Reviews

The Tragic History of Climbing the Eiger.

It’s intriguing to ponder on the concept of remnants within infinity; when infinities can be larger than other infinities, conceivably the remnant of an infinity could itself be infinite. For example,…

For my last review of a 2024 album, I decided to join in the fun together with some artists and celebrate the 25th anniversary of the hardcore punk masterpiece that is Refused’s The Shape Of Punk To Come.

Revisiting a landmark of progressive death metal, before the X-machines end us all.

Towards the end of last year, I reviewed a debut album from a Polish post-metal band that had me thinking of Obscure Sphinx, and left me pondering just what those guys were up to these days. Right on cue,…

If you’re like me, and you’re still plowing through all the incredible releases of 2024 in preparation for the upcoming Metal Storm Awards, then you’ve probably become a husk of caffeine and blast beats,…

If you know a thing or two about Bay Area thrash metal, chances are you’ve probably heard of Hatchet before. And if you know a thing or two about modern-day thrash metal, chances are you’re also aware…

An axis in need of direction. An axis in need of a purpose. This is An Axis Of Perdition showcasing, not so kindly, how industrial black metal needs to be done.

Here's your perfect cold winter playlist; now you just need a majestic snow-capped Alpine peak to climb, and all shall be complete.

Skagos present Chariot Sun Blazing as a perfect atmospheric black soundtrack for the cold, harsh, wintry Northern environment.

The Finnish Hatred. Cryptic Hatred is a Finnish band that truly impressed me with their exceptional release, Internal Torment. One of the best death metal releases on 2024, this album combines unrelenting…

In the dying embers of 2024, there’s just enough time to fit in one more review of a great extreme prog metal album.

What do you do when your past couple of releases have been pretty middling affairs? You remember that you used to be a black metal band once.

There has to be a certain tongue-in-cheek-ness to how over-the-top technical death metal, especially the kind that dabbles in extraordinary themes, can be. From a band name that sounds like a Saturday…

After putting themselves to a time test with 2019’s Watchwinders, written and recorded in the span of a single month, Coilguns cooled off for a few years before coming out with Odd Love, a record that…

In the past couple of years, I’ve found myself reaching year end and looking back in awe at the level and sheer volume of top-quality extreme progressive metal released during the preceding 12 months;…

The magnificent Sarah from Smoulder described Katabasis Into The Abaton / Abstieg In Die Traumkammer as “unusual, strange, adventurous, primordial hymns for forest dwellers and magick seekers”. It’s going…

Somewhere in the putrid grey zone between melodic death metal and brutal death metal, there lies this ominous wonderland where the air is thick with guitar riffs, blast beats, and guttural growls, where…

Mitochondrion has returned after more than a decade, giving us barely a month as a heads-up before releasing Vitriseptome to the starved masses. This is THE return no one in the underground scene saw coming.

Fasornas Tid is Swedish for 'Time Of Phases', and this has been a fine phase for Mörk Gryning since returning to the Swedish black metal scene.

In the year that a whole new portion of the mainstream became aware of Gojira following their appearance at the Olympics, a fresh wave of French bands following in their footsteps seems to be emerging.

The question of what it means to be a band can sometimes be a thought-provoking one, particularly when popular, long-running bands undertake extensive changes in membership and sound that almost completely…

After a more formless take on post-metal, Dola try to touch the ground with their feet again. But they end up making things even weirder.

After 8 years, the Demon Bitch is finally back, and they're certainly not in the mood for playing games as they're on a power frenzy.

We normally wouldn’t do front page reviews of summer releases come winter, but for one of the best albums released this year in arguably my favourite genre, I feel compelled to right the wrong that was…

Not exactly the sequel that fans of Bedsore were expecting.

“One does not enter the catacombs alone…”…

The Animals in the Bog.

Opeth’s Last Will.

The Subtlety of Change. I’ve been listening to Sarke since the release of Bogefod in 2016. I really like the band for their classic black metal style with a more technical approach. Sarke was formed…

Up until now, Svarttjern haven't drawn much attention to themselves, but let's now see what happens when these trve Norwegians Draw Blood.

Neckbreakker seems like an appropriate band name, I'd say. But let's see what state your neck will be left in after headbanging yourself senseless to this relentless death metal debut.

Which Pathway will the Heresiarchs of Russian post-black metal take this time?

Black metal is often used as a way to express one's darkest and most desperate state of emotions. However, Death’s Soliloquy takes this to another level entirely.

Well, I guess that's Ulver's lane now.

One of the positive impacts of the digital age has been the globalization of music, and some fascinating metal has emerged from once unheralded countries and regions. However, while the novel perspectives…

Fast-paced Norwegian black metal with some interesting surprises sprinkled in.

Returning after 8 years must have given Aluk Todolo a sense of urgency. because Lux delivers a constant assault of frenetic krautrock with black metal undertones that will leave you at the edge of your…

Yeah, yeah, Rod is reviewing yet another Chilean extreme metal band blablabla. Just shut up and blast this album loud already.

The most terrestrial of Below The Sun's albums, yet nonetheless just as enveloping.

The Heavy Brass Battle. When you are a little tired of listening to new bands that sound exactly the same and don't even make an effort to sound different, Ottone Pesante (Heavy Brass) is like…

The Iridescent Mountain. The UK post-metal trio Mountainscape has released their latest album, Iridescent. The band includes Dan Scrivener (guitar), Ethan Bishop (bass), and James Scrivener (drums).

Judging by recent form in atmospheric black metal, could the UK prove to be the new Celestial Lands that Wolvencrown speak of?

Considering the genre’s desert origins, the frozen North may make for an unusual setting for a stoner metal album. Nevertheless, the music within Veuve’s Pole will feel intimately familiar to aficionados…

That Weird Radical Man.

While it certainly isn’t the most convenient entity to try and review, there’s a certain elegance to the simplicity of a single-song album: no song titles or subdivisions to compartmentalize one’s opinions…

Will it still be All Quiet On The Final Frontier after 10,000 Years of all this heavy stoner fuzz?

Are you ready for a wee slab of good and proper Glaswegian brutal death?

The Skorian // The Greyleer is a two-way split, the concept of which is just as compelling as it is complex.

Having the word ‘grand’ in the title seems quite fitting for a 75-minute album, but while A Grand Stream is a long album, the form it takes is less one of grandeur, and more one of eerie spiritualism.

The Watcher has been watching on long enough, and is now ready to unleash their debut full-length Out Of The Dark.

The blackened folk duo Ungfell continue their journey, delving deeper into the mountains as they uncover a concept that promises to be all the more epic and melodic than before.

How many times can you create a inhumanly complex brutal death metal album?

What's this?! A debut from an Icelandic band that isn't black metal?!

As a fan of Akphaezya, Fell Down The Veil (Anthologies I​,​ III & V) may be their best album yet! I think it will be my album of the year for 2024.

Has there ever been so much fervour and anticipation ahead of an album’s release due to a change in vocal style when there’s not been a change in vocalist? Opeth’s move away from growling caused an alarming…

Are you in the holiday mood yet? This Polish band have prepared a pleasant wintry atmosphere, full of melancholy, catchy tunes, and haunting melodies.

Extrême De Belgique…

Remember when Poppy playing metal was a novelty?

This album contains the final sounds of a doomed world, at the terminus of all paradises lost. At Shadow Zion.

Ungodly Hour.

In the Jaws of Barnes.

On with the bodycount.

In ten years, Sergeant Thunderhoof have grown quite a bit, from a noisy, nasally stoner band doing the half-Sabbath/half-Sleep routine into a versatile practitioner of atmospheric, folkloric, and epic…

With such a breadth of ideas and influences in the songwriting of Thy Catafalque, there’s room to orient different albums towards distinct vibes, whether it be the playfulness of Naiv or extremity of Alföld;…

Venturing down the cavernous death doom rabbit hole proves to be a rewarding endeavor.

Schwärze means blackness, and Isor is a dark ambient project; let's see where this leads us.

The Time Lurker had been loitering in the shadows for quite some time, only to now emerge with a daring Emprise that might take even more time to get into.

Don't invite me to the function if this isn't the vibe.

After tarnishing black metal's kvltness with pop covers, Spider God set their sights on another of black metal's arch enemies: metalcore!