Sonny's Forum Replies

This afternoon we watched the new Netflix three-parter "Des" starring ex-Dr. Who, David Tennant, as notorious UK serial killer Denis Nilsen. Compelling stuff which begins with his arrest and covers Nilsen's manipulation of the police unvestigation rather than concentrating on showing his crimes. Great performance from Tennant and definitely worth a watch if you are into criminal psychology shows (as my wife certainly is).

I have finally got round to checking out Ashenspire and their 2022 album, Hostile Architecture after it romped to one of the easiest ever wins in a series of yearly metal games I host on RYM's Polls/Games forum. All I can say is - WOW!! It is amazing when, even at my age, you can hear an album that completely collapses your musical world and opens it up to previously unheard marvels. I am not even sure I can do the album any justice, but Ashenspire sound like a metallic Velvet Underground if VA were pumped up on steroids instead of zoned out on smack, were infinitely more pissed-off and many times more technically gifted. Also, why do vocals sound angrier and more menacing when delivered in a Glasgow accent? This, alongside Ulcerate's truly awesome Cutting the Throat of God make 2025 a sterling year of metal discovery for me, with two genuine new favourite albums to make life feel a little less shit.

Yeah, my wife watched all the Downton Abbeys recently as well. I am not a period piece fan either, especially as Downton Abbey just seems like a modern update of Upstairs Downstairs from the 1970s. Luckily, she is cool with me putting my laptop and headphones on while she watches stuff I don't care for. 

A more interesting period piece I rewatched this week, as it is that time of year, was Gunpowder about the Catholic plot to blow up the Parliament of James I and assassinate the king. Although Jon Snow isn't particularly convincing as notoriously fanatical and  ruthless conspiracy leader Robert Catesby, it is still a decent show and is even particularly brutal in places.

It is great when a record that only seemingly means something to oneself strikes a chord with another human being, especially if it is in a less tangible way that possibly transcends the mere music itself. I completely get what you are saying, Vinny, about this record in particular, but also funeral doom in general, being a therapeutic experience because I have thought this for a very long time. I find great comfort in funeral doom that I don't really get from any genre and the calming effect it induces soothes my often frazzled nerves supremely well. I am sure this woulddn't be the case for everyone, but for those of a certain mental setup this album should be available on the NHS!

Keep it slow, keep it low and grind away that stress....

Here's wishing you a speedy recovery, Vinny.

Great stuff Vinny. Glad you like it. 

Thanks, David. Having listened to the track I am perfectly happy to include it as it sounds like an awful lot of sludge I have heard over the years.

Thanks, guys. I completely understand the antipathy towards Dawn of Winter, but I have a soft spot for trad doom outfits who have no chance of popularity. I am fairly immune to questionable vocals with this particular sub-genre where an awfully high percentage of vocalists are functional at best.

The thing is, all three of us contributing members to the Fallen playlist have quite similar preferences within the clan's remit, tending mostly towards the more extreme end, so I try to cover the sub-genres that we are less popular amongst the three of us, which I may not always be totally au fait with - gothic metal being one particular sub-genre I try to cover without being much of a devotee. This may well result in some questionable picks. Trad doom was my gateway into doom metal, bands like Saint Vitus, Reverend Bizarre and the likes, so it will always be a sub-genre I will support, however, despite being a one-time massive fan of stoner metal, I have become a bit bored of the more meandering style over recent times.

I am glad the playlist is still getting some listens anyway, and it is nice to get some feedback, so thanks for the continued support fellas.

Just as an example of how many fuckers will try to rip you off nowadays, I have been trying to get a reasonably-priced copy of this for ages now and saw one on Discogs for 23 Euros, so dipped in for a look and the guy selling it wants to charge 100 Euros for shipping - from Norway to the UK. Alongside tales of scalpers buying up tickets for the forthcoming Iron Maiden tour (and many others), so they can sell them back to real fans at extortionate prices it makes my damn blood boil.

Sorry David, I have been unable to find the Harvey Milk song or album on Spotify. Do you want to nominate an alternative?

Thanks Vinny. 

Selections by the 15th please David.

I am more than happy to provide a review if I can think of something to say about the features, Vinny and I have quite a few thoughts on this one - nice pick by the way.

It seems like the Old School are mounting a fightback in 2025 with new albums from Coroner, Sodom, Dark Angel, Destruction, Onslaught, Hirax, Sacrifice and Testament all hitting the shelves of metal emporiums the world over. I would be lying if I said I was feverish with anticipation over any of the above, but in the past all have made thrash albums I love to a greater or lesser degree, so at least deserve a hearing. Now, I do like Testament, Chuck Billy is one of my favourite thrash metal vocalists, but somehow, much like fellow Californians Exodus, outside of their debut album they just don't excite me as much as they should, their songwriting not always flipping my switches.

Initial impressions of Para Bellum, however, are good, especially as Chuck's excoriating bellow is still as potent as ever, despite being the same age as me, old bastard (me, not Chuck)! Kicking off in thrashtastically invigorating style, the opening dual salvo of "For the Love of Pain" and "Infanticide A.I." hit pretty hard with some high-energy riffing, scintillating leadwork from Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick and defiant roars from Chuck. They follow this up with the medium-paced chug of "Shadow People", allowing for a change of pacing and lyrical content. Whereas the opening brace are lyrically centre around the modern concern that the power-hungry few are trying to exert control over the wider population's lives, "Shadow People" takes on the old metal staple of demonic forces and black magic.

"Meant To Be" kicks off in 80's power ballad style as Testament attempt their own version of "Fade To Black", with the track building in intensity and heaviness, although the stadium-friendly, Zippo-waving chorus is a bit cheesy-sounding for my taste, the lead work is pretty decent. Whilst it misses the mark a bit, I do applaud the band trying to mix things up and provida a little bit of the epic amongst the machine-gun firestorm around it, which certainly continues apace with the next couple of tracks, "High Noon" and "Witch Hunt", both of which attempt to tear your head from your shoulders with chainsaw riffs and by sheer weight of aggression. I think new drummer, ex-Seven Spires skinsman Chris Dovas is probably worth a mention at this point. Following previous two drumstool occupants Gene Hoglan and Dave Lombardo gives Dovas some pretty big boots to fill, but his drumming is precise and powerful and provides the riffs with added impetus and velocity.

Unfortunately this point now sees the album hit a flat spot as we hit filler territory. "Nature of the Beast" is the blandest and most uninspiring track on the album for my money and I feel its presence also has a negative effect on the next track "Room 117", which isn't strong enough to lift the album, despite a decent chugging riff and a nice mid-track solo, with it feeling like it too is dragged down by the banality of its predecessor. "Havana Syndrome" encounters more of the same, with the vicious main riff being let down by a rather unimpressive chorus. The album concludes with the title track and here we hear the band back at full tilt and sounding so much better as a result as they declare war on your eardrums once more with a war-drenched slab of epic thrash glory.

There is a killer 41 minute album in here. I would have liked them to have stripped out the two filler tracks, "Nature of the Beast" and "Havana Syndrome", which would have left us with a leaner, meaner fighting machine of an album. I also know that "Meant To Be" is a misfire, but like I said, I kind of admire the intent behind it, so am inclined to want it to remain. All-in-all I am glad to have heard Para Bellum and would have no issue picking up a copy if I could get it for under a tenner.

3.5/5

December sees the Horde take its turn in the playlist rotation. Suggestions by the 15th please Vinny, Karl. I am not currently taking non-clan member suggestions for any of the playlists I curate.

November 2025

1. Mayhem - "Buried by Time and Dust" (from "De mysteriis dom sathanas", 1994) [submitted by Sonny]

2. Sargeist - "Ordained and Adorned" (from "Flame within Flame", 2025) [submitted by Karl]

3. Destruction Ritual - "Washed Away Sins" (from "Providence", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

4. Kadotettu - "Kuolema ylivuotinen" (from "Ihmisyyden viimeiset askeleet", 2016)

5. Der Weg Einer Freiheit - "Eos" (from "Innern", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

6. Throne of Ahaz - "An Arctic Star of Blackness" from "Nifelheim", 1995 [submitted by Karl]

7. Abduction - "Vomiting at Baalbek" (from "Existentialismus", 2025) [submitted by Sonny]

8. Arkona - "Only True Belief" from "An Eternal Curse of the Pagan Godz", 1994 [submitted by Karl]

9. Profane Order - "Black Vomit Desecration" (from "Slave Morality", 2019)

10. Medieval Demon - "Raging Lord of the Deeps" (from "All Powers of Darkness", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

11. Finsterforst - "Zerfall" (from "Zerfall", 2019)

12. Polemicist - "The Infidel" (from "Medieval Rites", 2025) [submitted by Karl]

13. Bekhira - "Gas the Christ" (from "Demo '96", 1996) [submitted by Karl]

14. Autrest - "Ruins of the Lost" (from "Burning Embers, Forgotten Wolves", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

15. Together to the Stars - "Gravity Eater" (from "The Fragile Silence", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

16. Bethlehem - "Verheißung - Du Krone des Todeskultes" (from "Dictius te necare", 1996)

15. Spiter - "Transylvanian Night" (from "Bathe the Babe in Bats' Blood", 2022)

16. Swordmaster - "Wraths of Time" (from "Wraths of Time", 1995)

17. Helheim - "Dualitet og ulver" (from "Heiðindómr ok mótgang", 2011)

18. Panopticon - "The Echoes of a Disharmonic Evensong" (from "Roads to the North", 2014)

November 2025

1. Cosmic Reaper - "Parasite" (from "Bleed the Wicked, Drown the Damned", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

2. Void Moon - "The Mourning Son" (from "On the Blackest of Nights", 2012) [submitted by Sonny]

3. Bala – “Agitar” (from “Maleza”, 2021) [submitted by dk]

4. Paradise Lost - "Salvation" (from "Ascension", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

5. Krux - "Prince Azaar and the Invisible Pagoda" (from "III - He Who Sleeps Amongst the Stars", 2011) [submitted by Sonny]

6. Dvvel – “Son” (from “Quiescent”, 2022) [submitted by dk]

7. Virgin Black - "And the Kiss of God's Mouth, Part 2" (from "Elegant... and Dying", 2003)

8. Faetooth - "Hole" (from "Labyrinthine", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

9. Mortiferum - "Incubus of Bloodstained Visions" (from "Preserved in Torment", 2021) [submitted by Sonny]

10. Goya - "In the Dawn of November" (from "In the Dawn of November", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

11. Conjurer “In Your Wake” (from “Pathos”, 2022) [submitted by dk]

12. Dawn of Winter - "Ritual Magic" (from "In the Valley of Tears", 1998) [submitted by Sonny]

13. Blood Vulture - "Entwined" (from "Die Close", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

14. Amenra –“Ogentroost” (from “De doorn”, 2021) [submitted by dk]

15. Indian - "Ration" (from "The Unquiet Sky", 2005)

16. The Fall of Every Season - "From Below" (from "From Below", 2007)

i have been looking at the new cover at the top of the homepage for the last few days, thinking what a horrible cover it is and it only occured to me today that it is A BRAND NEW EVOKEN ALBUM!! 

...and it is pretty damn good too (unlike the cover that still sucks).

Yeah, it's not the best. I'm very much looking forward to checking out the album though!

The music is great though. Quite 'progressive' in that the tracks keep moving forward and rarely repeat riffs, phrases or motifs, whilst still sitting recognisably within the funeral/death doom sphere.

i have been looking at the new cover at the top of the homepage for the last few days, thinking what a horrible cover it is and it only occured to me today that it is A BRAND NEW EVOKEN ALBUM!! 

...and it is pretty damn good too (unlike the cover that still sucks).

Here is a transscript of an actual conversation I was a party to between two of my internal organs:

Brain: Wow, Heart, I bet you're loving this album aren't you?

Heart: I don't know. Not really. It hasn't made me skip a beat or anything.

Brain: Yeah, but these super-distorted, oozing sludgy riffs are just the sort of shit we adore though aren't they?

Heart: I know, I know, but, well, something really isn't connecting here and it just makes me feel kind of empty.

Brain: Oh, come on. You're just being difficult now.

Heart: I'm really not. It just sounds like someone took Dopethrone, ran it through a distortion pedal and added a load of Sonic Youth noise to it.

Brain: Exactly! Great innit?

Heart: No, its just making feel a bit worn out and tired.

Brain: Oh fuck off then!!

I am a bit conflicted by this to say the least. I know I should love it, but it isn't reaching me for some reason. I suspect that the fault is mine and not theirs. I think it best I return to this at a later date.

Hello, can anyone post in this thread?

Hey, Miles. Everyone can post in any thread on the site, even ones for clans of which they are not a member. Any posts you wish to make will be very welcome.

Just watched the three-part Netflix documentary "Katrina: Come Hell and High Water" about the 2005 hurricane that hit New Orleans and the systemic and continuing failures of organizations to respond to the crisis. Should be seen as a wake up call to anyone who still thinks that governments will come to save them when the shit hits the fan.

Spike Lee was involved in this one as well as his excellent 2006 series "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" which is also excellent. In this day and age of unashamed worldwide governmental corruption and self-serving negligence, I think we tend to forget just how fucking useless W was as president of the US.

Well, I always said that I would rather have root canal surgery than listen to St. Anger again, but I have changed my mind. I had just such a procedure this afternoon and it sucked every bit as bad as St. Anger, except that the Metallica dud didn't cost me 600 quid, which makes it the winner in the battle of "Shittest things I have ever endured that last an hour and fifteen minutes!"

Hi Ben, could you add french melodic black metallers Les Bâtards du Roi, please.

Hi Ben, could you add US deathcore / prog metallers Ænimus please. In truth I only ask because I want to rate the cover of their 2019 Dreamcatcher album!

Hi Sonny. The band and album are already on the site.

https://metal.academy/releases/42235

In fact, you already rated the album cover 4.5 stars.

Cheers,

Ben.

You know what Ben, I really made an effort to look for it on the site, but couldn't see it anywhere. Must be because of the way the name is written.

Hi Ben. Will you add L.A. Psych doom band Black Prism please.

Hi Ben, could you add US deathcore / prog metallers Ænimus please. In truth I only ask because I want to rate the cover of their 2019 Dreamcatcher album!

I should probably get more organised in this respect too. I keep making mental notes to check out bands or releases from the playlists and then I just forget who or what, so probably end up missing out on a ton of good stuff.

I watch very few TV series outside of scandi-noir crime shows like The Killing, The Bridge, Wallander and Beck, or "historical" stuff like Vikings and The Last Kingdom, but we recently started watching Stranger Things and really got into it. We are now waiting expectantly for the final series which I believe is due in November.

My wife watches many more series than I do (I tend to sit with my laptop and headphones on listening to music and typing the shit I subject you all to on here while she watches them) and she has been singing the praises of The Handmaids Tale after watching it recently. 

I just finished this Netflix sci-fi series & it was right up my alley. Cerebral space/aliens type stuff with plenty of twists & turns. I think you'll really dig this one Ben. I believe the second series is currently being filmed for a mid-2026 release too so I'm looking forward to that.

If you enjoyed the TV series I would heartily recommend the three books upon which it is based. The series was good, but the novels are better.

Arkhaaik - Uihtis (2025)

Arkhaaik are a Zurich-based three-piece who, as their name, a stylised version of "archaic" suggests, are interested in exploring pre-history, in particular the culture and practices of Bronze Age Europe. Their debut album, 2019's "*dʰg̑ʰm̥tós", was an exploration of the religion and deities of this culture, with the somewhat questionable claim to being sung in the long dead Indo-European language of the time. This 2025 follow-up takes as its theme The Hunt in both a literal and an analagous religious context.

Musically, this takes the form of blackened, old-school, cavernous death metal with death-doom tendencies, which often utilises pounding rhythms and horn-like effects to give the album a paganistic and sometimes ritualistic vibe. The tracks are fairly lengthy affairs, with the almost fifty minutes of "Uihtis" containg only four, varying from ten to fifteen minutes in duration. This affords the band plenty of leisure to build the atmospheres and vibe of arcane hunting ritual that they are striving for. Whilst metal is rightly most often judged on the quality of its riffs, and the album contains some very nice death metal riffs to be sure, I think the strength of "Uihtis" lies in its percussion and the tribalistic patterns and atmospherics that it conjures up. To this end I think drummer Vâlant deserves huge praise as his work is crucial to the album's success. The vocals also contribute massively with the bellowing roars and growls being supplemented by the whoops and howls of the (presumably successful) hunters alongside some nice native-like chants.

Despite all this aesthetical window-dressing and conceptual exposition, I guess what most metalheads want to know is, "Does it fucking slay"? I would reply with a resounding, "Oh yes, you fucking bet". I don't think it leans as heavily into the death doom side of the equation as the debut did, this being more in the vein of blackened Autopsy-style OSDM than true death doom, but with some pretty fucking brutal blasting sections and those hulking, tribalistic throbs this could indeed slay a woolly mammoth by sheer bludgeoning weight alone.

In conclusion I would say that if you are someone who loves old-school, cavernous death metal and would like to hear it used in a slightly different context then this is definitely a release you should wrap your ears around.

4/5

I recently got back in the BC thang after a hiatus.  Daniel has covered most of what I was going to say, however I like it stillas a platform for all music and have made some good idscoveries over the years by browsing other users collections.  My collection can be located below.

https://bandcamp.com/stiffncold

Quoted Vinny

Yeah, I have had a bit of a hiatus from BC for a while too and have only just got back into using it. It isn't just the "ethical" side of it, I do actually like it as a music platform. The only real bugbear is that browsing your collection if it is of any size, particularly on a tablet, can be awfully time consuming. Of course there is always the search function, but sometimes I like to just spool through and pick something out on a whim.

This weekend I have bought:

Raphael Weinroth-Browne - "Lifeblood" CD

Abduction - "Existentialismus" vinyl LP

Arkhaaik - "Uihtis" CD (postage from Germany made the vinyl LP £45, so I ended up going for the cheaper alternative because I ain't made of money).

Been listening to this again this morning whilst plodding through the soggy local woodlands with Koko and it still holds up pretty well, although I am going to trim back my original 4.5 star rating to a little less exhuberant 4.0. I don't think this is because of any real shift in my appreciation of the album, but more part of a recalibration of my perceptions over recent months.

Anyway, here is my original review written at the time of the album's release which I still generally agree with:

For anyone who is interested, Paysage d'Hiver's second official album continues the story of The Wanderer, who this time around meets beings from another dimension who he sees as ghosts. The kicker is that the extra-dimensional beings are us in our world and we are only able to contact The Wanderer through the Rites of Winter such as those practiced by a traditional mask cult from the Lötschental valley in Switzerland which, presumably, Wintherr is familiar with. One such mask is depicted on the album's cover and is indeed a fearsome-looking item. (I swear you learn all kinds of weird shit when you listen to black metal!)

This time around Wintherr has trimmed the length of the tracks, the longest, excepting the ambient closer, is under seven minutes, which is unheard of with this project. The style is much nearer to conventional black metal than the icily frigid soundscapes Wintherr usually conjures up. I would even go as far to suggest that at times it doesn't sound hugely dissimilar to early Darkthrone. I have a feeling this may upset some of the newly acquired fans that Im Wald garnered the project, but somehow I get the feeling that will bother Wintherr not one jot.

Despite the abbreviated track lengths this is still quite a formidable album, it's eleven tracks clock in at 70 minutes - a snip compared to Im Wald's two hours I'll grant but still a daunting duration for some not used to lengthy black metal excursions. Again, despite the shorter tracks, the album doesn't offer a massive amount of variety and heavily relies on repetition for it's effect so, once more, if you're not familiar with the style it may underwhelm and disappoint. For those of us more used to this style of black metal though, there is plenty to get your teeth into. The vocals are Wintherr's usual washed out shrieks that tear through the ether like a banshee wail and would freeze the blood were you to hear them during a nighttime forest hike! As mentioned previously the tracks really only serve as parts of a whole and it is the cumulative effect of the tracks' repetition and their more visceral savagery that is the album's real aim I would venture.

Overall, Geister is a brave move by Wintherr, released on the back of such a critically acclaimed album as Im Wald and yet deliberately moving away from what made that album so successful. While I must admit it doesn't scream "Masterpiece" in the same way as Im Wald, this is still a great black metal album and the day that a black metal artist like Wintherr starts doing what he feels is expected of hm then that is the day that black metal is truly lost. Luckily that day still seems a long way off.

4/5

Potentially but only if the release has paid for itself already. Most deals will require the labels costs to be paid for before the band starts earning any royalties at all & you'd be surprised by how few actual sales there are for lesser-known releases in the modern day.

That certainly helps to explain the high cost of vinyl nowadays. I was looking at the rate of inflation here in the UK since 1976 when I really started buying LPs and I was paying £1.25 to £1.99 for an album. This is the equivalent of £9.40 to £14.95, but most are now priced £25 - £35, although you can see some for less on Bandcamp. HMV record chain are a minimum £35 usually, or they may have a 2 for £50 offer on occasionally. That is more than twice as expensive, even allowing for inflation.

As far  as live shows go, in 1977 I paid £4.50 to see Pink Floyd on their Animals tour and in '79 it was £2.50 for Sabbath in our local venue in town. That would be £33 for a Floyd ticket today and the Sabbath tickets would be £16. It isn't like these were small bands at the time either - these guys were at the top. Zeppelin at the Knebworth festival, after four years since last playing in the UK, was £7.50 - the equivalent of 48 quid today for six bands with a three-hour Zeppelin set at the end of it!

Music fans are getting fucked nowadays and make no mistake.

I don't use Bandcamp myself but it is true that it gives more back to independent artists than other services, generally about 85% of the sale price in fact. It is worth noting that many of the releases that you see there have been posted by labels though & all bets are off in that situation as it depends on the deal the band has with their label as to how much they receive. We have a very fair deal going with Sphere of Apparition who make looking after their artists a priority but that may not be the case for other bands/labels.

Even via labels though, the artists must get more than the zillionth of a penny they get paid per stream on Spotify or the other streaming services.

Abduction (GBR) - Existentialismus (2025)

Derby's Abduction are one of those black metal bands who seemingly beaver away with no fanfare or support from the music industry at large, making me wonder how they keep at it. It isn't like the UK has exactly ever been overflowing with good black metal acts now is it? Anyway, Abduction is the brainchild of guitarist and vocalist Phil Illsley, aka A|V, with guest musicians providing drums, bass and additional guitars. I was well behind the band around the time of the 2018 album, "A Crown of Curses" which I have on cassette from the now defunct Death Kvlt Productions label, but I have lost touch with their progress over the last few years.

So here we are in 2025 and album number five. This is a well-produced and written slab of vicious and savage-sounding black metal that makes no pretence to the folky or celtic atmospherics which are often a staple of UK black metal, but which goes for the jugular in full-on attack mode. That doesn't mean the thin and tremolo-heavy sound of true raw black metal, the production is too thick and muscular for that, but it takes a more bludgeoning approach, in the vein of death metal. Even though this is still unambiguously black metal with pummelling blast beats and tremolo riffing, there is a fullness of sound that puts more meat on the genre's usually skeletal bones. The band sound very tight and the playing is excellent throughout.

A|V has an excellent vocal delivery with a howling savagery and angst-ridden desperation borne of emotional frustration that screams in the face of an uncaring universe. His lyrics are poetic and dense and I haven't had much time to sit down with them so far, but I am sure they are much deeper in meaning than I have as yet been able to ascertain. The killer riffs are powerful and are driven by a phenomenal powerhouse of a rhythm section as drummer Ed Gorrod and bassist Gavin Archer blast a path with the force of a high explosive drone strike. The tracks all flow nicely with decent variation of pacing, despite the overarching aggressive feel of the album. and the songwriting seems of as high a standard as the musicianship.

All told, this is a very good slab of UKBM and with, in my opinion, the recent decline of previous UK heavyweights such as Winterfylleth and Saor there is no reason why Abduction should not sweep in and claim the mantle of the premier UK black metal act.

4/5 

Thanks guys.

Raphael-Weinroth Brown - Lifeblood (2025)

Cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne first showed up on my radar in 2015 as one half of the canadian neoclassical darkwave duo The Visit, alongside vocallist Heather Sita Black when their album "Through Darkness Into Light" attained the distinction of being one of a very exclusive club of non-metal albums to receive AOTY status from me. Despite this, I must admit that I haven't kept up with his solo work much since. He has tended to focus on releasing single tracks on Bandcamp, with 2020s World Within being his only other full-length prior to "Lifeblood".

The album is wholly instrumental and solely features Raphael's acoustic cello playing with the aid of amplifiers and effects pedals, apart from on a couple of tracks, "Pyre" and "Nethereal" which also feature a bass drum. He says in the Bandcamp blurb that this is his most personal album, with the theme of his relationship to his music and growth as an artist. The result of all this is a classical piece that has great crossover potential and, I believe, may well appeal to many a more open-minded metalhead. I mean, look at that cover, is that metal or what? There is a wide range of emotional scope presented within the albums runtime. As well as sweeping broad strokes that breathe air and life into things, there are moments of quiet reflectiveness and spells of fervent and rabid aggressiveness that complement and contrast each other effectively and are redolent with passion and feeling.

This passion and feeling are the two most apparent emotions I take away from "Lifeblood" and the album as a whole stands as a great testament to the compositional and technical virtuosity of a musician who, in this world of overhyped crap, by the sheer weight of his talent and passion, deserves to be heard by a much wider audience.

4/5

Here are some thoughts / notes on this month's playlist:

1. My Dying Bride - "Love's Intolerable Pain" (from "A Line of Deathless Kings", 2006) [submitted by Sonny]

I picked up a copy of "A Line of Deathless Kings" recently and I think it has become my favourite MDB album. It is one of their least theatrical-sounding and doomiest albums, which is always going to gain favour from me. The main riff on "Love's Intolerable Pain" is a fucking beast and may be their best ever.

2. High on Fire “Blessed Black Wings” (from “Blessed Black Wings”, 2005) [submitted by David]

I am a fan of HoF's stonerised sludge and their black-hole-collapsing sound seldom hits harder than on the title track to their third album. There is massive compression on the track, but I think it works in the tracks favour here, making it even more gravitationally massive. Oh, and those fucking drums man... awesome.

3. Monolord - "The Bastard Son" (from "No Comfort", 2019) [submitted by Vinny]

I've been a big fan of Monolord since 2015's "Vaenir", but must admit that "No Comfort" is one of my least favoured of their releases. Fortunately this isn't down to the opening track which is featured here, which is great (as are a couple of others), but is down to a serious drop off in the middle of the album that drags it down as a whole. This I like very much, though, a slab of what I like to call "trve doom".

4. Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - “Ancestral Recall” (from “May Our Chambers Be Full”, 2020) [submitted by David]

I have only very recently checked this album out and thought ERR added a great new dimension to Thou's stonerised sludginess that played a little differently to their usual fare, giving them an even more desperate and emotionally polarised edginess.

5. Conan - "Dying Giant" (from "Horseback Battle Hammer", 2014) [submitted by Vinny]

Absolutely bowel-shaking, droney sludge from their first EP that sounds utterly crushing.

6. Coffinworm – “Sympathectomy” (from “IV.I.VIII”, 2014) [submitted by David]

Abrasive and ascerbic sludge that leans heavily into the genre's hardcore roots. Delivers a damn good savaging.

7. Ophis - "Temple of Scourges" (from "Spew Forth Odium", 2021) [submitted by Sonny]

This album was actually my AOTY for 2021 and it still holds up really well, I think. A hulking monster of peak death doom songwriting.

8. Windhand - "Tanngrisnir" (from "Grief's Internal Flower", 2015) [submitted by Vinny]

I am always glad for any excuse to put up Windhand tracks on these playlists, so thanks Vinny for this one. Quite hooky, despite its inherent heaviness. Windhand are the yardstick for female-fronted stoner doom metal.

9. Messa - "Reveal" (from "The Spin", 2025)

After beginning with a cool bluesy slide guitar intro, "Reveal" soon 'reveals' itself to be one of the heaviest and most dynamic tracks on Messa's latest with a driving main riff and a hyper-distorted solo. Great stuff all round.

10. Horn of the Rhino - "Weight of Coronation" (from "Weight of Coronation", 2010) [submitted by Vinny]

A slow and hulking piece of sludgy doom that has a grungy, bluesy vibe to it. Very nice, kind of like AiC meets Crowbar.

11. Convocation – Portal Closed (from “Ashes Coalesce”, 2020) [submitted by David]

I am a big fan of this album and have a vinyl copy on my shelf, so David is preaching to the converted with this one. Closing track of the album, it is an instrumental that goes from heaving funeral doom to a calm and meditative post-metal conclusion, as if the turgid turmoil of the album finally achieves a peaceful resolution.

12. Within Temptation - "Enter" (from Enter, 1997) [submitted by Andi]

I think this perfectly illustrates the divergence in our metal tastes Andi. This sort of symphonic / gothic bombast does absolutely nothing for me other than bring to mind some kind of Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

13. Völur - "Es wächst aus seinem Grab" (from "Disir", 2016) [submitted by Sonny]

I picked up on these Canadians after a recommendation, from where I don't recall, but I am glad I did. They are a three-piece featuring Lucas Gadke, bassist of Blood Ceremony, on bass, vocals and keys. This is the droney, doomy instrumental opener to their 2016 debut EP, which features a fantastic bit of violin playing from Laura Bates. I love this.

14. KVLL - "Blood to the Altar" (from "Death//Sacrifice", 2020) [submitted by Vinny]

I notice that Vinny has picked this for his October Fallen feature and on the strength of this track I am looking forward to getting to grips with it and hopefully managing to rustle up a review at some point.

15. 16 – “Summer of ‘96” (from “Dream Squasher”, 2020) [submitted by David]

Angry and belligerent nihilistic-sounding sludge, as we have come to expect from the L.A. foursome. You pretty much know what you are getting with 16 and they deliver it here once more.

16. Mercy - "Pain of Golgatha" (from "Witchburner", 1985) [submitted by Sonny]

An early vehicle for drummer Messiah Marcolin. Yeah, that is right, Messiah (in those days known as "Eddie") was drummer for these swedish doomsters alongside his stint as vocalist. A quite basic mid-eighties doom sound derived from Trouble, Saint Vitus et al with Eddie's trademark vocal style. Even though he is not quite as bombastic here as in Candlemass. he still manages to stamp his mark all over this, although guitarist Andrija Veljaca contributes a really nice solo too. If you like a bit of 80's trad doom then "Witchburner" is definitely worth checking out.

17. Ahab - "Old Thunder" (from "The Call of the Wretched Sea", 2006)

I love me some Ahab and don't need much excuse to trundle out some of their early death / funeral doom magnificence. This is from their superb Moby Dick-themed debut and is as crushing as that old albino cetacean himself.

I wrote a review for this at the time of its release and I still maintain this view, so here we go:

I lived in ignorance of the existence of these german speedsters until getting an earful of their track "Realm of the Impaler" from this, their latest album, on the Guardians playlist for November 2024, where it leapt out at me from amongst the stuff I wasn't already familiar with. This wa the band's fourth full-length and it they already had quite an enthusiastic and loyal following, which I am sure this has only increased on the back of "Sentinels".

It is an album of infectious speed / thrash metal that leans heavily towards the speed side of that equation, with a strong link back to Maiden-esque heavy metal and early USPM. There is a lively enthusiasm about Vulture that suggests a particular love for the wider culture of metal worship, beyond the mere riffs and notes and deep into the core of the band's very being. This is definitely not thoughtful and contemplative metal, rather this is metal to be experienced and lived, each track a joyful and triumphant expression of metalhood. Hi-octane riffs, scorching solos and sing-along-at-the-top-of-your-voice choruses are the order of the day here. Vocalist Leo Steeler reminds me a fair bit of Exodus' Steven Souza with a raggedness to his normal vocals and a tendency to shift into a higher register at a moments notice. In fact early Exodus are a fitting comparison for the band as a whole, Sentinels ticking a lot of the same boxes as Bonded By Blood. The rhythm section of drummer Stefan Castevet and bassist Andreas "Irön Kommander" Axetinctör are really solid and maintain the propulsive momentum of the tracks with a tight and precise adhesion. Occasionally, especially during the solos during "Realm of the Impaler", the bass moves more to the fore and takes on a Steve Harris galloping quality, the twin guitar soloing not being the only touchstone with the Irons. The production is excellent, as is so often the case nowadays, and everybody gets to shine in their respective roles, due to top-knotch clarity.

You will be seriously struggling to find a more exhuberant celebration of metal than tracks like the aforementioned "Realm of the Impaler", "Death Row" or "Oathbreaker" and as a dyed-in-the-wool metalhead it is very difficult not to listen to Sentinels without a smile on my face and a yearning for a moshpit in my heart. An album like this reminds me very much how and why I got into metal in the first place in much simpler times, so very, very long ago.

4/5 (B+)

Apocalypse Orchestra - "A Plague Upon Thee" (2025)

Apocalypse Orchestra are a five-piece from Gävle in Sweden and they have a penchant for doom metal heavily coloured by european folk music. They seamlessly integrate medieval folk instruments such as hurdy-gurdy, mandola, cittern and pipes with the modern electrified instruments of doom metal in a way that feels perfectly natural and unforced. The slow, plodding riffs of doom metal are used as a foundation upon which the band interprete medieval folk melodies for a modern metal-loving audience.

I do love folk music, but I am often disappointed by its unsubtle use when utilised as a trope in metal, with a lot of folk metal sounding trite and just downright cheesy. I never felt that way once though whilst listening to "A Plague Upon Thee" because it is just so tastefully done, with an apparently equal reverence for both folk and metal. You would be forgiven for suspecting AO of playing a doom metal version of viking metal, given their swedish origins, but there is a distinct lack of the whiff of longship and battleaxe within "A Plague Upon Thee", with it often being more celtic-sounding à la Saor than the Norse influences of a Bathory or Wardruna. The doom metal side of the equation is quite functional and, in truth, it doesn't vary hugely from track to track, with most of the eight tracks following the same tempo. It is perfectly well executed, but is utilised more as a foundation or rhythm section if you like, providing the staging upon which the folk melodies and instruments perform their magic.

The lyrical themes revolve around the harshness of medieval life, plague and the ever-pervasive presence and domination of religion over the lives of the peasantry. The lyrics are beautifully delivered by voclist Erik Larsson who has a great line in clean vocals, supported by almost symphonic backing vocals provided by the rest of the band. Despite the inate heaviness and mournfulness of doom metal and the generally bleak tone of the lyrics, the music still often feels almost hopeful, as if, despite the harshness of life, there is still a ray of light or shred of comfort to be gleaned amidst all the darkness and hardship.

I really enjoyed "A Plague Upon Thee" and found its folk-centric take on doom metal to be a refreshing twist on what can often be a conservative and predictable genre. That it also avoids the trap of cringy cheesiness that plagues so much folk metal is testament to the band's skillful songwriting and reverence for their sources of inspiration. If you are looking for a different take on doom metal then I would heartily recommend this.

4/5 (B+)

Wow, thanks guys, I can get a nice early start on this one.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience, gentlemen! I went on vacation at the beginning of September and completely forgot about the playlist nominations... I'll post my suggestions for The North right away!

Hey, it's not a problem at all Karl. There is no pressure whatsoever to participate or not.

Warbringer - Wrath and Ruin (2025)

Forming in Ventura, California in 2004, Warbringer are a five-piece thrash band centred around vocalist John Kevill and guitarist Adam Carroll alongside a revolving door of drummers, bassists and second guitarists. However, they have managed to maintain a stable lineup since 2018, so "Wrath and Ruin" features the same five as previous album, 2020's "Weapons of Tomorrow". Now this may not necessarily be a good thing because I wasn't that impressed by "Weapons of Tomorrow". It was a bit too Exodus / Testament for my preference. Now there is nothing particularly wrong with either of those bands, but I like thrash that has a bit more bite, hence my love of recent chilean thrash alongside old favourites like Slayer and Kreator.

So here comes the good news, because it sounds like Warbringer have been bingeing Kreator albums in the last five years and that has given them a harder edge than previously, making me much more amenable to "Wrath and Ruin" than I may have been otherwise. A big contributor to this is that John Kevill sounds to be taking his vocal cues from Mille Petrozza this time around, with a ragged and howling bark that sounds significantly more aggressive than he has previously. The production has been a big help and its clarity has lent the riffs a more jagged, savage feel. The emphasis in the songwriting seems to have moved away from hooky melodicism towards upping the ante on aggressive riff writing and just letting rip. This doesn't manifest as an all out blitz, though, with the pacing of the tracks varying throughout from ripping high velocity salvos like "Strike From the Sky" and "The Jackhammer", through medium-paced chuggers like opener "The Sword and the Cross" and "Neuromancer" to the markedly slower menace and portentiousness of "Through a Glass, Darkly", which is possibly my favourite track here. The two guitarists, Carroll and Chase Becker, unleash some impressive solos, complementing each other really nicely with high-velocity stringwork that brings to mind some of Dave Mustaine's better work. The rhythm section is also damned impressive with drummer Carlos Cruz laying waste to whole city blocks with his relentlessly busy battery, ably supported by Chase Bryant's throbbing bass lines.

All in all, in 2025, Warbringer have managed to turn in a thrash album worth listening to that isn't from South America and once more giving the US a seat at the thrash metal table. I have to admit that I didn't think these Californians had an album this good in them, which just goes to show, never count anyone out and definitely not thrash metal which, despite its limitations, can still turn up diamonds occasionally.

4/5 (B+)

October 2025

1. At the Gates - "Slaughter of the Soul" (from "Slaughter of the Soul", 1995)

2. The Lurking Fear - "Teeth of the Dark Plains" (from "Out of the Voiceless Grave", 2017)

3. Grotesque - "Nocturnal Blasphemies" (from "Incantation EP", 1990)

4. Lock Up - "Dead Seas Scrolls Deception" (from "Hate Breeds Suffering", 2002)

5. Mörtual - "Divine Monstrosity" (from "Altar of Brutality", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

6. Abhorrence - "Caught in a Vortex" (from "Abhorrence EP", 1990) [submitted by Sonny]

7. Kanonenfieber - "Z-Vor!" (from "Z-Vor!", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

8. Warmen - "Untouched" (from Band of Brothers, 2025) [submitted by Andi]

9. Byatis - "Glorification of Life" (from "In Dark Abysses of Memory", 2002)

10. Phrenelith - "Conquering Divinity" (from "Desolate Landscape", 2017) [submitted by Vinny]

11. Fuck the Facts - "The Sound of your Smashed Head" (from "Stigmata High-Five", 2006)

12. Ecchymosis - "Aesthetic Devotion Towards Coprocraniotomy" (from "Ritualistic Intercourse Within Abject Surrealism", 2020)

13. ACxDC - "Paid in Full" (from "Antichrist Demoncore", 2014)

14. Nile - "The Burning Pits of the Duat" (from "Annihilation of the Wicked", 2005) [submitted by Vinny]

15. Replicant - "Acid Mirror" (from "Infinite Mortality", 2024)

16. Archspire - "A Dark Horizontal" (from "Relentless Mutation", 2017)

17. Brodequin - "Diabolical Edict" (from "Harbringer of Woe", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

18. Waking the Cadaver - "Human Chop Shop" (from "Authority Through Intimidation", 2021)

19. Baest - "Colossus" (from " Colossal", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

20. Venenum - "The Nature of the Ground" (from "Trance of Death", 2017) [submitted by Sonny]

21. In Flames - "December Flower" (from "The Jester Race", 1996) [submitted by Vinny]

22. !T.O.O.H.! - "Homokaz aneb blátivá je massa" (from "Pod vládou biče", 2003)

23. Brujeria - "Matando güeros" (from "Matando güeros", 1993)

24. Vale of Pnath - "Klendathu" (from "II", 2016)

25. Demigod - "Tears of God" (from "Slumber of Sullen Eyes", 1992) [submitted by Vinny]

26. Obituary - "Gates to Hell" (from "Slowly We Rot", 1989) [submitted by Sonny]

27. Autopsy - "Robbing the Grave" (from "Mental Funeral", 1991)

28. Sadistic Intent - "Asphyxiation" (from "Resurrection EP", 1994) [submitted by Sonny]

29. Morgue - "There Is No End of the Harvest" (from "The Process to Define the Shape of Self-Loathing", 2002)

30. Fallujah - "Step Through the Portal and Breathe" (from "Xenotaph", 2025)

October 2025

1. My Dying Bride - "Love's Intolerable Pain" (from "A Line of Deathless Kings", 2006) [submitted by Sonny]

2. High on Fire “Blessed Black Wings” (from “Blessed Black Wings”, 2005) [submitted by David]

3. Monolord - "The Bastard Son" (from "No Comfort", 2019) [submitted by Vinny]

4. Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - “Ancestral Recall” (from “May Our Chambers Be Full”, 2020) [submitted by David]

5. Conan - "Dying Giant" (from "Horseback Battle Hammer", 2014) [submitted by Vinny]

6. Coffinworm – “Sympathectomy” (from “IV.I.VIII”, 2014) [submitted by David]

7. Ophis - "Temple of Scourges" (from "Spew Forth Odium", 2021) [submitted by Sonny]

8. Windhand - "Tanngrisnir" (from "Grief's Internal Flower", 2015) [submitted by Vinny]

9. Messa - "Reveal" (from "The Spin", 2025)

10. Horn of the Rhino - "Weight of Coronation" (from "Weight of Coronation", 2010) [submitted by Vinny]

11. Convocation – Portal Closed (from “Ashes Coalesce”, 2020) [submitted by David]

12. Within Temptation - "Enter" (from Enter, 1997) [submitted by Andi]

13. Völur - "Es wächst aus seinem Grab" (from "Disir", 2016) [submitted by Sonny]

14. KVLL - "Blood to the Altar" (from "Death//Sacrifice", 2020) [submitted by Vinny]

15. 16 – “Summer of ‘96” (from “Dream Squasher”, 2020) [submitted by David]

16. Mercy - "Pain of Golgatha" (from "Witchburner", 1985) [submitted by Sonny]

17. Ahab - "Old Thunder" (from "The Call of the Wretched Sea", 2006)

My mother just gave me a stack of Aldous Hunxley books to read through, even though I just bought Mystic River, Timeline and The Stand at Goodreads with a birthday giftcard.  So I'm gonna speedread one Huxley a day if I can and then send each one back to her.  She wants to get through them once I'm done.

Mystic River has fantastic prose and excellent characterization.  But the first act is a very slow drag that the movie thankfully fixed.  Might've been perfect if it had a better soundtrack.

I loved The Stand, but I haven't read it in donkey's years. Maybe it's getting time for a revisit. I do like the Mystic River movie but I haven't read the book. Is Timeline a Michael Crichton book?

I don't often read biographies, but I bet this is an interesting read. Does he speak about the case that Priest faced in the US when they were accused of their music causing the two kids to commit suicide?  That must have been a trying time for the band as they faced potentially very serious consequences for what was a tragedy not of their doing. 

Yes, he goes into some depth about that case which is really interesting.  He is also completely open about his sexuality & the challenges he faced during a time when celebrities couldn’t be as open about such things & also his substance abuse/addiction. Did you know that he never actually intended on quitting Priest after “Painkiller”? It was just a miscommunication that resulted in him being replaced.

No, I didn't. That is one hell of a miscommunication. I wonder if they would have maintained the quality of Painkiller or still produced the Jugulator/Demolition crap. At least he was never associated with those albums.

I always have two or theee books on the go at once with a complete collection of HP Lovecraft's work (a 1600 page behemoth) being one, a book about Elizabethan natural philosopher John Dee another and the fifth (and so far last) book of George RR Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series being my main read.

If you were a fan of the "Game of Thrones" TV show then this fifth in the series would deliver a few surprises, one of which had me literally shouting out aloud 'no fucking way' as I sat reading it in the car waiting for my wife to come out of the dentists. Looks like we will never see the ending the story deserves though as Martin either has writer's block or he has just got too comfy being lauded by all and sundry rather than sitting down and getting on with his day job. I would think that a writer would be desperate to get their story out there, but Martin seems to enjoy basking in the fame more than the desire to tell his story.

As I said in my recent review of Sodom's new album, I don't think that they get as much credit as they deserve. I will admit that Kreator are the benchmark for german thrash, but I would definitely place Sodom over Destruction whose claim to legendary status is much more dubious than Sodom's own. Both "Persecution Mania" and "Agent Orange" have five-star status in my own metal world and easily stand shoulder-to-shoulder with anything european thrash produced, except maybe "To Mega Therion".

I don't often read biographies, but I bet this is an interesting read. Does he speak about the case that Priest faced in the US when they were accused of their music causing the two kids to commit suicide?  That must have been a trying time for the band as they faced potentially very serious consequences for what was a tragedy not of their doing. 

So for the first time in what seems like an age, I have managed to listen to all nine feature releases within the month, so here is my ranked list. As befits the Academy's status as an educational facility I have provided grades for each release:

1. [Fallen] Worship - Last Tape Before Doomsday (A+)

2. [Horde] Sadistic Intent - Resurrection (A)

3. [North] Sinmara - Aphotic Womb (A-)

4. [Pit] Sodom - The Arsonist (B)

5. [Gateway] Chevelle - Bright as Blasphemy (B-)

6. [Guardians] Blazon Rite - Wild Rites and Ancient Songs (C+)

7. [Infinite] Vildhjarta - Måsstaden Under Vatten (C)

8. [Revolution] As Blood Runs Black - Allegiance (C-)

9. [Sphere] Circle of Dust - Machines of Our Disgrace (C-)

As you can see there are no failing grades here this month and I got at least something out of every release. OK, the top two are my own picks, but I do tend to pick stuff I like that I think others may want to hear, but Sinmara did come very close to pushing Sadistic Intent down.