Vinny's Reviews

I am not a fan of compilations generally.  I usually see them as opportunistic releases designed to boost the coffers of the associated record company who have been fortunate enough to scoop the demo recordings or greatest hits rights to a band's back catalogue.  That withstanding, 'Amon: Feasting The Beast' actually has relevance beyond appealing to just the avid uber-fan of Deicide.  It is a release that showcases the raw talent, energy and commitment of the band before they became the death metal household name we all recognise to be Deicide.

There's still some turkeys on here, the second attempt at 'Sacrificial Suicide' sounds like Benton has a lisp and is just ridiculous, for example.  However, as a release of a piece of death metal history, 'Amon...' stands up well enough.  It is hard to get too excited by it, likewise difficult to extend paragraphs enough to stretch to a full review of the release.

There are very few albums nowadays that I can recall track by track in my head.  The fact that ‘Heartwork’ still plays through my memory some 26 years after I first heard it is testimony to it being a big part of my metal journey and also the catchy nature of the songwriting.  I get that it is a departure from previous direction and that for many it was a step too far away from the more familiar sound of the band, but “Heartwork” was still a strong metal record and still recognisable as Carcass regardless.

My rating of 3.5 stars really only reflect my transition towards their earlier material as I have aged.  “Heartwork” gets less rotation than “Symphonies...” or “Reek...” do, but at the same time will always have that element of nostalgia present to give it a solid rating.  Whether it is the energetic start to the title track or the chop n chug of “No Love Lost” or even the spiralling maelstrom of “This Mortal Coil”, there’s still variety on this record.

As a melodic death metal album this just about has enough edge still to cut the mustard with my more extreme tastes. Often it gets criticised almost as an album that let the band down in some way, but I don’t think that is fair as it still stands up as a successful turn of direction for Carcass as well as being a defining record for the melodic death metal movement.

'Rituale Satanum' stands up as a glorious exploration of how true aggression can be ported onto an audible format with pure aplomb and genuine heartfelt hatred. Some of the riffs on show here are truly demonic and when coupled with those rasping and harsh vocals make for great effect on one of BM's most under-rated releases.  The melodic elements whilst not always as obvious to the ear are there in the background like some dark, melancholic tidal current that churns up sightless, shrieking beasts in it's waves.

From the menacing spoken word to 'Intro (The Summoning)' we are instantly into the scathing guitar that opens 'Sota valon jumalaa vastaan" which straight up lashes away at the listener for its entire duration.  'Night of the Blasphemy', whilst no less intense in the delivery, offers that melodic element to give additional structure to the chaotic riffing and blasting.  'Christ Forever Die' with its more measured approach to the track offers a well-paced build to the track whilst losing none of the looming threat built so far over the first three tracks.  The hatred and vitriol for the icon of the subject matter from the track title is obvious as ever in the vocals here.  They act like some scorching wind that you could envisage peeling the flesh from the face of the holy one just by virtue of the wickedness behind them, spat like acid onto the face of the crucified man.  I find that the instrumentation and arrangement of the song actual temper the vocals really well also.

One of the real successes of 'Rituale Satanum' is that whilst it remains unrelenting in delivery it never feels like a drain to listen to in one sitting.  Rampant BM records like 'Battles in the North' or 'Pure Holocaust' do lose me at times despite my enjoyment of them.  I think the unexpected moments such as the lead work on 'Towards the Father' keep things interesting and challenging without showing any dip in the fury on display.

The big build up to 'Saatanan varjon synkkyydessä' feels like the start of some epic heavy metal track but soon becomes that familiar slaughtering paced frenzy, yet there's great structure to pace the track out to retain some of the majesty built in the intro to the song, to bridge the chaos in between solid start and finish sections and add a funereal set of keys to finish.

My favourite track on the album is 'Baphomet's Call', it has an almost easy feel to how it drops around some light riffing into an almost foot tapping pace.  It plays like some old rock track given the Satanic treatment with it's death metal like layered growls midway through.  'The Flames of the Blasphemer' is just as harsh as the track title indicates but again makes great use of melody to manage the flow of the track.  There's also an almost NWOBHM feel to the pace here as well, although the return of the funereal keys soon stamps sufficient atmosphere on proceedings to remind me that this ain't no Diamond Head record.

The final two tracks work superbly to give a almost grandiose ritual(e) feel to the closing part of the record.  The solid drumming of 'Blessed Be the Darkness' and demented shrieks of the vocals that share space with spoken word recitals midway through the track weigh a dense atmosphere to proceedings.  By the time we get through the closing (and title) track with its slow pace there's a real sense of finality and closure, like as a listener we have been through some torrid and yet positively memorable experience.

If you have been paying attention to my musings in The Pit Clan Challenge then you won't be surprised to find that I have given this record four stars.  It characterises that rabid and vicious thrash metal that I enjoy so much and only the fact that some of the production work on this is truly terrible (as in beyond being able to simply be considered kvlt or cool) then a full five stars would have been easily awarded.

For sheer lack of fucks given the album scores about a ten at least, this is a record forged out of complete abandon of compromise.  It starts off relentlessly and ends up the same without once letting up.  Every aspect to it feels bestial and evil in the most primitive sense.  Whether it is the menacing vocals with their sneer of derision and mocking undertone, the bashing fury of those drums or even the manic strumming of the bass underneath the charging dual guitar attack, it all has a fee for antediluvian values throughout.

Considering the band started out some six years before recording this by just playing Priest, Maiden, Sabbath and Crüe covers, what they eventually got to transcribe to record was far removed from their covers days.  This is crude and unrefined music for ears of fans who genuinely don't care too much for compositional excellence or song writing prowess.  Each track has one intention, to rip your fucking face off!  And they do it, eight times in a row.

As I mention above, the main issue here is the production job sounds terrible.  Notwithstanding the fact that it kind of suits the ideal in so many ways it is too obvious even for my extreme metal scarred ears for me not to notice.  Instead of charging the energy in the record it kind of blunts it a little bit although I still get multiple lacerations after each spin of this record.

Blessed Are The Sick" is still as relevant now as it was 20 + years ago, with its sonic wizardry, beefed up guitar sound (when compared with its predecessor at least) and the furious thunder of Sandoval on the drum kit driving forward this beast of a record. The complimentary lead work of Richard and Trey (Richard and his more melodic moments to temper Trey with his swarming, chaotic and sonic shredding) works superbly and you get a real sense that this is band much improved ability wise from their previous outing.

The maturity is evident and the whole package has a more serious edge to it with the album artwork grotesque and twisted like the sound of the considerably darker music within. The intro is a perfect opener with the almost engine like noise of some hellish machine made from crying children and grinding bones being revved up to floor the accelerator and destroy all in its path. By the time it gives way to opener proper "Fall From Grace" you are sat bolt upright waiting for the assault to happen and your are not going to be disappointed as the track smothers you in glorious low end marauding DM.

The build up to the title track is varied with each track managing to stand out as individual points of brilliance. The fury of "Brainstorm", the sudden slowed technique of "Rebel Lands", the horror film soundtrack keys of "Doomsday Celebration" and the frantic pace of "Day Of Suffering" all cement the foundations of the stairway up to "Blessed Are The Sick/Leading The Rats". The title track is a slower but epic descent into the bowels of Hades themselves the bottom end of every note pulling you further down into the darkness before the flutey ending adds a bestial cherry to the top of the hellish cup cake!

The title track acts a central pin for the whole record, it is not that this is the peak of the album as what follows it is just as intense and powerful as the rest of the album so far, but the title track does exactly what it is supposed to. It is the pillar running through the atmosphere, direction and experience of the whole album. This brings me on to the structure of the album as a whole, the already mentioned intro starts things off perfectly but the changes of pace are brilliantly scheduled, the haunting beauty of "Desolate Ways" with its picked acoustic strings is like a beautiful woman with an underlying darkness lay in field of scarred and twisted corpses and it stays with you long after the album has finished. "In Remembrance" is the perfect ending to the album, an acknowledgement that although the chaos is over things won't be the same again as a result of it.

It is hard to quite put into words the monstrous fury of Ulcerate. The difficulty largely lies in the fact that for every bludgeoning riff, hammer blow drum hit or swirling wall of noise that the New Zealanders strike the listener with, there's a remarkable amount of deftness and skill in the calculations they invoke to deliver their assault.

There were times when I listened to "Vermis" (the predecessor to "Shrines..." for the uneducated reader) and that precision was off, albeit very minutely. The vocals for example on the bands 2013 opus felt some how lost in the mix and at times there was a sense of not actually being aware whether they had begun or not. They are some of course who thought this a clever use of the mixing desk to create that folly deliberately, but for me the storm of Ulcerate's sound needed that extra bit of definition vocally to turn a great album into an absolute classic.

Thankfully, here on the band's fifth full length offering, the vocals are prominent and whether you deem them visceral or based on intellect they are very much a centre piece of "Shrines Of Paralysis". Yeah, there's occasion when they do go under the churn of riffs, drums and bass but thankfully these are rare and do not distract. 

As well as Paul Kelland's lyrical exploits being a point of particular note, the listener cannot miss the frankly fucking amazing performance of Jamie Saint Merat on the drums. They are powerful, punishing and utterly fucking relentless. The clever bit being that every other instrument is allowed to breath around them without any one detracting from the other. In a tornado of sound like the brand that Ulcerate stir up to say you can pick out the bass is testimony to their technical excellence at not just performance but at actual songwriting also.

Hoggard's riffs are of course merciless too. They are like being stabbed by a surgeon, with each slash designed to incapacitate whilst also make you nod in complete appreciation. There's geologists probably queueing up to take abrasivity tests on Ulcerate's riffs and they know the scores will be off the motherfucking chart.

Things get off to an explosive start with opening track "Abrogation" as it bursts out of the speakers like a soul of hell clawing for freedom from the burning fury of Hades itself. As "Yield To Naught" continues in much the same vein it is here I first start to note the clever use of melodic components of the tracks. These are there most of the time but instead of being drowned out by the thunderous roar of the band in full throttle, they are more marshalled by the riffs and percussion as if being constantly reminded of their place even though they are key still amongst all that is going on. Throughout the pulverising violence of the bodily harm inflicted you are never far from an atonal stab or dissonant tranquility as they bob atop the tide of the endless churn.

To have all that going on must require an almost military precision as never does anything seem confused or chaotic. Even at their most furious Ulcerate show clarity of structure and planning. The title track with its progressive build and eventual unleashing of all living fury proves this point perfectly.

One thing that is obvious throughout is the layering of the experience. "Extinguished Light" is like unwrapping a gift and finding exploding candy in each layer, each variety giving a different flavour and texture experience to the last.

To sum up "Shrines Of Paralysis", it is like an in depth documentary on the mechanics of Technical DM. As well as exploring the intense fury of emotions involved, it takes opportunity to delve into the skillset required, demonstrating along the way a work of real dark art done by true masters of the genre.

Last time Ulcerate and Gorguts released an album in the same year was 2013 and they both blew me the fuck away, with "Colored Sands" edging "Vermis". In 2016 they've reversed it for me. "Shrines Of Paralysis" is nowhere near as dense as "Pleiade's Dust" in content and style but it takes the raw emotion of the genre and hones it into an explosive, purposeful and memorable DM experience.

Behind every great man, there's a great woman. Behind every camped up, shape throwing, garrulous Black Metal vocalist there's a great song writer. Both of these statements are true, except the second one actually does not commend Abbath as being the imaginative, creative and artistic driving force behind Immortal. This is blatantly obvious if you have heard his solo pop/rock record of a couple of years ago.

What "Northern Chaos Gods" does is essentially pull off one of the best tattoo removal jobs in the history of "I Love Sharon" ink stains on most truck drivers (married to a woman called Rose) arm's being obliterated by lasers. Despite a big character no longer being present on this record, I don't for one second miss Abbath. Demonaz and co manage to put out an album that sounds so much like Immortal of old you could be forgiven for crying "Fake News!" at every mention of the turmoil and split between the founding members given the music is as strong as it has been in some while.

Demonaz even sounds like a more in control albeit slightly more subdued Abbath. But it isn't the vocals that will get you sweating like a blind lesbian in a fishmongers. Nope, IT'S THE FUCKING RIFFS MAN!!!!!! It is genuinely like getting twatted by an octopus for 42 and a bit minutes, listening to this record. Utterly relentless in their delivery, Immortal just pummel away at you, occasionally throwing an atmosphere building intro before thundering off on hoofed steed to epic landscapes such as "Where Mountains Rise".

There's no Judas Priest or Iron Maiden esque dip in output here in the absence of their established frontman here. Demonaz and Horgh have - to put it in layman's terms - just picked up and ran with the established format. Don't get me wrong, it isn't anywhere near the quality of "At The Heart of Winter", although it does piss all over "All Shall Fall". Think of it as being the record "Damned In Black" could have been as a better precursor to the great "Sons of Northern Darkness".

They have a song called "Blacker of Worlds"!!! I mean what grown man with the mind of a pubescent boy doesn't think that is cool as fuck??? If the start of closing track "Mighty Ravendark" doesn't bring you out in goose pimples, you're dead inside. Fist pumping, neck snapping metal right here folks.

Glen Benton is 51. Fuck I feel old now too. Deicide are 30 years old (32 if we count the Amon era). Album number 12 from the fathers of Florida death metal is a strong effort considering yet another change of personnel has occurred. It is bye-bye Jack Owen, hello Mark English of Monstrosity fame taking up guitar duties and ironically I like "Overtures of Blasphemy " a lot more than Monstrosity's effort this year.

Whilst it can never make the "beast of a DM record" title I would give to the debut or"Legion" for example, "Overtures..." is entertaining. Whether it is the melo-death passages that litter the streets and alleyways of this record or the more familiar sacrilegious blasting fury of Deicide at their (old) best, there's plenty to balance the experience over these 12 tracks. Take "Seal The Tomb" for example, it goes immediately for the jugular, relentlessly chugging riffs alongside Benton's usual demented growls only to be tempered by menacing and interesting leads and sonics that carry the song along well. Listen once to this track and it is in your head for literally days after.

Then there's the vehemence of the lyrics of "Compliments of Christ" were you can feel the spittle from Glen's lips splattering your ears as he spews forth the vitriol he is best known for. "Anointed in Blood" opens like a lead jam session recorded mid flow before developing into a hellish gallop of fiery hooves, again perfectly completed by some well placed and well timed leads.

This is were Morbid Angel went wrong with "Kingdoms..." safe DM with little if any attention paid to the sonic wizardry of their sound. Take a leaf out of Glen's book Trey!

It is clear that this is no nonsense DM that  still has enough equal measure of extremity and assured and unapologetic attitude to hold it's own against most of the DM records released this year. It is not perfect by any means. I lose it on more than one occasion if I am honest ("Crucified Soul of Salvation" in particular hits my 'standby' button really nicely) and it is a couple of tracks too long making for an almost excessive feel to the running time. Whilst it is a well paced record there's definitely some "filler" present. But for any turkeys in here there is still thankfully the brilliance of tracks like "Consumed by Hatred" to snap you back to attention. "Flesh, Power, Dominion" is one of the strongest things Deicide have ever put to tape btw.

There's life in the old dog yet it seems. In terms of original members only Phil Fasciana remains in the ranks of Malevolent Creation now and after the passing of Brett Hoffman last year you could almost forgive fans for thinking the curtain had fallen on Malevolent Creation. The fact is that whilst "The 13th Beast" reinvents no wheels it does exhibit the sound of a band in the throes of something of a regeneration phase. There's nothing tired sounding here, no dull interludes to build unnecessary atmosphere. As soon as the spoken word intro to "End the Torture" finishes it is straight up thrashing death metal until the very end, some 11 tracks later.

Although all debuting in the Malevolent full length stakes here, the 3 musicians that join Fasciana on this record are all clearly capable and qualified purveyors of their art form. Again, I highlight that this is not far above your average DM record yet it is so assured and solid you can easily forgive it to some degree. Lee Wollenschlaeger gives a good acquittal of himself as an established and competent vocalist, filling Hoffman's shoes nicely. Phil Cancilla is a machine on those skins, blasting his way across the soundscape yet also using the percussion well when the occasional let up in the pace permits. Fasciana and Wollenschlaeger work well together to keep the chug of the riffs motoring along whilst Gibbs plonks, twangs and rumbles his way through every track, allowed to be heard in the mix and show his variety without ever showboating. For a band together for only 2 years as a four piece they sound tight and committed.

There's no metal fan worth the denim their patches are sewn onto that doesn't look at that album cover and mouth a "fuck me, dude!" I mean, come on, it is fucking awesome. Like a more ornamental Predator head on a ghostly green background. I love it when album covers are matched by the content of the record inside, and whilst there are obviously some shortfalls here, still in the main "The 13th Beast" delivers. When they keep the track length short and succinct, Malevolent Creation are at their best. "The Beast Awakened", "Agony for the Chosen" and "Knife at Hand" all kick serious ass. By the same token "Born of Pain" at nearly 7 minutes long doesn't really do anything or go anywhere to justify the length attributed to it.

Overall, I would have preferred a shorter record. At 11 tracks the band cover a lot of ground in under 50 minutes but not all of it really needs treading. That withstanding, never does it get grating and still the accessibility factor remains consistent enough to forgive the extra excursions present.

Some fifteen years ago, after I had taken a brief break from metal altogether, I picked up Diamond Eyes on iTunes as my reintroduction back into the scene. I was not a fan of the band prior to this but reconciled to go back into the metal world with something different. During my brief dalliance with nu-metal in the early noughties I had become aware of 'Back to School' (from White Pony) which was all over Kerrang TV at the time, and to be honest I had never really been all that bothered by it. I didn’t love it, and I didn’t hate it either, it just passed me by because of over-exposure, I guess. Coming back to metal with Diamond Eyes (now I revisit it in retrospect) seems like an odd choice therefore, but I guess the non-metal elements here, the dreamy, hazy sensibilities helped ease me back in. That having been said, some of the riffing here is right up my alley still.

I recall now, as I write this review (triggered by seeing Daniel’s thoughts earlier this week) that it was the single 'Rocket Skates' that brought me to the album in the first place. That auditory assault of frenetic riffage and those screamed vocals “guns, razors, knives!” still prove to be a real adrenaline trip to this day, which is the sign of a great song, that it can invoke the same reaction from an older, much more underground dwelling metalhead, some fifteen years after they first heard it. However, there was much more to savour on the record once I had got past the frenzy of 'Rocket Skates'. Opening with the title track, the album seems to bring together all the elements that I now know to be contained across the album into one track. Bruising riffs, dreamy and yet also scathing vocals, dense atmospheres, balanced percussion and a constant murky, seedy undertone.

There is a darkness inherent in Diamond Eyes. It is a theme that is not always obvious. For all its pleasantries, its indistinct tranquillity, its promise of peaceful and soothing music, there also lies the sharper, more jarring, less subdued emotions of someone barely containing these more troubling emotions. It is an album written by a band who always sound on the fucking edge. I am reminded of one my cats that I miss dearly. She could be adorable, playful and outright loving one moment and in the next you had claw marks across the back of the same hand that she was just nuzzling mere milliseconds ago. That’s what Diamond Eyes is like. It is forty-one minutes of a false sense of security, and I fucking love it.

Album highlight for me here is the sultry and brooding ‘Beauty School’. The way the bass and the drums work together here to set the boundaries of the atmosphere is great. The lyrics are full of covert sexual connotations as fans of the band will come to expect, yet it plays like a modern ballad to the uninitiated. The bass once again is a key component on ‘Prince’, alongside those chiming keys and that down tuned guitar it makes for one of the more intense tracks on the album. I can only point to one criticism of Diamond Eyes and that is that it is a shade too long in the sense that once we get to the last couple of tracks it just starts to sound like the same ideas being rehashed in some regard. Forty-one minutes is not a long album runtime by any means of course, but when you get involved with it, properly in amongst the songs, that immersion does make elements of repetition standout even more I find. Still so glad that I came back to it this bank holiday weekend though, in so many ways an important album for me as it turns out.

Another mysterious black metal outfit of whom nothing is known about the band members, Blood Abscission have landed their sophomore release (the aptly named II) via my favourite label, Debemur Morti Productions. Fact is, I am not always that interested in the people behind the music, in fact sometimes that information is very much best left unsought. What you can tell from II is that whoever is involved, they know who to write excellent atmospheric black metal. More than this though, there is a clever blend of old school metal melodic leads mixed in alongside some near gazey-like passages. As such, Blood Abscission seem to make a very contemporary take on black metal, yet at the same time manage to keep lots of nods to past glories as well.

I am very much reminded of 777-era Blut Aus Nord when listening to II. That blend of the coherent and luscious instrumentation, coupled with unintelligible vocals (and spoken word at times) is delivered perfectly here, putting all the attention on the music. The more modern take I get from the record though is Mare Cognitum inspired melodic urgency and scurrying tempos. The tremolos get quite shrill in places, suggesting some stringed folk instrumentation alongside the electric elements here and there too. If ever there was a band befitting of residing on DMP’s roster, Blood Abscission are it. The focus is absolutely bang on here, capturing all the right elements I want to hear in my atmo-black. At times when I listen through to the record, I am reminded of Grima’s triumphant record from this year also.

I read criticism that II was too lengthy for one reviewer and I normally am one of the first to call out if a record outstays its welcome. However, Blood Abscission, as well as having great content, have track lengths nailed down also for me. I do not feel the album works as a casual listening experience though by any means. If you are just looking for background music, then this album fundamentally does not apply. The final three tracks all grow into each other, passing on the baton to each other as they flow superbly together (for this reason, the album is superb bedtime listening on headphones I have found – to truly appreciate this great piece of compositional aptitude). Even the twelve-minute plus opening track does not ever become a chore and sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the album. Who fucking cares who the band are? With music this studiously put together, you have more than enough to concentrate on already.

In the Woods… have always just ‘been there’. Floating around the periphery of my metal music awareness for years, with me rarely paying them any attention. The progressive tag is usually more than ample to put me off things but given this was dual tagged with gothic metal (another one of my areas of limited interest) and I am trying to broaden my horizons and capture as much new stuff in The Fallen as I can this year, I broke form and went for it. I am glad I did.

What is clear, even as a relative newbie to the band, is that these fellas know how to write songs. There’s obvious depth to all the tracks on this album. Emotional and compositional depth is present in equal amounts, and as a result Otra is an incredibly rich and rewarding album to listen to. There is the mournful atmosphere you would associate with the gothic tag, but there is also the sense of mystery, of some riddle that runs in secret through the album, like there’s always something more to come on each track. It is this narrative of intrigue that keeps my attention on the album from start to finish. This intensity by no means impinges on the overall relaxed vibes that come off the record as it plays. The vocals have a soothing monotone to them, a handsome charm almost. Even on the death doom sounding section of ‘The Crimson Crown’, the menacing vocals are tempered by most of the track being sung in a clean and sultry tone.

I would liken the connection I feel with this record to the same spontaneous response I had to Katatonia’s The Fall of Hearts. I can sense the dark soul behind the music, its presence obvious throughout. As I was ploughing through other releases this week, I got to The Maneating Tree’s latest album, and it just underlined the difference in quality in that Otra is interesting to listen to from the off. Otra lacks much in the way of a generic pigeon-hole to be sat in and as such, all bets are off. The juxtapose of styles somehow remains unintrusive over seven tracks that all seem to flow with an underlying air of calm. Hear the black metal vocals creep into tracks like ‘Things You Shouldn’t Know’ and ‘The Wandering Deity’ whilst enjoying vibrant progressive vibes in some of the guitar at the same time.

For all its free-flowing nature, there is no sense of reckless abandon in the playing. At no point do I feel the need to hit the skip button, which on an album that is infused with gothic and progressive tropes is no mean feat really. There are clunky moments still. ‘A Misrepresentation of I’ stands out for the failed attempt to shoehorn that title into the chorus (it sounds like ‘a misreputation of I’) but it is more than forgivable given it probably is my only negative out of over forty-five minutes of music.

The final EP (to date) in this series ‘…:Grunsfoort’ harks back to the jangly tremolo and melodic gallop of Drudkh to kick things off this time.  Opening track ‘Sediment der Impressies’ again picks up where the previous EP left off some 18 months ago, trailing an air of accessibility and directness to its presence.  For the most part, this is a well-balanced track in terms of pace.  It measures the urgency of the tremolo with passages of thoughtful refrain and folky strings that really sound like they are grounding the track.  There is also a strong bass presence here as well which really does add depth to the slower parts.  The track does seem to lose its way about two-thirds of the way through, disappearing into an unexpected dark ambient section before racing back for the final meeting.  This feels disruptive, like they thought about ending the track there but changed their mind.

The strong, yet never intrusive bass, is retained on ‘Grunsfoort in de mist’.  Opting for a slower pace to start this time around the track also deploys acoustic strings to good effect, using them to herald the arrival of additional layers on proceedings.  This is the standout track on the release for me.  It is thoughtfully composed and builds up well.  The rich melodic aspects are never at the expense of the directness and despite the more softer approach, the band avoids ‘gaze’ territory in the main and still delivers a haunting and ethereal experience to draw the track to a close.

Whether this is the totality of the series or not, these three EPs are strong as a collective.  My criticisms are never items that necessarily diminish from my overall enjoyment of the series and they do showcase the talent, ability and influences of the duo involved here.  I would recommend playing them back to back to truly appreciate them but they do also work in isolation.

Landing just three months after the first EP in this series, Fluisteraars picked up on ‘…:Nergena’ pretty much where they left off on ‘…:Harslo’ back in March.  The dashing tremolos on opening track ‘De man, Zon van de Doden’ coupled with the erratic folk sounding instrumentation alongside more calming, clean and choral vocal sections make for an interesting start to proceedings.  Instrumentally, this EP feels a little more complex than its predecessor but it still manages to retain a rhythm that sticks in the brain making the opening track easy enough to follow.

When we get to the second offering here, ‘De Mystiek Rondom de Steen des Hamers’, we see a more direct approach.  This folky, chiming and pagan sounding track retains a catchiness that leaves me very much reminded of Havukruunu.  It is a very earthy sounding track that use melody intelligently to accentuate the softer nature to the bands sound.  It feels very relaxed in pace also and the jangly tremolo is less fuzzy here than on the opening track on the first EP.  It is kind of a chilled experience overall on this second track.

For me, I prefer the first EP over this one.  Whilst I respect the direct nature and earthiness that gets introduced here, I was kind of enjoying the more chaotic and eclectic elements that got called out in my review of the first release in the series.  Still there’s nothing bad here, just not as enjoyable as the first.

This two track EP from Dutch post-black metal outfit Fluisteraars, is the first of a trio of releases in the series (I am not sure how many there will be in the end, however the third instalment just got released in 2025).  Using the Dutch word for “Whisperers” as their band name is actually a good indication of how I find their sound.  Refusing to be drawn on exactly what type of a band they are in interviews, I find them to be a modern take on the the sub-genre of black metal in the sense that they infer a black metal aesthetic but seem to only whisper this.  There’s a definite Oranssi Pazuzu vibe to opening track ‘Dromen van de zon’ for instance.  The chaos of the guitar is underlined by a shrill tremolo that rides atop of crashing and dashing percussion and wild, shouted vocals.

The jangly edge to the tremolo does remind me of Drudkh somewhat, yet it retains a fuzzy, almost psychedelic and warm tone also.  There is also an intensity to the track that brings Wiegedood to mind.  That deranged edge to proceedings in particular draws this comparison.  Track number two on the release ‘ De konig de werd ontedkt tidens de blootlegging van de nieuwe dimensie’ has the vastness of ‘Blaze…’ or ‘Transylvanian…’ era Darkthrone to my ears.  It has a heavy atmospheric element to it also and touches on the horror of perhaps Leviathan or Xasthur too.

Whispered or not, there’s no denying the influence of black metal on the sound of Fluisteraars. The post elements fit well also, arguably being an extension of atmospheric black metal as opposed to outright post-metal.  There are chimes and and keys here that would not be out of place on a dungeon synth record and so I would say the influences here are far reaching, beyond what you may initially hear upon putting this on.

If I had my time again, I would start listening to black metal a lot sooner than I did. The peak of the scene was around the time when I was just turning into a teenager and there was no mention whatsoever of black metal amongst my metalhead mates at the time. We were all about death metal, thrash metal and heavy metal and I cannot recall the likes of Burzum, Mayhem, Emperor or Satyricon ever entering conversation even, across five years of high school. As such, I have always felt like I have missed out on the true essence of black metal, my initial, stronger, affiliation with death metal being largely because I was watching it grow in front of my very eyes. Whilst I have many memorable experiences listening to black metal in my adult years, some of the same emotions that I feel when listening to say De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, can never be the same as when I listen to Slowly We Rot. I guess then, that when I am looking for the ultimate experience of black metal when I get to a new release or one that I have not heard despite it being available for years, is that sense of true passion and excitement for the art that I feel I missed out on back in the day. Albums like the latest by Svartsyn.

It is all here for the taking for me. Themes of Satanism, death, ritualistic offerings and dark mythology are what help pique my interest on most metal records. When they are as well integrated into a wall of crawling, lumbering, threatening and menacing black metal music such as Vortex of the Destroyer, then this is the icing on the cake. Ornias sounds genuinely deranged on here, his vocals are as pestilent as the vilest of diseases, his riffs are relentless sorties of marauding layers of darkness hammered home by guest drummer Ignace Verstrate’s (the aptly nicknamed Hammerman) unabating pounding on the skins. It is the dead body the kids find out by the lake one day. Bloated with filth, hissing noxious gases from its orifices, its flesh infested with all manner of crawling things. If you need a quick teaser of VotD at its best, throw on the amazing ‘Utter Northern Darkness’ and you will soon be met with the type of barrage of fury you can expect from pretty much all ten tracks on offer here.

Whilst I will accept that sometimes the mix does lose elements of the instruments, it is a black metal record after all, so production values are not always the order of the day, let’s be honest. Not even this though can hinder the majestic grimness of the album. Clearly written from a place of passion for the darkest of arts, VotD has enough black metal heart to keep me freezing cold for the whole of 2025 alone. It is not polished, it does not rely on atmospherics, and it yet has a sense of balance to its chaos. It has borders to its disorder. With hints of black ‘n roll here and there, the pacing of tracks always feels measured, despite the often-raging intensity. This will be a go to record for me for some time to come.

I am starting to amass a fandom for Daniel Butler. After finding Acephalix many moons ago and subsequently Vastum a couple of years later, I know have stumbled across Decrepisy (which I am unsure is even an actual term). In a year that has so far floated my death doom boat very little in the first quarter of 2025, I was instantly full of hope when I heard Daniel Butler and Kyle House from Acephalix were involved in Decrepisy. Deific Mourning I am pleased to say, certainly lives up to the expectations that I have of these artists, and the bands numbers being bolstered by current Morbid Angel live drummer (as well as Funebraum and Ascended Blood sticksman of course), Charles Koryn and Jonathan Quintana on guitars (of Ritual Necromancy and Coffin Rot fame), all works out well for their sophomore release.

Deific Mourning sounds like a beast in the throes of uncontrollable grief for it’s fallen lord. It is like an acid bath of sorrow. The density of the sound is like a mournful millstone around your neck, the cavernous vocals grunting and gurning their dismal and gloomy emotions until they surround you. All the while the guitars chug away in a punishing and laborious drudgery, as if consigned to riff away for an eternity of mourning. The leads when they come, are just as melancholic, sharpening the pain as they seep into tracks. These leads are my only element of criticism on the record though, as despite them having impact, they feel placed rather than planned sometimes. Whilst they by no means ruin any of the tracks, they do have a sense of them being an afterthought on more than one occasion.

Koryn’s drumming is well-balanced throughout the record, coming to the fore especially well on the stripped back ‘Spiritual Decay 1/4 Dead’. It sounds like a professional performance from him. Indeed, the only element that feels a bit lost in the mix is the bass. Kyle handles bass alongside his guitar duties, and so perhaps this explains why the four strings have little presence overall (not that you miss them by any means). The multi-talented Leila Abdul-Rauf (Vastum, Cardinal Wyrm), guests on the record, dropping some menacing synths and additional vocals into the fray.

Album highlight for me is the brooding album closer ‘Afterhours’. I suspect Leila is heavily involved on this one with its looming dark ambience and abyssal echoes. It plays like some agonising cabaret in places, yet as some shamanic ritual in others. It is unexpected at the end of an album that to this point has been so clearly rooted in death doom, but it works brilliantly. The distortion applied to the guitars gives a b-movie aesthetic to the proceedings as the threat builds up and up during the track. Decrepisy may have passed me by with their first record, but I am so glad I did not miss this one. Off to blast me some Acephalix and Vastum for the rest of the bank holiday.

Sounds like Windhand. There, got that out of the way early in the review and will try to spend the rest of the paragraphs not mentioning how much this sounds like Windhand (dammit, there I go again). Joking aside, there are worse bands to sound like out there. What Daevar lack in originality they make up for in consistency that eventually overbears even the most ardent of critics. Sub Rosa sets an early tone and sticks to it for the next half an hour. They advertise themselves as having elements of grunge in their sound, an influence I don’t recognise as being that obvious. I can see where it might get called out but in the main, I just hear straight up stoner doom, done well. In a year where I have so far been unimpressed by Messa’s latest offering (there’s a few listens in the tank to go yet but it by no means grabs me like Close did), it is good to find some quality female-fronted doom kicking around.

In their home country of Germany, Daevar are probably pretty much unrivalled in the doom stakes. The quality levels on Sub Rosa are high, and this sounds like a record made by a trio who are tight and used to playing alongside each other. I can’t deem how long they have been together, but they have three albums under their belts now, and this shows here. Balancing all the elements superbly here, the album feels like everyone knows their place with the riffs, bass, percussion and vocals all getting a showing in the sound. There is no sense of jostling for position on behalf of any of the component parts here, probably as a result also of the great production job that allows those hazy and more dense atmospheres to stay present alongside each other so well.

I can’t pretend it will be my AOTY, but there’s a charm to Daevar that makes them great music for summer night campfires. The intense sense of togetherness in their sound is infectious and it is impressive to get such a positive vibe from a record that assess the troubles of the life in the modern 20’s. Whilst it may lack the emotional intelligence of some other artists, it is a success in part because of its direct nature and stark refusal to break from an established sound. Yes, it does still remind me of Windhand, but that by no means is aimed as a criticism.

Swedes Scitalis are new to my black metal radar with this, their sophomore album surfacing in January of this year. Since then, it has enjoyed a degree of frequency on my rotation list. It is an album that is based on the witch trials of North Sweden in the late 1600’s, and so it flows heavily on the themes of suffering and persecution. What we get therefore is a bm record that retains a real rawness to proceedings (especially the vocals, which I will come to later) yet the band are also unafraid to wheel out some melodicism at the same time and use it in an atmospheric way. The album feels very powerful at all times, and it leans on more than one medium to assert its strength.

Maledictum, is well written and equally as adeptly performed. The storytelling is logical and meaningful without being overly dramatic. The musical representation of the witch trials plays as a very honest and earthy representation of what went on at the time. The playing sounds tight and direct, maintaining consistency throughout the album duration. Whilst this does cause the album to stray into dangerous levels of repetition there are a couple of elements for me that still make it standout. Number one is the vocals. An internet acquaintance of mine pointed out to me that the vocals put them off this release, which was a real shame because they found everything else here to be ‘top notch’. For me the vocals are a real draw. Reminiscent of Nas Alcameth in Akhlys, they are a raspy, throaty whisper style that is not common, not in my bm catalogue at least.

Then we have the drums. Well-paced and kept simple for the most part, they endure the darkness on the fringes of the limelight here on this album to some degree. It is hard to hear past those vocals and the driving riffs but listen closely and the solid bash of the drums is hard to ignore. The blastbeats have a refrain to them almost that is giving the other instruments the space to stamp their authority on the story. They are almost gentle at times on ‘The Suffering’, even at the height of their blasting intensity. Whoever ‘W’ is, their drumming credentials are clear for all to hear.

Scitalis write good records, based on this release at least, and I cannot understand how they have escaped my radar until now. The melodic tremolos on ‘Seven Years ov Blood’ would give Drudkh a run for their money. The charge of the rhythm section is none too shabby either. As solid as it all is though, it does have something missing. There is almost an absence of some synths to add some real weight to proceedings, like the guitars try but can only go so far. For such a serious subject matter, the need for some cold atmospherics seems obvious to these ears. That having been said, Scitalis are deadly serious about their art, that much is clear from these seven tracks. This is a record written by knowledgeable guys and one that sets a high bar for Swedish bm so far in 2025.

Void of Hope have managed to churn out one of my favourite bm releases so far in 2025. As I walk through the dirge of releases this year there is a pattern emerging of me finding releases or artists that take me by surprise to the extent that I end up with whole discographies to check out. Void of Hope are a bit easy in that regard as they only have one album to date, and a mighty fine slab of depressive black metal it is. Howling vocals, tortured shrieks, menacing atmospherics, drawn out melodies and monotony to boot, all make for a challenging yet thoroughly entertaining experience.

Whilst researching the album it alarmed me how most blog reviews are basically a copy and paste job from the bio on the group’s Bandcamp page. Come on internet critics, up your fucking game and write some words about your actual experience of the record instead of just plagiarising the cool work of someone else. I don’t really care what temperature it was outside when they recorded this, there was clearly more than enough chill in the air in the studio when this trio laid down these six tracks. The title track is a black ‘n roll blast of iciness across the listener’s bows. Those vocals howl into the very void from which the band take their name. Whoever does the vocals here (guessing one of the guys from Ondfødt as two of them are in the line up) has the requisite amount of derangement in their kit bag to give an authentic level of credibility to them. That is, they have experienced the mental anguish that forms the subject matter of most of Void of Hope’s lyrical content.

There’s variety on this record to. Without ever once giving up on the levels of misery in their music to support their lyrical themes, Void of Hope pull in an eleven-minute plus track ('The Hollow Hymn') alongside a just under two-minute piano led palate cleanser immediately after it. The longer track goes through the whole gamut of black metal, from slower sections to blasting fury, atmospherics to blastbeats, melodic passages to driving, near epic sections. As I understand it, one of the guys from Moonlight Sorcery is involved and so I guess this explains the flavour of the epic and some of the expansiveness. There’s variety in the instrumentation too. Synths and keys permeate the space just behind the strings, vocals and percussion, giving a sense of density to the sound of tracks. These are well balanced, and they feel like they are in a true supporting role, breathing in some elements of atmo-black as they create this fog in the background.

Proof of Existence is not just depressive bm for the sake of it. Like a (good) Shining record, there has clearly been some thought put into this record both in terms of the content it wants to share and how it goes about sharing it. The piano and spoken word of ‘Inner Peace’ is possibly one of the most effective pieces of depressive bm I have heard in many years, and this is what makes PoE standout, I think. The band can be genuinely creative with their mental pain and create something that whilst is innately a negative experience, still comes out positive in the sense of the way it speaks to the listener and all the great things I have referenced in this review already. More please.

You know what you are getting with any Mantar record. Sludge-punk rammed right down your throat. Completely devoid of bass as well as fucks to give, Mantar remind of how rock ‘n roll must have originally been perceived back in the day. Their sound has a maverick attitude, a mocking undertone that rumbles through their records where the bass would normally sit. Good news then that Post Apocalyptic Depression absolutely sticks to that formula. With song titles like ‘Church of Suck’ and ‘Rex Perverso’ (roughly translated means ‘King of Perverts’), you will soon the level of cheer this duo is looking to spread this time around.

It is a surprisingly cohesive sounding record given it was written on two different continents. This "quick and dirty" (as the band call it) style pays dividends as the pair bash and smash their way through all manner of influences ranging from the Melvins through to punk. The seedy undertone that gets set early in the record never truly wears off and there is a sense of the listener getting grimier by the track. The drums and guitar make their presence known in equal quantity and don’t ever outshine one another. The vitriol heavy vocals, wheeze and sleaze their way over the music in an almost serpentine-like manner.

If you are looking for variety then you are probably in the wrong shop. Mantar know what they want to say and how they want to say it, and that doesn't incorporate much other than the clear influences I have described on their sound. Unapologetic in their approach and unrelenting in their delivery, Mantar very much like the sound of their voice and as a result this is a near forty-minutes of consistently offensive music. No ballads, no progression or avant-garde elements present here folks.

As I waded waist deep into new black metal releases this year, a new album from Cryptosis raised an eyebrow when I spotted it in my search list. I double checked to ensure I had not tagged technical/progressive thrash metal into the criteria by mistake, but as it turns out the black metal aspects of Celestial Death are not even all that subtle. Vocalist Laurens Houvast has gone a few degrees colder with his grim voice on this album. This when put in the mix with some cloying atmospherics, Burzum style chimes (check out ‘Absent Presence’ for a dose of Filosofem), jangling tremolos and melodies all makes for a harsh and abrasive experience.

The mellotron is back again and this and the synthesisers do an excellent job of scoring the air around them with a futuristic, dystopian sorrow. That’s not to say that Celestial Death is an entirely slow and atmospheric outing, far from it in fact. The Dutch trio manage to add lots of bite to proceedings and fans of their debut album will welcome this; I am sure. That rabid pacing is still present and tracks like ‘The Silent Call’ manage to balance that scathing attack with the depth of the synths well. In short, Cryptosis’ sophomore is a cracker.

It did take a couple of listens for me to settle down with the action here. My first listen was whilst working and I had thrown this on to get some thrash going in the background and quickly found myself focusing more on the cold and melodic aspect of the record instead. Once I got a couple of more critical listens under my belt, things started to right-size for me a lot quicker. Celestial Death is a very mature sounding record, one that builds on the promise of the debut from some four years ago superbly. The guitar notes on the opening of ‘Reign of Infinite’ positively dance with excitement and the balance between the riffs and the synths and then the percussion is excellent.

I could do with a little more weight in the drums on the mix, but I still feel Marco Prij does a great job, pacing his patterns as the soundscape that continues to unfold requires him to. Houvast’s guitar work is great throughout. It is vibrant one minute, then cold and jarring the next. I have no major criticisms here in all honesty. I am still a little confused by the black thrash combo that relies more on atmospherics above all other things to emphasise that cold influence and it does still feel a little strange adding this into my The North list for 2025. However, it is absolutely a valid entry and is one of the best releases of the year so far regardless of which sub-genre sits as its driving force.

On paper at least, I would have normally avoided Lord Agheros. That album cover screamed gothic metal at me, and so when I discovered no gothic metal on the record, I was immediately caught off-guard. Indeed, opening track, ‘Lament of the Lost’ had me thinking of Wardruna, which was a completely unexpected reference point. Whilst The Fallen is most certainly the correct clan for Anhedonia, there is a lot of different elements musically to digest. Whether it is symphonic, choral, melodic black metal or outright atmospherics, Anhedonia provides lots of angles for the listener to run at it from. It should be noted that some parts of the album sound truly beautiful, being rich in depth.

When they get the arrangement correct, Lord Agheros are quite the accomplished songwriters. However, there are some occasions whereby contrast the compositional aspects of some tracks are clumsy and cumbersome. In the early part of the album, transitions seem to struggle to land all that well. As a result, songs sound like they jerk and jolt around. As the record progresses, this problem does seem to fade in frequency and the second half of the album suffers a lot less from this.

Overall, though, as much as I cannot deny the unexpected allure of this record, it is still dogged by the impression that some sections of the record are a triumph of design over content. I suspect there is some conceptual narrative to proceedings, and this may go some of the way to explaining the sense of some parts being forced to fit together. Credit where credit is due on the ethereal beauty that is inherent behind these issues, they are truly an unexpected bonus. However, they are too few and far between for me when taken into consideration with the whole album offering.

Passages nearly didn’t get a look in when I was jumping through new releases in The Fallen. The EP is one of those releases that does an interlude track and then a proper track which is hard enough to stomach on an album, but over a shorter format so easily could have been a turn off. As it turns out, Sunrot manage to pull it off. The actual sludge content pisses all over the noise interludes for me, to the point where I don’t remember them being there by the time the power of the instruments and the vocals kick in with an Olympian level of fury.

Sunrot make pissed off music for pissed off people. Their music is slamming and juvenile without sounding immature. It’s the hand cupping your balls whilst the other one is punching you in the dick. Both easy and effectively picked targets. They even get Dylan Walker from Full of Hell and Brandon Hill from Cloudrat to guest on the record, so have the respect of grindcore royalty it seems (although Hill’s contribution is to one of the ludes). It is an EP on which I only like two songs out of five though and I cannot help but feel a little short-changed by the experience. It did pique my interest to explore some of the full-length releases by the band though so in a way did still serve a greater purpose. Would have preferred some live tracks instead of the ludes in all honesty.

Hungary is not normally a country I associate with any metal output, let alone death doom. When I first heard Töviskert... a kísértés örök érzete... Lidércharang I had no idea what to expect, there was a genuine air of mystery that even got me to thinking ‘has any Hungarian even heard death or doom metal, ever?’ Turns out they have, well at least two of them have. Hanyi and Lambert might as well be Finnish though as the death doom they offer is very much in the sound of that geography. In fact, they remind a fair bit of Krypts now I come to think of it. On this, their second album, the duo lumber through a selection of mid-paced death doom tracks. I mean, don’t get me wrong here, it’s deathy and it’s doomy too of course, but it never gets into funeral doom territory.

Lambert deploys a horrific and ghastly vocal style throughout the six tracks here which fits the marauding guitar perfectly, both backed up by Lambert’s thudding drums. Hanyi for his part covers guitar and bass on the album and although you are going to struggle to find the bass in here (apart from on album closer 'Az örök isten Lucifer'), the guitar makes its presence known. On the slower sections it hangs hauntingly in the air, like some horrendous spirit that refuses to pass over to the other side because it is having far too much fun threatening the living. In their more frantic moments, the band sound like a squally death metal act (hints of some Portal at times, to my ears at least) but they have mastered the mid-paced plod style of death doom best.

There’s a groove to some of the riffs here which is a welcome bit of variety that seems to help build tracks as they get going ('Sikoltó füst'), quickly switching to be that marauding beasty style that I mentioned earlier, just in case we need to be reminded of the threat of Rothadás’ intent. At the end of the day, nobody picks up a death doom album looking for variety. It is a safe space for those who know what they like, and this Hungarian duo will tick all the boxes for any fan of the sub-genre. I liked it more the first time I heard it if I am honest, probably because I listen to very little death doom nowadays and I was excited to still find such appeal in my heart for the style when Töviskert... a kísértés örök érzete... Lidércharang first started getting on to my rotation. It is very well put together, but it is nothing outstanding. It is not safe death doom. If such a tag exists, I demand it be expunged immediately. These two know their art and play it with a clear passion, it is just nothing new for me and I feel there’s always one or two records that come out each year like this one. I nod my head appreciatively, holding my chin whilst looking out of the window like some death doom connoisseur, enchanted but not overwhelmed by what I am hearing.

Drudkh tailed off for me not long after Microcosmos. A Handful of Stars was a poor follow up to 2009’s triumph of a release and I progressively lost interest in the band. In writing this review, I looked back at some of my ratings for what has come after 2010 and found that on the few I had rated, I had little if any memory of what they sounded like (ratings on relevant releases have therefore been deleted from MA). Whereas I would have once looked forward to a Drudkh album, I found news of Shadow Play arriving landing with a less than muted applause. For me it almost feels like Drudkh have said everything I wanted to hear on their first few records. Those first four albums were the band’s golden run in my book and although they most certainly do have albums outside of that window of releases that I enjoy, I sensed that Shadow Play was not going to see me reaching for the higher end of the scoring range.

My fears were confounded by the frankly boring album opener ‘Scattering the Ashes’, a seven-minute plus track that is frankly one of the dullest pieces of music the Ukranians have ever written. I get the sound of the footfalls in the snow are of someone carrying an urn, however the track itself goes nowhere in between the footfalls that bookend the instrumental. Not a positive start then. Hold on though, both ‘April’ and ‘The Exile’ immediately get me interested in the album again with their driving rhythms and charging pace. The riffs seem to wrap effortlessly around one another, seemingly at home regardless of the tempo being deployed at the time. The rich melody that Drudkh are famous for is certainly still at the forefront of their music. The sound of the guitar alongside Roman’s grim vocals are familiar and welcome sounds. There’s a jangle to a Drudkh tremolo that sometimes sounds like a 60’s psychedelic rock jam. As we get onto the halfway point of the album, things are looking up.

I would go as far as to say that the previous two tracks are a couple of the best songs Drudkh have pulled together in a long time. Solid and memorable, urgent and pressing, as well as sounding like they are performed with passion and guile. ‘Fallen Blossom’ introduces a more aggressive sound, not dissimilar to the overall sound of album The Swan Road. Whilst the melody is still obvious, there is a harsher, colder edge to it on here. Even when the track seems to settle down into a rhythm, it still feels oppositional. The keys do little to soothe this abrasive edge, seeming to support its threat and intent with menacing atmospheres. The track builds into a tumultuous mass of tremolos and percussion, never taking its foot off the gas for the final third of the song. A more melodic opening greets us on ‘The Eve’, even if we are still seeing no signs of the pace letting up in the first instance. At this point I did start to wonder if some variety was missing here, but just as the demons started to have me doubting Drudkh, there’s a swell of accessible, more leniently paced melodies that is cleverly given space to breath and develop before becoming consumed again in the more raging torrents of the track. There is great use of pacing here, even though I missed this on my first few listens, it seems so obvious as I listen through on my review write-up.

Album closer, ‘The Thirst’ sounds like there may be some folk instruments at play in the raging mix that starts the track. I cannot see anything listed other than guitars and keyboards, so it may just be clever use of the keys, but I hear some light droning warbling in the background that seems to be a different pitch to the tremolo that I would normally attribute such sound too. In the end though, Shadow Play is not an album that needs much in the way of expansion. It says what it needs to say very well without much in the way of thrills being needed. It is one of the most consistent Drudkh albums that I have heard in a while and it really is only let down by that lifeless opening track which thankfully soon becomes a distant memory as the real quality of the album soon starts to take over.

Whilst listening to Year of the Cobra, I found myself debating how difficult it must be to be in a two-piece drum and bass doom combo.  I mean there must be a lot of pressure on the bassist to start with.  How much do you yield to the temptation to play it like a rhythm guitar, or perhaps go the opposite way and use the bass to create dense atmospheres like Bell Witch? On YotC, Amy manages a bit of both.  She carves out some bone-jangling riffs for sure, yet she also gives us enough bottom end to thicken up proceedings nicely on the tamer sections, when the beefier riffs are on the back burner.  You can sense the same dilemna with the drums of course.  Do they take precedence over the bass or simply play along in support of the four strings?  Again, like his wife, Johanes finds a good balance here.  As unremarkable as his performance maybe, the presence he brings cannot be underestimated.

Of course, Amy also has responsibility for the vocals.  Her dreamy, stoner/psychedelic style works in great contrast to her heavier bass work.  The vocal performance on album closer 'Prayer' stands out in particular with its very personal and sentimental traits making for a deeply heartfelt display.  It is not often a doom track manages to invoke emotion in me, but I genuinely fought back tears when listening to that song.  As the album highlight for me, it is a shame that such beauty is quite isolated here.

With some sense of inevitability perhaps, YotC suffers to a degree of a lack of variation.  Tracks such as 'Alone' lose me completely, and no matter how many times I play the record, I cannot tell you how 'Sleep' sounds.  Stronger tracks like opener '...Full Sails', 'War Drop' and 'Daemonium' are sufficient to rescue the record from the lower end of the scoring spectrum.  Like I said at the top of this review, tough gig this two-piece doom set up and unfortunately it shows here.

If they have achieved nothing else, Pothamus have introduced me to a new instrument in the Shruthi Box, an instrument predominantly used in Indian classical music.  It is deployed here on single, ‘Ykavus’ where it adds a droning presence to proceedings.  Fortunately, this is not my only take from Abur, although it is a distance away from my usual diet, it is still a very entertaining record.  There is still some familiar features to compare with the backdrop of my usual listening habits, but the duration of this record in the main is time spent away from my comfort zone.  The sludge tag it has on Metal Academy has some relevance most certainly, but it is the post-metal tag that fits the majority of the record better.  On top of this though, there are those hints of drone as well as a sense of Middle Eastern infusion.

After a few listens through to Abur with the tribal percussion and dense atmospheres, coupled with echoing chants and expansive keys, it is obvious that a lot of thought has gone into the record.  Whilst it might not have an immediate argument for frequent revisits (this very much a mood record) it is a very professional sounding yet artistically endearing album.  Where the band are most definitely skilled is in the ability to combine multiple elements on one track, not necessarily blending them, just very capable at arranging them.  The title track absolutely feeds off the atmospherics before breaking off into some of the denser sludge content present on the album.  When in full flow, the atmosphere here is reminiscent of an Akhlys album, minus the horror of course.

I cannot fight the haunting and ethereal charms of Abur.  It is such an accomplished sounding album that is in many ways a shame that it only fits a more serious mood.  I will come back to this album when I feel enclosed or suffocated by my existence.  When I am sensing my boundaries are the same four walls far too often and I need reminding of how far outside of my comfort zone I can actually go.  This is where Pothamus will come into their own for me, occupying the same ‘open when needed space’ as Russian Circles, Wardruna and Forndom.

Orkalet (the main man behind Häxkapell) is a talented fella with a fascinating background in choral singing – working with Erik Westberg one of the greatest choir conductors in the world - who also uses a process of meditation-induced psychography, or automatic writing to write his lyrics. Basically, the guy writes his lyrics and doesn’t even recognise he’s written them. He can switch these states on at will which makes me think that the lyrical content of Om jordens blod och urgravens grepp could well be written by spirits from another realm. As well as the above, Häxkapell also utilises the services of Oraklet’s wife, Ida for violin, viola and her voice.

As you would expect then, this record is a transcendental affair. With progressive elements sat alongside conventional black metal fare, there is real depth to what Oraklet delivers here. The more pagan/folk elements compliment his baritone vocals perfectly, creating a wholesome and earthy sounding experience. The violin and viola create a classical style of atmosphere to the familiarly grim and gnarly black metal music also. Add in acoustic sections, choral passages and near epic, sweeping elements also and you soon know that you are in for a treat with Häxkapell’s sophomore release. The downside for some maybe that there is a loss of the traditional coldness to the sound that diehard fans of bm would harken for. The sound is hardly warm like say Hellenic bm would fashion in the traditional understanding of such a description, it’s more comforting even though the genuinely desolate and morbid elements are still plainly on show.

The baritone vocals do not always land as well every time they are used and for me there are a couple of occasions where compositionally things are off in general but there are never any moments that make me reach for the skip button. At worst, some tracks seem to suffer from minor issues in terms of a lack of balance. In short, there are occasions where I want a little more black metal in all honesty. These moments are infrequent enough to stop me dropping the rating into the lower part of the range, at the same time however they hold it back from an outstanding score.

My high hopes for Kryptan’s debut full length are certainly met by the horrific edge to album opener ‘The Unheard Plea from Thousands of Broken Hands (Intro)’. The pleading voice in the background of the track sets off the old nerve-endings into a jarring frenzy immediately. The intro track then drops into the first proper track on the record and those guitars certainly make their presence felt early on. However, it does not take long for things to start to unravel. The drums remain audible but unintrusive throughout and as a result come across as lacking in power. By comparison the bass is virtually non-existent in the mix, which instead sees the synths, guitars and vocals get centre stage.

The main issue I have with Violence, Our Power though is the vocals. Whilst not horrendous by any means, I do question their suitability on more than one occasion. There are obvious Behemoth comparators in terms of the vocals, especially when the vocalist here deploys a kind of strained shouting style (‘The Miracle Inside’) which is not a bad thing, but I just do not feel that Alexander Högbom has the pipes for it to be honest. On the more grim, black metal style vocals he is fine, but this attempt at variation sounds a tad amateur to my ears.

This strained description is applicable to the whole record in all honesty. It strikes me that the music is being forced through something to get to the unappealing outcome we are presented with. The mix just sounds off to me, like it is stopping me getting at the true content that the band intended to share. My experience somehow feels muted and like I have constantly missed something. I do not sense that they are any artist capability issues here, just a not too kind mix job. That withstanding I still do not believe that the vocals fit the direction of the band overall. Stick to bm croaks guys, you sound much better.

2025 has seen me take the unusual step of tracking new releases for at least two of my clans. The Fallen and The North between them are keeping me highly entertained as it happens, and it seems that my usual reluctance to seek out new music had little grounds for the burnout I feared would occur. The real bonus though is the discoveries I am making. In the past three weeks or so, I have picked up on some real gems, with Norway’s Nachash being one such discovery. It is not unusual to find a black metal band from Norway that I like of course, however this trio blend a crude mix of thrash, speed and black metal that reminds me of both modern and classic reference points. There is just as much Bathory in here as there is Mortuary Drape for example. There is a warmth to the sound that reminds me of Varathron at times though. Equally, I could see these boys slugging it out with Nekromantheon or Condor in terms of the more recent examples of the sound explored here.

Eschaton Magicks manages to pummel the old ears consistently well for over forty-minutes. Showing a punk bounciness to some of the percussion at times, this is an album for any thrash/speed metal fan who likes a darker take on things. It unapologetically sticks to a quickly established blueprint, using guitar melodies to maraud the listener. Despite those Varathron vibes and the melodies described above, Eschaton Magicks still possesses a coldness all of its own. Whilst there most certainly is not any icy atmospheric black metal here, the coldness comes from the oppositional stance that the band postures with here. It feels like a punk album as well as occasionally sounding like one.

I enjoy the immediacy of this record, as well as its honesty to be able to stick to what it does best. Everything is clear in the mix without loss of the murk that you would expect from such a record in this sub-genre. You can hear the bass just as well as the drums, guitar and vocals. Each component part contributes to the urgent tempos and the overall threat of the record. Do not be fooled into thinking that this is a collection of three-and-a-half-minute blackened speed metal tracks though. We have some tracks here that go over the six and eight-minute mark. The band know how to write solid songs and can maintain their energy for as long as required. Listen to the high-speed rumble of the bass on ‘Death’s Mordant Blaze’ as it dances over the top of the drums and guitar, showing there is some real rattle and hum behind the sound (not a U2 reference though). Nachash have produced a real treat here on their second album. No sophomore slump here folks.

I cannot pretend to be a big CoF fan. Other than Dusk…and Her Embrace, The Screaming of the Valkyries is the only other album of theirs that I have listened to in the last thirty years. Somehow, I find I like the idea of CoF more than I like the actual reality of CoF. Gothic metal is not a go to sub-genre for me by any means, and so as the band moved away from their initial melodic and then symphonic black metal sound my interest levels (which were not particularly high to begin with) soon began to wane. It is unexpected then that I am sat here about to write a review of their latest album as it plays on what must be its sixth spin in the last three days.

To my ears, to start off with at least, The Screaming of the Valkyries does not introduce itself as an entirely gothic metal record, certainly not as I would expect gothic metal to sound anyway. The opening two tracks are up-tempo and full-frontal attacks of metal. Full of power and promise as opposed to pomp and haughty posturing as I expected. There is even some fantastic lead work to get lost in also. All in all, ‘To Live Deliciously’ and ‘Demagoguery’ make up a great start for the album. Everything sounds well balanced; instruments are all audible in the mix that does them all sufficient justice.

However, The Screaming of the Valkyries peaks far too early as it turns out. That is not to say that the rest of the album is terrible by any means, but it does lack the immediacy that was promised by the opening two tracks. Whilst I completely acknowledge that ‘The Trinity of Shadows’ is well written; it just does not measure up to what precedes it and seems to herald the start of a mediocre section of the album for the next five tracks. It is not until ‘Ex Sanguine Draculae’ that things pick up just in time for triumphant album closer ‘When Misery Was a Stranger’.

As a result, there is a real sense of lost potential on CoF’s sixteenth album. For an album that is so well performed and deftly written, I feel like I should be getting more from the nine tracks than I do. The long-term fan will have a different view, I am sure. However, for me, the record falls short by not playing to its opening strengths and extending that footprint throughout the album.

I have been spinning this one for a few weeks now.  Each time i feel like I have the meaure of it, I chnage my mind.  The enchanting blend of black metal and death metal keeps me coming back regardless.  Not that this combination is anything new by any means, but for all its flurries of keys and gang chants, Lost Legacy never comes across as pompous or grandiose.  It still feels earthy and unafraid to its sinew and bone.  Whilst it retains a lot of melody, this is not a record that you could easily pigeonhole as being simply melodic black metal.  Arguably a black metal record with a hefty dose of melodic death metal for good measure, the album uses the death metal elements to hone the intensity of the black metal experience.

It is riffier tracks such as 'Amanita Muscaria' that take on a blackened speed metal vibe. The melodicism here sounds almost an organic by-product of the speed influence as opposed to any notes released by the black metal element.  The croaky vocals leave the listener in no doubt where the band's heart truly lies though.  I liken the band's sound to Necrophobic, with the threat that they could tear off into Aura Noir territory at any moment (they don't btw). Tracks such as 'Samhain' are nasty slabs of riffing black metal, spliced with dazzling leads to add to the entertainment.

Sometimes though, I do find myself wanting the album to pick up on the intensity stakes.  'Inside The Wickerman' needs a little more than the skant tremolo against the drums treatment.  Often, I feel what is missing is some Spectral Wound style blasts to really hammer home the impact of the album.  That having been said, Lost Legacy still stacks up as a good black metal record.  Although it misses the quality of the Gràb or Grima releases this year (it is a different style of bm in fairness to Regnum Noricum) it packs enough punch to get four stars from me.

Truly atmospheric black metal all too often strays dangerously close to 'gaze' territory for my liking.  It is as if the true art of some serene and icy cold black metal, cloaked in dense atmosphere has been lost at times.  I can't pretend that some of the notes on Sacred Sound of Solitude would be out of place on an Alcest record (nobody is perfect) but the thought process overall here by Bloodbark appears to be very much orientated around black metal still.  If, like me, you schooled yourself on atmo-black via any of the Memoria Vetusta records by BAN, then Bloodbark is most definitely for you.  The snow here is pristine white, the air is clear and the atmosphere holds a density behind these endearing images.  The music still has a charge to it, a vibrancy to the tremolo that reminds me of some of Grima's album from this year also.  You would be hard-pushed to call this one a classic by any means and it certainly lacks the variation of Nightside by Grima, yet this record still possesses a charm all of its own.

Very little is known about Bloodbark.  The band chooses not to disclose details of the members - even shying away from confirming the geography that they are native to.  None of that really matters though as there is enough of an air of mystery to Sacred Sound of Solitude to keep me interested without having to speculate about how is responsible for the music.  It is clearly performed by capable musicians who know their way around the atmospheric and post-black metal scene.  As such they are able to create haunting music that fills the space you are listening to it in.  The BAN reference is most certainly valid but there's also nods to Summoning in the mix here to boot.

Where SSoS falls short is that it never truly gets beautiful.  It hints at the surreal appeal that winter landscapes can offer but those swan-like qualities never feel like they have become fully formed.  The clean singing and spoken word aspects to the vocals are a bit dull in all honesty and I think this is because they are not shrouded in enough mystery like the rest of the instrumentation around them.  In a way they are almost too obvious for their own good.  As I am listening through on my seventh or eighth visit to the record, I am now starting to sense that 'gaze' element more.  However, this is by no means of a threatening level to the more bm elements by any stretch and although the rating is not in the higher end of the spectrum, it is still a record that stands out from the pack in 2025 so far. 

Wren is one of the most unmetal sounding band names that could be picked really. One step up from Sparrow or Dunnock I suppose but still leans heavily on the lame side of the bird world. Whilst it may not be the most threatening name in the world metal, Wren does fit the atmospheric sludge of this London four piece as they explore a vast and dense landscape across their third album, Black Rain Falls. Foraging through punishingly slow riffs, flitting between ethereal density and atmospheric ecosystems and nesting in the rafters of the solid structures of the seven tracks on offer.

Describing themselves as a ‘blackened noise band’ (at least according to the Spotify bio anyway) could not be further from the truth, as there is no noisy element to this record. The agonising pace of album highlight, ‘Toil in the Undergrowth’ is testimony to how captivating atmospheric sludge is. By the time the first riff lands we are three minutes into the track. Those hoarse and tormented vocals heralding the arrival of the track proper perfectly as that riff crashes in behind them. This album is full of Neurosis and Isis influences, and as a result had me hooked from the off. Songs feel like they are expanding even though there is little in the way of variation to suggest this is naturally the case. Any progression is deliberate and measured, feeling organic and unforced.

Tracks often end feeling like very little has happened in the way of change once the established format has been engineered, but still, I get sense of total satisfaction from the majority of what is on offer here. The interlude in the middle of the record feels a bit out of place though, even though it does in some ways introduce the dense, bassy opening of ‘Metric of Grief' nicely. Album closer ‘Scorched Hinds’ is one of the more obvious Neurosis sounding tracks, with its shifts and swells accompanied by chiming guitar notes that remind me of Kowloon Walled City. There is a lot to like in the simplicity of Black Rain Falls and it stands out as one of my happier new finds in The Fallen clan of late.

After many years of them floating around the periphery of my black metal sphere, dropping multiple albums in their wake that somehow did nothing wrong yet at the same time also brought nothing remarkable to the table either, I think Grima have finally come of age on the sixth album, Nightside.  That’s a bold statement to open any review with I know, but the fact is that Nightside is an absolute triumph of atmospheric black metal.  It is well written.  It is thoughtfully composed.  Heck, even the normally sub-par artwork of Girardi is actually almost passable this time around.  Once again we have a bayan (accordion) successfully incorporated into proceedings, and without it turning the whole album into folk-fest either.  Safe to say, I am rather smitten with Nightside.

I think what stands out most for me on the album is how mature it sounds.  This is a band who can layer different instrumentation into a perfectly complimentary arrangement.  That bayan never once sounds intrusive.  It is tempered perfectly by the tremolo riffs and balanced well in terms of atmospherics with the keyboards of Valentina Astashova.  When it does get sole playtime it manages to add welcome depth to the track (the end of Skull Gatherers).  But the expected instruments also put in a great shift.  A mention must go to the subtle yet effective work of guest drummer Vlad Yungman, who like Morbius and Villhelm is also of Ultar fame.  The drums are never a blasting frenzy, yet are interesting and in total keeping with the pace of each track.  The tremolo riff is strong here, complimented by strong melodies and leads also.  As I say, it is all so beautifully arranged to make tracks such as Impending Death Premonition take on such a haunting, ethereal mood just by this clever use of aggression and melody.

I might still be unconvinced by the tree masks gimmick but I can see well past this for the first time with Grima.  Nightside adds so much credibility to the band for me that I feel their aesthetic no longer is my main focus.  Whilst it is nearly fifty-minutes long, the album does not feel bloated, despite its largely consistent track format and staying true to the atmospheric tag for all ten tracks.  The passion here is clear, as is the ability to hone that into coherent and effective songs.  This might be the bands peak, but it is a a real treat nonetheless.  More please.

Liverpool (UK) based black metallers, Ninkharsag caught my attention with their sophomore, The Dread March of Solemn Gods back in 2021. Claiming four well-earned stars for their efforts on that one, the future looked promising for what started out as a one-man project back in 2009 and had since grown into a four-piece band. Their brand of charging, rampant melodic black metal, instantly brought the likes of Dissection and Sacramentum to mind. Coupled with some Watain-like intensity, the sound of Ninkharsag soon found favour with these ears.

This EP nicely scratches my Ninkharsag itch as I wait for the next full-length. Continuing their themes of ancient history, magic and occultism, The Black Swords of Winter is a raging torrent of melodic black metal that ticks more than enough boxes for me over the six tracks on offer. Suitably opened by a moody and atmospheric intro track, the EP soon picks up the pace and barely lets up for the next twenty-two-minutes. Muhammad Candra’s artwork absolutely represents the icy content that lies within. As the flames of the dragon on the cover suggest, any burn here is a cold one.

It is nice to find a band in my local area that are forging a solid path through a ton of (mostly) unremarkable black metal releases so far this year. The nods to the Swedish bands mentioned above never feel like unbridled worship and they retain a freshness to the sound, like new life is somehow being breathed into a tried and tested formula. Looking forwards still to the next full length offering, if they can keep this standard up, it should be another winner.

I was around some thirty albums into a black metal in 2025 discovery trip this week and if I am honest, I was starting to despair. Other than a couple of brief glimmers of hope which I will save the detail of for some further reviews, I was starting to think that 2025 was going to be a barren year. Now, there are a couple of caveats to that initial view, the first being that in general I make no effort to stay on top of new releases. Secondly, I am solely going off the new bm releases added to MA, so there will inevitably be gaps at whatever point of the year I bother to look since we cannot possibly capture all releases in these output trigger happy days that we live in. Anyway, after sitting through two of Drowning the Light’s five albums they have released so far this year, and wondering why the hell I was bothering, I finally landed on German duo, Gràb (German for “grey/old”).

I have listened to a lot of black metal over the years and the albums that I hold in high regard all exude passion for their artform. In a sub-genre that champions the minimalist approach it is easy to become lost in a sea of raw, primitive and yet utterly emotionless music. There is absolutely a time and place for that, however with where I am at in my bm musings nowadays I like to hear some heart in what I am listening to. Luckily for me, Gràb are full of passion for what they do. Yes, the melodicism helps no end here. That smattering of doomy atmosphere also does much to enhance the experience. But at the very core of Kremess is the undeniable presence of musicians revelling in what they love doing and in turn letting the listener revel in the majesty of the music they produce.

The Bavarian lyrics may be completely undecipherable to me, but it does not matter one bit. I feel I can still connect with the whole experience of Kremess regardless. There is a lot going on instrumentally here as well. With viola, flute and dulcimer all being deployed alongside keyboards, guitar, bass and drums, Kremess offers a real gamut of instrumentation. Yet nothing is ever allowed to override the core bm offering of the band’s sound. As eclectic as some of the instrument choices may seem, they are cleverly deployed and incorporated into the overall aesthetic. Gràb know how to write songs, and it shows in abundance here.

Produced by Empyrium’s Markus Stock, the members of Empyrium contribute light touches to parts of the album. The choral elements Thomas Helm adds on Im Hexnhoiz (A Weihraz-Gschicht, Kapitel Oans) and Deifeszeig add real depth to both tracks with the former being one of the standout moments on the album for me. It would be easy to get fooled by the slightly amateur (yet still somehow charming) artwork on the album cover that this is a base bm record that will be full icy atmospherics, and do not get me wrong, they are there. However, Kremess possesses a majesty to the grim musings that make up the eight tracks on offer. My initial fear that it was too long at fifty-five minutes was soon dispelled as the arrangement of the album is just as top notch as the content.

Triumphs such as Vom Gråb im Moos (A Weihraz-Gschicht, Kapitel Zwoa) at the midway point of the record and on album closer Dà letzte Winter, make the duration seem more than worth it. This record ends as strong as it starts, something which I rarely feel listening to new music nowadays. Hands down the best release of 2025 so far, Kremess restores my faith in black metal amidst the slew of gazey, avant garde releases (who needs samba black metal??) that was starting to seem the norm so far this year. It does of course also set the bar high from here on in.

The gritty and gnarly style of groove metal that Prong play on album opener, Another Worldy Device is like an oddly melodic punk track in some ways.  The clinical riffing plays on through most Prong tracks I have heard and makes me think of Helmet a lot of the time, except Prong possess a more potent infectious essence than Helmet, with the added exception being that Tommy Victor and co are also much more experimental.  Cleansing is the album where the electronic experimentation meets the more familiar riff patterns.  Whatever element is present however, the overall sense of Prong simply writing some of the least complex yet still delicious tasting industrial groove metal is impossible to shake off the old tastebuds.

Even the absolute overkill of attention that Snap Your Fingers… gets seemed justified when you don’t visit that one track over and over again.  It is a track that rings true to the “less is more” mantra.  That having been said it is One Outnumbered that stands out as my favourite track on Cleansing.  The abrasive nature of the industrial elements are tempered well by clever pacing that whilst clearly creating something of a void in terms of power at times, somehow do not dilute the venom behind the messaging.  Prong are the proverbial grinning assassins here on album number four.  A seemingly clean production job actually exacerbates the muckier tones of the music, that industrial grime somehow smeared across the album as opposed to being wiped away.

It does not always work however.  Out of This Misery lacks punch and suffers from a loss of regimenting in the songwriting that epitomises the earlier tracks on the record.  In fact, it soon became clear just how front-loaded Cleansing is.  As we drop into a more Machine Head style groove in the second half of the record, tracks soon start to sound whimsical in nature and lacking in form.  I am not sure what the intent was behind Not of This Earth but it is far and away the most throw away of the tracks available here.  The balls are still around in places but the earthier elements all but disappear all too soon on Cleansing, ruining that early promise in favour of unnecessary experimentation.

After over five decades of drugs, crime and doom, Bobby Liebling returns with a whole new line up, some ten years after Pentagram's last album.  Although I do not follow Pentagram releases, (in fact, I lost track right after their self-titled debut if I am honest) something about that vibrant artwork caught my eye and I thought to myself that if the content of the album was anywhere near as focused as the cover art then this could be a real treat.  As it turns out, I am more than half correct.  There are some absolute bangers on this record.  Although I had not caught any of them as singles the three tracks that came out prior to the album release are all strongly written affairs.  The opening track, Live Again certainly lives up to its billing as with the new line up in full flow, Pentagram sound just as good now as they did forty or fifty years ago.

Touching on psychedelia, stoner rock, hard rock and classic rock alongside the more doom-laden side to proceedings Lightning in a Bottle is actually quite a varied affair.  Full of lyrical absurdities ("I spoke to Death last night, he wore a nightmare gown, and when I spoke your name, he turned his eyes down to the ground" - from "I Spoke to Death") and widdling solos, all performed to a backdrop of solid and consistent percussion, I found this record way more interesting than I expected.  The artists Bobby has recruited might have their moments of mistiming here and there (which somehow is just acceptable) but overall they have put together eleven consistent tracks.  Unafraid to play with pace and tempo, the band create a distinct feeling of balance over the album.  Starting off with the previously praised opening track, Live Again and then closing the album with the deliciously doomy Walk the Sociopath, Pentagram have managed to achieve a complete album experience here.

Whilst not flawless, all the tracks belong here and bring something unique to the table.  Whether it is the spiralling, fuzzy chaos of Lady Heroin or the solid and direct punch of Thundercrest, most tracks leave a mark for me as I have listened through the album a few times today.  Above all else, I am impressed with how good Liebling sounds.  The guy is 71 for fuck's sake!  On here he puts in a shift that belies any stereotypes linked to his age.  Energetic, reflective and even outright thoughtful, Liebling gives a truly stellar showing here.  Props also to guitarist Tony Reed who manages to mark his own identity on the record whilst still somehow staying true to the Pentagram sound at the same time. The bonus tracks on the digital version are not essential and of the main listing I can genuinely only call out I'll Certainly See You In Hell and Solve the Puzzle as being the items that should have been left on the cutting room floor.