[9.0] - Every bit as dope as I would hope the follow-up to Birth Of The Marvellous would be, and with a bit more range included too.

[9.0] - Another great listen from NeO; Misericorde joins the pantheon of their best songs.

[8.5] - Take Chelsea Wolfe's Abyss, make it doomier and more metallic, and you're approaching the majesty of this record.

[8.5]

[8.5]

[8.5]

[8.5] - Fascinating instrumental post-rock/metal/krautrock, two excellent first songs, then the final track goes beyond this to become celestial drone (metal), fantastic record.

[8.5]

[8.5]

[8.5]

[8.0]

[8.0

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - Bulldozing sludge debut from Japan.

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - Strong post-black release with piano/orchestral passages to add atmosphere.

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - Pretty damn decent atmospheric post-black.

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - Very solid, emotional, post-y black-y metal.

[8.0] - Elite post-rock band produces elite post-rock EP, they really have an aura that so many of their peers lack.

[8.0]

[8.0] - Slightly too long, but very strong Icelandic BM debut with good mix of riffs, atmosphere and melodic hints.

[8.0]

[8.0] - Lorna Shore-esque blackened symph-deathcore.

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - Really nice gloomy atmospheric rock/slightly metal release.

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - Malevolent sludge-heavy post-metal with darkness and intensity.

[8.0]

[8.0] - Very entertaining extreme power/melodeath with lots of innate hookiness.

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - Posty, proggy stuff that sounds fairly unique and evocative.

[8.0] - Unusual, doomy and dense disso-death.

[8.0] - Malevolent sludge doom with some malicious grimness but also surprising hints of levity.

[8.0] - Pretty great progressive deathcore that sounds great in deathcore, djent, tech-death or prog mode.

[8.0] - Great mix of tech-death, deathcore, and other proggy and more melodic sounds.

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - Bold stylistic mix of black, prog death, and some other quirks.

[8.0] - Emphatic, powerful, blast-heavy post-tinged black metal effort.

[8.0] - A more blackened version of Year Of No Light/Silent Whale Becomes A Dream, pretty awe-inspiring in its grandest moments.

[8.0] - Good mix of riffs, solos and venom on this modern-sounding DM effort.

[8.0] - Excessive at 83 minutes long, but it's actually a very solid prog death/black album with good musical extremes and moments.

[8.0] - Strong, diverse, melodically inclined black metal with other elements in there.

[8.0]

[8.0]

[8.0] - Demented avant-garde black metal with bizarre dissonance and weird folkish tones.

[8.0]

[8.0] - Really enjoyable Cinematic Orchestra-style soft jazzy post-rock.

[8.0] - Rich, melody-heavy quasi-extreme doom record with excellent vocals.

[8.0]

[8.0] - Sounds a lot like Amenra mixed with Gloson, but is satisfying like both those bands can be.

[8.0] - Chelsea Wolfecore/doom, subdued and haunting.

[8.0] - I'm disappointed that a post-metal album by Dirge doesn't indicate a return from the French band, but this Indian group are also very proficient at textured, atmospheric post-metal.

[8.0] - Really nice Portico Quartet/GoGo Penguin-style jazz.

[8.0] - Strong frenetic black metal with plenty of blasting and subtle psychedelic hints.

[8.0] - Ridiculous name, solid album.

[8.0]

[8.0] - The name fits - this is an oddball, eclectic display of meloblack with industrial, electronic, symphonic, post-metal and other elements on top.

[8.0] - Very decent gothic doom debut with some unexpected musical detours.

[8.0]

[8.0] - Unconventional post-metal with post-punk, industrial and death rock elements.

[8.0] - Solid slab of grim sludge with venom alongside some quieter noise rock moments.

[8.0] - More stylistically consistent than the half-blackgaze/half-funeral doom debut, this ambient atmo-black release has a nice mix of approaches and subtle melody (with a little funeral doom return in the last song).

[8.0] - Upper-tier prog/tech-death, the jam midway through We Are The Sun Gods is dope.

[8.0] - Exciting heavy psych rock bonanza.

[8.0] - 2000s Behemoth-esque death metal juggernaut, a lot of fun.

[8.0] - Sharp-edged, impressive meloblack debut.

[8.0] - Tasty sludge with post/mathy bits.

[8.0] - Fairly gazey post-black.

[8.0] - Very catchy meloblack.

[8.0]

[8.0] - Drone with noise rock vibes, works really well having the slow heavy drums building suspense.

[7.5] - More malicious side-project than the day job of 2 Amenra members.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Really pleasant instrumental psych rock jam record.

[7.5] - Weird, eclectic, chaotic, diverse X-core.

[7.5] - Very respectable high-energy meloblack debut.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Really nice tone to these moody understated pop-style songs.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Nice moody gothy dark folk.

[7.5] - Feisty 20-minute single-song black metal EP.

[7.5] - Very solid prog/psych rock.

[7.5] - Strong proggy gothic doom debut, bit Ghost Brigade-y.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Grisly deathened proggy sludge/post-metal trudge.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Really decent death that goes in a few different directions - groovy, techy, atmos/melodic - but manages to be consistently unpredictable and satisfying.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Another cool Canterbury-style album, with occasional vocals now too.

[7.5] - Another solid effort from these dronesters, love the percussion and vibe.

[7.5] - Contorted, unorthodox, savage black metal; it's pretty great.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Tender, evocative blackgaze/post-rock.

[7.5] - Fun, super-energetic folk power debut.

[7.5] - Another very enjoyable proggy alt album from these guys that is just below being great.

[7.5] - Long and has a couple of missteps, but it's a very solid record overall.

[7.5] - Neat return to the goth rock times from the Paradise Lost cohort.

[7.5] - Nicely atmospheric modern prog album, it has its heavy moments but is quite mellow too.

[7.5] - Cool psychedelic drone folk stuff, gets heavy on some tracks but others are more dreamy psych rock.

[7.5] - Varied mix of styles; perhaps slips at moments in how seamlessly the styls are integrated, but it's a good album all in all.

[7.5] - Very solid techy-death 25-min EP.

[7.5] - Cacophonic avant-garde black metal with lots of demented samples and sound effects.

[7.5] - Very Insomnium-esque, and very enjoyable as a result.

[7.5] - Droney, sludgy stoner with swagger.

[7.5] - Super-riffy quasi-melodic black metal; The Golden Calf is a banger.

[7.5] - Solid two-track blackened post-metal EP.

[7.5] - Love the strings on the title track; really nice understated neoclassical darkwave.

[7.5] - Solid death metal, some OSDM hints but also some more modern and more evil sounds.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Riff-heavy meloblack with everything important down pat, albeit with relatively few frills.

[7.5] - Solid deathcore with good riffs, decent breakdowns and nice melodic guitar moments.

[7.5] - Nice to get to hear this performance again.

[7.5] - Nifty djent-prog with djent-heavy riffing, an upbeat melodic aura and emotive vocals.

[7.5] - More lush melodeath/doom with Insomnium-esque and Ghost Brigade-esque songs.

[7.5] - Polish death, proggier than Dormant Ordeal and not quite as great.

[7.5] - Melodeath/doom - parts of it are pretty unnoteworthy, but damn is Edge Of The Universe lovely.

[7.5] - Exciting high-energy meloblack record.

[7.5] - Slightly questionable spoken vocals on track 2 aside, this is a really decent meloblack release, enjoyed it a lot.

[7.5] - Fascinating genre-hopping madness.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Production hinders it in places, but overall it's another solid black/electro outing from Bríi.

[7.5]

[7.5] - High-tempo Gothenburg with tech-death slant.

[7.5] - Enjoyable symph-lite prog with pleasantly gentle lead vocals.

[7.5] - Devastatingly heavy doomy sludge.

[7.5] - Ethereal ambient post-'rock'.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Fairly monstruous and tasty blackened deathcore with slight post- and symph features.

[7.5] - Really dig these guys, hope there's more on the way.

[7.5] - Ballistic, frenetic proggy tech-death.

[7.5] - Exuberant mesh of jazz, math rock, prog, and post-metal that works pretty well.

[7.5] - Starts off as thrash but ends up closer to something like Evergrey, pretty solid album.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Solid non-conventional sludge album with a few different musical flavours, both lighter and more primitive.

[7.5] - Densely atmospheric extreme industrial metal album, it's weird and unorthodox but also rather satisfying.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - At-times post-y, at times melodic/atmo, black metal.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Hypnotic, cacophonic psych rock.

[7.5] - Warm, melancholic pagan/meloblack - has somee Tyr and Vintersorg to it, particularly vocally.

[7.5] - Weird but fairly compelling proggy/techy death taking clear influence from the 90s Florida tech-death bands like Atheist, Cynic and later Death.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Prog/tech death with some TBDM-ish melodeath at times too.

[7.5] - Heiman makes another power metal band great.

[7.5] - Intriguing jazzy prog rock with heavy metallic moments.

[7.5] - Retro-death metal with melodeath/folk melodies woven in.

[7.5] - Bleak sludge doom with a lot of tragedy in its making.

[7.5] - Nice mix of power metal with folk, symphonic and other elements.

[7.5] - One-man black metal debut album a long time in the making, pretty solid now that it's here.

[7.5] - Solid, fun melodeath release.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Lengthy, crusty BM songs with a few quirks, such as the more melodic hardcore ending of the last one.

[7.5] - Sludge/post-black distinctive sound from CBP members.

[7.5] - Solid sludge debut with proggy inclinations; slightly hindered by muted production.

[7.5] - Peculiar meloblack with clean singing/spoken word - a bit like something like Lifelover.

[7.5] - Prefer the sludgier parts to the funeral doom.

[7.5] - Enjoyably dramatic and epic symph-meloblack.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Solid blackened death effort.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Pretty cool proggy melodeath with more extreme current; keys are a bit cheesy though.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Post-tinged brooding, menacing sludge album.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Fun sludge doom.

[7.5] - Cheesy Maniac cover, but this is as lush as ever for OG.

[7.5] - Lively, groovy tech-death with some symphonic bombast and other oddities.

[7.5] - Up-tempo catchy meloblack/folk.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Unusual, unpredictable mix of black, prog, doom and other styles.

[7.5] - I liked this one more than the predecessor.

[7.5] - Sludgy, blackened funeral doom, works well.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Gnarly Meshuggah-leaning lengthy EP.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Starts off as fairly unassuming death metal, but evolves quite impressively, particularly with the clean solos on the likes of Ahthos Arouris I.

[7.5]

[7.5] - By-the-book but potently evocative post with samples.

[7.5] - Intriguing melodeath with blackgaze and meloblack elements.

[7.5] - More approachable than the last one.

[7.5] - Malevolent proggy tech-death with some omious harsher noise passages.

[7.5] - Grim doomy industrial-tinged sludge.

[7.5] - A short-but-pleasant album from a gone-too-soon artist.

[7.5] - Opethy prog death, not sold on the clean vox totally but decent record.

[7.5] - Solid EP that's exuberant and unpredictable without being obnoxious.

[7.5] - Lively meloblack with some cool lead shredding bits in there.

[7.5] - It's not the best disso-death album, but it's a good demonstration of how easily I get into disso-death.

[7.5] - Blast-heavy but gripping post-tinged black metal.

[7.5] - Solid atmo/depressive black with some scene-stealing guitar solos.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Proggy, stoner-y all-fem doom debut.

[7.5] - No-frills, full-pelt sharp thrash.

[7.5] - Solid quirky psych-rock instrumental effort.

[7.5] - Solid gazey post-black with some hardcore moments but also some more post-metallish parts.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Post-black metal with a solid mixture of both and atmosphere to be up my street.

[7.5] - Prog black is a fair tag for this, but it's not obviously similar to any other prog black records, quite a distinctive sound executed well.

[7.5] - Playful power metal album with showmanship - I get a slight weird vibe with the vocals, but they're generally solid.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Varied atmo-blackgaze with nice delicacies and heavier moments (but an unconvincing detour into Opeth territory towards the end).

[7.5] - Decent, brooding sludge-heavy post-metal.

[7.5] - Solid proggy blackened hardcore.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Solid proggy, post-y stuff.

[7.5] - Tad overlong, but exciting techy deathcore release.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Impressively cacophonic 31-minute hellish epic.

[7.5] - The more meandering, dense approach on these two super-long songs is impressive.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Very pleasant folky atmo-black.

[7.5] - Another compelling edition of this high-productivity post-metalgaze sound.

[7.5] - Neat modern heavy prog rock record.

[7.5] - Respectable prog- and melo-tinged BM debut.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Symphonic death metal with good emphasis on symphonics that aren't banal; the playful piano on The Resistance is fun.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Solid atmospheric doomy disso-death.

[7.5] - Doesn't break the dreamy blackgaze mould, but has exuberance and conviction that makes it stand out.

[7.5] - Cool moody electronic folk.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Fiery, sharp meloblack.

[7.5] - Rowdy, unpredictable blackened prog sludge.

[7.5] - Sludge doom with expansive final song.

[7.5] - Pleasantly melancholic Finnish prog with occasional djenty bits.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Rather satisfying symph-tinged melodic death/doom; occasionally the vocals undersell it, but most of the time it's rather solid.

[7.5] - Pretty creative power metal/deathcore fusion.

[7.5] - Gnarly graduation from CCs.

[7.5] - 00s Porcupine Tree worship.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Vicious yet groovy mathcore.

[7.5] - Pretty decent modern death metal album with techy bits, symphy bits, melodic sung bits, and a plethora of guests.

[7.5] - Guest-heavy symph-tinged blackened deathcore - not the best in the genre but somewhat memorably hooky and not too breakdown-reliant.

[7.5] - Pretty decent symphy melodeath Tolkein-themed debut.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Proggy alt-metal, best when it's proggiest.

[7.5] - Pleasant posty blackgazey stuff, fairly inoffensive.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Solid onslaught of deathy black, a tad modern Behemoth-y at times.

[7.5] - High-energy, vibrant power metal, a good amount of enjoyment to be got from it.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Tunisian atmo-inclined black metal - accessible and enjoyable, particularly near th end, albeit with some rough edges in songwriting.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Black + crust + other stuff, I like it quite a bit.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Djentcore that I like quite a bit, particularly in the more emotional moments, but isn't quite as consistently great as I'd like.

[7.5] - Solid Behemoth worship.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Neat 2-song post-doom EP.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Fairly fun proggy doom with stoner tinges.

[7.5] - Meloblack with hints of other extreme styles in, this is a solid record.

[7.5] - Solid meloblack album, although I don't entirely love the vocal style.

[7.5] - Sludge-tinged hardcore with abrasion but also some nice solos and melodic bits scattered in, and some post-metal inclinations. Slow Fall | Obsidian Waves | [7.5] - Proggy melodeath, bits of it remind me of Pain of Salvation.

[7.5] - I, Voidhanger doom, not so unusual for the style as to make clear sense on that label, but there's a bit more to this than pure retro-doom, especially the 70s prog rock quirks.

[7.5] - Deliciously distorted industrial metal, no frills venom.

[7.5] - Neat dark ambient electronica.

[7.5] - Standard but solid sludge debut.

[7.5] - Promising EP that is based in melodeath, but also incorporates prog, gothic, metalgaze and other sounds.

[7.5] - Unhurried, bluesy stoner doom with Samsara Blues Experiment vibes.

[7.5] - Dreamy, poignant blackgaze.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Lively, hooky hard rock.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Cool stoner doom, Electro Magnetic is nicely Om-ish in its droning nature.

[7.5] - Pure aggression mathcore with no melody/moments of respite.

[7.5] - The growls don't necessarily detract from this album, but it is a classic prog album with some random growls.

[7.5] - Jørgen Munkeby leaves the saxophone aside for a frenetic instru-prog/djent manicfest.

[7.5] - Chaotic jazz metal EP.

[7.5] - Melodeathdoom/post-metal mesh.

[7.5] - Decent meloblack EP with quirks.

[7.5] - Evocative melodic funeral doom, but overly long.

[7.5] - The more compartmentalized of the two albums, it's got plenty of vicious black/death that sounds good, but didn't quite pull me in.

[7.5] - Less sprawling and stylistically diverse than my previous taste with them, but an interesting core-y release.

[7.5] - Solid doomy death metal with good prog and melodeath infusions.

[7.5] - Fun instru-djent with style and groove.

[7.5] - Slick drone rock featuring a Nadja member.

[7.5] - Grim, malevolent industrial electronica.

[7.5] - Pretty tasty post-black/post-hardcore/metalgaze.

[7.5] - Tasty mix of OSDM and more brutal sounds with some quality riffs.

[7.5] - Pretty cool proggy Egyptian-themed technical OSDM-sounding debut.

[7.5] - Psychedelic stoner/hard rock, the more psychedelic tracks are great, the more stoner-y ones are fine, but a bit less impressive.

[7.5] - Suitably enjoyable post-hardcore/blackgaze.

[7.5] - Hard-edged thrashy melodeath with some neat melodic guitar moments in there.

[7.5] - As far as melo/atmo-black from Iceland with long songs goes, it's not quite a new Nasheim, but it's a very decent album.

[7.5] - Intriguing proggy dissoblack record, albeit not one that ever fully engaged me.

[7.5] - Decent proggy stoner with hints of Elder/Weedpecker, albeit not quite at the level of either group at their best.

[7.5] - Stoner/sludge and death metal aren't obvious bedmates, and there is some inconsistency between tracks here, but overall it's a solid and curious album.

[7.5] - Conventional but solid chilled-edges meloblack.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Perhaps their best yet, the grimness is turned down for more ominous industrial; the Hangman's Chair track is cool.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Fun retro hard rock album with swagger.

[7.5] - Pleasant proggy folk stuff.

[7.5] - Hard/metalcore with DEP-esque mixes of groove, venom and brief mathy outbursts.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Solid return from symph-tinged blackish metallers.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - I prefer the artwork to the album as a whole, but there are some nice folk melodies in here.

[7.5] - Occasionally slightly gothy alt-prog with nice Keenan-ish vocals.

[7.5] - Very conventional post-metal, but it's got strong atmosphere and good writing.

[7.5] - Brief, vicious, riffy modern death.

[7.5] - A few duddy songs and not a huge fan of the vocals, but some great instrumental work.

[7.5] - Pleasant folk metal with power and melodeath elements; I'd say the folkiest parts are most to my tastes.

[7.5] - Preferred the previous Pylar release.

[7.5] - Pleasant dreamy instrumental metalgaze.

[7.5] - Artwork is better than the music, but it's a good blackgaze record.

[7.5] - Pretty solid old-school power/speed/heavy metal.

[7.5] - Cavernous, malevolent death/doom.

[7.5] - Black-tinged thrash/speed with riffs and venom.

[7.5] - Bleak sludge doom that becomes a bit more uplifting near the end, almost dreamy ambient staticy.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Tastily deathly doom with nicely grim atmosphere.

[7.5] - Slightly heavier than past efforts in moments.

[7.5] - Fun stoner/psych rock album.

[7.5]

[7.5]

[7.5] - Hyper-accessible but catchy metalcore with nice clean-heavy vocals.

[7.5] - I'm not really hearing any doom here, but the deathly grind is pretty tasty.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Folky, symphy extreme power/melodeath, good fun.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Post-y alt rock/metal, pretty distinctive sound and better than the earlier EP.

[7.5] - Dark, gritty death/thrash.

[7.5] - Short, direct hardcore, but also with a lively sound and sense of fun with the wackier rockabilly-style soloing.

[7.5] - Slightly too trudging for my tastes, but a very respectable epic doom album.

[7.5] - Bit too standard OSDM at times, but some of the more expanded aspects of the sound (e.g. the semi-clean tones and deep echoing vocals on Oculto) make this LatAm death metal album pretty neat.

[7.5] - Just about stoner due to the grooves, but with a lot of grimness and intensity that pushes it towards sludge.

[7.5] - Artwork is arguably the standout element, but the mix of slightly rawer atmo-black with folk-heavy parts results in quite a nice melodic black album.

[7.5] - Nice folk melodies; vocals are slightly weak.

[7.5]

[7.5] - Solid melodeath-tinged techy-death debut.

[7.0] - Decent melodeath reminiscent of early In Flames.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Enjoyable post-black/blackgaze split.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Decent stoner-ish rocky doom.

[7.0] - Suitably misanthropic noise rock/sludge metal, improves as the album progresses.

[7.0] - Aspects of this meloblackdeath I enjoy quite a bit, but the shrieks are a bit too front and centre, and there's a lack of hooks.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Solid up-tempo trad-heavy record.

[7.0] - Brief, feisty metallic hardcore EP with crunch and groove.

[7.0] - Nice shredding guitar solos and proggy inclinations of this melody-tinged black metal record.

[7.0] - Fun blast-heavy meloblack.

[7.0] - Good doomy trad heavy.

[7.0] - Weird sludge with psychedelic, noise rock and alt rock elements.

[7.0] - Fairly OSDMy, but remains interesting due to the sheer velocity, bursts of brutality and technicality, and the deranged vocals.

[7.0] - Gnarly industrial metal/noise rock.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Solid symph-tinged deathcore.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Very DIY but intriguing psychedelic metal release with stoner, doom, sludge, drone aspects.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Bit dragged out, this sludge doom effort.

[7.0] - Solid early-career symph-deathcore EP.

[7.0] - Charming folksy midwest emo stuff.

[7.0] - Nice melancholic prog mixed with blackgaze.

[7.0] - Impressive blackened tech-death.

[7.0] - Solid enough doomy/sludgy post-metal, but has a few awkward bits in it.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Still has some awkward moments, but on the whole it's more appealing than the last record, and integrates the ambient stuff a bit more cohesively and satisfyingly.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Unspectacular but pretty enjoyable ominous Behemoth-tinged black metal with a doomy current to it.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Overlong but soothing stripped-down acoustic neofolk.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Dreary metalgaze, it's alright.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Tasty deathly grindcore.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Well-produced symphonic prog/power running a bit low on memorability.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Early Motley Crue with a tinge of Mercyful Fate.

[7.0] - Beastly Bangladeshi brutal death/doom.

[7.0] - Bombastic, well-layered symphonic.

[7.0] - Some songs don't work, but generally neat.

[7.0] - Protracted descent from celestial ambience into churning noise.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Surprisingly decent brutal death.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Not as memorable as Phantom Anthem, but more interesting than Guardians.

[7.0] - Screamo with a couple of blackgaze moments.

[7.0] - Extremely long space/psych-rock, a bit too meandering for its own good but pretty cool.

[7.0] - Pretty solid melodic album with power metal leanings, enjoyable and catchy.

[7.0] - No-frills riffy black metal with some solid shredding.

[7.0] - Generally enjoyable power metal, the vocals occasionally get a bit much.

[7.0] - Conventional but solid black metal debut with occasional meloblack/dungeon synth moments.

[7.0] - Ambient spin-off from Holocene.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Filthy growls for this Nile-y death metal.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Feisty deathcore EP.

[7.0] - Ferocious, ever-so-slightly-techy OSDM record that's good fun.

[7.5] - Well-made mid-tempo Nordic folk metal.

[7.0] - Decent Behemoth-style black.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Power-ish melodic heavy metal, pleasant listening.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Straight OSDM, but at least it's got some energy unlike Obituary.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Ambient black metal that's not as noisey/ambient as Kryatjurr; it's a bit more accessible, but perhaps slightly less intriguing as a result.

[7.0] - Blackgaze/atmo-black with some subtle other ideas (trip-hop interludes); good, but not as enchanting as the artwork.

[7.0] - The general lively vibe is cool for this ex power/melodeath album, but it does seem a bit lacking in memorability.

[7.0] - Cacophonic, odd, proggy tech-death, has cool moments in it.

[7.0]

[7.0] - On the plus side, this mixture of post-metal, prog, alt-metal, sludge and other sounds is fairly distinctive; on the downside, it's not particularly enjoyable.

[7.0] - Respectable black metal album with some neat riffs or clean detours, but also a lack of exceptional aspects.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Lande-esque vocals and heartfelt songs makes this pretty enjoyable for a melodic hard rock album.

[7.0] - Pleasant Gothic-tinged melodeath debut.

[7.0] - Bit all over the place, but a fun album.

[7.0] - Grindcore with some variety and a slight sense of fun.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Thrashy/first wave-style black metal, fun enough.

[7.0] - More varied and enjoyable than I would expect for blackened speed metal, the changes in tempo and electronic interlude are nice touches.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Not as solid as last year's album, some of the guitar leads were a tad distracting on track 1, but I enjoyed the melancholy of track 2.

[7.0] - Pretty decent prog effort with pleasant vocals (a bit Universal Migrator Pt 1), and quite an impressive 15-minute epic near the end.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Generic doomy stoner with occultish vocals and heavy riffs: unremarkable but enjoyable.

[7.0] - Pleasant moody melodies on this gothic doom release.

[7.0] - Rudimentary meloblack but with solid soling.

[7.0]

[7.0] - The emotion in the vocals is a key strength in the favour of this alt rock record.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Djenty industrial/cyber metal; reminds me a bit of Mechina, but with some actual dynamics and briefer songs - I like it.

[7.0] - Bit stylistically scattered, but when on form (e.g. Walkyrie), a solid decades-in-waiting comeback.

[7.0] - Decent meloblack that is consistently full-pelt and high-energy.

[7.0] - Nicely crafted melodic death/doom.

[7.0] - Nice post-black/blackgaze EP with Deafheaven-style vocals and a nice dark undercurrent to it.

[7.0] - Decently chonky and thick groovy sludge doom, enjoyable without pushing any particular boundaries.

[7.0] - Metallic hardcore with lots of short songs rounded out by one over 10 minutes sounds very Jane Doe, but the closing title track is a lot more vicious; kudos for making such a long and misanthropic track consistently engaging.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Dreamy ambient post-rock.

[7.0] - Djent/deathcore/prog record, a bit one-dimensional but kinda decent groovefest.

[7.0] - Very classic-style prog metal, too classic for my tastes but it's well made.

[7.0] - Classic-style prog with some extreme/modern moments.

[7.0] - Pleasant blackgaze/meloblack.

[7.0] - Found this to be lively and memorable enough to do the job as a Europower release - some slight BG hints in there.

[7.0] - Good classic death metal sound.

[7.0] - Generally decent sinister black metal, but it can be quite corny and it's also a tad short on standout moments for me.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Soothing, catchy prog/power.

[7.0] - Nice retro psych/blues rock, vocals and writing are good enough to be more enjoyable than quite a lot of similar efforts.

[7.0] - Bit too dreamy for me.

[7.0] - Evocative gothic melodeathdoom debut, not sure about the Maiden cover though.

[7.0] - Decent desert action with good vocals.

[7.0] - Tad cheesy with the electronics but half-decent industrial/electronic/black metal fusion.

[7.0] - Two different takes on guitarless extreme metal.

[7.0] - Fairly standard deathgrind, but has the very occasional clean or otherwise unexpected moment, plus good riffs both slow and frantic.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Ominous atmo-black on the grimmer side, good but not quite there.

[7.0] - Punky, rappy stuff that's not too shabby.

[7.0] - Satisfying doomy take on death metal that has retro elements without feeling too retro itself.

[7.0] - Extraordinary bombast in the ROF-style power metal, but it's certainly enjoyable for the style.

[7.0] - Classic-sounding gothic-tinged doom, comes with the perks and drawbacks of that style, but pretty decent.

[7.0]

[7.0] - A bit too mid-tempo for a flowery power metal album, but good vocals and some nice melodic hooks.

[7.0] - Heavy post-rock/soft post-metal with gentle vocals and soothing melancholic soundscapes.

[7.0] - Impressively cacophonic jazzy death metal, but quite grating at times.

[7.0] - Enjoyable viking-y meloblack a bit let down by subpar clean singing (which doesn't appear enough to derail the whole record).

[7.0] - Predominantly classic-style prog metal with some thrash or extreme moments.

[7.0] - Sounds like a kinda melodeathy Trivium; the vocals aren't always great, but it's pretty decent overall.

[7.0] - Behemoth-ish blackened death; the penultimate song is the clear highlight that saves it from a lower score.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - The good songs for the style are very good (e.g. Iron Plains), but the AC/DC vocals and trudging nature of some other songs (e.g. The Raving Light Of Day) are not for me.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Full-on Electric Wizard-style stoner doom, but has the flow and patience to be engaging.

[7.0] - Decent melodeath EP with occasional bland passages.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Still pleasant, but a bit drearier than Aurora.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Satisfying hardcore/grindcore with venom but also some moments that go beyond pure savagery.

[7.0] - Death/doom or doomy death.

[7.0] - The tone of this album is clear from the title; depressive meloblack/blackgaze with harsher moments, works fine without being outstanding.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Melodeathy pagan NWOBHM - lead guitar stuff is the highlight.

[7.0] - Bit scattered, but can be cool in some parts.

[7.0]

[7.0] - Pretty cool riffy meloblack.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - Rowdy, thrashy trad metal with barked vocals and a decent energy to it.

[7.0] - Decent Soilwork imitation on the last song; generally OK melodeath EP.

[7.0] - Very Windhand-y release; does the job, but doesn't do enough more than said job in order to stand out.

[7.0] - It's grind, got a bit of murky depth to it but pretty par for the course.

[7.0] - Solid disso-death-black, not too remarkable but good for a listen or two.

[7.0] - Does try to mix things up to avoid being just standard instru-post, but is decent but not super exciting.

[7.0] - The least-frills meloblack possible, but it's a decent EP.

[7.0] - Occasionally power metal in terms of speed, but mainly mid-tempo melodic metal with power metal vocals; good enough for the style.

[7.0] - Flamboyant but entertaining power metal.

[7.0] - Solid enough up-tempo trad heavy album with neat understated vocal style.

[7.0] - Pretty standard atmoblack.

[7.0] - Nice atmoblackgaze release with almost Earthshine-tier lo-fi production.

[7.0] - Thrashy hardcore with a good balance of riff hooks and outright aggression.

[7.0] - Brief, furious burst of black-tinged grindcore.

[7.0] - Only 13 minutes, this screamo record is short but sweet.

[7.0]

[7.0]

[7.0] - OSDMy, but not completely dry retro, found it generally enjoyable while it was on.

[7.0] - Fluid, unpredictable mesh of several styles.

[7.0] - On the stadium rock/heavy metal borderline, it's pretty decent for the genre.

[7.0] - Heavy/power with good vocals, memorable melodies and general competence, if not rising above that threshold.

[7.0] - Pleasant Summoning worship.

[7.0] - Usual Visual Kei fare - well made, although 71 minutes is way too much.

[7.0] - Grindcore, but also not grindcore; the 22-minute song is very ambitious.

[7.0] - Curious alt/doom/sludge sound, has a cool swagger to it, even if it's not super engaging.

[7.0] - Straightforward, no-nonsense lo-fi black/death metal assault with occasional keyboards spicing things up.

[7.0] - Perhaps even cheesier than Twilight Force, still professional and competent RoF worship.

[7.0]

[6.5]

[6.5]

[6.5]

[6.5] - It's Foos, but it's fine.

[6.5]

[6.5] - Not keen on the vocals, and some songs are straight boring, but it does have enough strong moments to be a bit above average.

[6.5]

[6.5]

[6.5] - Bit rudimentary and overly repetitive on some tracks, but still good to hear more bands trying the Western black metal approach.

[6.5]

[6.5] - Meandering, menacing death metal, a bit too hookless to really make an impact, but has intriguing ideas.