Reviews
May 2026
5.8
|
Alternative metal, Heavy metal
Official review
by
omne metallum
30.05
Always the bridesmaid.
|
5.8 |
30.05
|
7.9
|
Black metal
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
10.05
Enter the Votive Fire and take part in a Satanic ritual you'll never forget!
|
7.9 |
10.05
|
April 2026
7.8
|
Speed metal, Blackened thrash metal
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
29.04
Bewitched have been summoned from the depths of hell once again, so join them in the Diabolical Death Mass and let the blackened speed ritual commence!
|
7.8 |
29.04
|
7.5
|
Progressive black metal
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
13.04
Look into the twisted, tormenting, and hypnotizing cover art and then be drawn deeper in towards the Consecrated Abysses Of Dread.
|
7.5 |
13.04
|
7.0
|
Heavy metal
Official review
by
omne metallum
03.04
Not quite firing on all cylinders.
|
7.0 |
03.04
|
N/A
|
Black metal, Post-metal
Official review
by
RaduP
01.04
How fair is it to celebrate two decades as a band with a new album when nearly half that time was spent working on it?
|
N/A |
01.04
|
March 2026
N/A
|
Black metal, Post-metal
Official review
by
RaduP
05.03
For a band with "kult" in its name, Bizarrekult has a lot more depth in its melodies than expected.
|
N/A |
05.03
|
February 2026
N/A
|
Psychedelic rock, Stoner metal
Official review
by
RaduP
19.02
Sometimes you just need a wall of guitars to wash over you.
|
N/A |
19.02
|
December 2025
N/A
|
Atmospheric black metal
Official review
by
RaduP
23.12
Very fitting for this to be the Blut Aus Nord album to have "Ethereal" in its name.
|
N/A |
23.12
|
N/A
|
Neofolk, Funeral doom metal
Official review
by
RaduP
17.12
The first Bell Witch album since Demo 2011 to be shorter than one hour.
|
N/A |
17.12
|
8.2
|
Grindcore
Official review
by
ScreamingSteelUS
14.12
Gridlink's final bell is still ringing in my ears, and already we have a successor.
|
8.2 |
14.12
|
November 2025
6.9
|
Hard rock
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
04.11
The question here depends on how much epic fantasy one can endure in hard rock, because on Romantik III Bergfried go to the very limit.
|
6.9 |
04.11
|
October 2025
8.3
|
J-Pop, Melodic death metal
Official review
by
ScreamingSteelUS
29.10
I take a small amount of umbrage at the decision to use the title Metal Forth for Babymetal's fifth album. But perhaps, numeral nomenclature aside, it suits an album whose eyes are so thoroughly fixed…
|
8.3 |
29.10
|
7.3
|
Heavy metal, Power metal, Pop rock
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
28.10
The Battle Beast doesn't exactly sound like it's going into battle here, but it brings another highly enjoyable blast of power metal your way regardless.
|
7.3 |
28.10
|
6.5
|
Punk, Hardcore
Official review
by
omne metallum
08.10
Fairytale of New York.
|
6.5 |
08.10
|
September 2025
N/A
|
Progressive death metal, Progressive metal
Official review
by
musclassia
30.09
The last time we heard from Between The Buried And Me, they were undertaking an extravagant ‘do-or-die’ endeavour that paid off in spades with Colors II. It’s the kind of record that should have been a…
|
N/A |
30.09
|
N/A
|
Post-metal, Psychedelic rock, Stoner rock
Official review
by
RaduP
28.09
"Waiter! There's some country twang in my post/stoner metal!"
|
N/A |
28.09
|
7.8
|
Grindcore
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
15.09
After 14 years, Bent Sea are no longer a Dormant Ruin. Their full-length debut is finally here, and it's total nostalgic grindcore, just like it was in the good old days.
|
7.8 |
15.09
|
N/A
|
Industrial metal
Official review
by
RaduP
10.09
For a band literally named "Black Magnet", I'm surprised it took three full length albums for them to finally put an actual black magnet on that cover art.
|
N/A |
10.09
|
6.2
|
Heavy metal, Power metal
Official review
by
omne metallum
04.09
Burning ambition.
|
6.2 |
04.09
|
8.2
|
Death metal
Official review
by
omne metallum
01.09
A different kind of Beast.
|
8.2 |
01.09
|
August 2025
N/A
|
Post-metal, Noise rock, Sludge metal
Official review
by
musclassia
12.08
Starting life as a venomous hardcore punk/noise rock band on debut album Bittervatten, Gothenburg’s Blessings subsequently spent a long while away from the recording studio reinventing themselves before…
|
N/A |
12.08
|
N/A
|
Atmospheric black metal, Melodic black metal
Official review
by
musclassia
11.08
Two wildly hyped albums in quick succession firmly put Blackbraid on the black metal map. After a year off, Blackbraid III arrives poised to maintain that skyward momentum.
|
N/A |
11.08
|
7.4
|
Brutal death metal, Technical death metal
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
09.08
Forget about Sweden and the US for a minute: Maltese death metal could be the scene to really watch out for.
|
7.4 |
09.08
|
July 2025
N/A
|
Black metal, Atmospheric sludge metal
Official review
by
musclassia
28.07
With two hour-long albums across nearly a decade of existence, Ba'al are very much a band that store up all their musical ideas and unleash them in a big slab of engrossing music. Considering how…
|
N/A |
28.07
|
June 2025
7.7
|
Deathgrind, Brutal death metal
Official review
by
Roman Doez
29.06
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…
|
7.7 |
29.06
|
7.3
|
Progressive metal, Groove thrash metal
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
23.06
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?
|
7.3 |
23.06
|
May 2025
N/A
|
Progressive metal
Official review
by
musclassia
13.05
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…
|
N/A |
13.05
|
April 2025
N/A
|
Alternative metal, Folk metal
Official review
by
corrupt
15.04
A reduced version of a band's sound on a shorter release, emphasizing certain aspects of it, is often called an EP. Let’s figure out why this is, instead, an album, and whether that was a good decision.
|
N/A |
15.04
|
N/A
|
Folk black metal, Melodic black metal
Official review
by
musclassia
14.04
From a kingdom in fire to a home across the fog, the freshly formed folk/black metal project Bloody Valkyria is going from strength to strength in its nascent stages.
|
N/A |
14.04
|
7.0
|
Death metal
Official review
by
omne metallum
13.04
The unnamed feeling.
|
7.0 |
13.04
|
7.7
|
Metalcore
Official review
by
omne metallum
13.04
Once you break through glass ceilings, rock bottom is littered with broken glass.
|
7.7 |
13.04
|
March 2025
6.7
|
Alternative metal, Post hardcore
Official review
by
musclassia
12.03
I’m sure most metal fans have had at least one experience of listening to an album from an unknown band and unexpectedly hearing a familiar voice pop up; however, it’s a rather more jolting experience…
|
6.7 |
12.03
|
February 2025
6.0
|
Metalcore
Official review
by
omne metallum
24.02
Love lies bleeding.
|
6.0 |
24.02
|
January 2025
N/A
|
Black metal, Post-metal
Official review
by
RaduP
27.01
Can you spare 30 minutes of your time for some of the most beautiful melodies you'll hear in post-black metal?
|
N/A |
27.01
|
7.2
|
Black metal
Official review
by
ScreamingSteelUS
23.01
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…
|
7.2 |
23.01
|
8.6
|
Black metal
Official review
by
ScreamingSteelUS
23.01
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…
|
8.6 |
23.01
|
7.4
|
Atmospheric black metal
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
17.01
Sacred Sound Of Solitude sounds like just the perfect environment in which to experience Sacred Sound Of Solitude.
|
7.4 |
17.01
|
7.0
|
Black metal
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
12.01
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.
|
7.0 |
12.01
|
N/A
|
Cybergrind, Experimental Breakcore, Modern Classical, Powerviolence, Death metal, Hardcore, Post hardcore, Metalcore, Metalcore, Post-metal, Sludge metal
Official review
by
X-Ray Rod
09.01
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.
|
N/A |
09.01
|
December 2024
N/A
|
Progressive death metal
Official review
by
F3ynman
17.12
Not exactly the sequel that fans of Bedsore were expecting.
|
N/A |
17.12
|
N/A
|
Doom metal, Post-metal
Official review
by
RaduP
09.12
The most terrestrial of Below The Sun's albums, yet nonetheless just as enveloping.
|
N/A |
09.12
|
November 2024
8.0
|
Black metal, Heavy metal, Speed metal
Guest review
by
Blackcrowe
28.11
Extrême De Belgique…
|
8.0 |
28.11
|
8.0
|
Crossover thrash metal
Official review
by
omne metallum
27.11
On with the bodycount.
|
8.0 |
27.11
|
|
8.2
|
Black metal, Heavy metal, Speed metal
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
14.11
Bütcher haven't butchered their legacy entirely as blackened speed is still well and truly at their core despite them making a few remarkable new alterations.
|
8.2 |
14.11
|
N/A
|
Progressive rock
Official review
by
RaduP
11.11
A nearly decade long absence for one of Sweden's biggest retro-prog rock bands, has now dutifully ended.
|
N/A |
11.11
|
N/A
|
Math metal, Metalcore
Official review
by
RaduP
03.11
Take a large scoop of Every Time I Die and add some The Dillinger Escape Plan and Fit For An Autopsy toppings. And I meant not just in sound but also in lineup.
|
N/A |
03.11
|
October 2024
N/A
|
Death metal
Official review
by
RaduP
31.10
Do you ever feel like 80s extreme metal just wasn't extreme enough?
|
N/A |
31.10
|
N/A
|
Doom metal, Sludge metal
Official review
by
musclassia
08.10
‘Bile Caster’ is the kind of band name that deserves to be backed up by vile, misanthropic music, and the contents of Writhing Between Birth And Death very much fit the bill on that front.
|
N/A |
08.10
|
8.7
|
Death metal
Official review
by
musclassia
06.10
Anyone who’s been following Blood Incantation closely up to this point probably won’t be overly surprised by the nature of this latest step in their musical evolution, but the sheer extent of their progression…
|
8.7 |
06.10
|
N/A
|
Sludge metal
Official review
by
musclassia
03.10
A significant name in the Polish metal scene, the curtain fell for Blindead in 2022 after two decades of existence, but as one door closed, another opened for Blindead 23.
|
N/A |
03.10
|
September 2024
7.8
|
Blackened heavy metal, Blackened speed metal
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
29.09
Here's Bewitcher, casting another blackened heavy Spell Shock.
|
7.8 |
29.09
|
8.8
|
Melodic black metal, Progressive death metal
Official review
by
musclassia
28.09
While it certainly isn’t without its highlights, I have found 2024 to be a bit short on truly standout releases compared with the previous few years, and those that have caught my attention have typically…
|
8.8 |
28.09
|
7.9
|
Heavy metal, Progressive metal
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
10.09
What Black Sites do we expect to find lurking within The Promised Land?
|
7.9 |
10.09
|
August 2024
6.5
|
Psychedelic hard rock, Blues rock
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
10.08
Let's take a dose of Blues Pills and see if this Birthday will be one to remember.
|
6.5 |
10.08
|
July 2024
N/A
|
Screamo
Official review
by
RaduP
23.07
The blind leading the blind.
|
N/A |
23.07
|
7.9
|
Shoegaze, Doom metal
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
21.07
BleakHeart definitely know how to live up to their band name.
|
7.9 |
21.07
|
7.6
|
Doom metal, Sludge metal
Official review
by
musclassia
15.07
With an Icelandic band name and an opening song beginning with traditional singing and percussion, those newly acquainted to Blóð may be lulled into thinking that this is a Nordic folk project. Initial…
|
7.6 |
15.07
|
N/A
|
Hard rock, Blues rock
Official review
by
Ivor
07.07
There's hardly much "super" to go around in most supergroups. It is at best a marketing gimmick to give a handicap to already established musicians that mostly tips the scales of expectations…
|
N/A |
07.07
|
5.5
|
Death metal, Thrash metal
Official review
by
omne metallum
02.07
More famine than Feast.
|
5.5 |
02.07
|
June 2024
7.7
|
Instrumental, Drone doom metal, Sludge metal
Official review
by
musclassia
02.06
Of all the various bands with ‘bong’ in their name, Bongripper are the one that have managed to record music that sounds as filthy as dirty bong water. Despite its name, Empty is full to the brim with…
|
7.7 |
02.06
|
7.4
|
Experimental black metal
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
02.06
The black metal plant worshippers Botanist have travelled back to the Jurassic period to become Palaeobotanists; with this comes a slight change in their music style.
|
7.4 |
02.06
|
May 2024
N/A
|
Electronic, Alternative rock
Official review
by
omne metallum
29.05
This is going to end in tears? Maybe not.
|
N/A |
29.05
|
N/A
|
Grindcore
Official review
by
Auntie Sahar
24.05
In an increasingly over saturated and largely uninspired world of grindcore, striking out as distinct isn’t always a matter of how original your sound is. Sometimes it comes down to just how hard you can…
|
N/A |
24.05
|
3.7
|
Trancecore, Melodic death metal
Official review
by
musclassia
16.05
The whole ‘releasing a double album/releasing two albums that each focus on a different aspect of a band’s sound’ concept is one that’s had contrasting outcomes across the history of metal. Not every attempt…
|
3.7 |
16.05
|
4.5
|
Trancecore, Melodic death metal
Official review
by
musclassia
16.05
The whole ‘releasing a double album/releasing two albums that each focus on a different aspect of a band’s sound’ concept is one that’s had contrasting outcomes across the history of metal. Not every attempt…
|
4.5 |
16.05
|
N/A
|
Atmospheric sludge metal
Official review
by
musclassia
12.05
When Bossk released their rather petite sophomore album Migration in 2021, it was rumoured that this was just the first of several new records in the immediate pipeline. As it is, the first release from…
|
N/A |
12.05
|
N/A
|
Post-rock, Drone metal
Official review
by
RaduP
12.05
A small sound in a small bottle.
|
N/A |
12.05
|
9.6
|
Death metal
Guest review
by
Helios1
09.05
While many bands seem to take the path of becoming a shitty legacy act, touring and making uninteresting "return-to-basics" albums until one of the members drops dead and nobody else has enough…
|
9.6 |
09.05
|
8.0
|
Black metal
Official review
by
AndyMetalFreak
07.05
Upharsin is certainly a tricky word to interpret; thankfully the same can't be said about the rest of the album, as what we have is quite simply some of the finest black metal you'll hear this…
|
8.0 |
07.05
|