Have I mentioned that Lord of the Lost's current project is a trilogy? Opvs Noir is a series of albums released in just months-long intervals, all that continue their blend of gothic/industrial/symphonic metal. I mean, we won't Vol. 3 until this April, but at least we have the first two volumes. I've already checked out Vol. 1, and now we're gonna explore Vol. 2. Not as varied as their previous album, yet still great...

Frontman Chris "The Lord" Harms, guitarists Pi "π" Stoffers and Benjamin "Benji" Mundigler, bassist Klaas "Class Grenayde" Helmecke, keyboardist Gerrit "Gared Dirge" Heinemann, and drummer Niklas Kahl keep up their talents here. Opvs Noir Vol. 2 is the band's 11th album, and the second part of this ongoing trilogy.

Starting the album is "The Fall From Grace". Unlike the first volume's opener, it starts off gentle in the keys as the rest of the metal instrumentation drifts in smoothly. Chris Harms' vocal sorrow shines especially in the chorus. And in between the second and final choruses is some of the most intense screaming I've heard from him, in perfect contrast with the gothic bliss. "Would You Walk With Me Through Hell?" has the first of several guest vocalists here, Infected Rain vocalist Lena Scissorhands. It's one of the more industrial songs in the album, and the heavier parts are worth moshing to, particularly when there's harsh aggression from both vocalists. After all that massive power, "One Of Us Will Be Next" is a soft ballad with angelic choruses. Then "Walls of Eden" can really get people moving in concerts.

"Raveyard" is an impressive highlight of pure dance-metal fire. I especially enjoy the rapping by Kaarija. Turning up the heaviness is "The Last Star", the verses are soft so that all the energy is used in the chorus. Sadly, some of the vocals don't hit as hard as in other songs. More of the dark fury is covered in "What Have We Become", which includes more experimentation including vocals by IAMX founder Chris Corner. The baritone/growls of Harms and the falsetto of corner make another perfect duet in the sea of industrial darkness. Then we reach the cold melancholy of "Winter's Dying Heart", an epic ballad with the instrumentation and vocals in excellent balance.

"Scarlight" starts off calm in the intro and first verse then explodes into a speedy chorus. Now, "Please Break the Silence"... Is that a more polite take on Beyond the Black's new album Break the Silence? I mean, Chris Harms has guest appeared in a song from that album and the female vocalist sounds like Jennifer Haben. Oh wait, that's Anna Brunner from League of Distortion. Still a beautiful energetic highlight! Finally, "Sharp Edges" is a soft and sweet ending track with some background noise in the climax.

So the second volume of Opvs Noir has a more experimental direction than the first. However, I feel like there should've been more of the variation Vol. 1 had. Maybe more guest vocalists? Well, Vol. 3 apparently has a little more of them, so that's promising. But until then, enjoy Vol. 2....

Favorites: "The Fall of Grace", "Walls of Eden", "Raveyard", "What Have We Become", "Winter's Dying Heart", "Please Break the Silence"

I have a real soft spot for the often-ridiculous fantasy artwork of heavy metal albums from the eighties. Asgard’s one and only album release from 1986 has enough levels of grandiosity on its artwork to make up for a whole career of albums that never where made. A muscular warrior, barely clothed in a loin cloth stands, bow drawn back ready to take down another mountain crocodile that is somehow completely out of its natural habitat and is attacking him and his cleavage proud princess fawns at his feet. Yeah, the eighties weren’t the best for gender equality, were they? That is not to knock the quality of the artwork by any means. Personally, I think it looks fantastic, and I was sad to read of the passing of the artist responsible for this amazing piece, Ken Kelly in 2022. He is of course better known for his excellent work on Manowar covers as well as The Gates of Slumber and even Satanic Warmaster. If this was a review of the album artwork, then it would be a solid four out of five-star rating.

Sadly, despite their best efforts, Asgard’s musical prowess doesn’t quite match the exploits of the cover artist. In short, In the Ancient Days is all over the place. As with most speed metal albums, there is a fine line being walked between traditional heavy metal and speed metal. In the Ancient Days tends to follow this same pattern accordingly. A mixture of Venom sneer creeps into the vocals of Rene Tholen, teetering on the brink of the over-theatrical on tracks such as ‘Witches Brew’ and ‘Hounds of Hell’ (the version on YouTube has either a skip from a vinyl rip or there’s a terrible edit job on the actual record just before the twenty-minute mark). Yet at the same time, the riffs on this record are superb examples of the heyday of thrash/speed metal. Remembering that this record is now forty-years old, there is a heavy element of nostalgia in my feature selection this month in The Pit.

Being more at the extreme end of metal in terms of my listening habits, the more thrashy/speed metal elements are where I find highlights on In the Ancient Days. The drama could easily be left at the door for me, along with the acoustic (flamenco?) guitar of the interlude ‘Granadinas’ which is crudely placed as the penultimate track on the record. Whether this should be considered as some intro to the anthemic sounding album closer ‘Metal Tonight’ I am unsure but the combination of these two tracks at the end of the album does leave a sour taste in my mouth to finish the album on. I am unaware as to why Asgard lasted for only one album. The ability was there on the debut, albeit not terribly well showcased overall and I sense if the talent could have been grown over subsequent albums then we might have heard the name Asgard more over the years.

It's not often for a band to last two decades with most of the members intact since the beginning. 4 of the 7 members of Fear of Domination have stayed together for all of their albums; male vocalist Saku Solin, bassist Lauri Ojanen, and guitarists Jan-Erik Kari and Johannes Niemi. One other longtime member, keyboardist Lasse Raelahti joined the band in 2012. And now there are two new members for a new album in a new era...

Katharsis is their brand-new 7th album released in the beginning of this year 2026. It marks the debut of female vocalist Jessica Salmi and drummer Anton Nisonen. It also continues the trance-filled melodic metalcore sound from their previous album VI: Revolution, while bringing back their earlier industrial/cyber metal side.

"Alone" is a h*ll of a strong energetic start. The verses screamed by both vocalists are in a great contrast with the catchy sung choruses for a well-balanced composition. Then there's the more simplistic "Dead Anyway", having a slow intro before the dancey keyboards enter alongside the metal instrumentation and vocal power. "Monsters" is the first single for the album, released nearly two years prior. Although the intro sounds a bit dull, the riff attacks with headbanging rhythm, encouraging you all to sing and shout along. The soloing between the second and final choruses is filled with shredding fury. Up next is "Imposter" which is more grandiose, thanks to the synthesized orchestrations and choir. It's both dramatic and dynamic!

The groovy "Last Words" is heavy in both the metal and the electronics. I can predict that song being a live staple! There's nothing silly about "Primum Noce Apte" when their earlier cutthroat melodeath riffing makes a comeback. I feel they could've let out their rage longer though. "Rabbit Hole" starts off brutal before resting calm while still catchy.

We're heading into the final third of the album now, starting with another perfect track "All as One". They can do the whole "disco-metal" thing as well as Battle Beast, probably better! The final chorus has the most of their energy. "Endgame" is an epic single from the album seems to emphasize their earlier industrial/trance metal roots further. A hard-hitting masterpiece of a song! The finale "Feel" has similar gentle melancholy to Metanoia's closing track. I probably would've loved it more if not for the abrupt ending.

Fear of Domination still have their strong talent in Katharsis, with energetic songs worth both dancing and headbanging to. Despite a couple slight struggles somewhere, there's hope for their music to make a strong global impact....

Favorites: "Alone", "Imposter", "Last Words", "All as One", "Endgame"

Note: I've decided to try a new thing where for any of the favorites I've listed for a reviewed releases, the ones in bold are the ones I deem not just great, but true perfection.

In an earlier review for Carcass's second album, Symphony of Sickness, I mentioned that there was less of the melodic strength that made the third and fourth albums so beloved.  In this early goregrind release, as well as their debut, there's even less of that.  This is one of those somewhat common examples of early 80's metal albums compensating for lack of creativity with absolute brutality, the way earlier movies by Wes Craven were.  "Mature" content over substance.  Now the funny thing is, like Wes Craven, the band grew as their career progressed, so by the mid-90's this was basically nothing more than a historical example of how much they grew.  Despite a few cute tricks here and there, I predicted how the whole album would go after listening to Symphony of Sickness.  Now there may be some charm to have in the lo-fi production.  It's certainly a heavy piece.  But the production also muddles things that shouldn't be muddled, which cements yet another weak point in comparison to future works.  Basically, this overly "adult" album amounts to little more than an imitation album made by a bunch of children who think all it takes to be the best is to be different and "true to yourself" by "not giving into radio capitalism" or some shit like that.  Fortunately, this was the last time they ever sounded like this.  With 22 short tracks, they found a way to make a 37-minute album way too damn long.

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I'm not one for goregrind really.  In the long run, then I'd rather not educate myself in an entire genre dedicated to piercing the veil of acceptable gore by turning the most disgusting lyrics of all time into that much of a joke.  I mean, it's one thing to have obviously fake pain splashing when you're cutting down b-movie zombies in an intentional cheese-fest like Braindead, but to keep bragging about it as if getting your fingers in between the very atoms that make up gore is how you get your kicks just isn't the kind of thing I think people should be spending months writing for albums.  I rarely explore these kinds of bands, with a notable exception being the slam band Devourment.

Nevertheless, I occasionally go to classic acts like Carcass because of their melodic prowess and heavy say in the modern development of death metal structures, which isn't so much about the gore factor as it is about the melodies, production, brutality, etc.  But before they were a melodic death metal band, they played around with goregrind, which I find interesting considering that the album before the melodic days would be their second and last album to showcase them partaking in their original genre.

Somehow bordering both death metal and goregrind without steering too far into Napalm Death signature deathgrind genre, this sophomore album is largely about having fun with the metallic sound and setting up a basic structure, so there's not a lot of variety going on.  There's a very dirty, gross sound about the production that makes the album sound like it came directly from the underground, ready for vengeance or some shit.  And in comparison to many a grindcore album, this one makes a point of consistent and enjoyable riffs rather than being random-ass and overly technical like a lot of modern grind does, allowing their sound to be both fun and grounded for the metal fans AND the punk fans.  As well, the production never gets in the way of the band's playing.  No, it expands upon the heaviness, which is exactly what an album like this needs.  Speeds even fluctuate at an even pace, giving us enough time to enjoy what we have rather than just going off into 50 different universes in a single minute the way Doctor Strange does.  Still, this DOES mean that this is a developmental album rather than an attempt at real art, which is still a good thing considering that the practice easily paid off.

Now the internet says that this is slightly worse than the two Carcass albums everyone knows and loves: Heartwork and Necroticism.  However, I'd say this is about on par with Torn Arteries.  It's a good album that proved that the band knew what they wanted at the time, but it's also a reminder that Carcass made the smart move on the next album and expanded their sound away from goregrind.  The thing is, while this is a fun album with a successful vibe, all the riffage is flatout OWNED by Carcass's later work, so I wouldn't put this on the same pedestal others put it on.

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