Vinny's Forum Replies

Probably on your radar already Ben but can you please add the new Exodus record, "Goliath".

Last release left me a bit cold (and not in a cool bm way) but I recall them not really doing anything that different or wrong as such.  Maybe a change of style again could help me this time out.

Please add Annexation.

Already on https://metal.academy/bands/16319

There's only really Debemur Morti I have any faith in anymore but I haven't been purchasing a lot of physical stuff whilst I was waiting to see how my home situation panned out (turns out I am staying in this house so can start purchasing again).  Testing Amor Fati records with that Misotheist record I was loving yesterday to see how they fare.

I have the most recent Darkthrone albums on vinyl and thought I would like to get the earlier stuff on that format to. Nicely timed is the release of this beast of a boxset, a copy of which I have arriving tomorrow.

The Fist in the Face of God (2026)

The nine albums from "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" through to "Sardonic Wrath" in vinyl format with a shit ton of other stuff. Really looking forward to this baby's arrival!

So this finally arrived today - no fucking thanks to Amazon. Supposed to arrive Mar 6th. Nope - put back to Mar 13th. Nope - now due to arrive end of April. I have fallen for this shit with Amazon before and in the end they say they can't get hold of it anymore so you end up disappointed. Checked on the Peaceville online store and it was still available, so cancelled the Amazon order and bought it direct. Arrived in 3 days. Fucking Bezos!!

[It is every bit as great as I had hoped by the way.]

Yep, gave up with Amazon ages ago for this very same reason, although currently in dispute with Artoffact Records after the Mares of Thrace record I ordered directly at end of Dec 25 with a 7 Feb 26 delivery date has still not arrived.  Bandcamp can't even get an answer out of them either, four days left before I get a full refund ffrom Bandcamp and they deduct the cost out of future sales the label makes through the site.

Misotheist - "De Pinte" (2025)

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.  

Vinyl ordered.

4.5/5

There's a lot to unpack there.  Let me start with the similarities that I have from my experience of metal.  Did I enjoy metal more when I was starting out and had less music to pick from (internet for me was well into the late 90's before I got connected up)?  Abso-fucking-lutely I did.  Will I ever hear a new album and get the same sense of joy and utter passion for the music that I had when I first played Slowly We Rot, Killers, Seasons in the Abyss or Arise (as examples of formative albums for me)?  Abso-fucking-lutely not.

My amygdala is far too depleted nowadays to experience anything with the same levels of wonder and enrichment as I would have some 30 years ago.  That is how that part of the brain works unfortunately and it is why life/time seems to go faster the older you get.   Whether it is books, films, comics or metal music - music in general in fact - I will never experience  it the same again.  I recently started to be intrigued by symbolist art, having admired the style for years but not realising that it was a specific style of painting, to me it was just "dark" art.  I have started reading books and wiki's about the whole movement and some of the key artists.  It is probably one of the first times since passing the age of 40 that I have had such alevel of interest in something that genuinely resonates with me.  Would it be better if I had gotten into this level of discovery as a teenager?  Abso-fucking-lutely it would.

Getting old sucks, end of debate.  I can relate to the yearn for former glories from my youthful music and arts experience in general (I was at one point hooked on amatuer film making, for example) but I cannot go as far as to say that I consider any discovery process, or review mechanism as a "job".  That's not knocking your personal thoughts on the matter Sonny, it is just not something that I can connect with.  My review schedule here is pretty consistent at the moment and I like to think that this is because I genuinely enjoy writing them.  If I get into a headspace where I feel I am just writing for the hell of it then its usually a time to step back, reflect and go and do something else, maybe coming back later.

All of the above withstanding, I will say that some of my fondest memories of the internet age of music discovery have been when I start off with a specific album for the first time and then I am off on an afternoon of discovery of a whole discography or series of albums I have never heard before.  So I can take the rough with the smooth to some degree.  At the end of the day, I am finishing my second marriage, getting divorced, constantly fighting to stay in a job I fucking hate, looking after my elderly parents and trying to keep a whole host of other life-challenges in order, yet I have always had another constant alongside all the troubles (and joys) I have experienced.  Metal music.  It has been here for three decades plus and is probably going to be around for however many more I can wing on the planet.  I may fall in and out of love with it, and I most definitely will never be as embedded/invested as I was in my youth, but it serves it's purpose.  It does take a lot more of my time and concentration to get under the skin of new stuff and my time is increasingly precious, but it does still reward.

Hi Ben, can I please request you add Mammon's Throne from Melbourne, Australia.  You have quite a mixed bag here, def some doom/sludge here but also bm and death metal in some quantity also.

Time for the nerdy spreadsheet output for March's features. A tie for top spot this month with the psych-doom of Saturnalia Temple and the brutal core of Converge both getting 4.5 scores.  I have abstained from voting for The Gateway, Sphere and Infinite releases as I just found them too alienating for my tastes. 

1992 was around the time I was in my death metal heyday, although looking back I was still working with a very limited repertoire. I had discovered the terrifying sounds of Obituary’s Slowly We Rot some years prior and so it had begun. After devouring Deicide, Morbid Angel, Bolt Thrower and Carcass I was off onto thrash metal for a few years in all honesty and so a lot of the classics from the 90’s (and the hidden gems) death metal peak were to become later discoveries for me. Some of them falling well into the 2010’s even before I had heard the likes of Immolation and a full-length from Death even. At some point in that period, Baphomet’s sophomore came through my grubby little mitts as I played a major game of catch up on death metal releases, by that point some of them being from over twenty years ago. The Dead Shall Inherit is not a record I would ever give the accolade of “classic” or even “hidden gem” to, but it has worn well over the years still.

Now plying their trade as Banished due to some German band of the same original name, back in 1992 the band’s sound seemed to fit into that cross-section of “also-rans” in the death metal scene like Morta Skuld and Sinister. Listening through The Dead Shall Inherit for this review it is not difficult to spot the likes of Immolation, Deicide or even Incantation in their sound, with perhaps even a smattering of a much less technical or brutal Suffocation also. It was clear that when they put their mind to it, this record could punch with the heavyweights, for a couple of rounds at least. With the grisly artwork for the record done by former Sadus guitarist (and band co-founder), Rob Moore, Baphomet had the component parts for a good death metal record. A riffy affair overall, The Dead Shall Inherit has a strong likeness to early Cannibal Corpse, another band who were in their prime at the time of this release also.

Whilst it is hard to find specific criticism of the record, it is still not a record that I find massively exciting either. Whether it is because I came to it late and had already ingested a lot of death metal from this era by that point, or maybe because I am still not all that interested in death metal nowadays like I used to be, but there is just no spark overall for me here. The album is consistent and has ear-catching (but not catchy by any means) moments most certainly, but it never goes off on a solid run of tracks to bring it up to the standard of other releases of the time. My go to records of 1992 are very well-established albums in the genre, with The IVth Crusade, Onward to Golgotha, Legion, Tomb of the Mutilated and Slumber of Sullen Eyes already hogging the limelight. Baphomet really do no wrong with this album in some regards. They fall foul of death metals saturated state I guess whether generally or just with my tastes of the time.

3.5/5

I finally got around to this playlist and found it suitably gloomy and desolate for my tastes.  I like how the list ended on funeral doom, it just somehow seems really fitting for the end of The Fallen clan playlist to finish on such a sombre note.  I can't call out any really bad tracks, although I remain on the fence with Karyn Crisis as it was a little too gothic and that Noothgrush track dragged on a bit.  I am no fan of Witchfinder General though, I just don't get them.

I am going to be checking out more from Ea, Ether Coven and Benthic Realm

Dangers - "Anger" (2006)

Picked up on these guys after the vocalist from Touché Amoré did a "most underated hardcore bands" thing on YouTube, which also led me to playing Touché Amoré most of the morning.

Occasionally, researching and programming the playlist for The Pit does still throw up something interesting. Mental Devastation being one such recent “something” to pique the interest levels of my ever-cynical brain, cynical when it comes to thrash metal in general at least anyways. Although technical thrash metal is not my usual bag, and vocals reminiscent of Sean Killian of Vio-lence or Russ Anderson of Forbidden are usually a massive turn off for me, there is something about Mental Devastation’s sound that carries appeal still. Considering that Alejandro Lagos’ vocals are not suited to my ears, or indeed all the tracks on this record, there is a level of proficiency to the playing that cannot be ignored. I wouldn’t say that there is all that much in the way of showboating on here either, just an obvious talent that knows it doesn't need ramming down the listeners necks.

Like other Chilean thrashers such as Critical Defiance and Parkcrest, it is hard not to acknowledge the prowess in the riff department but then the lead work here feels a notch above what I can recall from the other two acts. Vocally it is far too limited an offering for me to be considering any higher end marks going against the rating. Yet, despite showing progressive tropes it never strays into over-indulgence either. The album sort of occupies a middle ground in between the promise of progressive and aggressive thrash at the same time. Coroner seem an obvious comparison, but you won’t find much in the way of Voivod here. The attack is the driving force of the album with the progressive/technical trappings bringing up the rear. Some cool, bendy bass work from Alejandro helps make up for his rather one-dimensional vocals.

Drumming wise (as is often my criticism), the skins get a bit lost in the mix. ‘Mental Devastation’ sounds like the drums should be a lot further forward in the mix, but then again, the whole track sounds a little sterile to my ears. The bursts of lead guitar are a joy though. The energy they can bring into tracks can save some of the lesser appealing tunes on the record if I am honest. Nothing can save ‘Dõ’ however, that one is clearly filler and should have never made the album at all. It is quite disruptive to the final third of the record in fact. The final three tracks look like an attempt to bookend the title track at some eight minutes plus long, but they just feel like two short tracks thrown in there to beef up the track listing. However, I did reference this as one of those interesting albums from The Pit exploration, so I am by no means slamming this record, more making some critical observations.

3.5/5

Thanks Sonny.  The playlist is much easier to accomodate on a quarterly basis I find and I do still relish the challenge when I do it. 

I am not sure what Massacre were thinking when they made "Promise" but it is a fucking terrible record, so I tried to park that track as far into the list as I could.

Sorry, but no.

Hi Ben, could you please add the latest album from Bosse-de-nage.  I would suggest it is a lot more than just black metal, or even just blackgaze but certainly has a place in The North with their other releases.

I read somewhere recently that Jacob Bannon did not necessarily think that the world needed a new Converge record, but that the band themselves did. There was a time, not too long ago when I would have probably deemed that I never needed a Converge record at all, but that has been well documented on Metal Academy already. The tides have turned and I find myself on much less turbulent terms with some of the content of The Revolution clan, to the point where I can enjoy the harder sounding metalcore releases. As it turns out then, Love Is Not Enough is right up my street.

It sounds like a lot more of a riffy affair than I remember from previous outings with the band’s releases. The start of 'Bad Faith' shows this particular trait well I find. Likewise, the grinding sensibilities of 'Distract and Divide' is an absolute treasure. These short bursts of fury that cover the first four tracks of the album create a real sense of momentum early in the listening experience. As a result, the instrumental 'Beyond Repair' almost sucks some life from proceedings, However, I find it is a very clever little track. Its broken percussion befits the track title superbly when you take time to listen under a more critical mindset.

That raging aggression is soon back alongside those big riffs for the remainder of Love Is Not Enough. It is an accomplishment to cram such a rewarding listening experience into a little over half an hour. I find it has appeal for its scathing honesty and the bluntness of its messaging also. Love Is Not Enough as an album title tells you all you need to know really. This is a record with a lot of bitterness that is borne out of suffering, told by souls who no longer wish to stay silent on the matter. Probably the best metalcore album I have ever experienced.

4.5/5

As I listen to Gravity, I sense that there is a history of music represented here that I am not all that close too. The heavy-psych elements to Saturnalia Temple’s sound suggest to me at least one foot in the heady days of the 70’s and beyond, but at the same time I get a lot of modern Darkthrone in the sound as well. Add to this, aesthetic the creeping darkness of black metal that seeps into the occasional track and before I knew it, I was completely in love with this month’s feature release for The Fallen clan. In my weed smoking days (long, long since done with), I would have enjoyed Gravity on a whole different level, I am sure. It feels like a record that can, with the right tools deployed, unlock outer dimensions of the listener’s inner consciousness, if you know what I mean.

This transcendental potential is by no means wasted when listened to in an entirely clean and sober headspace mind. Using simple repetition and atmospheres, alongside a near-constant menacing rumble of bottom-end loaded bass, Saturnalia Temple make for an otherworldly experience without the need for chemical assistance. The whole album sounds a bit clunky to me, but this is part of its natural charm and is what helps keep it in the higher echelons of the appeal stakes. I can listen to the damaged soundtrack to a thousand sci-fi horror movies that is Elyzian Fields all day long, and the droning indulgence of Between the Worlds right after it help make the mid-point of the record particularly strong for me.

Although Gravity has many recognisable traits to it, I cannot help but feel that the album feels like an introduction to something new. Even though many if not all its roots are found in the past, somehow there is still an element of there being an aberration present in many regards. As the tracks pass by, they carve sigil like etchings into my brain, meaning the memorability factor is high. High enough in fact for me to be able to enjoy the record as both background music as well as a more critical listening session. Great find.

4.5/5

Not interested in brotherhood is my blunt response. I choose my own path nowadays and if there’s anyone else on it, good for them and I hope they find what they want. Social participation sounds awful to me as I get far more from solitude.  Slowly reducing the people in my life (some of that is natural, organic generational stuff) as well as realising I need a lot less than I had been conditioned to think I did.  

I am not knocking anyone in the thread btw, just my position on the subject.  Aware it sounds like quite an isolationist standpoint but it genuinely works for me.  I have stated on here before that I have the subconscious (if not completely skewed) view that metal is just for me, or it is mine somehow.  Shooting the shit occasionally on here is great but I can find solace in the music without the interaction easily enough nowadays.

Enough alienating behaviour for one day methinks.

Canada continues to be a consistent source of quality black metal for my listening requirements. I keep going back, looking for more discoveries, believing on each visit that the well is surely close to running dry by now. However, upon each dip of my toes into the icy cold depths of the unfathomable lake of black metal that the country seems to have, I come away with a new discovery. This time around, Givre are the gift I have been given, and the present comes in the form of their 2024 album, Le Cloître. A forty-one-minute plus exploration of the atoning side of pain in Christian history, the tracks are the titles of six female saints, with the lyrical content being created from their hagiographies (which are all in French). Clearly a band who put a lot of research into their music, Givre are an instant source of intrigue for me. In taking such a niche subject matter for their album theme and embodying it in such an impassioned display of raging black metal, with elements of dissonant death metal as well as resonating post-metal, Le Cloître soon made the short journey from my Bandcamp wishlist and into my collection.

This is an album that somehow suggests an intimacy with the pain it explores. It is after all a record that is telling stories and thus it should carry some stimulus from the lives of these women that resonates with anyone who has experienced suffering. It is not just an album of choral chants and atmospheric keys by any means (although they do both make an appearance of course), instead there is a robustness to the messaging of this album, and as a result it comes across as a very modern sounding take of its historical content. Givre do not just relay the stories and written content, they put real emotion behind the performance. Most obvious in this is the harrowing and at times demented vocals of all three members of the band who contribute across the album. The shriller cries are the same individual I suspect, whilst the more death metal orientated vocal signatures belong to another member altogether, I would guess. David Caron-Proulx seems to be undertaking the bulk of the heavy lifting on the record with him credited with songwriting, claviers (any stringed keyboard instrument – harpsicord, clavichord etc), guitars and vocals. The research duties seem to sit with drummer and vocalist Jean-Lou David whilst bass and vocals reside with Mathieu Garon.

This contained unit digs into the depths of black metal and beyond, to the point where you can almost hear all the effort they have gone to research, record and release this record. Le Cloître feels like a very complete experience, dare I say a journey by the time you reach the end of it? It sounds mature without being boring or too arty even. It exudes an authenticity in its subject matter exploration, one that only adds to my enjoyment. Perhaps only guilty of not having any real standout moments over the record it is hard to find any other real fault with this record.

4/5

Here you go big man:

Archvile King - "Le carneval du roi des vers" (from "Aux heures désespérées", 2026)

Ensanguinate - "Angel of a Thousand Poisons" (from "Death Saturnalia (With Temples Below)", 2026)

Misotheist - "Blinded and Revealed" (from "De Pinte", 2026)

Woe - "Far Beyond the Fracture of the Sky" (from "Legacies of Human Frailty", 2026)

This one is a bit lost on me I am afraid.  Not being progs biggest fan to start with, I took a risk giving this one a full run through really.  It is all over the place to my ears and the sense of frustration only seems to grow as when they do occasionally settle into some semblance of flow it can be quite interesting.  I am leaving this one well alone.

Any choices you wish to submit are fine by me Karl. Vinny has got the latest releases covered pretty well, so all in all we should have good coverage of all death metal eras.

Old school rules Karl baby!

Never heard of these boys before, but an early listen through of this yesterday has certainly piqued my interest.  Not as straight forward a doom/stoner act as I had expected and so will look forwards to getting something into a review for this one.

Never heard of these boys before, but an early listen through of this yesterday has certainly piqued my interest.  Not as straight forward a doom/stoner act as I had expected and so will look forwards to getting something into a review for this one.

As per the other thread Sonny, ask and you shall receive:

Valdur - "Drinking from the Chalice of Banishment" (from "Gilded Abyss", 2025)

Vorum - "Current Mouth" (from "Current Mouth", 2015)

Voidhämmer - "Cadaveric Bloat" (from "Noxious Emmissions", 2026)

Void Monuments - "Invocation" (from "Posthumous Imprecation", 2026)

Architectural Genocide - "Stuffed Under Floorboards" (from "Malignant Cognition", 2026)

Carrion Vael - "Truth or Consequences" (from "Slay Utterly", 2026)

Ectovoid - "Formless Seeking Form" (from "In Unreality's Coffin", 2026)

Fossilization - "Servo" (from "Advent of Wounds", 2026)

I have this teed up for a listen this weekend actually Andi.  Off out in the car shortly so planning on giving it a blast to clear the Sunday morning cobwebs.  There was a time when I would have never thought of even looking at a Converge album, but my issues with Bannon’s vocals have gone nowadays and I am also much more open to some strains of core.

March 2026

1. Wildhunt – “In Frozen Dreams” (from “Aletheia”, 2026) [Submitted by Vinny]

2. Crucible – “Deathdealer” (from “Hail to the Force”, 2025) [Submitted by Vinny]

3. On Fire – “Allegiance to None” (from “Bite the Blade”, 2025)

4. Dart – “Nothing to Lose” (from “Speed Days”, 2025)

5. Graveripper – “Hexenhammer” (from “From Welkin to Tundra”, 2025) [Submitted by Vinny]

6. Aura Noir – “Conqueror” (from “Black Thrash Attack”, 1996)

7. Violator – “Cult of Death” (from “Unholy Retribution”, 2025) [Submitted by Sonny]

8. Annihilator – “Human Insecticide” (from “Alice in Hell”, 1989) [Submitted by Andi]

9. Dark Angel – “Merciless Death” (from “Darkness Descends”, 1986) [Submitted by Sonny]

10. Morbid Saint – “Assassin” (from “Spectrum of Death”, 1990) [Submitted by Sonny]

11. Incubus – “Blaspheming Prophets” (from “Serpent Temptation”,1988) [Submitted by Vinny]

12. Nuclear Tomb – “Offer Your Life” (from “Offer Your Life”, 2022)

13. Deviants – “The Buried Parts of the Past” (from “Legion”, 2022)

14. Celtic Frost – “Suicidal Winds” (from “Emperor’s Return EP”, 1985) [Submitted by Sonny]

15. Metallica – “For Whom the Bell Tolls” (from “Ride the Lightning”, 1984) [Submitted by Sonny]

16. Testament – “Infanticide A.I.” (from “Para bellum”, 2025) [Submitted by Sonny]

17. Kreator – “Psychotic Imperator” (from “Krushers of the World”, 2026) [Submitted by Sonny]

18. Game Over – “Lust for Blood” (from “Face the End”, 2025) [Submitted by Vinny]

19. Zero Tolerance – “Point Blank” (from “A Test of Strength”, 2025)

20. Trastorned – “Reborn Through Hate” (from “Into the Void”, 2023) [Submitted by Sonny]

21. Cold Steel – “The Coldest Death” (from “Discipline & Punish”, 2025) [Submitted by Vinny]

22. Enforced – “Avarice” (from “War Remains”, 2023) [Submitted by Sonny]

23. Bloodletter – “Night Terrors” (from “Leave the Light Behind”, 20250 {Submitted by Vinny]

24. Species – “Born of Stitch and Flesh” (from “Changelings”, 2025)

25. Mental Devastation – “Primitive Paths” (from “The Delusional Mystery of the Self Part II”) [Submitted by Vinny]

26. Upon a Burning Body – “Killshot” (from “Blood of the Bull”, 2025)

27. Massacre – “Black Soil Nest” (from “Promise”, 1996)

28. Pantera – “13 Steps to Nowhere” (from “The Great Southern Trendkill”, 1996)

Ask and you shall receive, Sonny.  Thanks.

Triptykon - "Myopic Empire" (from "Eparistera Daimones", 2010)

Kylesa - "Drop Out" (from "Spiral Shadow", 2010)

Lone Wanderer - "Anhedonia" (from "Exequiae", 2026)

Indian - "Banailty" (from "Guiltless", 2011)

 man that cover is awful

Fossilization - "Advent of Wounds" (2026)

This one is getting some praise on the internet and it is not hard to see why.  Full of the best bits of Dead Congregation, Incantation and a selection of death/doom acts to boot this is pretty intense stuff from these two Brazilians.  Justin Stubbs of Encoffination fame makes an appearance to provide additional vocals on track three.  It's right up my street this one is as I have been finding a renewed interest in death metal this year and this one has made a real splash after three spins.  Might get around to a review at some point.  Also reminds me of early Altarage (opening to 'Scalded by His Sacred Halo', especially). 

I have been on an exploration of The Fallen clan releases from 2010 and sound found myslef back with Wolvserpent also:

Wolvserpent - "Blood Seed" (2010)

In terms of my exploration of The Fallen clan, one sub-genre that is noted as “not for me” is drone metal. Unable to fathom the appeal of Sunn O))), Earth or Khanate despite numerous attempts, I soon got to the opinion that this was never an area of music that I was going to gel with. Then I remembered Wolvserpent. I recalled how I had become lost in the ethereal beauty of their Perigaea Antahkarana and Aporia:Kala:Ananta releases from over a decade ago. How the haunting strings of violins played by a seemingly melancholy soaked set of troubled spirits had soothed my frantic thoughts before a crashing riff came in to wipe away any lingering fears in my soul.

As soon as I put Blood Seed on recently, I quickly found myself in the exact same space. This is the debut from the now defunct duo, from back in 2010 when the pair had been around for five years prior as Pussygutt. Brittany McConnell handled the drums as well as that tormented violin sound and Blake Green covered guitar and vocals. Not that vocals play a big part in the debut (or indeed any other release from Wolvserpent), the band have always been about the music, and this was set out very clearly on their first release. Side A is a single track, ‘Wolv’ and the ‘Serpent’ track makes up side B. I can imagine a wolf or two padding around some dark forests, hunting for prey, searching for signs of life to take from unsuspecting animals to the first track. The choral style howls and guttural gurns perhaps imitating the language between the menacing pack of predators (or maybe the screams of the victims?). At over twenty-two-minutes long, this track requires attention to fully embrace the magic of it, yet I find this a very easy ask to comply with.

‘Serpent’ lands a little shorter in duration at the eighteen-minute mark. Straight out the blocks, I can envisage a coiled snake, slowly unfurling itself to the nightmarish atmospheres that open the track. Brittany’s violin is accompanied by some distant howls (the ‘Wolv’ I suspect) courtesy of the guitar of Blake and a tense atmosphere permeates between the instrumentation. You may have noticed by now dear reader, that for someone who opened this review by remarking how little they like drone metal, I have managed to wax lyrical about a drone metal release for over two paragraphs thus far. In my defence, I think Wolvserpent are a different offering to any of the other bands that I mentioned above. They have more obvious “sections” to their tracks, incorporating varied elements of sludge (around the six-minute mark of track 2), doom, dark folk, chamber music as well as drone also of course.

Although repetition is still a mainstay here, there is enough going on at any given time to keep me focused entirely on Blood Seed, which is the similar experience that I have of their other releases I am familiar with. In short, all of drone may well not be a write off for me after all.

4/5

Another month of feature releases and I managed all of them again (although I had already listened to The Pit, The Infinite and The Gateway offerings beforehand).

It was a solid month from the site members, although I struggled to get much from most of my non-clans.  The pick of the bunch (as I knew it would be) for me was the Swallowed album from The Horde that I nominated.  I actually pegged it back from a perfect score though as it did push me a bit too far in the end.

Here's my review, I am particularly interested to hear Sonny's take on this one as I suspect it might push him a little out of his confort zone as he continues to stretch his legs in The Horde.

“Caverncore”, the 2010’s movement borne out of bands taking the sounds of Incantation and maxing out the reverb was my bag at the time. Having notched up around two decades of listening to death metal already, this sub-genre at least gave me something new to listen to that walked the fine line between blackened death metal and death doom. Except, depending on the levels of saturation the average death metal fan was willing to go to into this realm, the frantic squall of Portal was to be found in the darkest corners of this new soundscape. Bands like Finland’s Swallowed, had zero qualms about taking the extremity of metal’s most alienating sounds and incorporating them alongside more traditional tropes.

My theme for the feature releases I have picked this month has been single album bands who split thereafter. A “tragedy” themed month, I guess. This certainly resonates with Swallowed. The duo of Ville Kojonen (drums and vocals) and Samu Salovaara (guitars and vocals) employed a dirge of bassists for Lunarterial as well as guest drummers, guitarists and vocalists. In essence they created a real moment in time record given that not all those same musicians (five of them) would likely be in the same studio as the two mainstays of the band. As such, Lunarterial is a one-of-a-kind record within a one-of-a-kind sub-genre. I have no idea who is babbling the tormented vocals on each track, who is torturing the guitar, punishing the drums or contributing to the maelstrom of chaos that constitutes this beastly record.

Far from being a total abandonment of order, Lunarterial had a very set and individual path set out for itself. The fact that this path may have been an aberration to many potential listeners mattered not. You can easily hear the death metal, you can track the doomy pacing and reel at the blackened, caustic guitar sounds, but can you fathom the depths of depravity behind the heinous mix that is done across the record? Unlike an art-based project, which is how I view Imperial Triumphant, Swallowed simply strive to immerse the listener in chaos, leaving them to fathom what they can. Tracks like the twenty-five-minute closer, ‘Libations’ are a stretch too far even for me, yet I absolutely am not surprised that this album not only takes me to the limits of my love of extremity but also seeks to push me out of my comfort zone.

4.5/5

Sweden, home to Bathory, Morbid, Nifelheim, Marduk, Dissection, Svartsyn, Vinterland and Sorhin. The latter band on that list is the one I am perhaps least familiar with, and so the feature release for The North is truly expanding my horizons. I did get them confused with Dawn at first before I got into Apokalypsens ängel proper, although the similarities are more than obvious. Sorhin, on what has to date been the last full-length release from the band, treat the listener to “101” blueprint of how black metal should be done. Grim, ghastly vocals? Check. Scathing guitar riffage? Check. Blistering drums? Check. For an album released at the turn of the century, it could easily be from the height of the second wave

Holding a largely stable lineup for the duration of their career, with vocalist, Nattfursth and guitarist/bassist (and latterly drummer also) Eparygon having been constants since the band’s inception in 1993, Sorhin sound cohesive. Yes, there is a strong element of a celebration of chaos in their music; obvious throughout Apokalypsens ängel in fact, but this is not a band who are all over the place with their timings and tempos. Sorhin have mastered the art of ordered chaos, taking the charge of Marduk but pairing it back with lashings of melody to keep those hooves from running too rampant. Therefore, Apokalypsens ängel manages to stand out from the dirge of other black metal albums in the traditional style.

Coupling maturity with stinging attack, measure and balance with intensity and burning passion for their artform is the key to Sorhin’s success here. I did have to take a few listens to the album for it to click, but at the third or fourth attempt, it all fell into place nicely enough. The drumming of Zathanel is also worthy of a mention (he is no longer listed as being in the band nowadays), as he gives an assured performance in the background, the mix perhaps not always doing him justice as it does favour the guitar and vocals more. However, he does manage to peak through on occasion, if only to let us know he is still there.

I do have a couple of criticisms of the album however, that peg it’s rating back somewhat. Firstly, it is too long with the version on Spotify having an extra track at the end that takes the whole experience to over fifty-four-minutes. This adds a further problem in that on this version the two longest tracks are at the end, and as such the impact of album closer (proper) ‘Utmarsch - den nya Messias’ is somewhat lost. The arrangement therefore seems to have this sense of slipping over the last two tracks on the record. With most other tracks under five-minutes the concise consistency of the album does tend to come to an abrupt end unexpectedly and the ending experience is disappointing as a result.

3.5/5

Sonny has been on form this month.  I am rediscovering some appetite for death metal after the last 12 months has been dominated by black and doom metal.  The playlist in The Horde this month has only added fuel to that flame.  I found it easier to run at the list in thirds this month and took time to check out the releases that individual tracks came from where they jumped out at me in the list.  Nefarious, Broken Torso, Knoll, Embalmer and the absolute find of the list, Ceremony of Silence all fell into this category.

I revisited Altars but still cannot get on with that record despite the featured track here being a banger.  You can’t go wrong with a Macabre track in my opinion though. Here is a band who manage to take the true macabre essence of people at their worst and put a comedy slant on it without sacrificing the quality of the music.  Good to see Angelcorpse getting a run out to alongside some of the more household names like Incantation and Morbid Angel.  Speaking of which, Karl’s selection of that track from that album not only led me to discover a great album I had somehow never listened to until this month but it also put me on a Morbid Angel trip for two days solid whilst I was away working and spending a couple of nights in a hotel.

Gates of Slumber took a while to land with me. The vocals of Karl Simon were by far the biggest hurdle following my “pay what you like” Bandcamp download of Conqueror in 2008. By the time I got around to the self-titled debut album by Wretch, the band that got put together after the initial hiatus being called on GoS, eight years had passed and I was by this stage much more in tune with Karl’s Winoisms. Wretch and I hit it off from the first listen and it is an album that gets a couple of plays each year nowadays still.

For a doom metal record, it is surprisingly catchy. In addition to this it has a rich vein of the blues running through it. Those early Sabbath riffs, sat alongside the obvious Saint Vitus and The Obsessed influences show a band with some firm roots in the founding fathers of the genre and the debut album from Wretch really does sound like it comes from the soul of everyone involved. The Judas Priest cover works well, even given the full hazy doom treatment.

The band even manage to shine on the two instrumentals that are present here. I did roll my eyes at the prospect of two tracks without vocals at first but they are so well played, it is hard not to get onboard with them. The brooding bass of ‘Bloodfinger’ is a wonderfully psychedelic experience set against the bluesy noodling of the guitar. Not that I have heard all the GoS albums and notwitwstanding the style is perhaps different overall, but I would say that Wretch is my preferred output above even the might of Karl in GoS. It is a shame that we only got one record out of the project, but at least it is a killer.

4/5

I didn't get much from this one.  Unfortunately the belicose vocals of Veronica Freeman lack authenticity for me, often sounding forced.  I cannot understand the near spoken word style she adopts for the cover of 'Heaven and Hell', it just seems an odd choice.  The guitars are steady if not unremarkable on Uncreation and I find it hard get anywhere near in the swing of the music , even though it is still clear that they know how to write a song.  The independent/strong female themes are done to death also (and that is coming from someone who is an advocate of such ideals).  Not for me this one.

3/5

Vinny, Karl, don't forget that the North playlist has gone back to being a monthly affair, so suggestions by the 15th please.

I had forgotten, thanks for the nudge:

Craft - "Kill Everything" (from "Total Soul Rape", 2000)

Immortal - "Wrath From Above" (from "Damned in Black", 2000)

Tsjuder - "Daemon's Journey" (from "Kill for Satan", 2000)

Judas Iscariot - "Benevolent Whore, Dethroned for Eternity" (from "Dethroned, Conquered and Forgotten", 2000)

Givre - "Louise du Néant (1639-1694)" ( from "Le Cloître", 2024)

Blaze of Sorrow - "Ascensione" (from "Eterno Tramonto", 2011)

These releases were some of the ones that originally got me into the genre during the late 1990's & early 2000's Vinny so they're probably a pretty good place to start:

Aphex Twin - "Selected Ambient Works 85-92" (1992)

Osamu Sato - "Transmigration" (1994)

Various Artists - "Artificial Intelligence" (1992)

Various Artists - "Artificial Intelligence II" (1994)

I listened through these recommendations, thank you Daniel.  I hadn't realised that Aphex Twin had been going since the eighties (but then again I am a complete beginner here) and therefore there was plenty to keep me intrigued on that one.  I found Osamu Sato's stuff to be too happy for me and didn't really find much on that first compilation but the second one is full of great stuff.  I found alot of stuff via the "audiofonos con cable" playlist on Spotify.  It was mostly the ambient stuff that I got into, the garage stuff being the least popular for my tastes.

These releases were some of the ones that originally got me into the genre during the late 1990's & early 2000's Vinny so they're probably a pretty good place to start:

Aphex Twin - "Selected Ambient Works 85-92" (1992)

Osamu Sato - "Transmigration" (1994)

Various Artists - "Artificial Intelligence" (1992)

Various Artists - "Artificial Intelligence II" (1994)

Thank you

I have given Neverbloom around three spins over the past couple of days and it has grown on me, from my first impression at least.  When they settle down into rhythm and riffage, there are some genuinely entertaining moments for me. Tracks such as ‘Widower’ and ‘Maelstrom’ standout as being high points in this regard and I suspect there could be more of these moments if the arrangement was just a little better thought through.  I think the piano is perhaps the worst conceived part of the instrumentation, often it sounds like someone has started playing another track over the top of the current one and it does take a couple of seconds to reconcile that it is actually on the same track.  The synths stab perfectly well to create a sense of theatre and drama where they get deployed, but for a “symphonic deathcore” record, I find it surprising how little focus the symphonic elements actually get.

Vocally there is nothing here to surprise me as it seems to be pretty standard deathcore fare in all honesty, but it is the riffs that are my only real positive takeaway from this record.  They are by no means perfect, but they certainly do land a lot better than most of the rest of what is on offer.  I get the sense that Make Them Suffer had some good ideas going into this one, and I am of course giving them some rope as this was their debut.  However, the ideas never really shine as I suspect they could, appearing to be sacrificed by a confusing, if not outright disorientating arrangement problem that is something of a curse on the album I feel.

I listen to a lot of deathcore during my workouts nowadays and so I am perhaps a little more desensitised to The Revolution clan’s previous penchant to overwhelm this well-travelled metal head than I was some three or four years ago.  Although Neverbloom does not quite land all that well with me, I still enjoyed the discovery experience and could be tempted by a listen to a later album to see if they did improve at all.

2.5/5

Andi?  If you are accepting nominations from non-clan members then I would like to suggest a track for March - fine if not accepting any.

Make Them Suffer - "Maelstrom" (6:49) from Neverbloom (2012)

I have played the playlist four times over now, end-to-end each time.  This is unprecedented in the history of the MA playlists.  I hear ya dk about the RoB album, each time I go back to it with a planned refreshed outlook I still end up on the fence.  His clean vocals are terrible, and not even in a cool, post-punk manner either.

Autechre - "Garbage" E.P. (1995)

The third release from Manchester duo Autechre is yet another masterpiece from one of my all-time favourite artists. It's comprised of four lengthy tracks with the A side being a very solid example of complex IDM. It's the B side where the gold can be found though as I prefer the added depth of ambient techno number "Bronchusevenmx24" & the beautiful ambient closer & release highlight "VLetrmx21", both of which I consider to be perfect realisations of the enormous potential of electronic music. "Garbage" should be essential listening for all electronic music nuts.

For fans of Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada & Monolake.

4.5/5

I went on a bit of a discovery session outside of metal last week and hit upon Autechre and Boards of Canada also as it happens.  Ended up putting together a couple of playlists for my non-metal moods and would be interested to hear any other recommendations you may have around IDM, Daniel.

Iron Maiden 'Killers' is 45 years old. Gulp!

No problem, Vinny. Thanks for your feedback.

No worries, I am aware that the Sphere, Revolution and even the Infinite and Gateway clans can get as little lonely on feature release feedback so I am trying to make an effort to check out the features in those clans more.

I can't say I loved this, but at the same time I did find a level of tolerance for it to listen through the full album.  It sounds a little too mainstream for me, a lot lighter than I was expecting in fact.  It is interesting to see a different dimension to Peter's musical output but I cannot say it intrigued me enough to revisit at any point.  It does start to sound the same across the latter tracks to my ears.  Thanks for sharing though Andi.

I am sorry to say that I need to raise a complaint about this month's The Fallen clan playlist!

Perhaps we should have a Metal Academy Zoom call to discuss, such is the level of focus I feel needs to be given to this matter as the playlist cannot continue in this manner!

My complaint is......

I fucking love all of this list!  THERE IS NOT ONE BAD TRACK ON HERE!

How am I supposed to work today knowing that this 2 hour slab of doomy, sludgy, deathy goodness is but a click away for me to lose myself in?  I was sat there yesterday, foolishly thinking to myself 'I will just pop this month's playlist on in the background.' and then BOOM, Cult of Luna kicks things off and I am straight away drifting through a sea of turbulent sludge waves that give way to lapping tides of post-metal goodness.  Then, no rest for the wicked, Sonny's landed a Celtic Frost track in there next.  Two tracks later, Fall of the Idols appear out of nowhere and go straight onto my "to do" list along with Evangelist, Doomster Reich, Flesh of the Stars, Ramesses, Earthbound Machine (YOB wannabes) and Church of Lies all courtesy of Sonny (barring Ramesses).

All the while, the silent assassin that is dk having already deraile dmy Sunday "background listening" plans with Cult of Luna is then responsible for a Batillus track to finish things off, having already made me rethink that Ruins of Beverast release might be better than I first thought based on the track he's picked for this list.

Joking aside, an absolutely stellar playlist Sonny, the best one yet.  Keep em' coming!

Loved this release from last year, here's my review:

Thundering out of Berkshire, England to truly throw a spanner in my ‘EoY Fallen Album List’ come atmo-sludge quintet, Dimscûa. I would say that 2025 has been the year that I started to explore atmospheric-sludge metal for the first time, its calmer post-metal tendencies offset nicely by the harsher vocal attacks and smothering heaviness of the riffs that are my usual (and still preferred) listening fodder. Listening to Dust Eater sort of feels like I am in familiar territory nowadays which has most certainly helped me warm to it quickly. Hidden behind the straight delivery and more subtle sections, there is a sense of the epic going on also though which adds extra interest into proceedings.

This may just be clever use of guitar tone in all honesty, with some well-placed chiming effect adding some positive volume to the already doughty performance. Dust Eater is delivered with an attack that brings to my mind that each of the band members are grinning with each blow they make in their flannel shirts and jeans – another image I have in my head for some reason. Whilst I cannot describe the EP as uplifting, it does possess a pragmatic approach that gives the music a sense of being constructive without being restrictive. There’s no question that the band have gears they can get through, but they are always in full control, not just when ticking over in first or second gear.

The poignancy in the strings that open the final track, ‘On Being and Nothingness’, set against that haunting ambience that drifts through the background of the track, shows a band who can play with real emotion in their performances. Whilst the subject matter may explore darker tropes, the five-piece are unafraid to display the inherent beauty that can still be found in the themes of grief or loss. Of the content of this sub-genre that I have heard this year, Dimscûa chart pretty highly to my ears.

4/5