Reviews

A descent into nether realms of sorcery and esoteric philosophy.

A new Avantasia has arrived, as expected, from the hand of Tobias Sammet and his loyal guests who join us on an epic journey.

If Polar Veil saw Hexvessel dip their toes (back?) into metal, Nocturne is a fuller dive.

Psudoku is an impressive mess, the type of band you could wedge into a frame and sell for millions if you could just forge Wassily Kandinsky's signature. Its sound is stunning, both in the prosaic…

Just like Necros Christos, who threw a curveball with their swansong Domedon Doxomedon, Sijjin have greatly altered their formula. Let’s hope that this is not an indication of Sijjin’s demise, because…

The lacey band logo and the dark cover art with a woman’s arm dressed in a white vintage sleeve, while the rest of the body disappears in a turbid lake of water lilies, leaves no margin for error on what…

The soul of Helheim is still well and truly Viking, despite them venturing deeper into unfamiliar black metal territories.

The evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

You're going to need a bottle of rum... or two.

Over the years, I have grown very fond of the type of free-form brutal death metal that bands like Effluence or Encenathrakh have helped shape and develop. However, my first encounter with the genre happened…

With a band name derived from the writings of the early Church fathers and subsequent establishment of the Christian canon, as well as an album name that refers to Christian religious education, one might…

Fuckin' A is a very funny album, and it's a well produced work that stands out in the grindcore genre. The tracks are super catchy and entertaining, making it very funny to listen it from the…

"Wait, what? Bitter is reviewing a power metal album? An all-female Japanese power metal album with art that looks like a SNES/PS1 Final Fantasy box cover? Did I wander into the wrong timeline? Account…

None have ever been so vile as Cryptopsy when it comes to brutal death metal, and they now have an insatiable hunger for violence towards unweary listeners.

Byzantine are one step closer to becoming a full-fledged progressive metal band rather than a thrash band. But is this a move in the right direction, or a step too progressive?

A disappointing stumble.

Hollow Leg have re-released Dust and Echoes; however, this time it's all as one album, and it works out much better this way too.

I have always heard of Game Over before on Spotify but didn't take them seriously until this new 2025 album Face The End entered my ear drums. Hearing songs like "Neck Breaking Dance" definitely…

They’ve produced material prolifically enough for it not to be a bother, but it’s a bit of a surprise that no bands have really followed in the style of Spaceslug. Dahuz are not only the first band I’ve…

The challenges of suitably categorizing and describing bands that loosely get thrown under a ‘blackened hardcore’ umbrella is something I’ve discussed a few times before in reviews. Even compared to those…

The revolving door of Fallujah has been spinning consistently pretty much since their inception, but (with one obvious exception) they’ve managed to hit it out the park every time, and Xenotaph maintains…

Turnstile keep shedding more of the "hardcore" part of their sound, something that was already a predictable trajectory, but also one that dives even deeper in pop adjacent styles.

A young reviewer's guide to A Young Person's Guide To King Parrot.

The original Hangman’s Hymn is an album I love with all my heart. So, when I heard that Sigh were going to re-record it, I was hit by a strange wave of contradictory feelings, but mostly curiosity. Sigh…

The exquisite songwriting and guitar skills from Virgin Black alongside the monstrous growls from a former Ne Obliviscaris member. After throwing in two guests from other respected acts, Spiine debuted…

Particularly with the increasing saturation of most subgenres, there’s frequent discussions within the context of metal regarding the merits of doing something new versus doing something well. With Chaos,…

Do you cry when angels deserve to die?…

Hmm, what's the English equivalent for *drolling*? Hmm, I'd say "transcendant". How about "groin grabbingly transcendent"?…

From the dissonant to the melodic, Portugal’s Anzv tackle a few different approaches to black metal on Kur, each of them brought to fruition with emphatic writing and an engulfing sound.

It has already been half a decade since the release of Neptunian Maximalism’s shocking and grandiose debut album Éons. With several live albums and a growing reputation under their belt, this sophomore…

Summer has barely begun, and already I'm feeling like autumn has arrived when listening to Metanoia.

Although Gaahls Wyrd is unbound by any specific genre, black metal is still at its beating heart; however, Braiding The Stories holds even more emotional weight and versatility than the band's previous…

Degenerate (NED) write melodeath with a thrashy slant, or perhaps thrash with a melodic slant depending on your point of view; whatever direction you approach Rituals Of Rage from, you’ll encounter a record…

After laying dormant for half a decade, the Dark Buddha Rising is, ahem, rising again, for lack of a better word, but this time it is after reincarnation as a new entity.

Swans and their excess are here to stay. For now.

As much as it is possibly my favourite genre within metal, post-metal does have a tendency of producing new bands that conform to a very particular sound that has lost some of its charm with excessive…

Teitanblood continue to solidify their elite status among their death metal peers. From The Visceral Abyss, just like with their previous albums, is an exercise of order in chaos with a production that…

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

When the biggest draw to your music was how your death doom integrated the violin, what do you do when the violin player leaves? You add cellos and keys!

The ache of passing time is one that's looming in a quieter subtler way, at least according to Planning For Burial.

The Acid Gods will Grin when they hear just how heavy this bass sounds.

Eclipsing Worlds Of Scorn is high-quality modern black metal that's equally as progressive as it is atmospheric.

Walk The Shadows has a lot going on: 80s new wave vibes, gothic elements, classic rock, a bit of prog, and unfortunately a lot of untapped potential.

Heáfodbán is a Pacific Northwestern experimental black metal band, formed in 2021. This four piece band is a “red anarchist black metal” band that has a particularly psychedelic and chaotic sound. With…

There’s a lot of good doom metal out there that falls on the lighter, rockier side – psychedelic rock given a bit of extra volume, some old-school heavy metal darkness, maybe an anachronistic darkwave…

What happens when tongue-in-cheek chaotic avant-garde mathcore gets even more conceptually ambitious?

Leave it up to black metal to remind you that your loved ones aren't here forever.

Self-titled albums several releases into a band’s career are as often an indicator of a fresh start or radical reinvention as they are a harbinger of a group running low on creativity. In the case of Rivers…

A new band has emerged out of Denmark, playing music that can be classified as heavy metal, but this particular heavy metal is having a threesome with black metal and post-punk. Does that sound appealing…

Like a simple, tasteful meal: no big surprises, but as a whole, a enjoyable experience.

Drouth have The Teeth Of Time, and want to dig their jaws into an appetizing slab of black/death metal.

Should I choose psychedelic rock if I Just Want To Be A Sound?

After over 20 years together with an unchanged line-up, Clamfight are just now releasing a self-titled album. There’s no new era in terms of band membership, nor is this a radical reinvention; instead,…

Some journeys leave scars. Destination Addiction is the one that fights back.

A match made in Hell.

Brighton quartet Slung launch into their debut album with real gusto, blending and overlapping rock and metal genres effortlessly on In Ways, in ways that feel like they must come from a far more established…

2022 saw the return from exile of Mares Of Thrace after a decade’s absence, and with a shake-up of the band’s 2-person line-up to boot. This revamped version is driven to make up for lost time, surfacing…

You Win Again Gravity return with the first part of a potential series of conceptually-linked releases, and in doing so promise to provide ample opportunity for reviewers to make Futurama references in…

Years later, Caio Lemos is the only one who can make black metal feel this earthy.

It’s been a long seven years since A Flock Named Murder first made their mark on the metal underground with An Appointed Time; however, when one experiences the gargantuan nature of Incendiary Sanctum,…

Choosing to emulate Death is like playing 'musician' on hard; choosing to emulate Human is like playing on expert mode.

Lightless knows exactly what A Foreseen Loss should feel like.

There's no empty void under these ruins, just one of the highest quality epic heavy metal releases you'll hear in 2025.

This album is beautiful and punishing at the same time. The grooving and crushing riffs mix with the furious drumming and roaring vocals of Robb Flynn (who along with Phil Demmel just kills it on guitar…

I spent a reasonable chunk of a review earlier this year discussing how mathcore and djent, as adjacent as they are musically, often tend to stick apart from one another. 2025 seems to be seeing a change…

Do you bank that your comeback album will get attention merely on the fact that you're a seminal band in a specific genre or do you try to be as shocking as possible?

What other dissonant black metal album ever sent you on a Google Maps treasure hunt?

Habemus Papam Metalcorum!…

It’s interesting to passingly ponder how math rock in the modern era is so commonly associated with upbeat melodicism (think Covet, Chon, Tricot and their ilk), yet mathcore and math metal are respectively…

Emotionally atmospheric one-man metal projects that you can't quite put a finger on what genre they belong to seem to be all the range lately, and Rye fit into this category.