[9.0] - Brilliant follow-up to a brilliant debut.

[9.0] - This might be even stronger than The Liberation.

[8.5] - A remarkably strong follow-up to an already impressive debut.

[8.5] - More potently atmospheric post-black in a similar vein to Chapter II.

[8.5] - One of the most impressive reinventions of recent years continues to impress, with further integration of softer sounds and proggier inclinations into this increasingly unique mesh of styles.

[8.5] - More psych/stoner jam wizardry; not sure it's got the highs of Omens, but the vocals seem a bit more fitting on first listen.

[8.5] - A truly impressive step forward from one of the UK's hottest up-and-coming bands.

[8.5] - Pretty amazing black metal EP.

[8.5] - Captivating disso-death.

[8.0] - Excellent Persefone-esque ex prog record.

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - A great band putting out another great album, one that involves lots of black metal intensity, but also explores post-black and other territory very effectively, particularly on the title track.

[8.0] - Excellent compelling ambient techno.

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - Powerful post-black debut EP with great clean vocal segments.

[8.0] - Djenty prog/alt metal with lots of emotion.

[8.0] - Just the latest great prog death album from this year.

[8.0] - In a year of 'good not great' meloblack, this is at a higher level than the competition - very exciting and stirring.

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - Exhilarating post-y, semi-dissonant, beastly black metal record.

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - With the hyper-dramatic symphonics, solid riffs, energetic songs and decent clean vocals, I'm much keener on this album that Septicflesh's offering.

[8.0] - Really strong melodically-inclined black metal release with equal parts ripping and blasting, dainty piano/keys and strong guitar melodies/solos.

[8.0] - Very cool post-metal with bright vibrant mixes like some Rosetta tracks.

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - Excellent prog-inclined extreme metal.

[8.0] - Thrillingly savage Calligram-esque black/sludge/hardcore EP.

[8.0]

[8.0] - Nice Draconian-ish melodic death/doom.

[8.0] - Wide-ranging and captivating mix of bruising sludgy/stoner doom with some more psychedelic moments, particularly with The Seams Of Pangaea.

[8.0] - Solid BTBAM-lite kinda record.

[8.0] - Another unique and engrossing industrial blackened metal outing from this project; the ritualistic Erinnerung is a big highlight.

[8.0] - Well-paced, well-written industrial-edged extreme doom record.

[8.0] - Very solid proggy death metal album with a good variety and some really quality moments.

[8.0] - A lush EP from one of the lushest jazz acts around.

[8.0] - Very solid continuation of their sound, with black metal mixed with more classic metal styles and other less orthodox styles; great solos and more melodic songs.

[8.0] - A well-judged injection of symphonic flamboyance into their already solid melodeath sound.

[8.0] - Spiritual successor to Light Field Reverie that captures the same emotions.

[8.0] - Unsurprisingly strong and evocative, if perhaps not to the same extent as the last one.

[8.0] - Another strong collection of psychedelic stoner jams.

[8.0] - Very consistent, arguably moreso than the last two albums, a very respectable record.

[8.0] - Another very solid 'urban' black metal album; there's dark atmospheres, savage attacks, substantial hints of melody, it all works really well.

[8.0] - Very emotionally connecting moody post-rock with heartfelt, subdued singing, and guitar arrangements that work really effectively alongside each other.

[8.0] - Fascinating mesh of black, sludge, post-metal and other sounds.

[8.0] - Impressive record from the black metal underground darlings.

[8.0] - Tasty fuzzy Southern-influenced sludge/stoner with some subtlety alongside the fierier riffs.

[8.0]

[8.0] - Epic black-tinged death with some great cleaner parts amidst the intense assaults.

[8.0] - Fierce black metal with a mixture of Behemoth-ish occult blackened death along with some darker, more atmospheric RHLT-style parts. Closing track is a banger.

[8.0] - Repeats itself, but the basic sound is so compelling for me.

[8.0] - Unusual but impressive proggy dreamy black metal.

[8.0] - Proggy, unpredictable strain of extreme metal.

[8.0] - Hyper-energetic meloblack with prolific blasting, dramatic synths and stirring melodies.

[8.0] - Thoroughly impressive mixture of death metal with stoner/psych rock, among other influences.

[8.0] - Very neat stoner-prog/post-metal sound from this trio.

[8.0] - Spain come crashing in with a feisty slab of grindy death metal.

[8.0] - Very nice neofolk debut with some Rohan vibes (e.g. Vasariah), with just a handful of slightly offputting songs/moments putting it slightly below my favourite albums in the genre.

[8.0] - Really tonally nice emo/math/post-rock record, nice and brief too.

[8.0] - I think I was more impressed by this record than the debut; really dig the dreamier sounds.

[8.0] - Solid post-metal debut featuring ex-Moanaa members; a bit of Ortega to this one.

[8.0] - Don't remember overly clicking with this band previously, but I like the dark jazz 'avant-garde' sound of this record a fair amount.

[8.0] - Amazing artwork and solid death/doom debut.

[8.0] - Nicely morose gothic doom with sad melodies, dainty piano and nifty electronics.

[8.0] - Another dark jazzy extreme metal record done well by this group.

[8.0] - Exuberant and fascinating album that fills the void until the next A Forest Of Stars record.

[8.0] - A lot more stylistically consistent than last year's album, and better for it.

[8.0] - 20-min EP right up my street, blackened post-metal with lots of atmosphere.

[8.0] - 30-min instrumental post/industrial/avant-garde release, really decent.

[8.0] - Avantgarde, symphonic blackened doom madness - a very unusual direction for a clarinetist to go in musically.

[8.0] - An inspired take on the dark jazzy avant-garde metal idea.

[8.0] - Folky meloblack that is overlong at nigh-on 80 minutes but nevertheless very well made.

[8.0] - Very intriguing mix of at-times Oranssi Pazuzu-esque psychedelic and semi-dissonant black metal with more noise/dark ambient stretches.

[8.0] - Accomplished melodically inclined death/doom debut from these Clandestine Cuts graduates.

[8.0] - Very solid instru-post-metal.

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - Very decent post-y doom record.

[8.0] - Solidly atmospheric symph-tinged trudging death/funeral doom.

[8.0] - Cool gloomy ethereal rock sound.

[8.0] - Very subtle light record with harsh vocals but plenty of shimmering guitars, acoustics and toned down percussion.

[8.0] - Weird and wacky avant-garde deathy stuff.

[8.0] - Two very long cacophonic extreme metal odysseys.

[8.0] - Clicking with this nifty genre-hopper more than last year's debut.

[8.0] - Felt the guitarless stoner worked much better this time around.

[8.0]

[8.0] - A hellish cacophony harking back to their earlier days.

[8.0] - Feisty doomy disso-death from Voidhanger.

[8.0] - Solid post-black release, albeit not quite reaching greatness.

[8.0] - Channels the Evergrey prog/power sound in a very pleasant manner.

Fascinating black/death music with heavy Middle Eastern influences.

[8.0] - Suitably atmospheric folky gothic doom release; could do without some of the harsher vocals, but otherwise very solid.

[8.0]

[8.0] - No one quite sounds like Jambinai, and that sound continues to sound great here.

[8.0] - Sinister combination of melodically-inclined black with dark ambient and noise.

[8.0] - Nifty symph-tinged proggy deathcore release.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Perhaps not quite as immediate a first impact as part 1, but another solid EP from these smooth progsters.

[7.5] - Djent-leaning modern prog with plenty of heart and emotion.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Very soothing instrumental rock record.

[7.5] - Shimmering blackgaze with some darker atmo-black/heavier riffs in the equation as well, comes together well.

[7.5] - Strong prog/tech thrash/death effort from a consistently decent band.

[7.5] - Exuberant melodeath/extreme power in vein of Bloody Cumshot, but more flamboyant and symphonic.

[7.5] - Great djent/core EP with lots of atmospheric groove and vocal emotion.

[7.5] - Better late than never in discovering this really decent instrumental post-rock/metal album from January.

[7.5] - More solid prog from this ridiculously prolific group.

[7.5] - Some nice emotions found within this brooding gothic album.

[7.5] - Symph-tinged proggy tech-deathcore, lots of terms thrown in there but the end result works nicely.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Really good proggy melodic blackened death release from Bahrain.

[7.5] - Quality vocals and memorable songs, decent power metal offering.

[7.5] - Conventional but very cool and evocative heavier post-rock.

[7.5] - Proggy tech-death that makes the strongest impression on the longer, proggier tracks.

[7.5] - Another unholy cacophony - I don't enjoy it, but I do respect it.

[7.5] - Slightly suffers from the consistency that sometimes comes with avant-garde albums, but there's some great moments here, The Ascending Collective chief among them.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Rather cool post-y sludge doom debut from London duo.

[7.5] - Pretty great blackened sludge/post-black debut EP.

[7.5] - Really interesting and well-made proggy melo(ish)death album.

[7.5] - Cool post-y doomy record with harsher vocals but also some nice cleans from Heike Langhans.

[7.5] - Black metal album with some post- leanings that work nicely.

[7.5] - Nice post-hardcore/djent sound with solid vocals.

[7.5] - Straight-up Lorna Shore worship, but a very enjoyable interpretation of it.

[7.5] - Remi from The Algorithm drops the metal in favour of IDM/synthwave - it reminds me of Rival Consoles in a very positive way.

[7.5] - Very pleasant piano-heavy post-rock.

[7.5] - Nice orchestral metal instrumental record with some lovely strings.

[7.5] - Dirty sludge with some amazing shredded vocals.

[7.5] - Bright shiny Deafheaven-esque post-hardcore/blackgaze.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Serious sludge/death/doom debut.

[7.5] - Nice moody alt debut with Leprous influences.

[7.5] - I didn't care for the debut, but I like the storyteller vibe, folkiness and symphonics of this atmo-black release.

[7.5] - Harsh vocals, but generally more classically doom, and sounds rather good while doing so.

[7.5] - Really like this guy's take on ambient/IDM.

[7.5] - Don't really hear synthwave here, but the keyboards are quite nice and the black(ish) metal is very pleasantly melodic.

[7.5] - Not quite Lorna Shore tier, but very solid symph-deathcore effort.

[7.5] - Intriguing mesh of mathcore, post-metal and a couple of other styles.

[7.5] - Accomplished mesh of classic, stoner, psychedelic and post- rock styles on the heavier end of the spectrum.

[7.5] - Some really nice shimmering blackgaze/atmo-black.

[7.5] - Ominous, sinister drone metal with some chaotic saxophone.

[7.5] - One of the best purveyors of thrash currently around.

[7.5] - Lots of emotion and heart in this post-metal debut EP.

[7.5] - Very pleasant folky/pagan meloblack stuff with ethereal vocals, a bit like early Myrkur.

[7.5] - Very neat post-y sludge debut.

[7.5] - Vicious, contorted disso-death with prolonged ambient outro.

[7.5] - Nifty The Thing-themed meloblack record with certain quirks.

[7.5] - Very decent follow-up to Order Of The Mind that further emphasizes them as a torchbearer of Gojira's legacy.

[7.5] - Solid record mixing MPE-style melodeath with more meloblack/folk tracks.

[7.5] - Smooth djent-tinged poppy math rock.

[7.5] - 2 more tracks of misanthropic, noisy sludge from these purveyors of vile sounds.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Fluctuates between grandiose symphonic doom and more extreme-leaning styles; the former works a bit better for me.

[7.5] - Very decent prog death EP.

[7.5] - Post-black release; really reveals its strengths in the closing minutes.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Ferocious slab of dissonant blackened death metal.

[7.5] - Rather solid prog/power release with a couple of fine long songs at the end.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Really pleasant mix of power metal with bits of melodeath, folk and metalcore.

[7.5] - Frenetic, aggressive, compelling dissonant blackened hardcore (FFO namedrops Plebeian Grandstand, for reference).

[7.5] - Short taste of Wheel goodness.

[7.5] - I dig the more melodic, proggier Obscura approach, even if sometimes those melodic vocals don't quite hit the mark for me.

[7.5] - Nice melancholic melodic death/doom.

[7.5] - Good balance of hardcore savagery and sludgy menace.

[7.5] - Solid tech/prog-death with some great solos.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Very pleasant if slightly rough-edged alt-y prog rock/metal soothing listen; cool Pink Floyd cover.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Sharp-edged, menacing meloblack

[7.5] - Convoluted, trippy experimental instrumental prog rock album.

[7.5] - Intimidating yet sometimes surprisingly melodic black/death fury.

[7.5] - Suitably menacing 20-minute post-black one-song EP.

[7.5] - Grim and murky sludge doom.

[7.5] - Semi-eclectic mix of post-hardcore, post-metal, and some more intense metal styles.

[7.5] - Similar to Behemoth, without the symphonic/choral flourishes but with a lot of bite.

[7.5] - Good black/Viking metal release with memorable tracks.

[7.5] - Vibrant one-song prog epic, albeit with some annoying moments.

[7.5] - Instrumental-only meloblack/doom/some other styles - track 2 is pretty excellent in how evocative it is, but the more straightforward black metal parts aren't quite of the same quality.

[7.5] - Very well-made tech-death in the Obscura vein.

[7.5] - Dirty, malevolent sludgy noise rock; much prefer this than something like Chat Pile.

[7.5] - Intense but subtly epic black metal.

[7.5] - Pretty solid tech death with a melodic slant.

[7.5] - Warm, pleasant instrumental prog.

[7.5] - Very peculiar and intriguing ex prog debut EP.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Solid meloblack with dramatic flair.

[7.5] - Good vocals, nice songwriting turns and generally enjoyable mathcore/metalcore record.

[7.5] - Doesn't do anything special with the symph-deathcore approach, but at least has pretty memorable songs.

[7.5] - Sinister dark ambient/dark jazz from Jason Kohnen, Colin Webster and others, sparse saxophone/vocals in ominous soundscapes.

[7.5] - Impressive roster of guests on this doom record.

[7.5] - Cool stoner doom with throat singing.

[7.5] - Emotionally poignant heavy post-rock.

[7.5] - Sadness-tinged black metal with plenty of blasting.

[7.5] - Another pleasant ethereal doom record from this promising project.

[7.5] - Cool doomy, atmospheric return from this band.

[7.5]

[7.5] - On the whole, very solid post-metal, but with just a few moments that slightly throw me off (e.g. the awful closing song).

[7.5] - Classic-sounding death/doom with strings, very pleasant stuff.

[7.5] - A tad long-winded, but a very decent proggy post-metal album with some cool folky strings popping up and Deafheaven-esque blackened vocals.

[7.5] - Sludge of the venomous hardcore variety with bite and jagged edges.

[7.5] - Mellow, fairly serene, space-style ambient-tinged atmo-black.

[7.5] - Intense split with END that ends with a surprisingly evocative closing track.

[7.5] - Extensive compilation of tracks that cover Anathema-esque melancholy through to extreme doom.

[7.5] - Exuberant, entertaining videogame-inspired instrumental metal.

[7.5] - Russian Circles doing Russian Circles things - not their greatest, but it's got some nice stuff on.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Tagged as heavy/speed metal, it's not quite either, but the amorphous, indistinct take on metal that they do offer is more compelling than either of those styles in isolation.

[7.5] - Gemitsch of heavyish rock/metal styles featuring a who's who of up-and-coming British musicians.

[7.5] - Nice Americana/post-rock fusion.

[7.5] - 50% meloblack, 50% ambient/drone - if you like one style in particular, just listen to that half of the tracklist.

[7.5] - Catchy goth-tinged rock.

[7.5] - Cutting mathcore from former Dillinger drummer.

[7.5] - Interesting concept lurking somewhere between ambient black metal and blackgaze - incredibly fuzzy and droning backdrop but with some shoegaze inclinations.

[7.5] - Good meloblack folk with lots of tremolo and gang singing.

[7.5] - Well-written, hard-to-classify release with hints of tech-death, melodeath and meloblack.

[7.5] - Enchanting semi-celestial, semi-medieval atmo-black with dungeon synth aspects.

[7.5] - Cavernous, semi-dissonant death metal, starts off standard enough but develops an added oomph on later tracks such as Unborn.

[7.5] - Straightforward, blast-heavy, melody-tinged black metal.

[7.5] - Instru-post that brings in a few heavier sounds to expand their sonic palette.

[7.5] - My first proper taste of Belphegor, a pretty solid chunk of black/death metal.

[7.5] - Intriguing ambient black metal sound overloading with bright fuzz.

[7.5] - More aimed towards the jugular than the last album, this is a solid slab of blackened death metal, but not an overwhelming release.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Solidly enjoyable prog/stoner/post-rock debut EP.

[7.5] - Initially impressive sludgy death doom album, but one that doesn't quite reward repeat playthroughs.

[7.5] - Very no-frills, no-nonsense blackened death compared to Behemoth, this is just full-pelt fury and works rather well.

[7.5] - Solid stoner effort with a mixture of driving rock parts and gnarlier doomy bits; Stoned Ape Theory is a highlight.

[7.5] - Intriguing proggy extreme metal venture.

[7.5] - Dronier than their earlier 2022 album, this is like Bong meets Om.

[7.5] - Fun lively industrial/noise stuff; the tracks with the greater percussive emphasis (e.g. Ayan) are the standouts.

[7.5] - Nice, emotionally resonant prog debut EP.

[7.5] - Retro-sounding but decent epic-style death/doom album.

[7.5] - Starts off slowish, but eventually reminds me why I liked Coming Full Circle back in the day, has some nice feelz here.

[7.5] - Nasty industrial/industrial metal with plenty of bile.

[7.5] - Bonkers, maddening avant-garde black metal with symphonic flourishes and other weird stuff.

[7.5] - Interesting prog that veers instrumentally towards tech-death while remaining primarily melodic.

[7.5] - Rather solid blackened death album slightly on the more melodic end of the spectrum, with some nice spoken word and symphonic hints in there.

[7.5] - Cool mellow electronic release.

[7.5] - Some kind of technical melodeathcore fusion that works out pretty well.

[7.5] - Exuberant and wide-ranging prog debut that features frenetic technicality but also some moments of eerie ambience.

[7.5] - A very decent post-black record with a solid mixture of uplifting meloblack/blackgaze and sullen quiet post-rock/metal moodiness, but 4 songs near/over 20 minutes is excessive.

[7.5] - Another pleasant Antimatter album, although I do find the constant vibrato on the vocals a tad grating across the whole album.

[7.5] - Interesting punky thrashy sound.

[7.5] - Solid doom with nice vocals.

[7.5] - Nice heavy evocative post-rock.

[7.5] - Fluctuates between 'somewhat tedious' (Your Sadness Is Vain) and 'utterly charming' (Pigeon Rain, One Last Song).

[7.5]

[7.5] - Feisty darker deathy thrash EP with a bit more substance than a lot of modern thrash.

[7.5] - Neat symph-tinged dramatic-sounding melodeath record.

[7.5] - Fun instrumental album presumably inspired by anime soundtracks.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Bit more straight black than the last one, very good final song though.

[7.5] - Decent return from the instru-stoners after a long absence.

[7.5] - Less depressive black, more shimmering blackgaze; it's still decent, but not too impactful.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Pleasant folk-tinged atmo-black very much on the lighter, more melodic end of the spectrum.

[7.5] - Solid Middle Eastern blackened death making good use of local folk instruments.

[7.5] - More of the same, but the same is good.

[7.5] - The sophomore album of this black/death/thrash band places more importance on black metal.

[7.5] - Unusual ponderous doomy sludge sound with some subtly uplifting tones.

[7.5] - Very classic retro trad doom sound purpose-built for genre fans.

[7.5] - Meandering dissonant black metal with a sinister atmosphere.

[7.5] - A cool technical deathcore debut with some neat symphonic and blackened touches, but a few too many wanky bits to be as great as it could be.

[7.5] - Rather decent melodeath effort taking cues from both Gothenburg and Finnish styles.

[7.5] - Surprisingly enjoyable trad-style heavy; there's a brightness to the music that helps, as do the great vocals.

[7.5] - Good good gothic doom.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Very enjoyable metallic prog rock album (not sure how else to best describe its tone).

[7.5] - Chunky and generally satisfying DM effort from these veterans.

[7.5] - Solid melodeath record with good hooks.

[7.5] - Mix of black n' roll with some darker sounds, it's decent but I'm not engrossed by it.

[7.5] - Fun, lush Afro-jazz debut.

[7.5] - Feisty extreme metal-leaning metallic hardcore.

[7.5] - Nice rich-sounding proggy hard rock record with good vocals.

[7.5] - Feisty death album with frequent detours into grindcore, still has some time for some bleak atmospheric sections on top of that within a concise 30-minute package.

[7.5] - Solid atmo-black album on the blacker end of the spectrum.

[7.5] - A solid album that marks another turbulent period in this band's history.

[7.5] - Classic old-school tech/prog-death done well.

[7.5] - By-the-book but nevertheless movingly atmospheric and textured post-rock.

[7.5] - Grim sludge doom with some cool highlight moments.

[7.5] - Less varied than his debut, but still a solid alt-rock/alt-metal venture.

[7.5] - Subtly 'off' cosmic black metal that is moderately alluring.

[7.5] - Solid mix of trad-heavy, doom and death/doom with Karl Sanders on guitar.

[7.5] - Rather solid proggy, deathy solo effort.

[7.5] - Conventional but enjoyable heavy instru-post.

[7.5] - By-the-book but pleasant blackgaze with nice guitar melodies.

[7.5] - Very decent sludge first outing with grimness but faint atmospherics too.

[7.5] - Gnarly heavy hardcore debut.

[7.5] - Pleasantly stirring symph-tinged atmoblack.

[7.5] - Really captures the Jester Race vibe at times; just wish they didn't have the St Anger snare.

[7.5] - Melodeath record that sprinkles in tech-death, symphonic and deathcore riffs, but also has some killer evocative melodies.

[7.5] - Brings in some melodeath and straight death to make a thrash sound more in line with my tastes than most of their peers in the genre.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Solid instru-post with a strong 20-minute closing track.

[7.5] - Interesting techy proggy death, but a bit overlong.

[7.5] - Djenty EP that's not as mathy or wacky as I know THE to be, quite easy to listen to tbh.

[7.5] - Dreamy post-/metalgaze, it's a bit dreary in a few moments, but is generally pleasant, plus a few screams.

[7.0] - Decent melodic-leaning black metal release with some good atmo-black riffs and use of acoustics.

[7.0] - Well-made moody blackened doom.

[7.0] - The variety on this arising from the guests isn't a bad thing.

[7.5] - Pretty decent melodeath, but does have a couple of bits much better than the rest.

[7.0] - Feisty stoner/sludge/punk split.

[7.0] - Bit too Summoning with the keyboards but fairly decent atmo-black.

[7.0] - Starts off as stoner doom, ends up as ritualistic drone, pretty interesting.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Short nice meloblack.

[7.0] - Nice little blastfest.

[7.0] - Gnarly noise rock mathcore.

[7.0] - A few different styles chucked into this album, including more blackened, ambient, gazey, and other sounds.

[7.0] - Hairy chest sludge/stoner with lots of fire.

[7.0] - I always want to dig a 22-minute stoner/prog song, and parts of it are quite lovely, but I find the vocals a bit of a barrier to clicking with this as much as I want to.

[7.0] - Less metal-trap and more synthwave-oriented, works pretty well.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - A shorter album for once but still overly long songs.

[7.0] - A fairly conventional meloblack sound, but a nice one with some pleasant acoustic melodies amidst the blasting.

[7.0] - Beastly mathcore with some proper solid riffs/grooves.

[7.0] - Post-rock veterans showing their competence.

[7.0] - Diverse, imaginative single-song EP with good use of brass; the more standard sections are less engaging.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Intriguing post-y jazzy instrumental prog album, but not super compelling.

[7.0] - Grisly black/sludge/hardcore EP with blasting through to noisy doom crawls.

[7.0] - Bold to get Hansi Kursch to sing the first song; could give a false impression when he's not on the rest of the record, but the following songs are still decent.

[7.0] - Mostly standard death-tinged doom, but makes good use out of electronic/keyboard sections to add character to tracks.

[7.0] - Bit too OSDM at times for me, but does have some moments of gravitas scattered across it, such as track 4.

[7.0] - Decent spacey death metal album.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Covers the black-meloblack-blackgaze range a bit; felt the track(s) in the latter category were the most noteworthy.

[7.0] - Blackgaze/atmo-black with the feels in its best moments, but also a few bland parts, and the clean vocals are rough on the edges.

[7.0] - Like many other albums, it's a pretty conventional spin on the symphonic deathcore sound, but it's good fun.

[7.0] - Peru pumping out some tasty NWOBHM worship.

[7.0] - Decent disso-death from the school of Ulcerate.

[7.0] - Decent deathcore that hits on a lot of modern genre tropes well.

[7.0] - Still Life-era Opeth with a post-black/blackgaze twist.

[7.0] - Pleasant enough atmoblack from the veterans.

[7.0] - Doesn't really add anything specific to the current symphonic deathcore wave, but this EP is an engaging rendition of the sound.

[7.0] - A bit scattered in its mixture of djent, mathcore, deathcore, alt sounds and unexpected sounds, but when it's not too jarring, it's pretty enjoyable.

[7.0] - Very summer of love, hippie psych-rock, it is occasionally slightly soporific but is generally very pleasant, gentle listening.

[7.0] - Ghoulish dissoblack, very I, Voidhanger.

[7.0] - Very different direction to their other two 2022 records, going techno.

[7.0] - Generic djenty metalcore record, but I found it rather enjoyable.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Chunky metallic hardcore with lots of venom but also some semi-melodic/atmospheric leads woven in.

[7.0] - Peculiar mix of proper retro prog/psychedelic rock with symphonics and black metal, undermined a bit by the lacklustre vocals.

[7.0] - Moody, atmospheric doom post-metal that's slightly lacking in terms of overall impact.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Eclectic experimental electronic record that doesn't always hit the right spot, but has some really cool ideas.

[7.0] - Symphonic prog in the vein not unlike Evergrey.

[7.0] - Good interpretation of 80s Helloween-style power metal.

[7.0] - A couple of solid songs on an otherwise affable record.

[7.0] - Fun, gnarly, djenty deathcore album.

[7.0] - Pleasant melancholic funeral doom bitesized record with nifty acoustic bridge track.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Shiny, pretty power-y prog album that is slightly undermined by its memorability.

[7.0] - More conventional atmo-black from Ayloss than whatever the last Spectral Lore was trying to be, and thus more enjoyable, if lacking in standout features.

[7.0] - Tasty High On Fire worship.

[7.0] - Nice but typical djentcore EP.

[7.0] - Respectable symphonic prog/power just lacking a touch of oomph.

[7.0] - Nu-metal/djent-core - remove the nu-metal and rap and I would like this quite a bit.

[7.0] - Vicious mathy grindcore with some neat twisty bits and gnarly riffs/sequences.

[7.0] - Slightly less mathy grindcore with similarly solid bursts of aggression, as well as occasional more restrained moments (Saccade).

[7.0] - Blackish gothy symph-tinged metal, it's generally pretty enjoyable.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Wish I liked it more than I did.

[7.0] - Fun melodeath EP.

[7.0] - Decently atmospheric death metal, albeit a tad plodding for my tastes.

[7.0] - Justin Broadrick goes IDM - it's pretty good.

[7.0] - Gaze-y atmoblack with some delicately atmospheric softer tracks.

[7.0] - Solid solo career debut from ex-Dark Moor singer - I like the Devin vibes on Take Off The Mask.

[7.0]

[7.0] - A lot of bombast, but a bit too much style and not quite enough substance.

[7.0] - Meloblack record that does its best work in the more acoustic moments.

[7.0] - Enjoyable enough, but one of the less remarkable symph-tinged deathcore releases.

[7.0] - Decent fiesty metalcore record from these vets.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Another decent but not overly noteworthy symph-tinged deathcore album.

[7.0] - Nice metalcore/post-hardcore with atmospheric leanings but also some exciting guitar solos and solid riffs; some soy parts as well though.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - I remembered these guys being a tad less cheesy than this, but the album is alright.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - More interesting than straight OSDM with the intensity of the riffs and some Melechesh-style instrumental passages.

[7.0] - Tasty cavernous dissonant death metal.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Classic-style metalcore that has flirtations with more modern styles on certain songs.

[7.0]

[7.0] - It loses its appeal a bit in the middle, but the 14-minute opener is an impressive effort for a band with 'heavy metal' in their name, and the closing song is quite neat too.

[7.0] - Not just pure bile, with some flow and dynamic range to it, it's a decent grindcore release.

[7.0] - Decent meloblack debut EP but the highlight is the ambient electronic outro track.

[7.0] - Very catchy and accessible djent with occasional -core moments.

[7.0] - Chonky djenty instru-post, pretty hefty and decent with tranquil post-rock parts.

[7.0] - Fun jammy stoner album with some Weedpecker-y moments.

[7.0] - At-times gnarly but approachably stoner-y sludge doom record.

[7.0] - The extreme metal is gone, and so is the prog for the most part; vocals are still great, and less self-indulgent than the last album, but a bit boring.

[7.0] - Decent debut, but a bit unremarkable.

[7.0] - Factions is a good song, but overall Lightwork is a bit meh and Nightwork is a bit scattered.

[7.0] - Stoner release that's actually really nice in its best moments (In The Dark, Black Tar Mountain) but also has a few uninteresting songs.

[7.0] - The mix of gloomy Wolfecore, ambient, post-metal, black metal, it doesn't click for me here as much as I would like; in its best moments, though, it's very decent.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Definitely saved by the title track.

[7.0] - Great vocals, the song quality is a bit inconsistent but there's a few really good ones here.

[7.0] - Peculiar proggy death metal album-song.

[7.0] - More decent rock with Bjork-y vocals.

[7.0] - Another competent entry to this prolific sludge band's discog.

[7.0] - Middle-of-the-road bluesy stoner hard rock, sounds fine but not in love with it.

[7.0] - A djenty album that veers closer to the genre's thrash/groove origins.

[7.0] - Very classic doom, sounds pretty decent.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Pretty decent black/post-black album, albeit not super memorable.

[7.0] - Lengthy, moody blackened prog/doom album with a decent atmosphere.

[7.0] - Chonky deathgrind release.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Djent/DnB mash-up - room for growth but interesting attempt at the fusion.

[7.0] - A perhaps overly rudimentary interpretation of the classic Om style.

[7.0] - Similar in style and abrasion to Vessel Of Iniquity.

[7.0] - Very cheesy power metal, but not unenjoyable.

[7.0] - Decent melodeath with a nice acoustic interlude track and some lush classic In Flames-style melodies.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Pretty decent alt-y industrial rock/metal album.

[7.0] - Gains points for making melodeath not completely in the typical mould (with aspects that run close to The Gallery), but loses points by having a few unremarkable tracks.

[7.0] - Very conventional heavy post-rock, but it was pleasant to listen to.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Typical but fun techy deathcore debut EP.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Fiery hardcore EP with some chonky riffs/grooves.

[7.0] - Interesting instrumental-only symphonic release.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Decent (post-)hardcore, some of the more light-toned songs are fairly impressive.

[7.0] - Interesting use of electronics within a fairly typical OSDM sound.

[7.0] - Decent meloblack.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Pleasant enough.

[7.0] - Never been much of an Arch Enemy fan, but I enjoyed this more than Amon Amarth's latest at least.

[7.0] - Well-crafted and at-times gnarly instrumental prog effort.

[7.0] - Frenetic screamo, frequently abrasive but with some moments that offer respite.

[7.0] - Quite underwhelming early on, but pulls its way back with a quality song like Skeletons On Mars.

[7.0] - Nails-on-chalkboard vocals weren't redeemed by the musical quality.

[7.0] - Less impressed with this than their previous one.

[7.0] - Pretty decent djenty prog debut, albeit with some ineffectual vocal hooks.

[7.0] - Solid tech-deathcore with some really nice moments, but also quite a bit of directionless wankery.

[7.0] - Full-on and fairly exciting symph-tinged meloblack.

[7.0] - Darker, meaner thrash that sounds pretty decent.

[7.0] - Pretty decent classic style prog-metal release with a well-executed 20-minute self-titled opening track.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Alt/prog record with some strong husky post-grunge vocals.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Contorted, bruising doomy sludge; not taken by the vocals, though.

[7.0] - Pretty middle-of-the-road dissonanty death metal album.

[7.0] - Sharp, to-the-point grind with some cool moments.

[7.0] - Super-cheesy, but a nice Serenity tinge to it.

[7.0] - Very nice vocals; not really gothic though.

[7.0] - Power-ish symphonic metal with some good moments, albeit a bit too much that's plodding or underwhelming to consistently deliver; the Ad Infinitum-esque Mirage is a good example of this. The folkier parts such as Free Me are very nice.

[7.0] - Decent Filipino Gothenburg-inspired melodeath.

[7.0] - It's perfectly decent in its good moments, but they're just too AOR-heavy for their own good on this album.

[7.0] - With a name like that, you know it'll be heavy on the cheese.

[7.0] - Black metal; nothing unusual but pretty likeable.

[7.0] - Fine but unremarkable.

[7.0] - Respectable heavy metal album whose main strength is featuring Tom Englund on vocals.

[7.0] - Grindcore with some proggy death metal moments (e.g. on Time, Forward) to liven things up.

[7.0] - Interesting use of vocals on this latest effort.

[7.0] - Fun 80s worship chillwave, if a bit long.

[7.0] - It's Jesu, so it's a bit dreary, but not the worst thing they've done.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Decent gothic metal sound with fairly nice overlapping of different vocal styles and instruments, albeit with some rough edges.

[7.0] - Ambient black metal so lo-fi and eerie that it feels like a musical void at times.

[7.0] - They're unstoppable; this is probably the least interesting of their October trilogy though.

[7.0] - At-times doomy, other times stonery dirty hard rock,

[7.0] - Furious, venomous deathgrind.

[7.0] - This is black metal, nothing more nothing less.

[7.0] - The last track is a bit irritating, but the first three I've gotten more out of than most Liturgy stuff.

[7.0] - Weighty, brooding doom that I'm a bit more fond of then a lot of retro-doom.

[7.0] - A step up from straight OSDM worship, particularly with some interesting lead guitar moments.

[7.0] - Ferocious death metal, but can't say I enjoyed this.

[7.0] - Literally just black metal.

[6.5] - Bit all over the place still, but probably a bit better than Free Speech.

[6.5] - Pleasant enough folk metal that does all the right things, but not quite well enough; dig the artwork, though.

[6.5] - Very Insomnium-esque melodeath, has a lot of potential but the rougher and flatter production doesn't allow it to shine in the way an Insomnium album would.

[6.5] - Murky sludgy extreme doom with some horror keyboard layers, does the job without rising too high above that bar.

[6.5] - Middle-of-the-road meloblack/Pagan metal.

[6.5]

[6.5] - Respectable prog, but a slight chore to listen to at times.

[6.5] - Pleasant but slightly perfunctory Nordic neofolk.

[6.5] - Proggy blues hard rock that's a tad inconsistent.

[6.5] - Rough-edged proggy post-hardcore with more intense moments; not always great (particularly vocally) but shines in parts.

[6.5] - Big move away from the exuberance of Still, it's closer to blackened rock now.

[6.5] - Motorhead/groove metal with fiery barked vocals, nothing special but fun enough.

[6.5] - Pretty Killswitch-y plus a bit of post-hardcore, but altogether doesn't quite do it for me.

[6.5] - Impressive technicality in this mathy instru-prog, but the autotuned hip hop tracks aren't for me.

[6.5]

[6.5] - Pagan-y black metal album that's a bit too long and a bit not interesting enough.

[6.5] - Decent but not overly memorable metalcore album; nice ambition on the 10-minute closer, though.

[6.5]

[6.5]

[6.5] - Let down a bit vocally at times, this is otherwise a fairly decent classic heavy metal album.

[6.5] - Mellow yet slightly eerie ambience, very easy listening for the style.

[6.5] - On the hard rock/heavy metal border, it's mostly by-the-book but has some highlight moments.

[6.5] - Competent and has its moments, but also a tad boring.

[6.5] - Generally well-made prog, but I don't think the ideas translate into great well-rounded songs.

[6.5] - Chonky core-leaning tech-death.

[6.5] - Meandering, not entirely convincing but pretty decent prog-doom-djent/core mesh.

[6.5] - Pleasant but slightly lightweight symph-tinged prog with nice deep vocals.

[6.5] - Nice vocals, some decent instrumentation, but a bit lightweight.

[6.5] - Decent heavy/power cheese with Avantasia-y vocals.

[6.5] - Extreme-tinged thrash with exuberant (sometimes overly so) vocals.

[6.5] - Pleasant arena rock with a bit more of a power metal slant.

[6.5] - Nothing particularly noteworthy in this Gothenburg worship record, but I did nevertheless enjoy the songs they wrote in the style.

[6.5] - Competent thrashy power/heavy metal, but with vocal melodies that didn't fully synchronize with the surrounding music.

[6.5] - Surprisingly enjoyable prog/power/alt-metal debut.

[6.5] - Straightforward knucklehead beatdown deathcore, but it does what it needs to.

[6.5] - Doesn't match up to Ritual, but it's a decent listen still.

[6.5] - Intense, explosive dissonant death metal cacophony.

[6.5] - Good vocalist, but the songs on this power metal release don't quite match up.

[6.5] - Not sure why I tagged this to listen to - death-heavy melodeath that's a bit uninteresting.

[6.5] - Decent enough techy djent/deathcore EP.

[6.5]

[6.5]

[6.5] - Bright, shiny tech-y/core-y melodeath that sadly doesn't quite click for me.

[6.5] - The general atmosphere of this gothic doom album is very reasonable, but the vocals don't quite deliver.

[6.5] - Pleasant melodic death/doom lacking a tad in impact.

[6.5] - Straddles the thrash/USPM line; uses these soaring vocals in thrash better than Toxik did this year.

[6.5] - Cheesy arena rock, it's alright though.

[6.5] - Different spin on blackened gothic rock/metal, but not sure whether the roughness of the sound is a hindrance or a help.

[6.5] - Decent grindcore with incredibly grating vocals.

[6.5] - Bit of a scrappy industrial black/death record - not enough industrial content and the black/death parts fluctuate in quality.

[6.5] - Despite the mesmerizing artwork, this is very straightforward black metal.

[6.5]

[6.5] - Unremarkable, but chonky and satisfying grindy death metal.

[6.5] - I quite like the power metal tinge to this thrash album, but not hot on the vocals.

[6.5]

[6.5] - Relatively enjoyable OSDM but still fairly unremarkable.

[6.5] - Mix of slow ominous piano, funeral doom pacing and some ambient-black tier production. It's an interesting mesh, but a bit trudging.

[6.5] - Stoner rock played perfectly fine without being notable in any particular way.

[6.0] - The droniest drone.

[6.0] - Noise rock can be a bit hit and miss for me, and while there's solid moments in this album, I'm not taken with it as a whole.

[6.0]

[6.0] - Unconvincing sludgy noise rock sound.

[6.0] - 80s arena-style hard rock starts off fairly strongly, but does get quite annoying later on with some songs.

[6.0] - 'Black metal' by the loosest connection, it's more like Mesarthim but a bit more lightweight.

[6.0]

[6.0] - It's just grind.

[6.0]

[6.0] - Maybe more interesting than previous Darkthrone releases?

[6.0] - The death metal tag is very misleading, but although I was initially intrigued when it turned out to be goth/doom stuff instead, the end result didn't quite work consistently enough for me, even if the retro-Anathema sound on Autumn Song is quite nice.

[6.0]

[6.0] - My first proper taste of this band, it's a tad boring.

[6.0] - Very different approach to pre-hiatus TMV, and not particularly appealing because of it.

[6.0] - Half-decent melodeath/metalcore EP.

[6.0] - Funeral doom that does the job, but he might want to slow down on the release schedule to allow for quality over quantity.

[6.0] - Decent symphonic power metal with good vocals and some solid songs, but a few flatter tracks.

[6.0] - Promising post-metal turned into sappy indie.

[6.0] - First track was promising for this genre, but track 2 with the soporific 'metal with live forever' chorus curtailed those initial hopes.

[6.0] - Soft-goth stuff with some pleasant guitar melodies, but fairly forgettable.

[6.0]

[6.0] - Good singers, but not particularly interesting songs.

[6.0]

[6.0] - Mathcore on the slightly softer, post-hardcore end of the spectrum - bit irritating in parts.

[6.0] - Bloated prog/power with Ripper Owens on vocals.

[6.0] - Listenable heavy/power album that doesn't rise to a higher tier than that.

[6.0] - Pretty listenable deathy thrash.

[6.0] - Rudimentary death/doom with a decent production.

[6.0]

[6.0] - Heavy with a power metal inclination (some Firewind hints) that makes it a bit more palatable, this is pretty fine if not my thing.

[6.0]

[6.0] - Passingly solid sludge, but I don't gel with the punkier tracks or vocals.

[6.0]

[6.0]

[6.0] - Eclectic mix of styles between songs, but no one in particular really stands out.

[5.5]

[5.5]

[5.5] - This could actually be decent thrash but damn those vocals are annoying.

[5.5]

[5.5]

[5.5]

[5.5] - Thoroughly grating free jazz drone doon.