Reviews

When they went Up North, Borknagar left a large part of their black metal past in the rear view mirror; however, as they continue further Northward and sing the Nordic Anthem, it appears that old habits…

While cavernous, doom-ladden, old-school death metal might not be that original anymore, Dipygus create an extremely enjoyable experience for those listeners who wish to be “ritually dismembered”.

Ego Depths have shaken things up quite dramatically on this latest venture, but where do they take us if not funeral doom, I wonder?

Fuzzy stoner delights delivered in 16 short songs.

Life Promised Death may suggest a fitting title for a dark theme to surround Farsot's latest effort, but the band offer more than just darkness on this album; for their 25-year anniversary, they're…

Painful to say.

The British thrash scene has been in rude health in recent years, seeing a flurry of activity and releases from bands old and new to make audiences go crazy. This is thanks to groups like Devastator, who…

The show is about to begin, so I take my seat in the concert hall. As the band walks on stage to get ready, the floodgates open. A stream of musicians holding various instruments enter from backstage and…

"Sparagmos (Ancient Greek: σπαραγμός, from σπαράσσω sparasso, "tear, rend, pull to pieces") is an act of rending, tearing apart, or mangling, usually in a Dionysian context."

Sickera have long been followers of classic hard rock and heavy metal, and this EP is proof of that.

With Sacred Son’s The Foul Deth Of Engelond and now De Republica, metal’s most provocative genre is now finally dabbling with some genuinely revolutionary lyrical matter.

Very much a project that prioritizes quality over quantity, Far Beyond is old enough to drink in the US, but is only now releasing album number 3. Fans will hope that The End Of My Road doesn’t represent…

Gentlemen, please contain yourselves. The new Dune movie is still 2 weeks away.

I really love this album. Yes, it's not one of the best albums, but to me it's very worthy, and even underrated to some extent. It doesn't have a single bad song, although it has a lot of…

A great example of the diversity of metal: Tekkno is not finessed, is not a great musical masterpiece, but it is the result of what could have happened if Beethoven lived in our time and had been given…

Glam metal isn't most people's favorite genre. Generally, I say that this is deserved, but for this album, we can make an exception.

I believe that this metalcore album is the very example of what the genre can offer at its best: easily headbangable music, without frills, which goes straight to the point.

When Chapel Of Disease released ...And As We Have Seen The Storm, We Have Embraced The Eye back in 2018, they caught everyone by surprise. But when a band comes up with one of the most inspired death metal…

With first Persefone and now Eternal Storm, Daniel R. Flys has appeared, within the span of a fortnight, on two records that will doubtless rank among the best that 2024 has to offer in progressive melodeath…

Have you ever imagined what a combination of Wardruna and Rotting Christ would sound like?

When we think of metalcore, we generally all have in mind very heavy music with big breakdowns without any depth or novelty. However, with this album, Ice Nine Kills show us that the genre can still be…

Hulder returns to preach Verses In Oath of the most sinister black metal yet.

I discovered this band in 2022 during a festival and I had never heard of them before. After being slapped at their concert, I decided to listen to their album On Va Tous Crever, and I was not disappointed.

Started from the bottom (having your debut EP covered in our Clandestine Cuts series) now we're here (having your album released by Pelagic Records).

Between the likes of Resin Tomb, Knoll and Vitriol, the standout metal albums of the early weeks of 2024 have heavily featured releases with strong ‘I hate the world and everything in it’ energy. Cave…

Few bands were as reticent to reunite the way Botch were, but first releasing a new song and then announcing a couple of shows, and then announcing tours across multiple continents, it's safe to say…

Dajjāl may be known as the great deceiver in Islamic mythology, but perhaps the true deceivers here are Necrowretch themselves, as it turns out they're not actually your regular blackened death band…

Black. Folk. Prog. Wandering Oak combine all of these metal genres on Resilience; all they needed to do was throw in some melodeath and it would be the perfect Metal Storm album.

An aggressive, fast-paced death metal rollercoaster reveals far more depth and variety upon closer inspection.

It takes Madder Mortem less than 20 seconds to deliver one of this year's most memorable choruses.

Get ready to slide your way down a funky, groovy Slope within your wildest Freak Dreams.

What would it sound like if a stoner/sludge band suddenly decided to make alternative post-punk?

It's a pretty thin line between a heavy psych (and by extension a space rock) record and a stoner metal one. But the question shouldn't really be "Is Slift metal now?" but rather "Is…

"Think, Bart. Where have you seen Roman numerals before? I know... Rocky V! That was the fifth one".

Talk about mixed feelings.

Beware the pun.

Do the newly formed Dissimulator hide any false pretences under their technical wizardry here?

Lingua Ignota is no more, but the exploration of unknown language endures; Persefone announce the arrival of their new vocalist in style with a typically excellent EP.

Although they haven’t officially disbanded, the lack of any meaningful activity from Witchkiss since the first Guhts release suggests that this new project is a regeneration of sorts; if that’s the case,…

Bombarder are still bombarding us with high-quality speedy thrash after nearly four decades.

‘Funeral grind’: that’s the term that Knoll use to describe the horrifying sound that they have conjured up on As Spoken. The album doesn’t deliver on the seemingly impossible promise of combining grindcore…

Kala Azar put the “doom” in sludgy doom metal.

Magnum have reigned over their kingdom of madness for over 50 years now, and at long last it seems the rain has finally come; whether the band will continue remains to be seen at present, but the storm…

In December, Santa delivered presents to all the nice kids; in January, Vitriol have come to drag everyone on the naughty list down into the depths of hell.

If you like Slayer but wished that they played slower, then look no further, because Slower are here to play Slayer slower on their debut Slower.

Turning 45 years old as a band must be celebrated, especially when 2 out of 3 members have been there since day one. While The Rods are neither reinventing themselves nor surpassing their classic cuts,…

Prognan seem to be on a very productive streak as there’s already another hour of music available of captivating, cinematic black metal. Welcome back to Balkan, twenty years after the first world war.

‘Symphonic folk melodeath’ is a genre fusion that, by its very being, carries expectations of bombast and extravagance. Dark Oath ensure to deliver with abundance on that front.

They truly age like fine wine.

Sludge metal has often prided itself in how dirty and crushing it could sound, but certain acts have pushed towards lighter and more progressive directions as well. Lord Dying keep pushing that envelope.

The progressive metal field is filled with mines of different wars. The unavoidable Dream Theater comparison, the dropped retro comment "this sounds like Pink Floyd", the light-footed reference…

Bookended by songs both at or above the 10-minute mark and with a four-part title track as its centrepiece, Charcoal Grace is prog band Caligula's Horse at their proggiest.

Once Masters of death metal, always masters of death metal, even after 41 years.

Even over 50 years after it was first spawned, Kontact demonstrate that it is possible to stand out while playing traditional heavy metal; however, they arguably don’t stand out for the right reasons.

‘Deathgrind’ already promises a fusion of two of the most extreme music genres out there; add in some sludge metal as well, and one is faced with a daunting prospect.

Do you ever get that feeling of just packing your bag and setting off on a long hike, abandoning everything in reality behind you? Well, Sgàile's post-metal could well be the escape you're looking…

Spider God have provoked many reactions with their pop covers and for mixing black metal with a sense of ultra melody. Enter now The Killing Room and the element of ultra groove.

What's more brutal than geometry?…

Do you ever feel like you can't quite cope with the state of the world? Does that make you furious?

Unleash the power of the dragon!

When we covered Narzissus' preceding EPs in our Clandestine Cut series, the case was made that melodic as they were, they're not actually meloblack. That's not a case that's as easy…

One of the first debut albums of 2024 will not rank among its longest come year end, but it may well be held up as one of its most inspired.

It's never too early in the year for some heavy, crushing, blackened doom.

Do you ever think Mgła just isn't post-metal enough? Hauntologist are here to deliver that very premise.

Join us At The Plates! Come for the food, stay for the death metal!

The darkest months have passed by, and the days are quickly getting longer again. Somewhere in between, you'll find Vemod’s dreamy, gazing black metal evoking the sense of the December clouds dissipating…

Thirty years on, and the unholy Scandinavian black metal spirit lives on through Narbeleth. So, are you ready to start the year 2024 off like it's 1994?

Wait—there's a genre called aliencore? And it's actually really good?…

Among the myriad of collaborative albums this year, I didn't expect to hear one between a mathcore outfit and a drone doom one.

Thronehammer is a doom metal band with members based in Germany and England. Despite having been formed by guitarist Stuart West in 2012, the band was really set in motion when multi-instrumentalist Tim…