Sacrilege and Onslaught aside, the UK's thrash output during the 1980's was pretty fucking woeful. It was almost as if we Brits just didn't 'get' thrash metal at all and struggled to get up to speed with this new, more aggressive style of heavy metal and those pesky Yanks and Europeans were just making us look lame and lazy by comparison. As a result I have been on the lookout for decent British Eighties' thrash metal albums ever since, with little to no real success, so I was stoked to see an underground band of thrashers from a north-west England seaside town pop up as a feature and hoped against hope that this would be some kind of underground classic. Oh well, you can't blame me for hoping! As you can probably guess, this falls a fair way short of my, admittedly unrealistic, expectations.

I am guessing that D.A.M. were huge fans of Anthrax's "Spreading the Disease" album, because I think that is what they seem to be striving for here. Vocalist Jason McLoughlin does his very best Joey Belladonna impression, rhythm guitarist John Bury attempts to reproduce Scott Ian's trademark choppy, chuggy riffs and the gang vocals on the choruses that the New Yorkers loved to employ are present and correct. Unfortunately they lack the two chracteristics that made Anthrax what they were back then - the infectious, sing-along choruses and the sheer effusive sense of excitement and fun that set Anthrax apart from their West Coast and European peers. Anyone who loves 80s Anthrax also knows how vital Charlie Benante's lively and energetic drumming was to the band whereas, here, the production has rendered the percussion limp and lifeless, sounding like someone leathering their kit with a couple of fish rather than drumsticks! Hell, "Total Destruction" even starts with a flat copy of Charlie's drum intro to "Indians".

Look, I don't want to sound too down on them for that because, to be honest, for a few years in the 1980s Anthrax bottled lightning and managed to make it work, through sheer force of personality, excellent songwriting ability and technical ability. So, without these essential, but mercurial talents, D.A.M. merely sound like cheap imitators and would maybe have been better advised to plough their own furrow rather than follow in the steps of a unique act like Anthrax. In truth, I actually don't hate "Human Wreckage" but, as someone who was (and remains) a big fan of "Spreading the Disease" and "Among the Living", I can't unhear D.A.M.'s Anthrax worship and so I just keep wishing I was listening to one of those albums instead. I am sure these guys were probably a blast in the metal pubs and clubs of England's North West back in the day, but in the stark, cold spotlight of recorded music they just come up a bit short and sound too derivative.

I would disagree with this opinion (Daniel) regarding AXATAK. This band, the only one standing out in the heavy-glam genre, best reflects the metal scene of 1981-86. This band is the only golden cousin of KISS, who were noticed for their original and classic rock playing (since 1984), as well as for their image; like KISS, they have numerous live concerts at Club Richmond and Ormand Hall. This author, Daniel, who spoke extremely negatively about AXATAK, apparently hasn't seen their live concerts, which (for the record) were recorded back in 1983, when AXATAK was still performing as KISS-CLONES. Most of the live concerts were recorded in 1984; for example, type in (Axatak - Club Richmond, concerts - 09.04.84, 05.03.84, 12.03.84 - three of my favorite concerts, which I've listened to many, many times). That's the first point. Now the second point - what album of (mythical) origin "SHOCK ROCK" from 1984 is Daniel talking about? There are so many myths and inventions circulating about this album that even one of the band members has personally written that such an album doesn't even exist. They have officially released "Sneak Attack" from 1984 and the original EP "Axatak" from 1985. Most of the tracks that unfortunately couldn't be included in the original albums, such tracks as - Demolution, Boys In Rockin Town, Get Me High, Lipstik And Leather, Living On A Stay, Now Are Watching In Your Name?, Slayer, Pandemonium, Half Bitch For Leather, Rockin Tonight, Hellraisers, Rock n Roll and covers of KISS tracks (Strutter, Duce) or the famous Queen song (We're Want Rock You) - all these tracks are PRESENTED in their Live-concert, which I mentioned, exactly in those three concerts (Axatak - Club Richmond, concerts - 09.04.84, 05.03.84, 12.03.84) and there can be no talk of any mythical album "SHOCK ROCK". So where is the evidence of its publication??? All Axatak Live-concerts are available on YouTube, type the name, listen and watch them. That's where you'll find most of the tracks unreleased on their albums. There's also a recently released live concert (Axatak Live In Melbourne 1985), which includes a couple more unreleased tracks (Instrumental, Destroyer, Darkness-Death). The author (Daniel) has little understanding of this band, comparing them not even to KISS fans, but to the worst versions of Mötley Crüe or even otherworldly, unrelated artists who are more aggressive than KISS themselves. AXATAK's sound is classic, veering toward classic heavy metal or heavy glam, with light but harsh (in the classical sense) rock undertones, but with a heavy glam attitude. Not a single little-known band, not even the Bengal Tigers, has as many live concerts as AXATAK. This band has been performing live concerts since 1983-1985. Listening to them is a pleasure. Now, a special mention of their EP "Axatak," which Daniel also more or less mentioned. He's not well-versed in Axatak's work and positions himself as a newcomer (an amateur, to his taste), but not a connoisseur of the band's genre. This is no longer an argument. Comparing them to bands that had no connection to Axatak (WASP, Boss, Bengal Tigers) and classifying connoisseurs and fans as those bands, not the founders of AXATAK, is the worst and most incorrect opinion about this band, as expressed by the author of a comment from July 16, 2026. This EP contains tracks (in my personal opinion) that introduce drive, a classic rock style, and lead to a reference to their fathers, KISS, but more metal than rock. The tracks "Shock Rock," "Let The Beast Run Wild," and "Live Out Your Dreams" are the best three tracks in their driving work (but I recommend exploring their work in more detail in their live concerts), which I referenced. As for the song "You" (from their EP), the author (Daniel) apparently didn't even look at the photos of their vinyl record and doesn't know that John Mallouch sang the vocals on this song PERSONALLY, without Andy Zouman. The lyrics on the vinyl record clearly indicate who sang on which song. As a connoisseur of their work, I can say that this band, across their entire discography, is suitable for both connoisseurs and fans of the metal scene and classic rock, capable of both charming and exciting, and you can have a pleasant time with them listening to their music.

The Wounded Kings were a traditional doom metal band from Dartmoor in Devon who never really gained much traction outside of hardcore doom metal enthusiasts, which is a great shame because they were really great exponents of the doom metal ethos and were superior to many better known acts. They formed in 2004 and released five consistently strong full-lengths and a great split with Cough before calling it a day in August of 2016. Released in 2010, "The Shadow Over Atlantis" was the band's sophomore release, following 2008's very solid "Embrace of the Narrow House" and, for me, is the band's best release. They had a lineup which underwent several membership changes, with the first two albums being produced by the duo of the band's only ever-present member Steve Mills (guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, vocals) and George Birch (guitar, vocals). Mills was actually the original drummer with Lords of Putrefaction, the death doom precursor to Electric Wizard that featured Jus Osborne on guitar and vocals and so has a certain degree of doom metal underground cred too.

"The Shadow Over Atlantis" is essentially a concept album that is a lament to the passing and destruction of ancient civilizations with Atlantis being the metaphor for the eventual passing of all societies, although there is a suggestion in final track "Invocation of the Ancients" that, through the deployment of dark arts, these ancients can be exhorted to return. The band strives for an epic scope as befits the span of the concept, with the album featuring four fairly lengthy, huge-sounding tracks to drive the narrative while a couple of gentle interludes provide some contrast and respite from the lumbering rumble of the meat of the album. Even though the riffing is pretty much relentlessly huge and slothful it does have an inherent melodicism which is also mirrored in the vocals which are entirely of the clean variety and have a really nice, washed-out gothicness to them. Generally the tracks start off with the riff and vocals dominating the early part and then the guitar leads taking over the latter part and it is at these points that the material is given an epic twist. The leads take flight, soaring with mesmerising fluidity in psych-filled flights of fancy that seem to carry the listener above the doom and destruction that is being wreaked on the unfortunate world below, often feeling quite jam-like, although from the sheer professionalism of the sound I guess they are perfectly composed to sound that way.

Production-wise, the sound is quite crisp and clean and even the distortion on the riffs comes through surprisingly clearly. One criticism, if I were to go that far, would be that the bottom end and the rhythm section in particular doesn't sound as deep and foundational as maybe we have come to expect from this style of doom metal. That, however, is nitpicking a little because the material here is so strong and well-performed that it feels curmudgeonly to try to pick too much fault here. Essentially, for me, "The Shadow Over Atlantis" is a top drawer doom metal release and wouldn't be out of place alongside the best albums from the likes of Pallbearer or Monolord, so if you enjoy either of those two I would strongly urge you to check this out. Unfortunately it is impossible to find on streaming, so YouTube may be the only source available outside of physical media.

In my review of Saint Vitus’ self-titled debut album, I called out my enjoyment of Scott Reager’s vocals, highlighting their deranged style being a perfect fit for Chandler’s guitar sound. Just as with the debut album, Reager’s performance is front and centre on Die Healing also, yet this is never at the detriment of anything else on the record. For a guy who had straight up gone to ground for a decade, he appears to have just walked back into the studio like he had just nipped out for ten minutes to get a packet of cigarettes and some bourbon. There is no scenario in any parallel universe whereby Saint Vitus records this album with any other vocalist, and it works at all. He’s creepy to the point of having a skin-crawling effect. Tracks like ‘Dark World’, ‘Let the End Begin’ and ‘In the Asylum’ are perhaps unrivalled within my doom listening experience to date in terms of that true force being formed by this perfect marriage of the vocals and guitar.

Listen to the psychedelic musings on ‘Trail of Pestilence’ and just try and keep your jaw off the floor. Die Healing is a real all round band record though. For all the waxing lyrical I am doing about the vocals and guitar the album would not be anywhere near as successful without the drums of the late Armando Acosta and the bass of the also sadly departed Mark Adams. ‘Sloth’ might be one of the most appropriately named doom tracks in the history of the genre, it is so oppressively heavy it reaches the point of suffocation. It is albums like this that are the reason why I switched from The Guardians into The Fallen clan. The atmospheres here are so wonderfully threatening in such an effective yet completely inoffensive way; they are a genuine by product of the instrumentation, just so unforced sounding and organic in nature.

My only real criticism of the album is the lacklustre closing track. They should have closed the album with ‘In the Asylum’ in all honesty as anything trying to follow that was going to be struggling. ‘Just Another Notch’ is primetime filler unfortunately which even Reager’s vocals can’t save. Oddly, he sounds the tamest of all on this track in comparison to the others. Final track aside, there is much to be celebrated on Die Healing even if it marks the end of the band for at least a decade.

2026 was shaping up to be a sparse year on the black metal listening front.  After an exhausting 2025, keeping up with as many new releases as I could in black metal, I decided that 2026 would be a leaner year by all accounts.  In a month that has seen me purchase the new Mork album for my collection, it was not long before I could feel that familiar chill in my bones that could only be tempered by more chilling black metal music.  As my bm rotation began to grow, I soon found the international supergroup, Doedsvangr in front of me with their third album, Within Flesh.  Now, I must confess that I did not take an immediate shine to this record.  As my first foray into the band’s music, I was not feeling the vocals at all.  The spoken word aspect of them at first came across as sounding a bit dreary and dull as opposed to menacing.  Yet, soon enough, it was clear that the vocals are all part of the ravishing grimness of the record.  In fact, I would go as far to say that there are not many other styles of vocals that could outdo these in all honesty.

The real resplendent qualities of the record lie in those urgent tremolo riffs that dominate tracks such as ‘Omnipath’, or in those drums that appear straight forward in the first instance but are actually hitting some interesting patterns.  Then there’s the looming menace of ‘Blodskam’ with those spine-chilling choral keys that create atmosphere galore in the background.  Then I realised that this is the real sweet-spot for those vocals as they work like recitals of incantations that when uttered in the correct dialect can bring forth the darkest of evil from beyond.

Then artwork may possess some disappointment (incidentally the artwork clearly references the opening track on the record, ‘Devil Bites Man) but there’s very little of that spreading into the record it is pleasing to note.  Within Flesh has a fully formed sound to it.  One that I would expect to hear from a collective of such seasoned pro’s such as Shatraug, Sanrabb and Doedsadmiral.  It is a shame that I have no knowledge of prior releases to benchmark this one against.  As such it is able to be rated entirely off the back of its merits as a standalone record and is one that shows that when done correctly (most importantly by the correct people), black metal doesn’t have to be warped, combined with other styles or dumbed down by sterilising melodies to be effective.