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I was 12 when this was released. I bought the album at the little record store in my town. Those were the days. Anyhow I fell in love with this album and I never got tired of it. This to me is my favorite Metal Church album. There is so much emotion and power to it. Yes it’s a tad lighter than the self titled album but there’s something richer about the music. I’m so partial to David Wayne’s voice /style. I will listen to the Mike Howe albums but I kind of pretend it’s a whole different band. 

Gorrch are over fifteen years into their existence and are only just getting around to their sophomore album. The duo of Chimsicrin (drums, vocals and keyboards) and Droich (guitars and bass) make for a quite a melodic take on the sound stylised by DSO. They lack the foreboding edge of the DSO sound, forming a more urgent and dashing movement to the music with a frankly excessive use of the tremolo. Nonetheless, the comparison is unavoidable.

Over only six tracks, the repetition of the guitar does get a little tiresome, however. That sounds like a dumb thing to say for a black metal record, given that repetition is a key factor of black metal in general. However, I do feel that the tremolo is simply overused, certainly across the first half of the album at least. For the latter three tracks there does appear to be a little more variation, and the album improves for it.

The drums are perhaps the best part of the whole album for me. Well produced and unobtrusive, yet at the same time they are as varied as they are prominent. I do not get the sense that they are particularly complex in their patterns, yet the skill of the musician is still obvious. The other standout from the second half of Stillamentum is the use of dark choral vocals. Their inclusion gives tracks a ritualistic theme that grabs the attention well.

Eleven years between records is a long time, and I have not heard their debut record to know how marked a difference, or not, there is to what goes on throughout Stillamentum. Both members have roles in other bands I can see which may explain the huge gap in output. I cannot say that Stillamentum suffers in any regard, more that it labours somewhat. If the guitars could match the drums in both variety and positioning in the overall sound, then I would enjoy the album more. However, this is not a bad record by any means, and I will be keeping an ear out for album number three if it ever arrives.

I'm not too surprised that I've never heard of Mirrorcell until sometime this week. They released their debut album Long Nights in Lovescape (sounds like if someone spent all night using an AI dating app) two months ago. It's an album that can go back and forth from ethereal to intense, but it ends up inconsistent with only a few exciting tracks.

The album's sound is basically alt-metalcore with some shoegaze. I find the more shoegaze side of them a little too much, often interfering with the times when the band is meant to go heavy. As a result, the offering is plagued with generic tracks. And in the few that are actually fun to listen to, it's because of the experimentation they add to the sound. It's really only then that I realize the band's true potential...

I'm not gonna go through most of the first half of the album in detail because of how sh*tty it is (the Cane Hill feature making me remember why I'm done with that band), the worst offending track being "Otherside". It sounds worse in the composition than everything else and shows how f***ing generic ALT-metalcore at times, which is part of why The Gateway is no longer for me. Let's just skip through some tracks to the ones I like, starting with a reminder of this album's 3-star rating, "Hurt Me". An incredible highlight with well-executed electronics and breakdowns. It has really gotten me hooked with fun catchy melody. I consider it the album's true standout!

After a couple more bad generic tracks, we have "Ichi", which deserves attention for its VCTMS guest feature and its intense heaviness. I heard that it's a common song to start listening to Mirrorcell, but that would've raised some people's expectations too high. Either way, another fantastic track! I also love "U(phoria)" (Wait, did I just admit my love for the band Phoria? I'm not into art rock!). "Prey" is a solid beautiful ending track.

All in all, I would consider Long Nights in Lovescape a decent album, just not really a great one. The alternation between generic and anthemic tracks is just underwhelming for me. Still they're a new band with some potential, so I'll give them the benefit of a doubt. They just need to improve on their sound and seal it as something unique. I have nothing totally against shoegazey alt-metalcore, yet the generic sh*t is what made the sound stop being one of my favorite metal styles in the first place. There's still some good in the fusion, they just need to really let it out. Otherwise, we would have another decent yet generic release like this. We'll see what the future holds....

Favorites (only tracks I really like): "Hurt Me", "Ichi", "U(phoria)", "Prey"

Anytime I see at least two bands that I enjoy in the "for fans of" part of an album review, I feel the need to check out and review the album myself. Such is the case for Saxy's reviews for this album and that Archspire one. And they also happened to be those two tech-death albums in a week! What are the odds?! Seems like tech-death with some slight touches of math/deathcore is the hot metal topic of this month. Though for this Growth album, I say it's more like progressive tech-death...

This Melbourne-based band released their second album Under the Under over 5 years after their debut. Apparently, the two albums form part of an ongoing trilogy like what Green Carnation and Lord of the Lost are doing right now. Most of the 6 tracks here are 9-minute epics of heaviness and experimentation.

"Remember Me as Fire" kicks things off with no time to waste, filled with guitar fury and bass picking. Within the aggression is some melody to make an incredible contrast. The title track begins with ominous guitar/bass strumming. And that's just the start of a 9-minute ride of multi-time riffing. Well it doesn't cover all 9 minutes, as the second half has clean melody and clean singing by vocalist Luke Frizon, at a baritone range that I can probably do myself.

You can hear more of those clean vocals in "Slings That Shatter", sounding more emotional than the previous track. It helps with the desperation for recovery that the lyrical concept is centered upon. The melody is greatly balanced with the chaos in the music, thereby making this one of the most well-rounded tracks of the album. Although nothing new is brought into "Pain is Never Far Away", it displaying their raging moods quite well. They continue kicking things up in the drumming and riffing, showing their progressive almost djenty side. Not a total loss there!

We get some buildup in "Forward, Further, Spirit Killer" which wanders through technicality. As great and heavy as it is, I was hoping for a little more adventure. Luckily, I'm about to get my wish... Closing track "Death Cannot Hold Me" is both f***ing heavy and progressive. This is what I really want to hear from this band for diversity's sake. Nothing's hold me back from enjoying this epic!

Under the Under has great consistency and a heavy/melodic blend that should catch the attention of open-minded listeners. I wish the structures were more balanced and diverse in some songs though. Still, Growth have made a progressive tech-death blast. Something Rivers of Nihil could've done instead of going the mainstream route....

Favorites: "Remember Me as Fire", "Slings That Shatter", "Death Cannot Hold Me"

Archspire are known for their ultra-fast tech-death sound. And I mean ULTRA-FAST, like going as fast as Sonic. In fact, they're probably one of the most well-known tech-death bands to be heard beyond the underground today. Actor Jason Momoa, who you may know as Garrett "The Garbage Man" Garrison from A Minecraft Movie, once had two members of the band appear in an episode of the show See. Archspire have so much speed in them that not even death can catch up. They're TOO FAST TO DIE!

This gem of speed and glory wouldn't have been possible without a crowdfunding Kickstarter campaign to help them out without a record label. With $125,000 raised, vocalist Oliver Rae Aleron, guitarists Dean Lamb and Tobi Morelli, bassist Jared Smith, and new drummer Spencer Moore continuing taking the metal realms by storm.

"Liminal Cypher" has a soft melodic intro before unleashing the usual speed in the riffing and vocals. Complex guitarwork and brutal blasts add to the technicality. One impressive track is "Red Goliath" which continues the technical violence. The guitars and bass are in quite a rapid pace, and I'm surprised they're not broken in half by now. Great searing melodies too! You do have to wonder if "Carrion Ladder" is actually fast or just sped up. The music and vocals are insane, even when there's ethereal majesty.

"Anomalous Descent" doesn't lighten up the fury maintained throughout the song. The vocals continue to attack as much as the instrumentation. Every album needs a small break from the action, which is where "The Vessel" comes in with its calm intro. And when the brutality comes back on, it has some interesting melodeath-like guitar.

Up next, "Limb of Leviticus" cranks up the heaviness and speed that would stun even the most legendary guitar gods. It's a sonic firestorm of riffs and harmonics, apart from a soft bridge allowing you to take a breather. Following a smooth outro from that track, the next one "Deadbolt the Backward" has some more of those high-speed chugs and harmonics. The title finale is a perfect send-off with the last bit of destruction from the riffing and vocals that would turn a mosh-pit into a black hole when performed live.

Did I mention that they have a new drummer in Spencer Moore? Luckily, he's able to pull off that Sonic-speed drumming the way Spencer Prewett could. Archspire have made a fast complex masterpiece that is Too Fast to Die. They gotta go fast!

Favorites: "Red Goliath", "Carrion Ladder", "Limb of Leviticus", "Too Fast to Die"

I suppose that comparisons with Darkspace are par for the course with Aara. Two atmospheric black metal bands, both from Switzerland and both rather good at what they do. Although the ambient streak that runs through Darkspace material is perhaps not as prevalent in the sound of their fellow Swiss counterparts. There is possibly a straighter line to be drawn to Mare Cognitum in all honesty. At least to my ear also. Whatever comparison you want to draw, Aara makes atmospheric, melodic and very enduring black metal on Eiger. The enduring nature of the sound feels like a sound representation of the tragic story of one climb undertaken by a handful of individuals that resulted in significant loss of life on the mountain. The Eiger is a mountain that has claimed multiple lives over the years. Those brave enough to try and take on not only its perilous climbing height but also avalanches, treacherous weather and of course freezing temperatures have certainly helped it live up to its nickname of “Murder Wall”.

The freezing cold represented on the album resonates with a crystal-clear hue out of the melodic and poignant notes of the riffs. The blizzard like conditions is summarised wonderfully in the blitz of drums and guitar and the harsh environment could not be better represented overall by those scathing vocals. One of the main successes of Eiger is that despite all this multitude of metaphors, a listener can easily still hear the storytelling as it narrates. The swarming guitars of ‘Felsensang’ suggests the fingering stealth of icy flakes of snow, jabbing at the faces of the mountaineers as they make their way along this imperilled journey. Unafraid to bring a folk-tinged element to the strings at times, Aara are at home in all tempos it seems here. They can have quite forthright drums with the most subtle of guitar strings atop of them and still make it all sound cohesive.

Given the dark outcome of the story here, there are a lot of hopeful and positive sounding moments in play across the record. As such, the songs feel very human. To me they capture a lot of the determination of those who did try and reach the top (five turned back and the remaining four were killed in trying to complete the ascent) as well as leaving the listener in no doubt of the dangers in front of them at any given moment. The songwriting here is so well balanced that it is difficult not marvel at it. It seeks to remind us I think, that regardless of the respect the album affords to the mountain itself, ultimately this is a story of human endeavour.

This has been my first Aara record, and what a place to start. From reading other reviews, this is a break from what is usually a more gothic-themed storytelling, which would also be right up my alley and so I do plan to build on this positive experience by exploring more of the discography. Meanwhile, Eiger is a mature piece of black metal delivered with a level of melody that often eclipses its atmospheric promise. Yet this is by no means a bad thing.

This is the best Hanging Garden have sounded in a very long time. After 2017's I Am Become, they seemed to step away from their sombre, gothic texture in favour of a more atmospheric/post-metal one. And while I think that change was a nice turn of events, the songwriting became less refined and their more recent albums have become lackluster as a result. This time, Hanging Garden are heavier and have returned to that older songwriting style and it turns out really well. The opener, "To Outlive the Nine Ravens" with its blast beat introduction gives the listener somewhat of an idea what they are in for, in the same way that Aeonian Sorrow introduced themselves on their last album From the Shadows. As the album progresses, you really get a sense that Hanging Garden have learned how to incorporate dual vocals as they compliment each other beautifully. The backgrounds with the guitar make a third melody that weaves in-and-out of the two vocalists for even more dramatic effect. The bass lines are strong and tasteful and even the implement of synthesized instruments is very well done; unlike many modern metalcore bands, the synth an embellishment tool to give the album a slightly different timbre, such as keyboard countermelody on "Arise, Black Sun". 

Best Songs: To Outlive the Nine Ravens, Eternal Tress of Turquoise, To the Gates of Hel, Arise, Black Sun

For Fans Of: Draconian, My Dying Bride, Ethereal Darkness

So... new Ecchymosis.  Honestly had no idea.  Seeing this on the RYM charts on my phone was a bit of a surprise.  To be perfectly honest, slam is really something I only explored out of curiosity but not out of any love for it.  There are so many bands in this vein that have absolutely no interest in creativity.  Even Devourment is much like Lynne Ramsay in the sense that they only produced one thing I love and the rest is either meh or decent.  In the case of Ecchymosis, a 65 and a 61 are all they managed on their first two albums.  So if the slam fans are gonna unite and put this in the RYM top ten of 2026 this late in said year, then it better be good.  But I need real creativity, like the early death of Big Chocolate a.k.a. Disfiguring the Goddess.  But I doubted I'd get that.

It's quite the case.  The first track makes a case of shoving the snares in our faces with crystal clear production.  And it's a cool sound at first, but it loses its charm all too quickly by becoming the focal point of the album.  Honestly, does this guy even know what a SECOND piece of a drum kit looks like?  Can I just bang my pots and pans like four year old DW cheering about the circus being in town?  I get more musical creativity out of brushing my teeth.  I can't even hear the guitar riffs at all because they're too noisy to do anything, much like the overly fuzzy camera on the only porn film I've ever watched, and the drumming drowns out what could be made out anyway.  The first real solo happens 10 minutes into this 28-minute album, so I just spend a good third listening to a laundry machine washing clothes and banging a cowbell on the walls at rapid speeds as it spins the clothes around.  Thankfully, track 4 makes use of a breakdown, which lasts 30 seconds (long as hell for this type of album).  And the vast majority of creative decisions last like two seconds, and are scarse among the album.

God.  Just... God.  This is the type of album that really challenges my moral conviction not to say "objectively" this.  It's really testing me not to say it's "objectively overrated," especially on a metal forum.  This is currently the number 3 metal album of 2026?  Not likely.  I really hope it doesn't stay.  It has NONE of the spark I got from Dripping, DTG, Katalepsy or Devourment's rerecording of Butcher the Weak.  Not only did Ecchymosis fail to convince me for the third time that the slam genre is for real artists instead of just dumb metal heads who wanna hear speed and growling, but their currently highest-charting album on my go-to music recommendations site is easily their worst to me.  What a slog, hiding behind a clear sound to justify the band's inability to operate on proper musical channels during recording.  Wrong guitar sound, bad focus, same song over and over again for a drawn-out 27 minutes.

Best Songs: Masochist Machine, Anywhere But Here, Bleed Enough, Die Slow

For Fans Of: The Callous Daoboys, Static Dress

Deeds of Flesh are a blast. Anyone who admires the technical brutality of Suffocation, Decrepit Birth Dying Fetus or Defeated Sanity would struggle to find much to dislike with the quartet who put together Path of the Weakening. Released at the end of the 90s, this album is played with the vigour of a band releasing their debut album in 1989 or 1990 when the world was just warming up to the wonder of death metal. It is a record that has aged well too, still managing to sound relevant nearly three decades after its release. The band are still active some thirty-three-years after their inception and run Unique Leader Records, the label ran by the late vocalist/guitarist for the band Erik Lindmark.

With my interest in death metal starting to pique again, it is records like this one that remind me of just why I was drawn to this style of music nearly forty years ago. There’s something to be said about bands who can take an already arcane form of music and not only squeeze every drop of brutality from it whilst also keeping things interesting at the same time. On Path of the Weakening, Deeds of Flesh make no attempt to provide any accessibility to proceedings, however. Yet there is a clarity to those riffs. Even though the listener will experience multiple changes to tempo and time throughout the album and individual tracks even, they remain prominent, not being allowed to get lost in the mix or indeed the listeners experience either. Given the barrage of percussion that is going on at times here, this is even more of an achievement. I can see there was a returning drummer on this record and Joey Heatley managed to make an impact on his return without going overboard and dominating proceedings.

There is underlying groove toa lot of these tracks also, again this is something which helps the interest levels for me. Vocally, we are treated to consistent death metal fare. Cruel shrieks dash out at you from seemingly out of nowhere, yet we are never to far away from the guttural gurns that dredge up untold hells from the underworld itself. I am unsure why I have not tapped into Deeds of Flesh before this feature release. I could see as I streamed the record that I had saved one of the tracks (‘Summarily Killed’) to my Liked Songs, which could also easily mean this was a nomination for me in The Horde playlist at some point in the past. Either way, I am glad I have completed the full listening experience now as I may well have found a new cult favourite.

An album of two halves on a debut is not going to be winning Mirrorcell any "hot new bands of 2026" awards. The first half of the album starts off slow and meditative. "Glitter" gives warm expectations, despite the down tuned guitars and those feelings remain intact even through the promotional single "Pleasure". Then "Candy" hits and the album takes a major pivot, channeling metalcore/djent riffs, harsh vocals and industrial touches of percussion and wonky guitar techniques. It certainly took me by surprise, even though I should have seen it coming.

Long Nights in Lovescape's bait-and-switch was not a pleasant one considering how muffled the mixing is. I guess that is to be expected from guitars that are as downtuned as this, but the low end is so booming and massive that any attempts for a treble line to be given substance are effectively neutered. This certainly is not my preferred style of metal production.

Best Songs: Glitter, Candy, Lovebomb

For Fans Of: Greyhaven, Issues, Volumes

This has been my first time listening to a full length by Melechesh, with the band having only ever managed to previously float on the periphery of my black metal listening taste. You see, I have never really been possessed by the urge to explore Melechesh in depth and off the basis of this record I doubt that this will change very much moving forwards. Despite some early promise on The Epigenesis it falls some way short for me in being a complete experience. Which seems like an odd statement given just how much is going on during the hour and eleven-minutes duration of the record. Somehow though, it just doesn’t all fit together for me.

I am not surprised to hear the musical influences on the record. The band bill themselves as Sumerian/Mesopotamian themed extreme metal and this certainly shows on this album. Those black metal roots are obvious underneath all the middle eastern sounds and the potency of technical death metal and the swarming sounds of progressive metal each get turns to take the steering wheel at times during the album also. For the first five tracks of the album, I don’t really have much of a problem. Tracks like ‘Grand Gathas of Baal Sin’ are absolute romps, full of pace and energy. Regrettably though, this is an album of two halves, and the second half is a very lost sounding and directionless affair to my ears.

The middle eastern influences just seem to take over after the instrumental track, ‘When Halos of Candles Collide’ and the tracks seem to lose a large portion of their metal credentials along the way and my attention starts to fade, badly. Whereas the non-metal instruments seem to blend relatively well with the more standard fare for the first part of the record, they seem to almost take over the longer the record goes on for. Add to this there is a definite accessible edge to tracks such as ‘Sacred Geometry’ which has a really irritating chorus section, which is not how I like my black metal I am afraid. Fair play to them for trying and I can see this works for other members, based on comments on the site already. However, this is a bit of a bugger’s muddle to me overall.

I will be honest, when I saw this record put forward for a feature release this month, I groaned inwardly. Having tried to understand the hype around this album on many occasions previously, I could never quite fathom its cult status. For me personally, it has always been Empire that is my go-to Queensrÿche album. A factor in my opinion of Operation Mindcrime has always been its arrangement. Metal/rock operas are tedious affairs to me, often where songs get snarled up in acts at various points in the record, completely disrupting the flow of the album usually. Here on this record, there is the double whammy of two, largely non-musical intro tracks to open proceedings, so my irritation soon becomes difficult to control.

Arrangement challenges aside, this outing with album has been much more fruitful than I expected. If I divert my attention away from the actual storytelling, I can acknowledge that there are some fantastic tracks on this record. I recalled that I had always liked ‘I Don’t Believe in Love’, but on this outing the class of ‘Suite Sister Mary’ shone through. I am confident that with future listens I will be able to expand on the list of standout tracks as some made a more subconscious impact this time around.

There are still some gripes, however. I struggle to describe much of this as metal in all honesty. The extravagance of the leads perhaps is all that keeps the sound this side of the hard rock style that I recognise as being more prevalent. I don’t really buy the progressive tag either. I doubt if it were all that progressive, I would have found as much positivity in the album as I have. However, let’s try to keep those positive vibes coming and end on a high note. This has been a successful revisit for me, albeit an unexpected one. I have a feeling if I edit the track listing myself on this, I could even get a higher rating for this album in the future.

At this point in their thirty-eight-year reign, Immolation can almost do no wrong. Whilst they may have had periods of inferior output (Kingdom of Conspiracy, Majesty & Decay), I can think of few bands of such long-established activity who’s output I look forward to. Descent continues this tradition of the Yonkers crew once again creating another distinctive sounding record that is immediately identifiable as their signature sound, backed up with their deft song writing skills and seemingly undying passion for this artform that they have epitomised for so long. It would be very easy for Immolation to sound a little jaded if not downright tired by now. However, whilst not a flawless record, their twelfth studio album shows no lack of energy and no signs of the battery levels even starting to diminish.

Perhaps one of the most consistent death metal legends of recent years, Immolation have made another assured sounding album. The line up of Ross, Robert, Alex and Steve has been stable now for three records now and you can almost feel the unity across these tracks. Great production also helps of course, and the mix here is kind to all elements of the instrumentation with Steve’s drums coming off best in my experience. Those dancing, swarming, and urgent riffs perform their dizzying deeds as always, with that keen ear for marauding melody getting a lot of room to shine also. Ross’ vocals are satisfyingly beastly, without suffering from the artificial edge to them that haunted the bands previous album, Acts of God. Indeed, the only element that is lost here is the bass, which is hardly rare in death metal anyways. Dan Lilker makes another guest vocal appearance on a couple of tracks, just as he did on the previous album.

Once again using the striking artwork of Eliran Kantor, the image that adorns the album cover of an angel immolating into the fiery depths of Hell (perhaps) is a good representation of the content that lies in the album itself. The sacrifice she appears to be making (or be forced to make) appears to have the perfect soundtrack in the instrumental track, ‘Banished’. For once, I find an instrumental track that is not overbearing and is placed in a sensible position on the record as the palate cleanser before the title and closing track. If you have enjoyed any album from Immolation in the last nine years, then Descent will not disappoint you. Whilst there is always an element of predictability to an Immolation record, for now that still presents as familiarity and I still find their sound to be one of the more unique in death metal still.

Okay, so I really tried to like the new Archspire album, even though it should be no surprise that it sits well outside my comfort zone of death metal. Dave Otero, the albums main producer, is an absolute beast here and has found his niche; producing several of the most recent releases by Cattle Decapitation and Allegaeon. Like those bands, this album is super clean and precise. Every single note in the guitars, bass and percussion is delivered with pin point accuracy and the bass carries a lot of the records intensity forward. 

Where the album falters is in its lyrical presentation. I'm just gonna come out and say it: I think that early Tom Arraya is ass, so why the hell would anyone want to try and replicate him? I can give Slayer a little bit of credit here, since Tom balanced it out with a few slower passages as well as dueling guitar solos. Archspire have taken the word vomit from Reign in Blood and put it on steroids! Shawn's vocals just sound like gargled mush. In a genre where the intention of the vocals IS to sound like gargled mush, why waste your energy? If it was meant to be a novelty/comedy album then maybe, but this is meant to be taken dead seriously, and the vocals are very technical and flowery. It seems like a poorly thought out idea to me.

Best Songs: Red Goliath, Carrion Ladder, Limb of Leviticus

For Fans Of: Cattle Decapitation, Shadow of Intent, Rings of Saturn

Moody, atmospheric shoegaze that should satisfy on those grunge, hazy filled days during the summer months. It's well performed, has a strong foundation and low end, which really emphasizes the style on display. Vocals have a carefree presentation that is reminiscent of Hum and their 2020 revival album Inlet. Besides that though, True Blue is lacking heavily in substance; a common issue that persists throughout the shoegaze genre of music, but this one is extra dazed. This sounds like Deftones on autopilot. However Deftones have proven that they can still make quality music when they are on autopilot into the 2020s so to be a step below that has to be concerning.

Best Songs: Levitate, Summer Skin, True Blue

For Fans Of: Deftones, Teenage Wrist, Astronoid

As you can see from the rating, The Search is not without its challenges for me.  Notwithstanding that this album was recorded nearly forty-years ago and that I suspect that they did not have the most advanced studio to work with, this took me back to the wrong side of the old school, blunting some of the sharper nostalgia that can normally carry a portion of such albums.  I mean, I have no experience of Necrosis before this month and so I had no familiarity to work from that may have been triggered somewhere in my aging brain.  Hence, the performance, although adept enough, is not captured as well as it could be.

In the main though, I just can't get past the vocals.  They are just too weak to the point of being whiny; unable to stack up against the rest of the instrumentation, especially the guitar work which is a good few notches above the vocal performance.  Increasingly, as I listened through the record, I found it hard to penetrate the skin of the record and pick out any individual moments to reflect upon.  The album as a result just became this mass of thrash music, without any clear delineation between tracks.  In short, it soon became a bit of a slog.

In the end I found myself listening to the album to almost try and outrun the vocals, just so I could hopefully get long enough away from them to enjoy the music itself.  Alas, I did not have the legs to last the course of that little mindgame and so The Search remains a discovery that I am unlikely to revisit.

Well colour me surprised that I ended up with two technical death metal albums in the same week, but life can be funny that way sometimes.

Growth are a fresh new Australian band in the tech-death variety and, according to the early reviews of Under the Under, I got the impression that it was going to be in the style of early Ulcerate such as Everything is Fire. Now if you know me, that should come as a huge boost, since Ulcerate were the band that singlehandedly broke my shell when it came to technical/dissonant death metal. So I threw my headphones on, hopped onto Bandcamp, pressed play and what I was hit with was a fruitful display of technical/progressive metal, but sounding like Ulcerate? I don't know about that one.

When I think of that band, it comes with the expectation that the word "dissonant" can be taken very lightly. The songs are extremely melodic, make use of both its loud and soft spaces, and always backed by an atmospheric foundation. By comparison, Under the Under is much closer to the hardcore side of the genre that became popularized by bands like Cattle Decapitation and, more recently, Replicant. As a result, this album is lacking a fair bit in that discomfort that should be expected when the phrase "dissonant death metal" is used. As such, many of my returning criticisms of metalcore in general have made a return here: a lot of decent ideas that are kneecapped by the simple fact that, "hey we need a slow breakdown passage here!" and the use of clean singing as a point of melody feels forced.

But it isn't all bad for the Australian combo. Growth have some progressive chops that have been taken from the playbook of An Abstract Illusion and even some clean guitar intros/interludes that sound inspired by the same sections on Ulcerate's last album. Compositions have plenty of variety between them as they power through the gauntlet of emotions. The production is all done in house and executed remarkably well. so as to sound indebted to their inspirators, but not a full blown copycat.

I quite enjoyed Under the Under but I would be hard-pressed to call it great. It has plenty of great moments, but many of them feel muted by the metalcore influence and it leaves the album feeling hollow at times. Now is it disingenuous of me to critique this record as trying to be like Ulcerate when they are clearly NOT trying to play like Ulcerate? Absolutely! So if you're looking for some modestly accessible technical death metal, this record should aim to please. But those who are more familiar with the genre might be left underwhelmed.

Best Songs: Remember Me as Fire, Under the Under, Pain Is Never Far Away

For Fans Of: Ulcerate(?), Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge

Best Songs: Oath Ov Prometheus, Penumbrian Lament, Death Is Forever

For Fans Of: Sólstafir, Dreadnought, Heretoir

I picked "Writhe" up on its release via Bandcamp and, at time of writing eight years later, it remains the only release from the New Hampshire trio, amounting to two tracks spanning 25 minutes of material. Boghaunter's version of doom metal is heavily atmospheric and dips its toes into atmospheric sludge waters more than a little. Opener "Constellation Vows" builds on clean and clear lighter motifs and then batters them down with some crushing riffs and corrosively harsh vocals, only for them to reassert themselves in a to-and-fro of contrasting and complementary tidal shifts. This feels to me to be more than the usual atmo-sludge trick of build, build release, the two atmospheric poles weaving together like the intertwining twin serpents of celtic legend and displaying a nice level of songwriting maturity. Second track, "Ordeals in Stillness" is less intricate and more straightforward doom metal, albeit no less impressive, employing a memorable and melodic, gravitationally heavy riff which is accented by sparely used keys and soaring lead work. These provide a doom-laden foundation, dripping with melancholy over which the sludgy vocals bark and snarl in protest.

I was impressed by this opening salvo from Boghaunter back in 2018 and remain so to this day and it is a great shame that so promising a debut wasn't the springboard for a career of note. Even sadder is that there seems to have been very little activity from the three guys elsewhere, although I have just found the 2025 debut three-track EP from death doom band Departure which features Boghaunter guitarist and vocalist Michael Demers on lead guitar and which, although it is more straight-up death doom, is still a good listen. I guess the history of metal is strewn with such tales of exceedingly promising acts, for whatever reason, falling by the wayside while lesser talents thrive, but I am grateful that we got this beauty of a release anyway.

In my more attentive death metal listening days I was specifically drawn for a period to the sounds of Portal, Grave Upheaval, Impetuous Ritual and Mitochondrion.  Across this cross-section of bands I had found a sound that had moved beyond the simply inaccessible depths of conventional death/blackened-death metal, and had gone on to a whole new level of murk and squall.  Song structures where a redundant concept.  Dissonance and swarming chaos ruled these despairing depths.  Whereas some of my peers were utterly alienated by such music, the sheer abandonment of all conventional tenets of music theory really struck the right chord with me.

Cabinet are a modern version of that sound. Except Cabinet's version is like listening to Vexovoid if Portal had recorded it whilst out of their minds on crack.  Not content with just taking extremity far beyond any known levels, Cabinet add a cinematic quality into proceedings to create some real drama.  Now, do not get mistaken for thinking this is disorder.  It comes across to me that Cabinet have managed to download all of our nightmares from our subconscious minds and commit them to tape.  As punishing as it does often get, Hydrolysated Ordination never loses my attention at all,  Whilst I could be forgiven at times for thinking that the riffs were recorded in a whole different dimension altogether, and with the noise elements also being well-dialled in, this record never actually veers wildly off-road.  It does sound for the majority of the runtime like it is driving in the flow of oncoming traffice I grant you, but this is what makes it such a deeply immersive experience.

The unpredictability of the record soon becomes its trademark.  Tracks begin and end where you don't expect them to, sounds that you think you recognise the orign of turn out to be questionable in origin after repeated listens.  Is that a horn being played or just another wildly distorted guitar?  These are the type of questions that I found me asking myself as I worked through the terrifying yet wonderfully deviant eleven tracks on offer.  All hope abandon, ye who enter here.

Doom and sludge when measured in the correct quantities on a record can make for a delicious combination to satiate the appetite of a lover of extreme metal.  My preference with such blends is to go heavier on the sludge, forming a kind of sludge crust if you like and then let the doomier filling ooze out as I gorge further into the unholy pie in front of me.  Quiescent in many ways is the à la carte of the sludge/doom menu.  Seasoned with ethereal dissonance and packed still with the meaty density of CHRCH, these four tracks are filling, but all are of a length that gives the discerning diner the opportunity to savour each course.

Often resembling a slightly less ghastly Primitive Man, Dvvell possess that same pummelling yet torturous percussion that Joe Linden brings to the table.  Vocally, Kristy Senkor-Hall is not a million miles away from the style of Ethan Lee McCarthy either.  Dvvell in the comparison have the upper hand in the atmosphere stakes though.  ‘Mother’, ‘Father’, ‘Son’ and ‘Daughter’ all have individual presence about them, and with no track under twelve and a half minutes, the band do a fantastic job of making every minute interesting.  The combination of oppressive intensity and sonic ambushes certainly kept me on my toes throughout the album.

There is no time for polish here, no tolerance for avant-garde moments.  Dvvell have all their ducks lined up, have addressed any elephants in the room and are well underway with frying any big fishes they have lying around the place.  Indeed, Quiescent is so tight sounding that you could be forgiven for thinking it got laid down in one take.  When a band manages to get into such a wonderfully dark zone so early on in a record, it is hard to see much that can distract them out of it.

I discovered this band from the November 2025 The Fallen playlist and I knew within one listen through that this was a purchase.  Hence it now sits in my Bandcamp collection.

For an album typically categorized as blackgaze (including on the bands own Bandcamp page), I was shocked by how little reverb Subglacial was given in post-production. It gives the album a unique sense of raw and grounded emotion brought forth in the music and lyricism. However, the record's unique tonal quality might also be its biggest flaw, since the low end of the mix is painfully lacking throughout. Credit where it is due; there IS a bass presence that can be felt at times during the slower moving sections and the acoustic breaks, but when the guitars take over and start their tremolo picking, the bass is pitiful. And that turns out to be a huge shame because somewhere beneath the surface is a pretty solid album from Ashbringer. The stories told through the music are memorable, while also feeling engaging and immense. The transitions from soft to aggression are executed at the right time, the album isn't scared to flex its muscle in the long song department, without going overboard. But all of that feels like a mute point when the grounded bass lines are so flimsy and non-existent. It makes the whole concept of being grounded, back-to-reality, feel like a fools errand. In an attempt to swim, Ashbringer got their feet frozen underwater.

Best Songs: Subglacial, Send Him to the Lake

Lord of the Lost isn't the only band with a trilogy of albums having been released this year and last year. Green Carnation already have their own trilogy going on, titled A Dark Poem. The second part Sanguis was released just 7 months after the first part The Shores of Melancholia. And just like Part I, this part continues the band atmospheric gothic progressive metal sound, shining as bright as ever! That should help them stand in the prog-metal league alongside Amorphis and Opeth.

Now this alternation between heavy anthems and soft ballads may put some people off, particularly in a short 6-track album. However, I'm quite used to those kinds of jumps in some bands. Though a slight change in the order would set the style a little more straight.

The 9-minute opening title epic kicks things off hard. Music comes from the heart and mind, and they clearly have some melancholy going on, along with groovy keys. So amazing! It is followed by the ballad "Loneliness Untold, Loneliness Unfold" which goes as light as late Anathema. I would change a couple small things about it though. 1. Shorten the title so you're not just repeating it with one letter change. 2. Put it before the title epic as the album's intro, it sounds better that way. Other than that, good track!

Then things speed up in "Sweet to the Point of Bitter". Don't expect anything extreme in the vocals though, it's all clean. "I Am Time" has more melancholy in the music and the smooth vocal modesty of Kjetil Nordhus. In that sense, this is like a more progressive take on Demon Hunter's more melodic tracks.

"Fire in Ice" is bookended by an audio sample that I think is from Lord of the Rings. The music itself has the dark winter sorrow of Wolfheart (minus the harsh vocals). It's another long epic (though not as long as other progressive metal epics out there) that I enjoy, to end the action on a sweet and not bitter note. "Lunar Tale" is an uplifting ballad that is the most distant from the band's usual sound, even having some lovely flute by Ingrid Ose.

The Dark Poem saga may not be over yet, but so far those first two parts have quite impressed me. They're well connected to each other while each being their own offering. Sanguis maintains the strength while adding different moods to their writing. And I look forward to the third part to conclude the journey later this year or next year!

Favorites: "Sanguis", "I Am Time", "Fire in Ice"

I was about two minutes into In Your Blood before I a) checked this wasn’t Biohazard and b) where Biohazard’s two first releases came out in relation to this one. By 1995, we had already had two Biohazard records, and I was a bit of a fan at that point, so the similarities were obvious to me from the start of this album. This got me to thinking about how close my listening tastes could have gotten too early metalcore had my teenage years been more driven by the internet. Then again, I am not sure how much of what passes as metalcore nowadays can be compared to this record, it certainly sounds more hardcore than the increasingly rap metal-based style of Biohazard, albeit those gang chants are still very much prevalent here also.

As usual with my forays into The Revolution clan features, if I am not totally alienated and horrified by what I hear on the first track then chances are that I am going to stay for the album duration and that I will have some positives to highlight, and this is the case once again here with Excessive Force. There is no point that I lose interest in In Your Blood, since it maintains a frantic and pummelling pace for its entire duration, it is hard for me not to be engaged throughout. The punk elements get room to shine (‘Backtrack’) whilst the metallic riffs remain the order of the day very much. I like how this stays true to that 90s hardcore sound whilst still being able to inject some new life into that sound.

Vocally speaking, the style is desperate sounding whilst still maintaining that very aggressive front at the same time. I don’t mind the gang chants, although I suspect my entertainment levels wouldn’t drop if they were absent. Whilst I will not pretend that In Your Blood is big on variation, it is one of the reasons why it works for me, I think. When I look at what carries the “metalcore’’ tag nowadays, I cannot help but feel it is a heavily distorted tag that is perhaps overused. If this is what 90s metalcore sounded like, then it is not very far away from a familiar format in all honesty. In Your Blood is most certainly under my skin, if not quite able to penetrate my veins as the title suggests. What it has done is opened my eyes and ears to a scene I had written off too early it appears.

I quite liked the first couple of mid-1990's releases from Poland's Behemoth but they went through somewhat of a lull after that &, in doing so, managed to lose my interest during that 1996-98 period for the most part. It wasn't until my return to metal in 2009 & that I'd reconnect with these guys & I've generally checked out everything that they've put out since. I know a lot of people will place 2014's "The Satanist" record up on a pedestal as Behemoth's finest work but I've always felt that their 2004 seventh full-length "Demigod" had a slight edge personally, mainly because I really don't like the very popular "Ora pro nobis Lucifer" from "The Satanist". Other than that, the two releases are of a pretty similar standard although I'd suggest that there is slightly less of a black metal component to "Demigod" which is more of a straight down the line death metal release with the occasional hint at black metal. There are no weak tracks included while front man Nergal's vocals are aggressive & sinister & talented drummer Inferno's blast beats are savage & precise. I will say that the clicky drum sound doesn't work as well when Inferno goes for a standard blast beat but the alternating ones are both powerful & spectacular. Check out the underrated "Before the Æons Came" which is my personal favourite. "Demigod" is a very solid death metal record that should satisfy most of our The Horde members.

For fans of Hate, Belphegor & Sulphur Aeon.

The “boxes” argument used to come up quite a lot back on the old Terrorizer forum days. Any member trying to conveniently place anything even slightly eclectic into a specific genre, sub-genre, niche, thimble or mere tag usually found themselves suffering the ire of one or more of the regulars on that board. For a forum that was associated with the extreme metal and was billed as the” world’s most dangerous music magazine”, there was a surprisingly open-minded group of regulars present there and as such an album like this month’s The Fallen feature release would have proved to be a divisive discussion point.

Smote don’t have any recognition on Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives. To be honest, I can almost understand why. As much as there is a heavy streak to Songs from the Free House, there is a lot of other elements for the listener to contend with. Drone, psych, folk and doom all occupy the forty-minute space in front of the listener. To my ear this record embraces a very similar sound to that of Wolvserpent, a band who despite my tendency to avoid drone metal, get regular revisits each year. When I pick up such reference points, I do wonder if it is just that Smote have simply not been put forward for submission at The Metal Archives as opposed to being outright rejected. Clearly, these tracks are not always arranged with the heavier elements in sharp focus; the chaos of psych often disrupts any sense of outright doom metal from topping the charts of influences driving the bus. You may easily find then that Songs from the Free House is a little too rarified a listen if there are no albums by Hawkwind in your collection.

At the same time, I do not think that you must be a fan of the output by Sunn O))), Earth or Boris to enjoy this release. The drone elements here possess an atmosphere I have rarely been able to pick up with the above artist’s releases that I have ventured into. The haunting pipes of ‘Chamber’ and those dense, droning keys and vocals create a real sense of immersion around me as I listen. But above all else, in comparison to other albums I have experienced across these multiple genres/sub-genres, there is still a sense of very definite start and end points to tracks. There is no blurring of all tracks into one and as such tracks are permitted a good expanse of individual identity.

I could use the word ‘enchanting’ to describe this record. It has a sultry, brooding appeal to it that lures me in; perhaps at this early stage of listening even without me being able to fully understand why it connects with me so well. There is something primal about the tribal percussion that is on display. The uncertainty of the deep drones and bass lines only seem to add to the allure of proceedings as opposed to alienating me from them. And so, it eventually comes back to the fact that there is no “box” to put this record in, which is sort of why I like it so much.

Manchester’s Winterfylleth have had a mostly “off” relationship with me (as opposed to an “on/off” relationship that is).  Their most enjoyable release for me has always been their acoustic folk record The Harrowing of Heirdom which I thought was fantastic in a kind of underground Fleet Foxes kind of a way, not too commercialised or harmonised either.  Fact is that most of their outright black metal records have left me cold, and not in the desired black metal experience kind of “cold” either.  I cannot deny that they are a talented bunch of lads, and that they do have a well-established following of loyal fans.  The music is never bad when I experience it, yet nor does it come across as being particularly memorable either.

The Unyielding Season caught me off guard therefore.  Soon after hearing it through a couple of times, I found myself able to predict songs on subsequent visits.  Opening track, ‘Heroes of a Hundred Fields’ has a fantastic section (which I heard called a “breakdown” the other day) after about two thirds of the way through.  Likewise, the title track has etched its flow into my memory banks also, much quicker than expected.  As with my favourite album of theirs, the two acoustic tracks are probably still my two preferred ones.  That favouritism has more to it than nostalgia for the previous release though, the band do have a genuine talent for writing beautiful acoustic pieces I feel and again it is these two moments that stay with me as the most positive experiences of the album.

It is not that the rest of the album is awful, more that these other tracks do seem to blur into one another.  This is a trait that only seems to get worse with repeated listens sadly.  Even on purely critical listens, it is hard to discern vast quantities of the album as having much in the way of individuality.  By far the greatest problem I have though is the poor choice of a cover track that sits right at the end of the album.  I am not Paradise Lost’s biggest fan, regardless of the fact that ‘Enchantment’ is one of my least favourite songs of their’s.  It was bad enough hearing Nick sing it but the vocalist for Winterfylleth somehow makes the experience worse.  Maybe I have overplayed this album in trying to settle on some reasonable understanding of it.  Looking at the score I have applied to the rating now, I would have thought it a shade higher upon initial discovery listens.  However, the reality over time has proven a different outcome is necessary.

The newest album from Ice Nine Ki... wait... The Gloom in the Corner is a peculiar record and exercise in structure. Right out of the gate, it takes heavy influence from Ice Nine Kills and The Silver Scream records. It's littered with symphonic strings, bombastic and erratic song forms and sequencing and a heightened sense of grandiose. Unlike Ice Nine Kills, The Gloom in the Corner are making this to be it's own standalone movie. Royal Discordance is a concept album, but it's hard to get into the concept from the outset. It's an album that is explosive and at points, dank, so the sardonic and destructive nature of the lyrics and themes feel out of touch. The way the album progresses from "The Problem with Apocalyptic Tyranny" and ends with "Love II: A Walk Amongst the Poppy Fields" almost feels forced.

Part of that inevitably comes from the music as well. Like I said on the outset, because of how heavily influenced Royal Discordance is to Ice Nine Kills, it is a heavy album. Lots of heavy chugging guitars, fat percussion mixing and a healthy dose of aggression in the vocals. I personally think that the vocals are the albums glowing highlight because for every "Nope (Hollow Point Elysium)" there is an equally strong ballad like "Shadow Rhapsody II" and the balancing of the vocal styles is very well done. Besides those vocals, there isn't that much innovative or interesting through the instrumentals. You might occasionally hear a blast beat coming from the percussion which sounds cool and the hardcore riffs are fun, but without a truly special hook locking them into place, it just feels hollow. 

Despite the negativity, I didn't hate this album. Just know that it is not my cup of tea when it comes to the type of metalcore that I enjoy. If you like Ice Nine Kills but wanted them to make a concept album for a movie instead of tributes to classic slasher films, you might enjoy Royal Discordance.

Best Songs: You Didn't Like Me Then (You Won't Like Me Now), Short Range Teleportation (A Guide to Guerrilla Warfare), That's Life (Carry Me Home), Love II: A Walk Amongst the Poppy Fields

This was my first time hearing about this Djentcore band from Australia and I enjoyed my time with I Guess It Was Nowhere. My initial impressions were that Above, Below would be following in the footsteps of bands like ERRA with their down tuned guitars and chunky hardcore breakdowns. And while we get a fair bit of that here, Above, Below also throw in some progressive/atmospheric sections as well. Those sections serve as a nice change of pace for the record, so that when the next chunky hardcore breakdown hits, it connects with authority. 

I use the word "atmospheric" very strongly here because I believe this album could have used more of that. I kept thinking back to early Astronoid records while entrenched in a dreamy sequence and felt myself getting kicked out of it unceremoniously by the vocals. I like Jacob Wilkes clean singing, but his harsh vocals are too brash and unkept for the clean stylings of djent. I'm quite sure that this was part of the point; highlighting more of the hardcore influence through the vocals so maybe its just a difference of direction, but that doesn't excuse the vocal mixing, which is pushed so far back in the sequence. And Jacob did all of the mixing and mastering on I Guess It Was Nowhere too! Guess he really loves pumping his band up and not himself.

Overall it was pretty good. The time flew by and I enjoyed my time with I Guess It Was Nowhere. The band executes a decent variety of styles and are really good at giving the listener space before the next hardcore assault. Hooks are hit-and-miss; quite a few of them felt too much like alphabet soup instead of clear and concise phrases with catchy melodies, but the album is well played/performed and the mixing (minus the vocals) is superb.

Best Songs: Heat, Starbreather, Collapsing Eden, I Have Lost My Appetite for Spring

While 1993's "Pure Holocaust" sophomore album was the record that cemented Norwegian black metal icons Immortal as a band that commanded my interest, it was third full-length "Battle in the North" that saw them joining the top tier of the genre for me personally & I still regard it as a black metal classic today. I purchased the digipack CD upon release (along with a long-sleeve shirt that I wore around the scene religiously for a while there) & it received a good ol' flogging during the back end of 1995. Immortal upped the brutality significantly once front man Abbath took over the drumming duties on "Pure Holocaust" but this? This was a whole different kettle of fish & still sits amongst the most intense extreme metal releases ever recorded. The riffs are swarming & inhuman, the drumming is relentlessly pummeling & Abbath's signature croaky vocals are demonic & sinister, not to mention ridiculously catchy. There are those critics out there who criticize Abbath's drumming as being incompetent but that's not a valid concern if you know a thing or two about extreme metal drumming. Sure, his kick drum work isn't always super-precise but the clicky kick drum triggers that are right at the front of the mix go a long way to highlighting every blemish & these imperfections aren't anything unusual for black metal drummers. His arms are not a problem at all though & it's really the guitars that struggle to keep up with the frantic rhythms at times. That's what people are complaining about without actually realising the root cause. This minor flaw is not a significant problem for me anyway though with songs like the title track, "Cursed Realms of the Winterdemons" & "At the Stormy Gates of Mist" being some of my all-time favourite black metal numbers. There isn't a weak number amongst the ten on offer & I'm gonna suggest that "Battle in the North" is easily Immortal best album, leaving highly regarded releases like "Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism", "At the Heart of Winter" & "Sons of Northern Darkness" in the dust.

For fans of Inquisition, Abbath & Mayhem.

Battle Ballads... That's an album title can either be aptly titled and have mostly ballads, or be misleading. Fortunately, it's the latter. I say "fortunately" because it's another good album from these Faroese metallers Tyr. In truth, there are only as many ballads as there are in a DragonForce album; one or two. The rest are power metal anthems with some melodic harmonies and bombastic orchestrations.

Oh yeah, this offering continues the band's later power metal direction, with their earlier progressive folk metal style in fragments. Their power metal side is in clearer display than before. However, the difference has caused less balance in their sound. Still there's a lot to look forward to, particularly in some of the first few tracks.

"Hammered" starts the album as an early hint at this approach. It's quite fun and hammering! Also a great way to introduce their new lead guitarist Hans Hammer, with the song title fitting well for that occasion too. Another 3-minute metal tune follows, "Unwandered Ways", yet it doesn't impress me as much as the surrounding tracks. "Dragons Never Die" is yet another 3-minute track while being another incredible standout. I especially love its chorus.

One of the most diverse songs in the vocals is "Row". While frontman Heri Joensen continues his unique singing, he also tests out some death growling (not as much as in Hel's opening track) and throat singing. Sadly it doesn't reach the heights of those earlier highlights. Still not a bad song though. Up next, "Torkils Dotur" is one of 3 songs with Faroese lyrics. It has quite some climatic emotion for a ballad. "Vaelkomnir Foroyingar" has more of their native language, while having a more straight direction in the music and vocals. However, their attempt at adding speed and heaviness comes out a bit weak and out of line. Thankfully, they still have their power in "Hangman".

"Axes" levels up the quality, showing that they still got it after around 25 years. The somewhat title track "Battle Ballad" is one of the most mighty tracks here. Everything's a small journey in this song! It's almost like Devin Townsend helped produced it alongside the album's actual producer Jacob Hansen. The bass should still be as audible as the rest, honestly. The closing "Causa Latronum Normannorum" starts off promising yet falls flat, compared to at least the previous two albums' ending epics.

Battle Ballads seems to take on the simple tight aspect of songs being mostly 3 to 4 minutes long each, similar to Valkyrja. The problem with their new album is, most of the progressiveness of their previous albums, including Valkyrja and Hel, have been discarded. At least a lot of the unique vocals by Heri Joensen is still around. And the formula they have is never downgraded to generic. Plus I am grateful for those other two albums I've checked out that make me up for more of this band. So although Battle Ballads doesn't reach that amount of greatness, nothing is jinxed, and Tyr is a band I'll never forget....

Favorites: "Hammered", "Dragons Never Die", "Torkils Dotur", "Axes", "Battle Ballad"

There's no arguing with the fact that Tyr is the most, and probably only, notable Faroese metal band. They're literally the only thing some people in the world, including myself, know about the Faroe Islands. I actually have heard of Tyr around 10 years before my new reviews, but their earlier albums from the 2000s had more of a doom-ish folk/prog-metal sound that was too dark for my bright melodic teen self at the time. However, Heri Joensen and co. would discard most of their earlier doom with fast power metal in the harmonic guitars. Of course, there;s still some of the folk/progressive part of their identity. All of that makes one of the best albums I've heard in folk/power metal!

Hel is ambitious as... well, Hel. 13 tracks cover 70 glorious minutes. Most of them are each 4 to 6 minutes long, with two 7-minute epics to bookend the album. Some persistent listening may be needed for a full rewarding experience. And just the word Hel (only one hockey stick) and artwork are enough for a great dark first impression, alongside the song titles that are as power metal as the actual tracks.

The 7-minute opener "Gates of Hel" would be quite a surprise for any longtime fan of the band, particularly in the first one or two minutes. The riffing sounds so crushing and deathly, complete with harsh vocals performed by Heri Joensen himself! Some might think, "What is this, Amon Amarth?!?" Anyway, that part is as fantastic as the rest of this song. I would love to hear more heavy growl-infused tracks like that from the band. Starting the second third of "All Heroes Fall" is some perfect soloing talent. The shredding that occurs in conjunction with the supporting riff-wrath is perhaps the best here. Next up, "Ragnars Kvaeoi" is the first of two Faroese-sung songs. It's quite great hearing those kinds of lyrics fit in with the atmosphere and folk-fueled instrumentation. Metal fury can sound so soothing in "Garmr", named after one of the hounds of Hel.

The lyrics are at their highest peak in the beautiful "Sunset Shore", especially in the chorus. We then have the melodic "Downhill Drunk", and nothing ever goes downhill there. If you're up for some really powerful riffing, that's what opens "Empire of the North", and they especially hit hard in the verses. That, along with the big layered production, help make that track another epic highlight. "Far from the Worries of the World" is another example of melodic strength. Same with "King of Time".

Some more of the greatest soloing occurs in "Fire and Flame". Then "Against the Gods" levels up the massive riffs and rhythms. We get more of the firey soloing in "Songs of War" from temporary lead guitarist Atilla Voros. "Alvur Kongur" closes it all as another 7-minute progressive epic, from the clean intro to another metal extravaganza.

However, Hel needs more praise in the metal community. If I only get to listen to half of this album, it would still sound complete. This may just surpass DragonForce's Extreme Power Metal the best power metal album of 2019 for me. Some might take some time to get used to this album, while others, such as myself, would love it instantly. Still, you may want to pay close attention for the best of this dark voyage to Hel. Once the clean guitars at the beginning get you hooked, you're all set. With any luck, Tyr might just be one of my newfound favorite bands of folk/power metal. Will I dive into more of this band's catalog? HEL YEAH!

Favorites: "Gates of Hel", "All Heroes Fall", "Sunset Shore", "Empire of the North", "Fire and Flame", "Against the Gods", "Alvur Kongur"

Y'know, I can enjoy many different metal genres as the experienced metalhead I am. Sometimes it all depends on my mood. And there was a time when I was so g****mn focused on the modern heavier genres like metalcore and industrial metal that I was blowing off the more melodic genres I once enjoyed like power metal and folk metal. I'm glad I can balance my metal palate with both sides of the coin now and can find the appeal of some bands, like this one that was just recommended to me elsewhere, Tyr!

The Faroe Islands are an archipelago off the coast of Europe, owned by Denmark. Tyr have brought those islands to greater prominence by unleashing their folk/power metal sound to the world. Valkyrja is their 7th album, and they had a temporary drummer in Nile's George Kollias, replacing founding member Kári Streymoy.

Jumping right in is the catchy riffing of "Blood of Heroes". Heroes shall be remembered when they die in blood and glory. The music sounds clearer in "Mare of My Night", as the lyrics tell the tale of a woman's struggle. "Hel Hath No Fury" continues that lyrical subject. Leaves' Eyes ex-vocalist Liv Kristine guest appears in "The Lay of Our Love". Taking some traditional native motives, it's one of the most beautiful ballads I've heard, even for a heavier metalhead like myself. The vocal alternation works like a dream.

It is followed by the anthemic highlight "Nation" with emotional soloing. Then we get some faster thrash in "Another Fallen Brother", which is quite catchy. "Grindavisan" is filled with doomy majesty in the occasional marching tempo and choirs. Although the lyrics are entirely sung in Faroese, it is one of my favorite tracks here.

"Into the Sky" exemplifies the band's typical Nordic lyrical theme, centered around Valkyries and Vikings. "Fanar Burtur Brandaljoo" is another Faroese-sung track worth listening to. The lyrical output by frontman Heri Joensen sounds so mystical, whether or not you can understand it. "Lady of the Slain" is another fast song. They've clearly taken some techniques from well-known thrash bands to make another highlight. The closing title epic is too glorious to put into words. Just listen to believe!

All in all, my first actual full-album Tyr experience in Valkyrja already shows excellent promise. Everything's listenable and never dull. What would've made this 100% perfect would be some additional folk elements that would give it the folk/power metal zest of Ensiferum, but it all works greatly as it is. Ride on, my heroes!

Favorites: "Blood of Heroes", "The Lay of Our Love", "Nation", "Grindavisan", "Lady of the Slain", "Valkyrja"

Pan.Thy.Monium is a pretty batshit band, right?  

I think I judge all these batshit experimental albums by how justified the batshitness is to the music itself, and especially in the context of the whole record. What kind of statement is made here?

For the most part, Pan.Thy.Monium, on the third album, seems to be content with structuring the record with one weird moment after another. There's a moment where it abruptly transitions to honking sound effects for like two seconds, which is pretty novel, but that's just it: it's novel. Consider how many times you're going to relisten to this record, and how many times that specific moment will move you. My point is that when the album begins, there doesn't seem to be a unifying theme to the weirdness, and it sits firmly in the realm of novelty. Or does it? More on that later...

Another layer is the general musicality of it. Sure, the weirdness may just be done for the sake of it, but can you bop your head to it? Sure, you can. It's a perfectly competent album in composition, with catchy and effective parts. If anything, the weirdness makes those parts memorable so, at the end of the day, it is still more than a listenable album. You can enjoy it every time, but, of course, you're looking for something far deeper than just that when it comes to anything labelled "avant-garde", right?

The thing about this album is that while the weirdness is generally just done for the sake of it, as I said, there is division between tracks. Why not just have one long track? Instead, we have four songs, which have atypical lengths. This points to the fact that they're more akin to movements and, consequently, have distinct purposes from one another, which justifies the splitting of length. Because of that, we can deduce that there really is a unifying theme to this album, which is composed of those presumably different parts. 

In order to figure that out, though, we must first identify how these tracks are different from one another. Before that, it helps to consider the actual theme we may see before we even listen to the album. According to metal archives, the music of this band in general is centered around a chaos god known as Raagoonshinnaah. A little bird once told me that this album in particular is about that same god in a power struggle against a god of light known as Amaraah. From here, we can attempt to analyze if the music itself correlates to that information. 

So, the first track is called "The Battle of Geeheeb" and, already, we see confirmation of the power struggle theme. Now, the track itself is random in experimentation, although that description probably does it injustice. It's more like an explosion of creativity, where the intention is to produce some absurdism to throw the listener off balance. That seems obvious, doesn't it? Consider, however, that the music itself isn't played cheaply at all. If I was a band whose goal is to just shock the listener with weirdness, I wouldn't care about the structure of the music at all and just focus on the novelty. That tells us that there's something deeper about this than we may first assume. One different sound leads to another. An exchange of blows between the two entities, perhaps? 

Do you remember "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"? You know where the Devil's piece begins, and you know where Johnny's piece begins as well. That's where i'm getting at with this. What if... the parts of this whole album is a sequence of responses between the two opposing forces? The weirdness, then, isn't just random. Well, not really. I mean, it's not JUST random. It's random, yet, but random with a purpose. It represents an altercation between two transcendent beings. In that sense, the music begins to take a form akin to abstract art. You may suppose that the more sinister-sounding parts are from Raagoonshinnaah, whereas the sick blues-y and prog-like guitar solos are Amaraah pushing back.

"Thee-Pherenth" begins with a continuation of this battle. The near beginning of this track is actually where the part I criticized earlier comes from, where it abruptly cuts to brief honking sounds. Ironically, though, I would say that the subsequent parts of this track are a bit more structured in terms of narrative. Immediately after is a death metal part, a suffocating darkness that can be interpreted as a retaliation from Raagoonshinnaah. It leads to a tense, ascending synth section, building up more and more until it climaxes into an ambient-like section. This is Raagoonshinnaah's track, alright, as the consecutive parts contain some darkness to them. Compared to the previous track, this one uses more atmospheric sections, with ambient and doom as well. Around 19 minutes into the album, though, another solo plays in the midst of one of those ambient sections, culminating in a jingling synth sound. I interpret that as Amaraah persevering even as Raagoonshinnaah constricts him with the latter's previous successful advances. In general, though, it seems that the latter has the upper hand so far, as I feel more oppression in this part rather than light, even with the occasional moments of Amaraah probably pushing back.

That's the thing with abstract art in general. We must accept a certain amount of open-endedness inherent to the piece. However, that also means that my interpretation could be way off to yours. I suppose I hardly need to say that, so let's continue, yeah?

You'll notice also that both of these tracks end in some kind of non-musical soundscape. In "The Battle of Geeheeb", it ends in a slightly optimistic synth ambient with a loud, creaking noise, which I have always attributed to a crying baby. Maybe it symbolizes Amaraah winning temporarily in that moment. It fills me with a nostalgic feeling, one that almost seems hopeful. It's the noise of life and all its potential. "Thee-Pherenth", meanwhile, ends in a more distressing sound, and you hear the creaking once more. This time, however, it's recontextualized by the new background. Now it sounds painful. It's the same motiff, but now different, as it's clear that Raagoonshinnaah is the one that's won here, which is consistent with my theory that "Thee-Pherenth" is about him gaining the upper hand in this struggle.

Interestingly, "Behrial" is entirely a synth section. It's hopeful, and definitely sounds like light. You may even call it breathtaking, after all that has transpired in the narrative. I'd like to point out that Pan.Thy.Monium also has a motiff of dreams and, sure enough, there is the sound of a ticking clock in this section in particular. But I don't see this as dreaming but, rather, waking up. To a new beginning, perhaps? A burial marks the end of one's life, yet maybe an ending is just another form of beginning. 

"In Remembrance' is a minute-long silence. 

...

So who won in the end, Raagoonshinnaah or Amaraah? Well, usually, I like to leave it up to interpretation. However, here's my theory... I think it's Raagoonshinnaah who won. I think an honorific remembrance leans more towards the death of light and order, as opposed to chaos. Sure, chaos and order aren't really opposed, but we usually grieve the loss of stability way more than the loss of danger and uncertainty, even when change is found in the latter. Now, the reason why there is "Behrial" in the end is because this isn't a straightforward struggle of a good guy against a bad guy. The ending suggests that while order isn't a constant in life, light persists anyways. So maybe the struggle didn't end at all. Maybe it happens in every day of existence and, even after all that, there is always light in darkness, or chaos in order, what you will... all the things that make life. That sure is something, isn't it? 

It actually took me a number of years to realise that this, Dream Theater’s second entry in their ‘Lost Not Forgotten Archives’ line of releases, is actually from the same show as the previous album, that being, ‘Images & Words – Live in Japan, 2017’.

Unlike its predecessor, which was solely the band performing their groundbreaking sophomore album in its entirety, this one is a bit of a mixed bag. Featuring eight tracks, highlights include ‘The Dark Eternal Night’, ‘As I Am’ and ‘The Gift of Music’. The musicians are all on top form as always, however, the detriment (as per usual), is vocalist James LaBrie.

It’s not his fault. I mention this with every single Dream Theater live release, but a vocal accident in the 90’s, along with his age, make him as much a struggle to listen to as it is a struggle for him to sing these songs. In particular, there are a number of tracks where I genuinely have no idea what he’s even saying.

Still, overall, this isn’t a terrible release. It’s just pointless, really. I’ve no idea why the band chose to release this concert over two different albums, except as some kind of money-making scheme specifically targeting Dream Theater nerds. And I shall forever remain proof that it worked.

While I didn't mind the allegedly classic 1994 "Verwüstung/Invoke the Dark Age" debut album from this Austrian black metal trio, I wouldn't say that I was totally convinced until their underrated 1995 "Orkblut - The Retaliation" E.P. which Ben purchased on CD at the time of release. I remember it distinctly because I went to leave the house to purchase it myself, only to discover Ben playing his new CD copy in his bedroom which saw much squabbling ensuing between us. It's been a while since I've listened to "Orkblut - The Retaliation" now but I remember it being a significant step up for the band, so by the time Abigor's sophomore album "Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)" appeared just months later, the Austrians had our complete attention.

Time has shown us that "Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)" has gone on to be Abigor's most highly regarded release over the years but I've never found it to be any more than a passing amusement personally & I still maintain that position now. I think it's just a bit too melodic & one-dimensional for my taste & it doesn't feel all that dark for a supposedly dark & evil black metal record. I certainly really enjoy the drumming of Thomas Tannenberger which is excellent throughout, particularly his brutal blast beats. I don't think the blackened shrieks of Silenius (Amestigon/Summoning/Die Verbannten Kinder Evas/Kreuzweg Ost/Pazuzu) are very good though & the synth work is really quite cheesy at times which perhaps shouldn't surprise me given Abigor's links to Summoning who I've always struggled with. Despite what some people may say, I do enjoy the clean female vocals which pop up from time to time, even if they do feel like they've been stolen from a gothic metal band while Peter Kubik & Tannenberger 's melodic tremolo-picked guitar interplay had become somewhat of a signature for Abigor by this stage but it can sound pretty samey after a while.

"Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)" can easily be broken up into three three-song portions in terms of quality in my opinion. The first trio of songs are all pretty decent but things only really heat up for the middle section of the album comprised of "Dornen", "As Astral Images Darken Reality" & "The Dark Kiss" before things settle back into the sort of standard we heard earlier in the release for the remainder of the tracklisting. There aren't any obvious duds included but I wouldn't say there's anything particularly classic here either so I can't justify those sort of claims about the overall album. Still... I think most black metal fans will appreciate Abigor's second full-length, despite the flaws I mentioned earlier.

For fans of Emperor, Dødheimsgard & Lunar Aurora.

I never would have predicted that Orbit Culture, a band that I did not actually care for, could disappoint me after 2023's Descent, but boy did they ever with their newest album, Death Above Life.

My biggest critique of the bands previous record was that it sounded like hot garbage. The production choices were so atrocious that I had to step away from the album multiple times just to finish it. Which was a shame because from a compositional level, Descent  wasn't the worst. Sure, it has issues with its length, but it could be overlooked for good songwriting. But in 2025, Orbit Culture took all of the worst elements of both the production and the songwriting and amplified them to almost unlistenable heights. The drums could have been recorded in a separate room, in another country, on another planet, and they would still be the loudest thing in the mix! Vocals and guitar leads have been unceremoniously muted in favour of gargantuan fundamentals; whether it be the chugging guitar grooves or the unbearable bass drum. The melody has been stripped away from Orbit Culture.

And you want to know what makes it worse? Look at the liner notes of Death Above Life and you'll see exactly why this album was destined for failure. Record label? Century Media; the same record label that has published the last two Lorna Shore albums. Production? Buster Odeholm; primary songwriter for Humanity's Last Breath. Lorna Shore's biggest claim since the start of the 2020s has been turning every instrument in the room up to eleven and have everyone competing for the spotlight at the same time. Humanity's Last Breath has been releasing deathcore/djent whose sole objective is to be unlistenable. Orbit Culture saw this and thought: why don't we take both of these terrible ideas and combine them together? 

Best Songs: Hydra, Death Above Life

Bold statement incoming. I like the new Lamb of God album. I think it is good. That might class as two bold statements, but I think you get the gist of how this review is shaping up even at this early stage of proceedings. I am not Lamb of God’s biggest fan; in fact, I doubt that I have successfully navigated one whole album by them before the multiple listens that this opus has enjoyed. Just like this review, Into Oblivion starts off positively with the title track presenting a solid groove metal track to open things up with. Dashing riffs jab at the listener whilst Blythe’s bruising commentary land more direct blows. The slamming metalcore tropes of ‘Parasocial Christ’ are a welcome continuation of things, making it very clear that Lamb of God have not just turned up, they have rolled their sleeves up, adorned some sweatbands around their wrists and are already hard at it. After a slower start, ‘Sepsis’ soon sets in as its title suggests it would, turning into a dirty little fucker of a track, treating us to a breakdown also before leaving us sweaty and exhausted.

It is no secret that groove metal is perhaps one of the sub-genres that I struggle with and it is only the fact that I curate the playlist for The Pit that I have actually managed to seek out some alternatives to the single-track of Pantera records that I have been listening to (increasingly sporadically) over the last thirty-plus years. Machine Head’s debut was a treat of course and later day Exhorder are perhaps my only other consistent listen. Lamb of God have not had a look in until now. However, this is a mature sounding record that keeps the fun of the style firmly in play. This is not Pantera worship; whilst those elements are certainly there, I must listen attentively to formulate the influence. Nor do the grooves reach the infectious levels of Exhorder. Instead, I pick up a mixture of reflective, contemplative subject matters malformed into a blunt force trauma style delivery that benefits from restraint being applied. Into Oblivion, ironically, never fully forms into the threatened state of the album title. Lamb of God are fully aware of what they are doing.

I put this record on rotation at the same time as the new Exodus release, fully expecting this one to fall foul of the two-way comparison and that I would be sat here writing a review on Holt and co’s latest instead. As it turns out, Into Oblivion is miles ahead of Goliath in my book. If anything, Lamb of God’s tenth studio album is still growing on me, after some four listens now, this is no mean feat. To still have the same levels of energy by track seven (‘Blunt Force Blues’) is not an accolade I am often able to dish out. Even the slower paced (ballad?), ‘El Vacio’ doesn’t derail things, despite being the weakest track on here for me. At under forty minutes, managing to maintain a high level of consistency throughout its runtime, Into Oblivion is a triumph of a record in a sub-genre that for me lacks many successes even. Nodding heavily back to their roots whilst applying an array of sonic textures along the way, this is a record I never expected to like, and I think it is outstanding. Bold statement to close as well.

With an album cover that looks for all the world like a forgotten soundtrack to an obscure French art film from the 1970’s, Hidden Fires Burn Hottest is not a record I was to find per se. An established Californian post-black metal/post-hardcore band, Bosse-de-Nage aren’t a band I would normally be looking to find either. As is sometimes the case though, unexpected finds can be the best. Although similarities persist with the likes of Deafhaven, Yellow Eyes and Agriculture, all acts I find to be usually well outside of my wheelhouse, there is something in the sound of Bosse-de-Nage that had me interested from the off.

Now, if you’re reading this thinking how I am now going to tell you what that “something” is, well sorry to have to report that I am still figuring that bit out. I mean, it could be that I am starting to more open to a wider palate of music that incorporates more post and gaze elements. Indeed, I have been listening to more hardcore recently as well as a host of other non-metal music also. So maybe the non-metal elements of Hidden Fires Burn Hottest appeal to me more than any semblance of any metal that is present does. If I am being honest, I am not actually trying all that hard to figure out what that “something” is. Instead, I find myself just going with the enjoyment of what I am hearing, paying little attention to how it got in front of me and hy I have returned to the album on a near-daily basis for the past couple of weeks.

The vocals are where the closest element of the black metal in the sound resides in the record. With the combination of spoken word and lurching, hardcore vocals alongside these, there is a distinctly jarring element to the record. Those jangling guitars and a fair but firm percussion section that build ‘Mementos’ before a fearless bass presence makes its first noticeable appearance are an early indication of the non-linear format to song writing that Bosse-de-Nage employ. This is an album with a real sense of a percussive drive being at the forefront of its direction, layered with a grim punk style attitude overall. Even the two interludes work, crafting a valid space for themselves in the track listing without becoming intrusive or disruptive as I often fear with such tracks.

Hidden Fires Burn Hottest lives up to its title billing as beneath the surface, the intensely burning light at the heart of the band that represents their passion for their art certainly can be felt by the listener. Considering at the point that I discovered this I was (probably) searching for black metal it is rare for me to embrace such an unexpected warmth in a record. That having been said, I would not say that this is a particularly happy or positive album. I can connect with the Neurosis tropes of ‘Underwater’ just as well as I do with the more direct bm approach to ‘Frenzy’ that immediately follows it. This variety in styles is very easy for the band to claim under a banner of their own individual sound I would say. Nothing sounds forced here, and we are not talking about Imperial Triumphant levels of chaos or KEN Mode style attempts at experimentation by comparison, yet the record is not standard anything in any sense of the term either.

It pains me to do this. I’ve been a Dream Theater fan since 2003, when they very quickly became one of my all-time favourite bands, a position they still hold to this day (well, top three, anyway!). Their career is literally one masterpiece after another. Until drummer Mike Portnoy left the band, that is. The first album without him, 2010’s ‘A Dramatic Turn of Events’ is still an incredible release, but 2013’s self-titled ‘Dream Theater’ started to see a decline in quality, and that then brings us to this, 2016’s two-disc concept album nerd convention, ‘The Astonishing’.

It’s naff.

I mean, I’ve tried and I’ve tried, but it just feels like the band is well and truly on autopilot at this point. There is nothing overly memorable about this album, just a couple of tracks here and there. But at a combined duration of over two hours, ‘The Astonishing’ is such a drudgery to listen to in one sitting, especially for such bare rewards. Of course, the musical performances are exceptional, as you’d expect, but the rest, kind of sucks. The lyrics are naff, the songs are mostly naff, and the story is naff, though to be honest, I zone out so often that I don’t really pay much attention to it anyway.

If I had to pick out any highlights, I’d say ‘The Gift of Music’, ‘A Life Left Behind’ and ‘Our New World’ are all okay. Not brilliant, but not terrible either. If they could have condensed this album onto one disc, it MIGHT have been listenable, but as it is, an enjoyable 14 minutes out of 130 just isn’t worth the effort.

As I’m getting older (at the time of writing this, I’m 39 years old!), I find myself having less and less patience for albums that don’t grow on me quickly enough. And considering how long this slog of a record is, I think it’s time to pass on this one.

Here we have one of the crowning glories of the French "Les Légions Noires" black metal scene of the 1990's & a release that doesn't really stand up to modern scrutiny in my opinion.

Vlad Tepes was a Brest-based duo made up of Vorlok Drakksteim (Black Murder/Dzlvarv/Seviss/Susvourtre/Torture/Vèrmyapre Kommando) & Wlad Drakksteim (Black Murder/Dzlvarv/Seviss/Vèrmyapre Kommando). As you can see, these guys were involved in a whole slew of important French demo projects & I didn't mind a couple of their earlier demo tapes under the Vlad Tepes moniker at the time either (see 1994's "War Funeral March" & "Celtic Poetry") but the eight tracks included here do very little for me, despite containing much of the same material as "Celtic Poetry". What you can expect is an extremely raw & lo-fi brand of early 90's black metal that's performed in a very sloppy fashion with many of the riffs having more of a melodic feel than I'd like (kinda like Ulver's 1997 "Nattens madrigal: Aatte hymne til ulven i manden" third album in a way) & occasionally even veering into folk metal territory which triggers my yucky gag reflex. The vocals are nice & grim (think Abbath meets Nocturno Culto) but the instrumentation is pretty lacklustre in my opinion, leaving me struggling for connection across most of the eight pieces included here. 2.5/5

Bergerac's Belkètre are far more interesting in my opinion with their distorted, treble-heavy sound being highlighted by the overthetop vocal delivery of band leader Vordb Dréagvor Uèzréèvb (Black Murder/Brenoritvrezorkre/Chapel of Ghouls/Dvnaèbkre/Moëvöt/Seviss/Torgeist/Vagézaryavtre/Zelda) who is ably supported by Aäkon Këëtrëh (Torgeist/Zelda) to give us a much more engaging eight pieces of ultra lo-fi & primitive French black metal. I have some time for Belkètre's 1996 "Ambre Zuetki Vuordrevartre" demo tape & I get a similar level of enjoyment out of their contribution to this split album which arrived the previous year. The interludes don't do anything for me at all but the proper songs are all pretty decent, although they're definitely held up by the demo-quality production & fairly sloppy performances. I guess that's kinda the point here though as neither band are looking for accessibility, quite the opposite in fact. When taken holistically though, Belkètre's side of the release is the reason for exploring "March to the Black Holocaust" as far as I can see. Unfortunately, it's charms are overcome by the inadequacies of Vlad Tepes' contribution so I can't in good conscience recommend this supposedly classic record. 3.5/5

For fans of Mütiilation, Torgeist & Black Murder.

Whenever a band changes their logo after 25 years, they're bound to get some feedback about it from their fans, some good, some bad. Such is the case for Lamb of God with the cover art of their new album Into Oblivion. And I gotta say, I'm somewhere in the middle there. I wouldn't say it's bad, but it does look a little clunky. However, I love the more futuristic and comic-like art itself. Perhaps their first time taking the comic-esque approach since their one album as Burn the Priest (and less violent too).

As for the actual album, Into Oblivion is pretty much their best album I've heard in years! Even though their earlier albums sounded impressive to me when I was listening to them over 5 years ago, especially their 2000s material, a lot of their appeal ended up worn out. Into Oblivion redeems it all with furious anthems that can cut like a knife.

The title opener unleashes the band's dark heavy thrashy groove metal sound without losing steam. "Parasocial Christ" infuses their sound with the beatdown metalcore of Kublai Khan, along with Randy Blythe's vocals getting deeper and meaner. The bridge and guitar soloing throughout the 3rd quarter is a killer throwback to their 2000s era. Soloing is uncommon for this band, but Mark Morton never misses his mark. The first single of the album is "Sepsis", this one more sludgy as well as having vivid lyrics, "Holy Mother Death, rising up from Mexico". It's not until halfway through when the song really speeds up, blasting us with their heaviness from the mid-2000s. "The Killing Floor" is more labyrinthine in the riffs and rhythms, all getting harder in every bite.

"El Vacio" shows more of the band's dark side. Vocalist Randy Blythe performs some clean singing, and he sounds better at that than any of his earlier attempts, flowing with the melancholic yet sinister clean guitar. The lyrics pay tribute to the late Oderus Urungus of GWAR, even referencing one of that band's songs in the second chorus. The lyrics may also be in memory of the late Brent Hinds of Mastodon, after his fatal accident in the time of the album's production. RIP them both... "St. Catherine's Wheel" is quite spine-chilling as the riffing power roars on. "Blunt Force Blues" punches through with all its raging glory and malevolent groove.

Next up, "Bully" has more twisted riffing momentum as Randy declares "You lay down with dogs and you rise up with fleas". Then "A Thousand Years" makes another melodic detour that fits well with the destructive riffing and lyrics. Closing track "Devise / Destroy" charges with more of the crushing riffing and vocal fury. The bonus track "Wire" should've been in the actual album. The thrashy instrumentation reminds me of 2000s-era Annihilator.

Whether or not you may agree with the album's first impression that is its cover art and new band logo, Lamb of God are still at the top of their game. The band I've last heard of via VII: Sturm Und Drang and their Burn the Priest cover album have leveled up their creativity. Into Oblivion shall give more hope to the metal world in this decade!

Favorites: "Parasocial Christ", "Sepsis", "El Vacio", "Blunt Force Blues", "Bully", "Wire"

Released in 1971, ‘Fireball’ is the fifth studio album by British hard rock legends Deep Purple. After dabbling in psychedelic, orchestras, and heavy metal, the band are back to their hard rock, blues-inspired jamming. This is by no means a bad album, but fans seem a bit divided on this one, which is probably no surprise, as its position in Purple’s discography sits between two of their most iconic albums, ‘In Rock’ and ‘Machine Head’.

This is the third album to feature the classic Purple line-up, commonly referred to as “Mark 2”, and at this point there is an incredible chemistry between everyone. Each member displays remarkable prowess on their respective instrument, and it’s this dazzling musicianship and song-writing that really puts them at the top of the hard rock and heavy metal world.

Particular praise goes to guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and vocalist Ian Gillan. Both members put on incredible and highly versatile performances. Both men are leaps and bounds above other guitarists and vocalists of the day.

Still, while this may not be anyone’s favourite Purple record, it does have a fair share of fantastic tunes! In particular, we have rockers like ‘Fireball’, ‘No One Came’ and ‘Demon’s Eye’, catchy andhumorous tracks like ‘Anyone’s Daugher’, and the big rock epic ‘Fools’. Later reissues of the album would feature great outtakes such as ‘Freedom’, and one of my favourite Deep Purple songs, ‘Strange Kind of Woman’.

‘Fireball’ may not have the same legacy and reputation as albums like ‘Machine Head’ and ‘In Rock’, but some great songs and musicianship warrants its place in anyone’s hard rock or heavy metal collection.

a great set of songs with great lyrics, the modern epitome of MM, over all, really recommend this to anyone who likes his earlier albums.

Another high-quality record from this unusual New York trio, possibly their finest work actually. Guitarist Zachary Ezrin (Folterkammer) does a great job behind the microphone with his deep death growls being both powerful & well phrased. I really enjoy the drumming of Kenny Grohowski (John Frum/Secret Chiefs 3/Titan to Tachyons) too while Sarmat bass player Steve Blanco also provides us with a capable performance. The black metal component of the Imperial Triumphant's 2010's era is long gone by this point with "Goldstar" sitting more comfortably under an Avant-Garde/Experimental Death Metal tag in my opinion. Even the dissonant elements are probably not consistent enough to call this full-blown dissonant death metal. There's a lot of progressive metal & tech death influence here though too. Unsurprisingly, I find "Goldstar"s best moments to be when the boys simply go hell for leather with the more frenetic & aggressive phases being the most effective & often marrying up with the simpler sections of the album but that's not to say that the more experimental parts of "Goldstar" aren't impressive as they're very smoothly incorporated for a record that jumps around so much. If you exclusively like your death metal of the old school variety then you'll wanna steer well clear of this release but those that like a bit of ambition & creativity should find it to be universally interesting because there's no doubt that it's a classy effort by a forward-thinking extreme metal outfit.

For fans of Pyrrhon, Ad Nauseam & Portal.

‘Fear of the Dark’ is the ninth studio album by British metal legends, Iron Maiden. Released in 1992, it comes at a time when tensions were running high in the band, in particular, between vocalist Bruce Dickinson and bassist Steve Harris. If you include shifting musical trends and Maiden’s name value dropping more and more, it’s surprising that, while things were starting to look bleak, the band still manage to pull this trick out of a hat, with one of their strongest releases, and an album that features some of my favourite Maiden tracks.

Stylistically, this isn’t much different than any previous release. Okay, it’s not quite as progressive as albums like ‘Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’, and isn’t as consistent as ‘Powerslave’, but overall, this is still unmistakeably Iron Maiden. Guitarists Dave Murray and Janick Gers continue to work well together, with the traditional metal “twin guitar assault” in full effect here, and Bruce Dickinson’s vocals are as incredible as always.

With the music world changing around them, the British quintet stuck to their guns and continue with their own distinctive style, and while it might have been unpopular at that point in time, it would serve to keep the band alive and thriving long after the grunge scene of the 90’s took over.

What makes ‘Fear…’ stand out for me though, is that it features three of my favourite Maiden tracks. ‘Be Quick or Be Dead’, ‘Afraid to Shoot Strangers’ and the title track itself, are all bloody brilliant, and showcase the band at their absolute best. With some of their most intense riffs, interesting melodies and catchiest vocals, these three songs alone make this album well worth listening to. And with other notable tracks that include ‘Childhood’s End’, ‘From Here to Eternity’, ‘Chains of Misery’, ‘Judas Be My Guide’ and ‘Fear is the Key’, there’s no doubt that ‘Fear of the Dark’ belongs in the collection of every metal fan.

While I really dug 1992's "Onward to Golgotha" debut album, it was New Jersey death metallers Incantation's 1994 sophomore full-length "Mortal Throne of Nazarene" that really made me into a full-blown worshipper, so much so that I bought 1995's "Upon the Throne of Apocalypse" CD blind upon release without realising that it was in fact a different mix of the same album. The band apparently hated the previously released mix of "Mortal Throne of Nazarene", preferring an earlier rough mix to the one that eventually saw the light of day. "Upon the Throne of Apocalypse" shows why & in no uncertain terms too because it's an absolute beast of a record, highlighted by one of the most punishing & cavernous bass-heavy sounds the metal world had heard to the time. The slower material is taken to another level here while the faster sections sometimes lack the intelligibility of its predecessor so I'd suggest that it's really just a matter of taste as to which version of the album you prefer. Personally, I've always preferred this one but both are genuine classics as far as I'm concerned with songs like "The Ibex Moon", "Iconoclasm of Catholicism", "Demonic Incarnate" & incredible opener & clear album highlight "Abolishment of Immaculate Serenity" sitting amongst Incantation's finest work.

The incredibly deep death growls of guitarist Craig Pillard (Disma/Methadrone/Evoken/Goreaphobia) are an absolute masterclass in monstrous atmosphere while Jim Roe's (Disciples of Mockery/Goreaphobia) battering yet precise drumming is also worth mentioning. Bassist Dan Kamp (Crucifier) & guitarist John McEntee (Funerus/Goreaphobia/Mortician/Revenant) chime in beautifully throughout too with some of the best down-tuned tremolo riffing you could ever wish for. If only it was possible to make out those more blasting sections where the percussion becomes a little over-powering... Oh well... you can still take solace in the fact that the doomier parts of the album are utterly mind-blowing. 1998's "Diabolical Conquest" may always be my favourite Incantation record but this one is a pretty close second & should be essential listening for all members of The Horde.

For fans of Immolation, Dead Congregation & Disma.

Four albums into their career and I finally discover Misotheist. Hailing from the traditional black metal heartland of Norway (Trondheim in fact), their sound reminds me a lot more of Icelandic bm stalwarts Sinmara or Svartidauði with dissonant elements of DSO thrown in there also for good measure. This is the kind of chaotic, deranged black metal that grabs my interest nowadays. Quickly finding a foundation in the netherworld, this album stays in that territory for its full duration. The combination of solid riffs and suffocating atmospheres are a killer combo here. Make no mistake about it, Misotheist are here to do damage, and it is a lasting damage designed to inflict maximum suffering. After a year of keeping up with black metal releases last year, and toning that effort down somewhat this year, my attention is intended to be devoted only to exceptional black metal albums this year. De Pinte (“The Tormented”), absolutely qualifies.

Crawling and claustrophobic melodies do little to temper the threat of blasting fury that the artist can unleash forth at any moment. A feeling of unease permeates the slower tempos on display whilst the more aggressive sections soon activate the overwhelming flight mechanism as nobody in the right mind would want to fight against this sound. Tormented is a perfect description of how those vocals sound. With agonising cries against a constant sense of threat and menace, this is not intended to be a comfortable listen. Yet the dissonant aspect to the sound does help provide some stark comfort to me. On the title track it acts like some cold and dense fog enveloping my being, wrapping in me in the track itself as it scores a multitude of etchings upon my skin.

This is probably the darkest thing I have heard so far this year. It is not dramatic or theatrical as you might expect. Instead, there is just a real confidence behind the performance that exhibits a clear belief in their own ability and an absolute steadfastness in their devotion to their chosen artform. The title track that closes the album goes on for over twenty-one-minutes, but I love every one of those minutes. It builds so well and maintains such a presence when it does establish itself as fully formed; this is clearly written by a master of the genre. Misotheist have absolutely no hairs and graces about them, they are simply dedicated beyond belief and are able to produce one of the most organic, natural sounding black metal albums of the year so far.

It has got to be said - I have been far too hard on "Another Perfect Day" for far too many years. Motörhead were one of my absolute favourites in the late 70's, probably even more so than Sabbath, so when the 'classic' lineup split and Fast Eddie moved on, I wasn't really prepared for what came next. Sure, I quite liked "Robbo" when he was with Thin Lizzy, but Motörhead were a whole different kettle of fish. Consequently, the release of "Another Perfect Day" saw me turning away from Lemmy and the guys for the very first time. The situation was exacerbated by my discovery of thrash metal shortly after and for a very long time I didn't really give The 'Head much thought. Time has seen my attitude change and I have really dug on a few of the later albums, yet I stubbornly refused to give much eartime to "Another Perfect Day". So now, over the last few days whilst I have been compiling my favourites of '83 list, I have spent a fair bit of time with this misfit of a record and, you know what, I have really enjoyed the experience and I keep coming back to it for just one more spin. It is almost like I am hearing it for the first time. Brian Robertson's more expansive guitar style actually complements Lemmy's thundering basslines and gruff vocal delivery beautifully and his soaring soloing is a whole lot better and more expressive than I ever gave it credit for.

On the downside, I am not so sure that there are any real standouts like "Overkill", "Stone Dead Forever", "(We Are) the Roadcrew" or "(Don't Need) Religion", but there are some solid tracks here and the soloing on a track like "One Track Mind" give the band a fresh dimension and dynamic. I guess it is better late than never but I was a pig-headed little fucker when I was younger (what do you mean I still am?) and I guess I have missed out on some good stuff over the years because of it. Remember, though, that I couldn't just bang this on a streaming platform to allow me time to get into it, I would have had to shell out hard-earned cash for an LP and from what I had heard of it at the time I wasn't prepared to do so. I am glad I got there in the end though.