns and claimed that metal is the only thing we ever listen to. Whether we want to admit it or not, we do check out some other stuff from time to time; some of us are more poptimistic than others, but there's a whole world out there aside from Satan-worshiping black metal and dragon-slaying power metal. We do already feature some nonmetal artists on our website and have a few reviews to back them up, but we prefer to limit that aspect of the site to those artists who have been a strong influence on the metal scene or who are in some way connected to it. This article series is the place for those artists who don't matter to metal in the slightest but still warrant some conversation - after all, good music, is good music, and we all know metal isn't the only thing on this planet for any of us.
Down below, you might find some obscure Bandcamp bedroom projects or some Billboard-topping superstar; as long as it ain't metal and the album itself isn't a best-of compilation, it fits. Obviously, we're certain that not everything will be for everybody (you guys can be viciously territorial even when metal is the only thing on the menu, and we're all supposed to like the same things), but we do hope you find at least one thing that you can enjoy, instead of just pointing and screaming in horror "Not metal!" as if that would be an insult.
Here are our previous features:
November 2025
October 2025
September 2025
And now to the music...
Moron Police (how I wish such a police actually existed) was conceived in 2008 in Norway by vocalist/guitarist Sondre Skollevoll, and released their first album in 2012. They started as a comedy band but gradually added various elements and influences in their sound, becoming more serious and more prog rock. In January 2022 tragedy struck the band, while they were working on their fourth album, with drummer Thore Omland Pettersen dying after a car accident. Pachinko is dedicated to him and was completed with former The Dillinger Escape Plan drummer Billy Rymer contributing as guest musician.
Pachinko is a concept album/rock opera about a guy who turns into a sentient Pachinko machine in Tokyo. A Pachinko machine is a mechanical arcade game originating in Japan that is also, and more frequently, used for gambling. Musically, the album is as vibrant, colourful, bonkers, and beautiful as its cover art by Dulk depicts. Imagine prog rock, synth pop, with some jazz, funk, and country thrown in, and all of these sounds somehow making sense together. The band manages to be exhilaratingly poppy and ultra technical at the same time, and, despite the fun energy that it conveys, there is also a vein of grief hidden somewhere inside. This is mainly shown on tracks like “Okinawa Sky” and on the closer “Giving Up The Ghost”, which features a drum outro by the late Thore. If you can only sample one track, this should be the 12-minute "Pachinko Pt.1"; a masterclass of prog that encapsulates everything the album is about. However, I strongly suggest that you set aside one hour of your time to listen to Pachinko in its entirety, otherwise you will miss how violins and blast beats go together on the wonderful “Cormorant”, for example. There is a lot to take in, both in terms of songwriting and in how many instruments are being played, but, if you give it a chance, you will be rewarded.
Bandcamp
by nikarg
Homegrown - Homegrown
[Psychedelic Rock | Progressive Rock]
musclassia's pick
It’s a slight shame that Homegrown’s self-titled album was released in a month where I only covered one album for this article; the ‘musclassia’s pick’ next to it reads as a formality due to a lack of alternatives, but there are several months in 2025 where I would have heartily recommended Homegrown over a number of records that I granted the ‘pick’ status to. Another peculiarity about this album is the name; ‘homegrown’ conjures up imagery of tradition and local folk heritage, but there’s something quite international about Homegrown’s sound on their sophomore full-length. In addition to deriving obvious influence from British retro prog rock (like many of their Scandinavian kin, although I feel like this has been the case for more for Norwegian bands than Swedes such as Homegrown) and California desert rock, there are also other elements with an American tinge to them, specifically hints of country music alongside more native folk influences.
I would categorize Homegrown as a mix of psychedelic and progressive rock, but sometimes not especially mixed. On the one hand, you have callbacks to classic prog rock in the keyboards and guitar melodies of “Adams Äpple”, or the moments in “Mylingen” that clearly resemble compatriots Opeth’s own take on this source of inspiration. On the flip side, there’s livelier desert/psychedelic rock fare “Häxjakt I Snetakt” (even with wacky saxophone in parts), and a very nice psych rock jam rounding out the record in the form of “Talisman”. Each of these sounds has their own forms of variation, however, even if they don’t cross over with one another all too frequently. As mentioned above, folk and country elements seep into the likes of “Frihetsvisa I A-Moll” and “Gånglåt Till Käringberget” (the whimsy of the latter enhanced by recurring harmonica). Additionally, while this is unequivocally a rock album, there’s moments of enhanced heaviness, such as in other portions of “Mylingen” or during “Den Hornkrönte”. There’s a lot to enjoy across Homegrown, and none more so than with 9-minute centrepiece “Forséns Öra”, which does combine the more expansive songwriting of prog rock with very satiating stoner rock riffs.
Bandcamp
by musclassia
Todos Mis Amigos Están Tristes - Carne
[Alternative Rock | Noise Pop]
Yes. I am, once again, reviewing Chilean artists. At this rate, I’m covering more non-metal artists from Chile than metal artists from South America as a whole. It’s not even my own initiative. Radu keeps throwing albums from my home country at me. If there is one thing I have learned in 2025 is that the indie scene in Chile is seriously thriving. Candelabro, Niños Del Cerro, and Hesse Kassel are some of the big names to keep tabs on. To that list of names we now must add Todos Mis Amigos Están Tristes.
The band’s name does very little in the way of subtlety. Todos Mis Amigos Están Tristes means “All my friends are sad” in Spanish and it’s a good way of showing this is a band that wears their hearts on their sleeves. I think it is a goofy ass name but it’s honest and it matches their style. This is a highly emotional and raw mix of Noise Pop and Alternative Rock that should make any shoegaze fan do a backflip out of excitement.
Beautiful and catchy guitar melodies take hold of you but then the walls of noisy riffs erupt with extreme potency and emotion during the climaxes. This is then further enhanced by the vocals. Often they are harmonical, ethereal, and quite typical from the style My Bloody Valentine made popular. But when the band decides to crank things up to even… Oh boy. The harsh shouts and shrieks are unrelenting and really surprised me how unhinged they could be. The band really embodied one of their song titles which translates to “I'll bite my lips until they bleed from the rage”. Carne is one hell of a debut album and you’d do well in turning the volume all the way up for these crushing waves of blissful noise.
Bandcamp
by X-Ray Rod
Mount Junior - Forever, Always, Never-Ending
[Indie Rock | Emo]
Even when I discover an artist's debut full length, I rarely arrive early enough to catch their first EP, and therefore can only mention it in passing as I cover the follow-up full-length. With Mount Junior I was lucky enough to see Forever, Always, Never-Ending catching traction this early through one of the reviews getting on the main page of RateYourMusic. Mount Junior being a one-man project makes this even more impressive, though the music that is on Forever Always, Never-Ending is the kind that usually doesn't have as hard of a time getting attention in those online circles.
There's a dash of heaviness on the EP that makes me wonder whether one day we'll have to add the project to the database, but as it stands the post-hardcore leanings lead to some explosive moments that are more sprinkles alongside the indie rock / emo skeleton. There are bits of more intricate post-rock, mellow slowcore, angular math rock, all sprinkled throughout to make the EP feel like it does cover enough ground for its 20 minute runtime, with its greatest drawback being the crowded mixing.
Bandcamp
by RaduP
Dove Ellis - Blizzard
[Singer / Songwriter | Indie Folk]
It's been quite a long time since I've covered a singer/songwriter debut, or at least one that I wasn't familiar with before. Irish-born Dove Ellis only has another EP to his name, released in 2024, that I only discovered now. I've heard Dove Ellis compared to Jeff Buckley, which immediately sparked my interest, though I found his voice to be closer to a much more accessible version of Geese's Cameron Winter, and the mix of the two in Dove's voice does make for a really neat voice for the singer part in the singer/songwriter part.
The songwriter part is the kind of indie folk that takes cues from slowcore with edges in both pop and rock leanings that makes for some pretty swelling and emotional music, with the instrumental behind Dove's voice feeling like more than just a backdrop for the vocal delivery. While it does feel like the Blizzard's singles are the obvious highlights, the deep cuts aren't shabby either and there's promise of even more polish with future releases. For example right in the middle of the record, "Jaunice" has some stereotypical irish folk fiddles that sound a bit too corny for my taste.
Bandcamp
by RaduP
Melody's Echo Chamber - Unclouded
[Neo-Psychedelia | Dream Pop]
The Melody's Echo Chamber project continues to have a pretty relaxed release schedule, with the last time I encountered the project being with 2022's Emotional Eternal, which arrived a full decade after the project's self-titled debut first started making waves in neo-psycedelia / dream pop, partly because of how the upbeat jovial singing benefited from production from Tame Impala's Kevin Parker. Each subsequent album felt a bit less cosmic and more down-to-earth, while still keeping that specific hazy vibe.
Unclouded isn't necessarily a step into taking the music back towards being more cosmic or forwards to being more earthy, and there's a lot about it that quite feels like what one would expect from the project. At barely over 30 minutes, there's a lot about Unclouded that feels nice in that sunny hazy way without necessarily making a large impact, but something that feels like a highlight about the album and that sets it apart is that the drumming feels more dynamic than on previous records courtesy of drummer Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics.
Bandcamp
by RaduP
Javiera Electra - Helíade
[Art Pop]
Naturally, my very last review for a non-metal album from 2025 had to be for a very difficult album to describe. In many ways, Javier Electra’s music is unique because it is a natural result of the life she has led. Her humble beginnings in a small Chilean town, picking and selling produce to help out her family, were filled by the typical folk sounds of markets while her experiences with her father who was a radio host introduced her to pop music. Later in life, and in much bigger cities, her experience as a transwoman took roots in urban settings. Busking in the streets, she slowly gathered a following and now after almost a decade her debut album, Helíade, is here.
Helíade refers to the daughters of Helios, the Greek sun god, who lamented the tragic death of their brother Phaëthon. And so, it is understandable that such a name was given to this album that is dedicated to the memory of a dear friend of Javier Electra. The music of Helíade is hauntingly beautiful but also heavily emotional and ethereal. All of Javiera Electra’s past experiences converge in a fascinating mix: Atmospheric electronica, powerful post-rock-influenced crescendos, as well as Latin American folk like cueca and cumbia. The end result is a vibrant yet dark album that sweetly dances on the boundaries of tenderness and chaos. The pristine production serves the beautiful acoustic guitars and cinematographic synthwork well while still giving way for the raw emotions to push forward. Helíade is one of the most ambitious and professionally sounding debut albums by a solo artist I’ve heard in a very long time. With less than 40 minutes, Javier Electra opens up dreamy, melancholic worlds that I long to explore more in the future.
Bandcamp
by X-Ray Rod
De La Soul - Cabin In The Sky
[Conscious Hip-Hip | Jazz Rap]
There are very few rap groups who go as far back as De La Soul do, with their classic Three Feet High And Rising being released all the way back in 1989. Since then, De La Soul survived being one of the classic hip-hop acts to pioneer a more upbeat jazz-heavy type of conscious hip-hop and sticking to their guns. Cabin In The Sky arrives at a watershed moment for the band, a partial posthumous album being the first one since the passing of David Jolicoeur aka MC Trugoy back in 2023, and one that is not shy at all about being specifically about Dave's passing and his memory.
The album quite creatively showcases its collaborative nature with its guest roster being called in a roll call in the intro track by Giancarlo Esposito. The myriad of guests, from Black Thought to Common to Nas to Slick Rick to Killer Mike, not only makes the album feel star studded, but it also helps even things out from the album relying on whatever Dave managed to record before his death, with plenty of Cabin In The Sky featuring both his rapping and his production. There's a lot of gospel influence aside from the jazz/soul in the production, with the rapping itself being so upbeat, perhaps at times almost sugary.
by RaduP
Mobb Deep - Infinite
[Boom Bap | Gangsta Rap]
It's a bit ironic that the latter half of this year had two part-posthumous albums from classic hip-hop groups, ones so telegraphed as being posthumous in the way that they are, though it makes more sense when considering they were part of a series of albums from a single label that also included releases by other legacy acts like Slick Rick and Nas. There are two significant differences between the two, the first being that while both bands have had a clear heyday, De La Soul's material since has been more warmly received than Mobb Deep's, and the second being that Infinite comes a full nine years after Albert Johnson aka Prodigy's passing in 2017, making it feel like it spent even more time in the oven.
Perhaps it's the leniency from criticizing a posthumous album, but it does feel like Infinite contains some of the best material from Mobb Deep since they heyday, which does go against how it sometimes does become clear that Prodigy's lines had to be picked out from demo recordings. A lot of the edge smudging has been done by production from The Alchemist, as well as the guests ranging from Clipse to Nas to Raekwon & Ghostface Killah, and though the writing on this is mature enough that you're able to tell the age of its writers, it does still have some of that edge that early Mobb Deep had.
by RaduP
Navy Blue - The Sword & The Soaring
[Abstract Hip-Hop]
RaduP's pick
It's almost mandatory in this series that if I cover hip-hop in any of these editions, at least one of the albums is in an abstract hip-hop style, partly because it is a style that is more cerebral and lends itself to that kind of critical reception, and partly because it's a sound that I've gotten to enjoy quite a lot this past decade. Sage Elsesser aka Navy Blue is one of the names that has been popping up a lot since 2020, whether through his own solo records or through production work or features on other artists in the field, like Earl Sweatshirt or MIKE, so it feels like it was only a matter of time before I finally covered a Navy Blue record.
A lot of abstract hip-hop works by being very lyrically introspective, which while not necessarily being too uncommon with hip-hop, something about the hazy production really amps the intimacy felt by the storytelling. A lot of The Sword & The Soaring deals with family and grief, particularly with the death of Sage's brother, but also of various kinds of relationships, all elaborated on in a way that feels more resonant because of how Sage's performance here does really sell the emotional weight of what's rapped about. There are albums where the emotional appeal is in the vagueness that lets the listener resonate with the feeling at large, while The Sword & The Soaring is the opposite end, with every feeling built to specifics.
Bandcamp
by RaduP
Rafael Toral - Traveling Light
[Electroacoustic]
I've heard of ambient blending in with various different genres, some wacky combinations in this very edition, but somehow the prospect of "ambient jazz" is one that never quite crossed my mind. Atmospheric jazz? Sure, I've heard The Killimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble and Bohren & Der Club Of Gore, but it still feels like there is a bit of leap to be taken between that and something I'd actually consider "ambient jazz". Enter Rafael Toral, a Portuguese musician I hadn't encountered beforehand, but who seems to have a prolific catalog dating back to 1994 (and a member of other bands in the 80s).
Imagine instrumental jazz standards elongated beyond what any semblance of sanity, doing to them what Sunn O))) did to black metal on Black One, each chord change being a very patient event, one that might not be elongated enough to feel dirge-like, but which feels sparse enough that each change feels like it takes center stage in that specific ambient way. The mood evoked is a lot more celestial and grandiose than the original jazz standards one, though just as obviously nocturnal and gorgeous.
Bandcamp
by RaduP
The Necks - Disquiet
[Avant-Garde Jazz]
Bands with huge discographies are always frightening if you're not overly familiar with the band. It's part of the reason why we started writing "Getting Into" articles in the first place. The Necks is an Australia band whose output, while not exactly overly prolific, still has a large catalog mostly because the band's debut, Sex, came out in 1989, and the band never had huge gaps between releases. From the eagle eye's view that I had over the band's discography, it seems like the band never had lackluster periods or bad albums, but also haven't reached the heights of their heyday since 2006's Chemist.
Thus, I'm not quite sure how to fully contextualize Disquiet other than it being a damn good jazz record and an absolute behemoth of an album. The album's four tracks range from 26 to 74 minutes, half of this album's songs being longer than a lot of the band's other albums, and totaling 190 minutes. But in that time, The Necks are hell bent on showing how they're improvisational masters and how much they honed their skills over their nearly four decades long career, and that's all just from a trio of people playing a trio of instruments, and the way they managed to make such long engaging pieces with the limited soundscape is quite insane.
Bandcamp
by RaduP
Miffle - Goodbye, World!
[Tape Music | Ambient]
RaduP's pick
Goodbye, World! isn't the kind of album you'd normally expect to find that much success, no matter how underground. A tape ambient debut album from an artist hailing from Poland usually would get swept under the rug and at least some momentum would be needed to be built first. In a surprising twist, Goodbye, World! does feel like a persevering album, the kind of solo record where all the art and the sounds come from a single very mysterious person. Sometimes, and in this case specifically, I think that adds to the charm of it.
The sound design is focused a lot on a repeated sound loop, one that is often of a music instrument performing a short melody, repeatedly mangled and distorted with each repetition, as tape music a la William Basinski usually does. What Miffle does best is making that combination of original sound and repeated distortion have a quite melancholic and nostalgic ring to it, something quite gorgeous and tragic at the same time, especially considering the album is dedicated to a late friend of the artist.
Bandcamp
by RaduP
The Goslings - Plexuses, Planes
[Drone | Shoegaze]
In my initial shoegaze explorations, with its myriad of variants and extremities, one of the bands that got recommended was The Goslings, particularly their 2006 album, Grandeur Of Hair, recommended specifically for being on the very droney end of shoegaze, often having some noise rock and metal heaviness to tie it to doomgaze acts and thus have more in common with Nadja and The Angelic Process than My Bloody Valentine or Slowdive. For the longest time, it felt like The Goslings were a thing of the past, with no new material since 2009, so imagine my surprise seeing a new album with their name on it.
There's an even larger surprise to hearing a drone album start with a Bob Dylan cover (or a Guns N' Roses cover if you ask the wrong people), and afterwards it alternates between more spaced out mellow dream shoegaze tracks and denser noisier tracks, or moments within tracks, with the album actually getting more engaging as the runtime elapses, but to the point where I actually wish it was louder and noisier, especially given the expectations set by Grandeur Of Hair. About as heavy as shoegaze and drone gets without being overtly metal.
Bandcamp
by RaduP
Old Saw - The Wringing Cloth
[Ambient Americana]
RaduP's pick
"Ambient Americana" is another genre that I've found interesting by description alone but I've never gotten to properly dive into, just like the very tangential "American primitivism" was. In the meantime I've gotten to review albums in that style or containing that style both in this feature or on the main page so it was obviously only gonna be a matter of time before a proper Ambient Americana record entered my scope. Enter the Old Saw collective.
The Wringing Cloth is the fourth studio album from the project, with previous albums playing around with the same Appalachian / New England folk taken to its most mellow and drawn out, almost at a drone-like pace. Very fitting for my intro description, a lot of the guitar picking on the record is in line with the American primitivism sound, and the blend of very quiet but relatively faster picking with very drawn back steel pedal sliding makes for quite a soothing contrast. The Wringing Cloth is a pretty large record at 73 minutes, the runtime making good use of the album's ambiental quality.
Bandcamp
by RaduP
And that was it. You've made it through still alive. Congrats. See ya next month. Here's a YouTube playlist we compiled out of stuff featured here:
