Reviews

After going Beyond, Omnium Gatherum seek out the Origin of their success.

Sunshiny black metal, anyone?

I love you, Holy Death, I really do. But those interludes... just drop them.

Ok, maybe Neptunian Maximalism isn't really metal, but you could easily make that case for ZAÄAR.

I like weird… but this is divisively weird…

How long are we going to keep calling it nu metal?

Skilful, but also a little uneventful.

The last time there was a Jerry Cantrell album, Alice In Chains hadn't even reunited.

Archgoat are a band that emerged through the Finnish black metal scene during the early 90s, alongside bands such as Beherit and Impaled Nazarene. Although Archgoat actually formed in 1989; amazingly,…

"No light, no destination, no compromise!"

I don’t know the first fragment about complicated philosophical banter, so I’m glad that First Fragment’s second album can at least let me pretend that there is no Heidegger hiding in…

Sometimes going a little over the top can be a good thing.

The world is in a pretty rough place. We're still figuring things out. Emma Ruth Rundle ditched her electric guitar.

It’s not grim in the ‘trve kvlt’ sense, but Hushed And Grim is a fairly apt name for Mastodon’s ambitious double album.

Imagine you've taken Kalmah's swamps, mixed them up with Korpiklaani's sauna party, added Omnium Gatherum's melodeath vibes, and moved two countries south to relocate your activities…

I know we like to joke about tech death and technical wankery, but holy shit!

I wonder what happened to those guys?…

The torrent of melodic tremolos and smattering blast-beats suddenly comes to a halt, and a cough pierces the silence, leading into a song flavoured by a woman’s agonised wailing. Not so much depressive…

Disclaimer: This is a version of Alcatrazz without Graham Bonnet. It sounds surrealistic, I know.

Throw all the atmospheric, dynamic-based styles of metal and rock into a blender and you get A Secret Revealed.

Members of Horrendous and Crypt Sermon doing a... black metal album? Or is it a goth metal one?

"This is where either we die, or it dies..." *riffs*

Based on the pattern of their releases so far, we can expect the follow-up to Coherence in 2027, offering plenty of time in which to enjoy Be'lakor’s latest beast of a record.

I hear a lot of promise in Ad Infinitum, but Chapter II: Legacy isn’t the sound of them realizing that promise.

How many death metal bands does Denmark realistically need?

It isn't necessarily "atmosphere" that makes or breaks atmospheric black metal. It's emotion.

‘kin hell…

From my view from the top of the world, I can see an album that is Dream Theater to a tee, for better or worse.

Ok, maybe Neptunian Maximalism isn't really metal, but I'm not sure how you could make that case for Sol Kia.

Come to think of it, sludge always felt like an outsider. The metal but not really.

Berserker was one of the best debuts I ever clapped ears on, one of my highlights of the 2010s – and then, for whatever reason, From Hell With Love just sank for me. This is the all-important third-album…

To The Depths We Descend… is Necromantia’s farewell album and a tribute to founding member and bassist Baron Blood, who passed away in November 2019.

During the late 80s, many great bands emerged from Seattle; Sanctuary were certainly amongst them, and their debut album, Refuge Denied, was a very good beginning point for them. However, it was the second…

When you’re a heavily World War I-themed band, it’s hard to top releasing a record on the centenary anniversary of the Armistice. Thankfully, even after the gimmick has peaked, 1914 have more…

The point of a journey is to end up somewhere completely different to your starting point. Dauðaró knows this and made an extreme example of it with their debut.

Learn your maths with Lucifer.

In the Kabbalah, Netzach is the branch of cognition that is unbridled creativity, unashamed charisma, and perpetual perseverance. The Finnish equivalent is sisu, and this debut exudes it. Gonna be too…

Hey kids, do you like your music to be wacky?

If you enjoyed Psychonaut’s Unfold The God Man last year, put Meridian at the top of your ‘to listen’ list.

Most of those familiar with Mono’s catalogue won’t find many new elements on Pilgrimage Of The Soul. But the way these post-rockers presents their ideas and gorgeously build up their music…

An 80-minute djent album: who thought that was a sensible idea?…

Korpituli’s debut album is like a graveyard picnic at wolf’s hour on The Witcher continent: engaging, spooky, and confident, but ever hinting at the next point of interest. The music is good,…

As much as it can be fun and exciting to find bands that explore the spaces between established genres to come up with something original and fresh, there’s a lot of joy to be had with finding a…

The journey continues for Mark Tremonti's solo project. It could be categorized as a mix of heavy metal with radio rock influences. It is fairly similar to Alter Bridge, just sans the "other…

Reap what you have sown.

It is a shame that Black Sites have been sort of flying under the radar, what with all this retro / revivalist / rehashing surge of traditional heavy metal. Maybe the reason is that they are not so traditional…

Can you clear a 50 minute slot in your schedule to be beaten senseless?

The year is 2053. The Body finally managed to collaborate with every band on Earth.

War in my head.

Hands up: who here expected Trivium to ever release an album this good again back when Silence In The Snow came out?…

Havukruunu are striking while the iron is hot, which I’m sure their ancestors would approve of.

This is a monstrosity of an album that will not leave any listener indifferent. Depending on whom you ask, this is either high praise or an insult. Be prepared for a hellish and bizarre experience like…

Very good record, but not as strong as the previous one.

My one major complaint about E-an-na’s full-length debut, Nesfârşite, was that it was too full a length. M.L.R. is a bite-sized blast of compact folk metal that I can dig on repeat, and holy…

I'm sorry, I cannot think of Succumb without also thinking of... uhh...

Quick! Bong-Ra and Thy Catafalque! Doom!

Night Crowned is a new band that has emerged from the everbearing melodic black metal tree of Sweden. They have members of Cipher System and Dark Funeral in their ranks, so it comes as no surprise that…

Oathbreaker are great, so clearly mixing post-metal, black metal and hardcore works, which raises the question of why more bands don’t seem to try it. Still serves as another example of how potent…

You can't see it from our relatively small thumbnail, but the artwork is this close to resembling awful late 90s CGI album covers. Somehow it tiptoed around that.

Do you believe in ghosts? Den Sidste Færd (roughly translated to "The Last Journey") is a five-track ode to the otherworld from Danish folklore. There may be seven levels to Hell, but becoming…

The year is 2017 and thrash metal has been injected with a syringe of an adrenaline-like substance called Misleading Evil.

De Profundis is considered a classic by a large portion of death metal fans, and is undoubtedly a crowning jewel amongst the rest of the Vader discogrophy, although it's open to debate to whether…

It’s interesting to see the different effects that the lockdowns in the past year or so have had on people artistically. Some feel completely uninspired, and some go into overdrive; Dean Wells clearly…

Something that fills us with pride and happiness here at Metal Storm is when bands that we unearth and reveal to the world start to really grow and show the potential that we first saw in them. One of…

Does multiverse theory also extend to hell?…

Forgive me Lord...

The scorching sun covers the endless sandy wastes in a blazing golden tide as it sets on another day of lawless savagery. Two figures stand apart, eyes locked, ready for the draw, neither daring to breathe…

If you find yourself haunted by psychotic howling, dense bass noise and creepy melodies veiled behind a wall of deafening crash percussion, consider picking another dark, smoggy street to walk down before…

Q: Do you prefer your death doom with more death or more doom? A: Yes!

Lamp Of Murmuur: "Hey, can I copy your homework?" Sisters Of Mercy: "Sure, just make sure to change it up a bit so it doesn't look obvious." Lamp Of Murmuur: "Sure thing!"