Reviews

With 9 years passing by since their last album, the Scorpion Child is now a fully fledged hard rock adult.

It's amazing just what sound two crazed individuals can achieve through one guitar and a drum kit. It can even lead to a Post Apocalyptic Depression.

Just as all roads lead to Rome, all good post-metal debuts seem to lead to a contract with Pelagic Records; Pothamus have inevitably joined their compatriots Psychonaut and Hippotraktor on the label’s…

There is something hilarious about the thought of a dissonant black metal album feeding on the listener's thoughts.

The prodigal son returned just in time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Dream Theater with a ‘comeback’ album. When listening to Parasomnia, it almost sounds as if Mike Portnoy never left, but this…

The best part about being a one-man band is that you can stick whatever you like in your black metal. Well... in your atmospheric post-black metalgaze. Unreqvited decided that would be more vocals and…

Sweet! A fresh dose of new Darko music – just what the doctor ordered... or was it my dealer? Either way, ready for an intravenous hit of pure, colorful chaos straight to the veins? Are you?…

If you were to study a hundred different subcultures built around different art forms, you’d be hard-pressed to find any who can match the metal community’s propensity for pedantic hair-splitting and collective…

There aren't that many one-woman atmospheric black metal projects around, but then there aren't many projects period in this genre that are in the same calibre as the highly talented Vermilia.

Four years ago, Johannes took me by surprise and became one of my standout releases of 2021. This time around, I was fully prepared for what Decline Of The I could have in store, and yet I’m still completely…

Reinventing the old by embracing the weird.

From a complete line-up overhaul through to plagiarism allegations, it’s not been the smoothest journey to release for A Sonication; while difficult circumstances sometimes result in the creation of masterpieces,…

Is there a more fitting band name than "Time Rift" for a band that transports you to the 70s?

Every self-respecting metal band should have a dedicated accordionist and a dedicated saxophonist among its members.

I'd give you the world if I could. The moon, stars, and all the suns in the universe. Anything for you, my heart.

And God Created Woman: “So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh…”

No, Steve, why would you be in trouble for trying to show how metal music isn't always black and white?

Guts is a very familiar word used in death metal, and their music is equally familiar, albeit with more groove than most.

This Century really has taken the heavy metal scene by storm.

Get ready to embark on Saor's latest journey Amidst The Ruins of the ancient, majestic Highlands of Scotland.

And so, the journey begins.

Will a cracked and chipped bottle suffice?…

Selvans hope to mark the end of a trilogy in true festive Saturnalia style to honour the ancient Roman god Saturn.

Making grindcore together can truly be a strong bonding experience.

Do you want the energy of Chat Pile without the overt social themes? Do you wish they were gothier? Haunted Horses has ya covered.

Metal has long found associations with nature and folklore, but arguably those associations are prone to being rendered in but a couple of overly familiar ways. Danefae offer a sound that is refreshingly…

By grindcore standards, this is a double album.

Lads, Google it, it's Gene Simmons who says Rock And Roll is dead.

It’s not uncommon for bands to try and defy the categorizations foisted upon them, even in cases where said labels are fully applicable; one only has to look at all the deathcore bands that tried to not…

"The By-The-Numbers Fire" more like.

In the Metal Storm Awards each year, we group together djent and mathcore in the ‘math metal’ category; this is partly because it would otherwise be tricky to reach 10 good nominees in some years, but…

H.P. Lovecraft's most imaginative adventure tale, told through the spectral black metal of The Great Old Ones.

Buckle up, Chuck. It’s about to get bumpy. This is the sound of Mother Nature throwing a tantrum. Press play, and volcanoes will sprout like mushrooms, erupting all around you. The air grows thick and…

There's still an element of doom in Between You, God, The Devil And The Dead, just with an extra step further towards the classic 70s rock era.

This is the deeply moving subject of our Scorched Earth from an emotional post-metal perspective brought to you by no other than Harakiri For The Sky.

Clarissa’s Relentless Blade.

For more than 20 years, Membrane ‘has never stopped looking for a semblance of light in the depths of our darkest emotions.’ With Deathly Silence, they once more summon faint rays of light within an overarching…

Can you spare 30 minutes of your time for some of the most beautiful melodies you'll hear in post-black metal?

Well, it's been a few years since we last checked in with Shedfromthebody, and I've also rarely seen yearning portrayed as passionately as on this cover art, so it's time to drop by again.

"There is no life in the void. Only death."…

After four years, Wardruna stir from their hibernation to depict the story of the she-bear, warden of the forest, and in doing so remind everyone why their name carries such weight.

Sympathy for the Devil.

I wasn't procrastinating, I was studying for my history exam.

According to the Veil Of Conspiracy, the Shape Of Grief should look exactly as this sounds.

Sarcator are a young, fresh, and ferociously energetic Swedish blackened thrash band looking for a way to unleash their true inner fury. Could Swarming Angels & Flies help them succeed in doing so?

How many Dragonknight Legions have there been in euro-power metal now?

The courts finally had their say: the name “Batushka” belongs to Krzysztof Drabikowski. But a sound once explored is opened to the world, and Bartłomiej Krysiuk cannot hand over his voice: Patriarkh continues…

After Krzysztof Drabikowski’s Panihida met with modest success, all eyes were fixed on Bartłomiej Krysiuk's Batushka, evidently under the impression that one party releasing a better album than the…

In the wake of the original Batushka’s implosion (explosion? violent rupture?), both Krzysztof Drabikowski and Bartłomiej Krysiuk scrambled to seize the momentum and hurriedly announced their own respective…

Religious music in the context of heavy metal does not have a very long history. In 1987, Anthrax invented it with their classic rap metal track “I’m The Man,” which married the traditional Jewish song…

Canadian thrashers Sacrifice’s heyday was around the late ‘80s (Forward To Termination and Soldiers Of Misfortune are considered ‘classic’), and had a 16-year gap between 1993 and 2009 in terms of studio…

While I lie here stuck in bed getting my arse handed to me by whatever virus is currently doing the rounds in London, it’s easy to be charmed by a piece of musical escapism transporting me to ancient Mesopotamia.

Prognan's background in Hollywood soundtrack composing have been brought up the previous time they were covered here, but with Sve Će To Narod Pozlatiti, the runtimes have also reached Hollywoodian…

The Mortality of a Forgotten Replicant.

The Canadian thrashers are back! Hazzerd, the band led by vocalist, drummer, and main lyricist Dylan "Shoes" Westendorp, are simply on fire, dishing out one sizzling hot thrash banger after another.

The halo over our demise.

Have you heard? Southeast Asia has also contributed to the world of extreme metal. Well, you should have, Rudra are practically veterans in the scene by now.

Sacred Sound Of Solitude sounds like just the perfect environment in which to experience Sacred Sound Of Solitude.

Wizard’s Black Magic Ritual.

I am a (grave digging) dwarf, and I'm digging a hole, diggy diggy hole, diggy diggy hole.

I don't know about you, but an album titled Antinomian Asceticism by a band known for their unorthodox method of disso-black doesn't sound to me like the easiest way to begin 2025.

2023 was a great year for fans of technical, progressive, Vektor-like thrash metal with bands like Terminalist, Venus, and Hellix. After the subsequent drought of 2024, I was beginning to get worried that…

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.