Reviews

Always remember to wash behind your ears, people.

Comfortably solid.

Uriah Heep had released several albums by the time Demons And Wizards was released, including the critically acclaimed Look At Yourself, which was released the previous year, and is also one of my all-time…

How often do you really get your socks blown off by a Russian one-man band?

As much of a fiend as I am for the abstract and the unorthodox strands of metal, I too can appreciate the younger bands that choose to go for a more retro, old school sound. But a retro sound infused with…

Album artwork depicting a maned dragon/salamander, a floating eyeball, and a walking fish? Yup, definitely seems to be an Apothecary kind of thing.

My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

The big release of September 3rd was of course Iron Maiden’s 17th LP, but on the same date came another album that deserves the attention of heavy metal lovers. It is Portrait’s At One With…

Disclaimer: I am primarily writing this review because Anette is a personal friend of mine. At least in my version of the truth.

It is truly an achievement to be one of the godfathers of funeral doom metal, yet still being able to conjure up new sounds that shine true with pride and defiance against death.

The last week brought a lot of bad news and a lot of tribulations for me. Today I drove home from a relative’s funeral. When I checked my e-mails to see what I had missed in my couple days of absence,…

To be, or not to be? That is the question. To be audacious that is. Chrome Waves, which are basically James Benson from Amiensus and Jeff Wilson (ex-Abigail Williams, Nachtmystium) are indeed audacious.

There’s heavy guitar tones, there’s crushing guitar tones, and then there’s LLNN guitar tones.

Picture this: You are Seven Spires. You manage to be the a newer band that people care about in a God-forsaken genre that everybody* thought was pretty much dead. Do you: A) come up with a lean album that…

A lot of revivalist thrash metal often gets called, lovingly or derogatorily, "pizza thrash". Crisix embrace that.

We all know that there's some sludge that's more doom, and some sludge that's more hardcore. Mastiff sit pretty comfortably in the latter category, to some pummeling results.

If the purpose of ‘progressive’ music is to progress over time, Rivers Of Nihil are certainly in agreement.

I have heard the album, and it was fantastic.

The other hotly anticipated album this month.

Heresy II: Electric Boogaloo.

Hell yeah, broda'! \m/

Blackout is a classic album that for some time has been a hard rock favourite of mine. It's one of the catchiest and heaviest albums in hard rock history, and is also one of the few albums by Scorpions…

It's been over 50 years since the legendary progressive rock group, King Crimson, released their magnificent debut, In The Court Of The Crimson King, and this album is not only a progressive rock…

Few bands manage to build as much hype before their first album is released as Spiritbox have done, so there was a lot of anticipation for Eternal Blue - how well does it live up to expectations?…

I wanted to enjoy it more than I did.

Spoiler alert: Varg kills Euronymous.

Pic related: it's my face after listening to this album.

The first gulp from the glass of Hooded Menace will give you death doom, but at the bottom of the glass heavy metal is waiting for you.

Don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like silence to me.

“We are doom metal and heavy metal. Traditional, epic, raw, and heavy! Doom ‘n’ roll - Fuck you, we’re Lucifer's Fall”. Rarely do bands provide such apt descriptions of their sound.

For 15 years I have awaited a worthy sequel to A Matter Of Life And Death, and after a couple of suboptimal offerings in a row, I began to despair that Iron Maiden had succumbed to the solipsistic lethargy…

An extreme metal debut album with 25-minute songs: is this a funeral doom band, or an overelaborate prog band? Neither, it's a death metal band whose songs never fucking end.

This song must be over one and a half hour long... What? "Four track EP?" Oh, I see: though each chapter is a captivating composition with its own character, the four combine into a novella rather…

Wormwood, no, not Wormwitch. Those are the Swedish master blenders of atmospheric black, melodic black and anything that seems to fit in who also brought you the excellent Ghostlands - Wounds From A Bleeding…

Fighting fire with fyre.

She's a maniac, maniac on the floor, and she's dancing like she's never danced before.

I got another confession to make?…

Empires Of Ash is a solid debut album from the atmospheric black metal band Sojourner. The band are fairly new to the atmospheric black metal scene, but they have already made an impact, due to the epic…

A desperate call to escape into the invisible arms of the universe - humanity's last hope. Exactly what his Dudeness was looking for, man.

While many would consider Moving Pictures to be the pinnacle album by Rush, I would have to say Hemispheres had more of an impact on me, and from what I understand the metal world too. It's certainly…

Do you miss Agalloch? Do you like Dead To A Dying World? Do you enjoy Cascadian metal? If your answer is an emphatic 'yes' to any or all of these three questions, keep reading.

The album Andacht is a hidden gem, and should not go unnoticed by those interested in the atmospheric black metal scene.

I'd say there are three types of live albums. The first is the usual performance (or compilation of performances) from the last tour where the band plays the hits. Then there is the rarer performance…

Though not necessarily as striking as Bloem's field of flowers, Gegrepen Door de Geest der Zielsontluiking exists in the same "warm" black metal sphere in which Fluisteraars try to make…

I have questions about the band name, but not the quality of their debut record.

Emergence is everything I admire about metal music. I personally would categorize this as melodic black metal, but whatever genre you decide this should belong too, it's a remarkable album indeed.

There's always one killer new stoner metal discovery for me each year; I've filled this year's quota slightly quicker than last year.

Is it really that much of a surprise that nature is still one of black metal's biggest sources of inspiration? From the deepest caves to the furthest starts. Woman no longer feels like just the earth.

It's been a long time in the making; will fans be satisfied by Vanagandr?…

Cult Of Fire are unlike your usual black metal acts; they do not show any themes around the acknowledgement and praise of Satan, there is no sign of the inverted cross, or any sign of the sigil of Baphomet.

Sortilège! Crafters of S-tier heavy metal in the '80s, they went down because of the lack of interest shown by the ignorant French producers. Are they dead for real?…

Why believe in second chances?…

During the early '90s, a new genre of metal was beginning to develop - we know it as the second wave of black metal - and the Norwegian black metal scene was leading the way with bands, such as Darkthrone…

This was not what I expected from a Fawn Limbs album, but that is by no means a bad thing.

Wormwitch, no, not Wormwood. Those are the Canadian master blenders of black, doom, punk, and anything that seems to fit in who also brought you the excellent and fun Heaven That Dwells Within.

Sometimes you just have to give up and say 'this isn't for me'.

It's been nearly a decade since the last Diskord album, and that decade still hasn't been able to untangle Diskord's music.

Funny how you can pick an album expecting it to be depressive black metal, and it turns out to be symphonic love-themed post-rock. The one-man band and the dead man's hand, and whatnot.

This is certainly not the highest quality black metal album you will hear nor a classic compared to what the bands from the early Norwegian scene produced, but out of all black metal albums, this is the…

Plenty of bands have taken stylistic directions that have lost them fans; fewer of them manage to win part of that lost fanbase back whilst continuing in the same direction. With Aphelion, Leprous may…

This is a record that was digitally released on November 1st, 2020, for just 24 hours. For those of you that missed it, Black Magick Rites is out on August 27th via Shadow Kingdom Records, the label that…

Given the various extreme metal backgrounds of the more prominent members of this supergroup, it's perhaps surprising that the sound leans so close to one of those backgrounds in particular, but at…

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!…

And just like that, the 'hipster black metal band' become merely the 'hipster band'.

As with previous Anaal Nathrakh albums, this record begins with such brutality right from the start, and could not begin with a more menacing opener. It's clear that, after the first few tracks, this…

Deathcore and a Lewandowski cover. Where have I seen that before?

It was about time for these saxophone tech death lads to finally live up to their potential.

Back in my day, Wolves In The Throne Room only needed four tracks to be impressive!

Godflesh really hates humanity and Streetcleaner is the example that shows you the many failures of humanity.

Greeks do it better. And I am not biased.