Sonny's Forum Replies

Immolation's "Close to a World Below" has just made it onto the 20+ ratings chart and is now sitting at #1 showing what fantastic taste the Metal Academy members have!

Blind Guardian's "Imaginations From the Other Side" has also debuted on the 20+ chart at #8, Deftones' "White Pony" has come in at #27 and Ulver's "Bergtatt" at #29.

There are now 77 releases on the 20+ chart.

1. The Fallen

Absolutely my favourite clan. Funeral doom, death doom and good old trad and conventional doom have appealed to me for the longest time. I grew into drone and sludge and have even started to get more into gothic metal. I was a huge fan of stoner metal initially, but it has paled a bit for me over the last year or two and often bores me now.

2. The North

The more furious and raw the better, but I like most black metal sub-genres. Folk metal, not so much, but even that has some releases I enjoy. Sure, there are plenty of sub-par bedroom artists out there, but the great far and away outweighs the poor.

3. The Horde

I wasn't always the biggest fan of death metal, but I never really knew many DMheads. I was more a grindcore guy. Since joining Metal Academy and being guided by members who definitely are knowledgeable I have really got into it and, as a relative newcomer, it still holds many pleasant surprises for me. I will pass on cybergrind, though if that's OK.

4. The Pit

As a guy who was around when the early thrash albums hit, The Pit will always hold a lot of nostalgia for me, but thankfully, mainly due to the burgeoning South American thrash scene centred on Santiago and Valpairiso it is no longer just just about the nostalgia. I am not massively into groove metal, though.

5. The Guardians

Again, as a metalhead since the mid-70s the Guardians will always be home to some of my longest-lasting favourites, so there is a huge nostalgia factor. But, the rise of a new trad metal scene is producing some good stuff too and I have sometimes even been known to veer off into power metal territory!

Now it gets a bit more difficult.

6. The Infinite

I am going with The Infinite next. I always enjoyed prog rock because you weren't always sure where it was going and prog metal is similar. I don't like the Dream Theater-like wanky stuff, but the progressive death and black metal stuff is often fantastic.

7. The Sphere

I enjoy the industrial aesthetic, although I have merely scratched the surface with The Sphere, but I suspect there are quite a few decent albums in there somewhere.

8. The Revolution

I am going to, probably unexpectedly, not put The Revolution last. I used to loathe the likes of Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage, but over recent times I have found several releases I have enjoyed within its ranks and am hopeful of discovering more.

9. The Gateway

There is a couple of faves here - Toxicity and Battle of Los Angeles, but it is also home to some of the blandest metal in existence. Controversially, I also find some Gateway darlings such as Faith No More or Alice In Chains massively overrated.

I have just found one of my old reviews that was normal font size for the first paragraph and then went to small size for the rest of the review. I tried to update it by highlighting the whole text and hitting the "Remove Font Style" button, but it didn't do anything. However, when I only highlighted the text that was displayed in small font size and hit the button it worked and the review is now all the correct font size. The only problem was that it also removed the paragraph breaks, so I had to reformat the paragraphs.

Are you sure you tried editing the review, highlighting all the text, and then selecting the Remove Font Style button before saving it? I'm not doubting your sincerity, but I've done this hundreds of times on posts and reviews and it's never not worked.

I think it happens when reviews are copied and pasted from other sources. I could be wrong, but I don't think it happens when I type something directly into the site and save it. Can you confirm whether you generally copy and paste? It would be good to get it sorted at some point.

Whenever this happens to me it is when I have copied and pasted. I haven't encountered it when typing directly onto the site.

My suggestion for July, Andi:

Manticora - "Echoes of a Silent Scream" (from "To Kill to Live to Kill", 2018)

Black Sabbath, with Ozzy as frontman, birthed and popularised metal for so many of us old metalheads and Dio helped to resurrect the tottering giants from the terminal decline into which their drug-ravaged delusions had pitched them, delivering a couple of indisputable all-time metal classics in the process. So, come on people, revisionism can only go so far and to consider the Tony Martin era with anything like the same degree of respect as the Ozzy and Dio eras is disingenuous at best. But, that said, it is what it is and these albums still have the world's finest riff master plying his trade and no amount of awful 80s-style over-production can disguise that fact. On the odd occasion when I do listen to albums from this Sabbath era, I do my best to strip away the production in my mind, so I'm not hearing something akin to awful AOR shite like Journey or Foreigner, but getting down to the pure heart of the record and that is Iommi's impeccable ability to write riffs. To be fair, none of this is Tony Martin's fault and I have nothing against the guy per se and, in truth, he is a gifted singer who doesn't sound all that different to Dio as a quick listen to "The Law Maker" will attest - shut your eyes and it could be the diminutive one himself throwing horns left and right!

But, I will never believe that layered keyboards and harmonised backing vocals have any place on a Sabbath record and on a track like Jerusalem they are a bridge too far, especially when coupled with one of the weakest riffs Iommi has ever written, then it is a big ask for me to get too heavily behind it. The best tracks here are the ones that are recognisably continuations from previous band iterations, "The Sabbath Stones", "Anno Mundi" and "Valhalla" would all have sat comfortably on Heaven and Hell or Mob Rules, if not for the production equivalent of 1980's big hair and shoulder pads.

So, in summation, for me this is an album with a fistful of decent tracks, alongside a couple of duffers, dragged down by a production sound that, whilst beefing up the guitar tone, throws the drums way too much to the fore in a way that has become decidedly dated. Overuse of layered keyboards and harmonised backing vocals irritate me at the best of times, but on a Black Sabbath album this is totally indefensible to me. I can't hate this, because underneath it all the riffs reign supreme, but I will never love it either.

3/5

Vol.3 is actually my favourite Slipknot album and for me both parts of Vermillion are the best things they ever did by quite some distance.

Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I (2012)

Just been giving this beauty another spin and it still holds up very well to my original assessment:

There are huge swathes of progressive metal that just leave me cold. The Dream Theaters of this world trying to impress everyone with excessive flashiness, bloated songwriting or technical frigidity inspire nothing in me other than a shrug of indifference. This is why I admired Opeth so much - they were technically superb but never forgot that the song was king and everything they did worked to that end. On the evidence of Portal of I, Ne Obliviscaris seem to be a band with the same philosophy and with this album have ticked many of the boxes that appeal to me. I'm especially on board with the marriage between prog and black metal, in a similar way that Oranssi Pazuzu's fusion between black metal and psychedelic rock is so successful, Ne Obliviscaris seem to understand exactly how to alloy black metal with progressive metal in way that makes the whole more than the separate elements (something Opeth also achieved with death metal). While the entire album is exceedingly good Forget Not, for me, is a song on a whole different level and is well up my list of greatest tracks of all-time.

4.5/5

Acid Bath - When the Kite String Pops (1994)

Acid Bath have a massive reputation in the development of sludge metal, despite having released only two albums in their relatively short lifespan. This is due to their willingness to incorporate a breadth of genres within their sound, whilst not compromising on the abrasiveness that is an essential element of the NOLA variant of sludge. Stoner metal, Nirvana-like grunginess, alternative metal, death metal and psych-doom all infiltrate the tracklisting, giving the album's 70 minute runtime a nice sense of variation. It is still the uneasy feeling that all is not right that permeates "When the Kite String Pops", though, like a travelogue through the seedy underbelly of a drug-ravaged city area populated by all manner of human wretchedness, with a psychotic paranoid as your guide. 

I must confess that, in common with quite a few sludge acts, I initially found Acid bath a tough listen, but over the years I have found myself enjoying them more and more and I now hold "When the Kite String Pops" in very high regard indeed and would now hold it up as one of the more impressively ambitious examples of the genre.

4.5/5

Incredible work, Ben. Your dedication and endeavour is mightily impressive. Thanks for providing us all with this marvellous resource.

Frustratingly, it now appears that only side A of the album is available on YouTube.  I have tried Bandcamp and some other platforms but have been unable to locate it.  Let me know if anyone else has any joy.

It appears that these guys must be especially trve, because the album is only available as a 12" along with a 7" vinyl in its complete form, so it is going to be very hard to hear a full version, at least for now anyway.

I have almost completed an initial listen-through and I've got to say, I am loving this so far. It hits the sweet spot between heaviness and lighter melancholic wistfulness exceedingly well. It also weaves in some nice melodies that hook themselves into you and linger in the mind. I will definitely be returning this for a full review at some point during the month. Great pick, Vinny.

Suggestions for the July playlist for the North need to be in by the 15th June, please guys. 

30 minutes are allotted for each clan member (Vinny, Karl and myself) and I am willing to take one suggestion each from any non-clan member, although this may obviously be limited in the unlikely event that there are loads!

June 2025

1. Deicide - "Trifixion" (from "Legion", 1992) [Submitted by Karl]

2. Suffocation - "Seraphim Enslavement" (from "Hymns From the Apochrypha", 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]

3. Dismember - "9th Circle" (from "Indecent and Obscene", 1993) [Submitted by Karl]

4. Nile - "I Whisper in the Ear of the Dead" (from "In Their Darkened Shrines", 2002) [Submitted by Vinny]

5. Caustic Wound - "Blood Battery" (from "Grinding Mechanism of Torment", 2025) [Submitted by Vinny]

6. Death Toll 80K - "Taught To Consume" (from "Harsh Realities", 2011) [submitted by Sonny]

7. Arch Enemy - "Dream Stealer" (from "Blood Dynasty", 2025) [submitted by Andi]

8. Acephalix - "Mnemonic Death" (from "Decreation", 2017) [submitted by Sonny]

9. Shub Niggurath - "Abominations of Ancient Gods" (from "The Kinglike Celebration: Final Aeon on Earth", 1997) [Submitted by Karl]

10. In Vain - "At the Going Down of the Sun" (from "Solemn", 2024) [submitted by Saxy]

11. Obscureviolence - "Refuting the Flesh" (from "Refuting the Flesh", 2025) [Submitted by Vinny]

12. Deeds of Flesh - "Execute the Anthropophagi" (from "Path of the Weakening", 1999) [Submitted by Karl]

13. Putridity - "Conceived Through Vermination" (from "Ignominious Atonement", 2015) [submitted by Sonny]

14. Devourment - "Autoerotic Asphyxiation" (from "Butcher the Weak", 2006)

15. Atheist - "Unquestionable Presence" (from "Unquestionable Presence", 1991) [submitted by Sonny]

16. Masacre - "Imperio del Terror" (from "Barbarie y Sangre en Memoria de Cristo", 1993) [Submitted by Karl]

17. Adramelech - "Heroes in Godly Blaze" (from "Psychostasia", 1996) [Submitted by Karl]

18. Flourishing - "Summary" (from "The Sum of All Fossils", 2011)

19. Wombbath - "Malevolent" (from "Beyond the Abyss", 2025) [Submitted by Vinny]

20. Vacuous - "Stress Positions" (from "In His Blood", 2025) [Submitted by Vinny]

21. Massacra - "Eternal Hate" (from "Final Holocaust", 1990) [Submitted by Karl]

22. Asinhell- "Inner Sancticide" (from "Impii Hora", 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]

23. Agoraphobic Nosebleed - "Her Despair Reeks of Alcohol" (from "Honky Reduction", 1998) [submitted by Sonny]

24. Misery Index - "Fed to the Wolves" (from "Heirs to Thievery", 2010) [submitted by Sonny]

25. Unleashed - "Land of Ice" (from "Shadows in the Deep", 1992) [Submitted by Karl]

26. Dark Throne - "Sempiternal Sepulchrality" (from "Soulside Journey", 1991) [Submitted by Karl]

27. Cancer - "Enter the Gates" (from "Inverted World", 2025) [Submitted by Vinny]

28. Oni -"Seppuku Blade" (from "Incantation Superstition", 2023)

29. Intestine Baalism - "A Place Their Gods Left Behind" (from "An Anatomy of the Beast", 1997)

I am so pleased for you that things are working out much better now, Daniel. I think the internet has now made it a little too easy for people to get sucked in and spend more time and energy on it than is perhaps good for them and those around them, so I think you have done the right thing in addressing this and taking positive action. Sometimes less is more!! Here's to your continued good health.

As for me, just grinding out the end of the school year. A bit "stuck" until I get down to Florida, but the cool thing about that is that Crowbar and Eyehategod are kicking off a summer tour starting down there, so I plan to be there for that.

I did another reorganizing of my spotify catalogue, so if anybody cares to see that, search up the same username and image I use here, and then you can make fun of how many important bands I'm missing and my classification system lol. 

Far as here, I plan to polish off another challenge list soon, and then I'll have done 6 and try to reapply for a 4th clan tag. 

I dunno man. Disassociating a lot these days.

God Luck and Good Speed Ya'll.

I always hate that period when you are working out notice on a job. It just seems so pointless turning up everyday when you know it is just about over and especially if you have been treated shabbily. Still, that Florida sun and Crowbar alongside Eyehategod definitely sounds like something to look forward to!

I really hope things start looking up for you soon, Zach.

Thanks to you all for your good wishes. It has just left her feeling a bit frail, but I am sure she will be OK again soon as she is made of stern stuff. 

Put this on today during a rain break in between jobs, thinking I would get it out of the way, but it turns out that it is actually very good and is interesting enough to deserve a proper hearing, so it seems like I will have to spend a bit more time with it. I am only halfway through as I type this, but it already has my attention. I hope to eventually get round to a full review, but nice choice Andi, I am enjoying it very much. I also didn't even realise it was christian metal until I had a quick peek at your review.

Sorry I haven't been very active over the past few weeks, guys, but unfortunately my wife had a very nasty fall and broke a couple of ribs a few weeks ago. As she is in her early seventies it set her back quite a bit and a lot of my tme has been taken up doing chores and looking after her as she was in a very bad way for a while, so music reviewing / listening has been on the back burner a bit. Luckily she seems to be on the mend now, although she still can't do all she could before yet, so I am confident that I will be back spouting my bullshit on these pages again very soon!

I really loved Cryptosis debut, Bionic Swarm, it being one of my top albums of 2021. Since then, however, they seem to have dropped off my radar and I am behind on both 2023's The Silent Call EP and this, their full-length follow-up to Bionic Swarm. First impressions are that this is a much less fevered and more progressive album. The debut, despite the science fiction premise, turned in some pretty brutal riffs and blistering tempos for the most part, where this feels to be a more sophisticated affair in the main. Don't get me wrong, this still delivers some great riffing and has some breakneck pacing too, which is obvious as early as the first track proper, "Faceless Matter", but the increasing emphasis on atmospherics such as synths and jangling tremolo embellishments lends it a more expansive aura, rather than the tight, jet-fuelled blowtorch attack of the debut. With vocalist Laurens Houvast favouring a more black metal style of delivery this time around, alongside the atmospherics, it leads me to ponder whether the band were aiming for a kind of thrash metal Emperor sound, a question worthy of consideration I think.

Subsequent listens, when the atmospherics had had time to sit with me and so not stand out so much, it was more than evident that the tightly focussed core of the band's sound is still present and correct, delivering supercharged riffs and blistering drumming that drives the tracks forward at a hyperkinetic tempo. This time round, though, Cryptosis are unafraid to slow down and allow the listener time to catch up, take stock and appreciate exactly what is going on around them. Static Horizon, for example, kicks off at a fair old lick, with absolutely loads going on: a melodic and memorable main riff, a prominent bassline doing all sorts of interesting things and jangling leads, keyboards and choral effects providing a thick atmosphere. Then for the last minute the pacing slows and the keys provide a serene calm eye in which the listener can process the previous four minutes.

Assuredly this is still a technical / progressive thrash metal release, but the vocals and jangling tremolo leads give it a decidedly frosty atmosphere that more than dips its toes into black metal waters. I am undecided at the moment whether this difference in atmospherics makes this a better album than Bionic Swarm or not. Or it could be that they are equally great, just... different. Everything I loved about the debut is still here, but it has been refined by an increase in atmospherics and a slight shift in songwriting aspirations. I haven't yet decided if that has blunted its effect or enhanced it, so for now I must sit on the fence with this one, although it is still pretty good, no matter what - I'm just not sure how good.

4/5

I have always loved the early works of Carcass, with Symphonies of Sickness being my favourite, sitting as it does in a sweet spot between the grind of the debut and the more conventional death metal approach of Necroticism. However, I have never been much of a fan of Heartwork. In truth I have only heard it a couple of times and not in a while, so I am going to go into it once more with a clean slate.

Well, initial (new) impressions are that Heartwork is more brutal than I remember it being. Sure, Carcass introduced more melody into their death metal, but whereas previously that had overshadowed the album for me, it is now abundantly clear that the melodic aspect is relative and Carcass being Carcass this still has the ability to give you a damn good beating round the head, albeit in a more refined and elegant manner!

One big change on Heartwork is that vocal duties are solely performed by Jeff Walker. Although this gives the album a greater consistency of sound, I actually miss the three vocalists approach, it providing some interesting contrasts. I guess that as the songs themselves varied more here than previously the band felt the use of several different vocal styles may become a bit too much. The songwriting has obviously become a bit more refined, but guitarists Steer and Amott can still summon powerful riffs, even without the blastbeats and searing tempos of yesteryear. The soloing is one of the areas where Heartwork really grabs my attention with both guitarists absolutely nailing it and shredding the hell out of it, sounding more like Tipton and Downing or Smith and Murray than King and Hanneman. Ken Owen is on fine form behind the kit and without having to provide a constant stream of blastbeats he is allowed to exhibit a more creative approach to his timekeeping duties. That Heartwork sounds so tightly performed whilst being more open and expansive than previous Carcass releases is testament to the development of the band and their technical expertise.

In summary, I have got to admit to having been wrong about Heartwork all these years. OK, so Symphonies of Sickness still tops my list of Carcass releases, but this is an accomplished piece of work indeed and is heading towards becoming one of my favourite melodic death metal releases. That an album can still sound so damn heavy and brutal whilst also being melodic and refined is a brilliant musical trick and a fantastic indictment of all four members' musical abilities. I have rarely been happier to say "I was wrong".

4/5 (up from 3/5)

I appreciate the respect, Vinny, but I also understand that my view of this probably isn't going to be typical. It has special meaning for me, as does anyone's truly special records, because of a specific time and set of circumstances that give it an emotional resonance that nobody else would attach to it. So if that means your honest opinion is to give it a slating then I wouldn't be even remotely offended or upset.

I may be wrong and this may be the fading fancy of an aging metalhead who looks nostalgically upon the comradeship of bygone days, but I suspect that sort of emotional attachment has been almost eradicated by streaming and online interaction. The general quick turnover of music and the fragmentation of music as a social glue between groups of friends doesn't really allow for it. Attachment to particular records is probably more to do with whether the music especially resonates with the listener on a personal level rather than from  the human relationships it brings into focus.I

Playing a tape of something like Give 'Em Hell on a welsh hillside with a close group of mates, drinking, smoking and generally having a brilliant, stress-free time after a week of working shitty jobs, gave said music a resonance I have never really felt replicated in the internet era where the sheer quantity of music consumed is staggering. If this is still happening out there, with whatever music and in whatever way, then I for one am glad, but fear it is not the typical experience for most music fans anymore and that is much sadder.

Sorry I seem to have gone off on one a bit there...

Nema, maybe, but I love the Yggdrasil demo and would definitely take that over Frost. I also think the follow-up to Frost, Eld, is the great underrated Enslaved album.

I probably need a revisit of Frost as it has never sat too comfortably with me. Even though it was the first Enslaved album I heard, for me it has always been the weakest of their early efforts.

This is a really meaningful album for me for several reasons. I will try to explain why with my review:

I have a deep connection to this record, going back to the early Eighties when it was gifted to me out of the blue. I had never heard Witchfynde before, but was enthralled by it from the very first playthrough and it still gets regular spins to this very day. At least as many as the very best albums from those NWOBHM years, such as Killers, Lightning to the Nations and Bomber, records alongside which this stands proudly in my collection.

Witchfynde actually show a couple of sides to themselves on Give 'Em Hell, one a fairly straight-up hard rocking version of late-70's / early -80's heavy metal as exemplified by the title cut. The other side to the band is a progressive version of heavy metal that is more adventurous and places as much emphasis on atmospherics as much as on ripping out killer riffs, with the almost nine-minutes of "Unto the Ages of the Ages" being the albums marginal highlight for me. This side of the band is the one that I find most interesting and it is the three tracks written in this vein, "The Divine Victim", "Leaving Nadir" and the previously mentioned "Unto the Ages of the Ages" that made the band stand out for me all those many years ago and which keep dragging me back. I guess with all the water under the bridge that has seen so much experimentation and progressiveness seep into modern metal, someone listening to Give 'Em Hell today for the first time would undoubtedly be little impressed, but this was an album that stood out to me at the time for it's adventurousness.

The tracks that exhibit the more conventional and rockier side of the band here are somewhat variable in quality with "Ready to Roll" and the title track being much superior to the somewhat lacklustre "Gettin' Heavy" and "Pay Now - Love Later", a track whose fate is sealed even more so by following the epic "Unto the Ages of the Ages". which should have closed out the album in my book and which makes the actual closer sound a bit puerile in comparison. That said the two earlier-mentioned tracks are very good examples of early NWOBHM headbangers with nice catchy riffs and fairly simplistic lyrics, great for a good old drunken singalong, something I was always up for back in the day!

The production on Give 'Em Hell is actually slightly muddy which gives it a sort of doom metal feeling that serves it quite well I feel, particularly on the slower sections, the opening riff of "The Divine Victim", for example, coming off like a riff from an early Trouble or Saint Vitus album and the track as a whole being every bit as doom metal as anything on Witchfinder General's lauded debut. Guitarist Trevor Taylor (aka Montalo) dishes out a string of nice solos that display a reasonable amount of variation but aren't showy or over-extravagant. The bass sits fairly prominently in the mix and underpins the guitar work nicely. Band founder Graham Scoresby's drumming is very good, check out Leaving Nadir for some really nice fills along with his timekeeping. Unfortunately whilst doing my due diligence for this review I found out that Graham was killed in a road accident back in February of this year - RIP.

This is undeniably not a typical NWOBHM album, with the band already having been together for seven years by the time of its release, it doesn't possess the youthful vitality and dynamism of, say, the Maiden or Angel Witch debuts from the same year, but it does have a maturity to the songwriting that sees them producing a more expansive and atmospheric record.

That cover is of course going to attract certain expectations from a modern listener, but at the time such openly satanic imagery was pretty much unheard of. This was the time of Thatcher and Reagan's neo-puritanism and here in the UK Mary Whitehouse and her gang of self-serving evangelists was down on anything which may potentially corrupt the nation's Youth, so the cover was in itself a two-fingered gesture to the "powers that be". Ironically, my second-hand vinyl copy, bought for me by my first wife around '82, has a map hand-drawn, presumably, by the album's previous owner, of an ambush plan by Stoke City fans for some poor unsuspecting sods visiting Stoke for a football match at a time when football violence was endemic here in England. That to me is far more disturbing than any picture of a goat's head and pentagram could ever be.

All-in-all I would have to claim Give 'Em Hell to be one of the most important albums ever in my journey of metal discovery. It is still one of my all-time favourites and I am having a genuine blast listening to it over and over whilst I write out this diatribe. One of the most underappreciated albums from those early NWOBHM years with a darkness of atmosphere and an ambition beyond any of their contemporaries.

5/5

It seems to me that as RYM splinters its genres down into smaller and smaller micro-genres, then the accuracy of its genre voting worsens. I much prefer the idea of reasonably broad genres with a unifying sound, but which still has variety within its scope.

I don't know about anyone else, but I really enjoy discovering more niche releases via members' lists. If I hear a release that ticks my boxes and I want to find more like it, I check out members' lists that feature it, some of which often highlight more specific genres or hybrids. For example, I remember checking out Yith ages ago and thinking, "hmm, black metal and doom metal combined is something I need more of" and lo and behold there were several lists featuring just that combination from which I found several future favourites.

So, I would much rather thall (dumbass name for a genre, nearly as dumb as screamo) remain under djent or whatever then if someone familiar with the genre were to make a list of its prime releases, everyone would be well-served.

Both of the "Exuviae of Gods" EPs are terrific, but I went with the second, even though I marginally prefer the first, as it seems to have had less attention than the earlier. Anyway, here's my review from the time of its release:

A year on from the release of the wonderful Part I, Mournful Congregation unveil the second part of The Exuviae of Gods EPs. Of course both EPs are album length for most bands, each weighing in at almost forty minutes, but that is short for this particular band. In common with Part I, Part II contains a re-recording of a track from their 1995 An Epic Dream of Desire cassette demo, this time around opener Heads Bowed being the track getting a makeover.

Whilst Mournful Congregation are absolutely practitioners of that most sorrowful of all doom metal sub-genres, funeral doom, what they do better than virtually every other band is imbue their funereal dirges with a sliver of light and hope. They definitely conjure up a sorrowful, mournful atmosphere with their music, but they always seem to be able to add a wistfulness that says, yes, death has come, but fear not, death is not the end. I am not at all a religious or even a particularly spiritual person, but there is something about Mournful Congregation's music that always makes me feel less oppressed by the thought of life's inevitable ending. Fortunately the band are also able to deliver this ray of hopefulness without ever compromising on sheer crushing weight, the reworking of Heads Bowed being a prime example, it's heaving weight being countered by the lightness of the acoustic guitar intro and outro that bookend the track.

The second and shortest track, the sub-nine minutes, The Forbidden Abysm, has more of a death doom vibe about it, being the "fastest" and heaviest track on display here and is pretty decent, although the least interesting of the three. Closer, The Paling Crest, weighing in at eighteen minutes, is the real heart of the album and the EP's standout piece. Beginning with an acoustic guitar and harmonised clean, choral-type vocal intro complete with a soaring electric lead solo, it segues into the track proper with Ben Petch's abyssal growls being accompanied by leaden chords and more of those soaring guitars, backed by a subtle application of keyboards. Around mid-point this subsides and is replaced by a light and airy, picked acoustic melody that is itself swept away as the heaviness returns, albeit with a more hopeful atmosphere permeating the hulking chords. Lyrically the band seem to back this up, with Petch intoning that "Fear of death is fear of wisdom" and "Fear of natural order is fear of nature itself, For death is merely the consequence of birth", the implication being, "So what are you worrying for?"

I am a massive fan of the sorrowful and heart-wrenching heaviness of funeral doom, but there is something very appealing about Mournful Congregation's wistful acceptance of the inevitability of death and the absolute conviction that it is nothing to be feared, which comes across not only lyrically, but also in the atmospheres they create with gorgeous, airy melodies being woven into their heavier backdrops of mournful sorrow to lend their music a positivity lacking in so much doom metal. I slightly prefer last year's Part 1 of the Exuviae of Gods EPs over this, but it is still a fine release and one I would have no reservations about recommending.

4/5

Serpent Rider - The Ichor of Chimaera (2025)

Formed in 2015 by rhythm guitarist Brandon Corsair (Drawn and Quartered, Draghkar, Azath) Serpent Rider have been in existence for a decade now and following a couple of split releases, a 2021 split with Ezra Brooks and a four-way split in 2022 which featured the two tracks from a 2019 demo, the band's debut full-length album, The Ichor of Chimaera, is finally here. The five-piece play a traditional style of heavy metal that has its roots in the 1980s and USPM bands like Manilla Road and Cirith Ungol, but with the modern sheen and vitality of latter-day acts such as Smoulder and Eternal Champion. I mention those latter two in particular, because, like them, Serpent Rider feature a female vocalist, the splendid R. Villar, and also like to tip their hat to epic doom masters like Candlemass, Solstice and Solitude Aeternus.

The Ichor of Chimaera is an album that is steeped in the traditions of metal and is clearly the product of a band that is well-versed in that world. The riffs are great, from the rip-roaring, nitro-charged gallops of opener "Steel Is the Answer" and "Tyrant's March" to slower, more hulking and ominous doomy slabs such as "The Hero's Spirit". The guitar sound is thick and powerful and the lead breaks often provide some real highlights for me, as lead guitarist Paul Gelbach unleashes some full-blooded, white-hot solos that give the tracks a real keen edge. The five-piece don't shy away from inserting the odd catchy hook here and there either, with the choruses of "Radiant" and "Tyrant's March" refusing to stop bouncing around inside your brain long after the album stops spinning.

Lyrically Serpent Rider stick to the tried and tested formula of epic metal which inhabits the fantasy worlds created by the likes of Moorcock and Robert E. Howard and there is nothing wrong with that, but it is a very safe option to be honest. The vocals, provided by R. Villar are very much suited to the material and are exceedingly well-enunciated with barely a single word being missed, even by my tinnitus-ravaged hearing. She has a very classic-sounding delivery and has a really nice tone, often reminding me in a weird way of Morris Ingram on Solstice's New Dark Age, particularly on "Tyrant's March", a track which does display hallmarks of Rich Walker's phrasing. If I had one misgiving then it would be that sometimes the vocals sound a little bit reedy when pushed up against the thickness and depth of the guitars in full flow, but this is truly a minor niggle.

Kudos must also go to the rhythm section for the sheer depth and power of the band's sound with Brian Verderber basswork and Brandon's riffing combining to devastating effect. Drummer Drake Graves provides a bit more than just time-keeping with some interesting fills and more complex beats than you may expect - the title track for example has a really interesting drum track and is worth paying particular attention to.

I would heartily recommend The Ichor of Chimaera to anyone who has any love for heavy metal in general or epic metal specifically. Well-written and consummately executed this should tick all the boxes for fans of good, old-fashioned, fist-pumping metal. Sure, it doesn't address real-world horrors or the psychological pressures of modern life, but sometimes it is OK to just have a good time and forget about all that shit and at this minute I can't think of many better ways to do it.

4/5

Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger (1994) 

Just because, why not? This epitomises black metal for me, so why listen to less? It's sunny out and I feel a whole lot less than sunny, so Transilvanian Hunger it is then.

Thanks, Karl.

Hey, Vinny. The Phrenelith track is on the current Horde playlist, so do you want to choose something else? Another track from the same album is fine.

Thanks for the prompt replies guys.

Hi Andi, my single suggestion for the June playlist:

Serpent Rider - "Radiant" (from "The Ichor of Chimaera", 2025)

Vinny, Karl, please have your submissions in for June's Horde playlist by 15th May. Thanks in advance.

Hi Ben, could you add Finnish OSDM band Coffincraft, please.

May 2025

1. Windhand - "Winter Sun" (from "Windhand", 2012) [submitted by Sonny]

2. Year of the Cobra - "Full Sails" (from "Year of the Cobra", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

3. Pentagram - "Walk The Sociopath" (from "Lightning in a Bottle", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

4. Black Bile - "L'Oratoire" (from "L'Oratoire", 2023) [submitted by Vinny]

5. Deathwhite - "Earthtomb" (from "Grey Everlasting", 2022) [submitted by Saxy]

6. Ahab - "The Isle" (from "The Boats of the Glen Carrig", 2015) [submitted by Sonny]

7. Temple Nightside - "Charnel Winds" (from "The Hecatomb", 2016) [submitted by Sonny]

8. Cough - "Mind Collapse" (from "Ritual Abuse", 2010) [submitted by Sonny]

9. Kowloon Walled City - "Sleep Debt" (from "Gambling on the Richter Scale", 2009) [submitted by Vinny]

10. Onirophagus - "Landsickness" (from "Revelations from the Void", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

11. Morast - "On Pyre" (from "Fentanyl", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

12. The Lone Madman - "Häxan" (from "Let the Night Come", 2019) [submitted by Sonny]

13. Mael Mórdha - "King of the English" (from "Damned When Dead", 2013)

14. Cradle of Filth - "When Misery Was A Stranger" (from "The Screaming of the Valkyries", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

15. -16- - "Blood Atonement Blues" (from "Guides for the Misguided", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

16. Abysmal Growls of Despair - "Nyarlathotep" (from "Lovecraftian Drone", 2014)

My picks for June Vinny:

Anthrax - "Now It's Dark" (from "State of Euphoria", 1988)

Antichrist - "Death Rays" (from "Forbidden World", 2011)

Artillery - "Death Is an Illusion" (from "My Blood", 2011)

Metallica - "No Remorse" (from "Kill' Em All, 1983)

Parkcrest - "Dwelling of the Moonlights" (from "...And That Blue Will Turn to Red", 2020)

Sacred Reich - "Crimes Against Humanity" (from "The American Way", 1990)

Vektor - "Tetrastructural Minds" (from "Outer Isolation", 2011)

In other news, I have been out working on a job for my brother for most of today (unpaid I might add) and this is the first day in fuck knows how many years where I have listened to NO metal music at all!

Great to hear that you have been given the all-clear Zach. Hopefully everything else will fall into place once the dust settles. All the best to you and yours in your new endeavours.

If you are moving to Florida then isn't it compulsory for you to join a death metal band?

I will have my suggestions ready soon, Vinny.

It is baffling to me that despite the obvious dearth of decent material in the last 35 years Metallica are still the planet's biggest metal band. I am glad I got to see them live in the 80s when they were at their best and not this pale parody of a thrash metal act because, as the great Bill Shankly meant to say, "if Metallica were playing at the bottom of my garden I would shut the curtains, put on my headphones and listen to Master of Puppets".

Metallica - 72 Seasons (2023)

Metallica - Hardwired...to Self-Destruct (2016)

Two for the price of one!!

Over the last two or three days I have been filling in the gaps in my Metallica discography knowledge and relistening to the rest for a track-rating project. In an attempt to make the venture more palatable I decided to work backwards. That way, at least I would still have the good stuff to look forward to. Anyway, I had never sat down with the last two albums, in fact I hadn't listened to anything after the complete shitshow that was St. Anger, so I went into Hardwired and 72 Seasons completely blind. In truth, neither was as awful as I had feared and both were certainly an improvement over the band's previously mentioned career nadir. Don't get me wrong, neither do they come close to rivalling their 80s output, but then again what does? There are actually some pretty decent tracks here, both the title tracks, "Lux Aeterna" from the later album and "Dream No More" and "Confusion" from Hardwired are solid efforts.

No, the insurmountable problem for me with both these albums, which was also an issue with 2008's "supposed" return to form, Death Magnetic, is the self-indulgence exhibited by the band. They have always been a band that lean towards lengthier tracks, Master of Puppets itself has three eight-minute-plus tracks, but on these two albums the musical ideas presented in no way justify the interminible runtimes. In fact Metallica now come off as little more than a heavy metal jam band and a parody of their former greatness. The ideas here in no way justify well over two-and-a-half hours of your valuable listening time. Hardwired could easily lose three tracks from the back end, in fact lose the whole second disc except "Confusion" whilst 72 Seasons would be much better if it ended at "Crown of Barbed Wire". Then remove a chorus from each of the remaining tracks and the jobs a good' un as we say round here.

Oh and someone please tell Hetfield to stop singing - his voice is shot and is at times fairly painful to listen to. Add the compression and loudness wars fallout on top of these issues and we have a couple of (very long) albums of material that is subpar for the band that gave us Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets and, if truth be told, for many lesser lights too. Metallica peers such as Testament and even Exodus have released much better albums in the same time span. Listening to both of these is like one of those sad old men with a pony tail and convertible sports car trying to recapture his long-lost youth and just coming off like some kind of weird tosser. It makes me sad rather than angry.

A generous 3/5 for each for old-times sake.

Electric Six - Fire (2003)

Whenever the weight of the world gets too much then I find myself turning to the sheer infectious stupidity of Fire to lift my spirits. It has worked its magic again today.

I haven't been able to conjure up a proper review, but here are my thoughts.

This is an album of bouncy, melodic, mainstream-baiting metal tunes from Japan and as such really isn't intended for a doom-obsessed lover of the darkness that envelops extreme metal such as myself. No surprising then that this didn't do a great deal for me and with which I found it quite hard to connect. Sounds to my jaded ears like a smoothie blended from part Evanescence, part Linkin Park and part Trivium with some electronic touches thrown in especially to irritate me. The singer sounds like he would actually have quite a nice voice given the right material, reminding me of Coheed and Cambria's Eduardo Sanchez, but his metalcore shouting isn't something I can appreciate - as perfectly illustrated by the track "Speak" which just had me thinking "shut up".

I find it quite hard to envision this gaining any popularity among older metal fans like myself who were brought up on a diet of seventies hard rock and eighties heavy metal. But I can easily hear that the younger metalheads who grew up more accustomed to a wider range of external influences such as rap, electronica and post-hardcore being incorporated into their metal may get off on this, particularly if they are drawn to a more melodic version of metal. That said, I have no idea if any true metalhead would ever get much out of the excretious ballad "1st January" which sounds like Robbie Williams at his soppiest. In fact, scrub that because Williams' "Angels" pisses all over this track.

Sorry to anyone who really digs on this, but this is the most positive summary of my feelings towards this that I could manage to summon and I am guessing that more than a single listen would have me getting increasingly abrasive in my assessment. Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say, "no, not for me" and this is one of those cases I'm afraid. I tried, I really did... [closes Spotify halfway through "Answer/Sickness"].

1/5

Here's my (new) review:

I first encountered Angel Witch over 45 years ago, supporting Motörhead on one of their '78 or '79 tours, if I remember rightly. In those early days they were a trio consisting of mainman Kevin Heybourne alongside bassist Kevin Riddles and drummer Dave Hogg, playing what would become one of the most recognizable sounds of the NWOBHM. After providing the best track on the legendary Metal for Muthas comp, they released their 1980 eponymous debut, one of my absolute favourite albums from the NWOBHM era. Unfortunately the rest of the 80s weren't kind to AW, constant personnel upheavals and a couple of lacklustre albums resulted in the band disappearing from view. Fast forward to 2012 and The 'Witch were back, releasing a new album, their first new material in quarter of a century, "As Above, So Below" which was somewhat of a return to form and a shot in the arm for any long-standing fan of the band, such as yours truly, desperate to see them succeed.

So, 2019 came around and AW finally turned in their best and heaviest album since that seminal debut. It was more focussed than "As Above, So Below" and with a production job that would have absolutely killed forty years ago. This was hi-octane heavy metal and any band of young bucks flying the flag of the traditional heavy metal sound would have been proud to have put out an album as exhilharating as this, never mind a band now well into their fifth decade. Kicking of with an anthemic fist-pumper in "Don't Turn Your Back", you can just feel the years roll away, both from the band and from the listener with a track that would have felt well at home in the band's set of almost forty years ago. The tracks on Angel of Light are generally longer than their previous material, clocking in at between five and seven minutes which allows them more space to grow than their earlier material, whilst still delivering with catchy melodies and an inate understanding of how to make traditional heavy metal sound just as heavy as some of its more extreme offspring. Angel of Light harks back to those early days of the NWOBHM for sure, yet it has a modern sound and sensibility that makes it more than just a band trading on lost glories or trying to recapture their wasted youth, lending it a relevance and vitality than many of the band's peers are incapable of summoning these many years on. There is a greater fullness to the sound of this four-piece than the original trio that recorded the debut could muster with tracks like "The Night Is Calling" or "Condemned" drawing on a marked Sabbath influence soundwise. This is also aided by a deepening of Kev's voice as the years have passed and distinctive though it still is, it is only on the more strained sections where it sounds as thin and reedy as it used to. He also shows a greater propensity for soloing than he did in the earlier days and delivers some nicely controlled and mature-sounding leads.

Overall I have to acclaim "Angel of Light" as a real success and easily the best Angel Witch have laid down since the debut, striking right to the heart of what makes traditional heavy metal so great and awakening a love in me for that sound that I had believed to be long crushed by the intensity of extreme metal. This can easily stand alongside releases from the much-lauded new bucks of traditional metal such as Smoulder or Traveler and outshines most of them in my book. The band's debut will always hold a special place for me as it was a big release within my earliest metal experiences, but the additional power this latest iteration summon when coupled with KH's knack for writing hook-filled heavy metal melodies and the more expansive songwriting finally makes this an album worthy of the band that knocked out that classic of the NWOBHM oh so very long ago.

4.5/5

Nice one Ben. My thoughts exactly. Ironic that it isn't in a metal thread though.

Maybe we should start a thread rating our top 100 raters.

Hi Ben, could you add Arkham Witch's 2022 album, "Swords Against Death" please.

As I have said elsewhere, I am quite the fan of the Seattle husband and wife team that are Year of the Cobra, them first catching my ear with their "The Black Sun" EP back in 2015. I have, however, been a bit tardy getting across their latest release, this self-titled full-length being released over a month ago now. YotC play stoner metal with a doomy vibe and a bit of a psychedelic influence. Comprising vocalist and bassist Amy Tung Barrysmith and drummer husband Jon, the pair deliver their stoned-out doomy vibes without the use of six-stringed guitars. The riffs are carried solely by Amy's basslines as are any solo embellishments.

This S/T kicks off with the lead-off single, "Full Sails" which thunders straight out of the blocks with Amy's lumbering and forceful bassline which is then joined by Jon's bludgeoning drums and a second bass riff. As Amy's vocals join the fray we find that not a distant-sounding, shrinking violet, but a strong and powerful version of the ethereal-voiced siren trope that is common within doom metal, sitting somewhere between Windhand's Dorthia Cottrell and Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick ("White Rabbit" version, not "We Built This City"). This is followed by the more uptempo "War Drop" which is a groovier and more catchy example of the band's sound with a chorus that will keep bouncing around in your head well after the track has finished, despite the ominousness that it portends. By this time you find that you aren't really noticing the lack of six-string riffing, such is the force of the basslines, which not only stands as testament to the duo themselves, but also to producer Matt Bayles who owns and operates Seattle's Red Room Studio and is a veteran producer of bands such as Isis and Mastodon and does a fantastic job here.

"Daemonium" and its uncomfortable lyrics of confrontation of a violent sex offender, is another pounding, pulsing uptempo effort which has an almost punky feel to it and carries forward the momentum generated by "War Drop" into the heart of the album. I have to confess that, despite my evident preference for doom metal, here Year of the Cobra sound much more effective on the quicker-paced material than on the slower stuff. "Alone", which follows "Daemonium", doesn't quite strike the same chord as the previous tracks and feels amost aimless compared to the succinct and driving nature of the early part of the album. "7 Years" picks up pace once more and is another fist-pumping, psych-heavy, stoner workout with a catchy chorus. "The Darkness" is possibly the most interesting track on the album, with it's crawling, serpentine opening bassline enveloping the listener and tightening its coils as Amy turns in a nicely varied vocal performance that positions her well to the top of the list of female doom metal vocalists.

I think it is fair to say that the Seattle duo, despite sitting firmly in the stoner doom camp, have, wittingly or not, picked up some influence from their home city's historical assosciation with grunge and this is nowhere more apparent than on "Sleep" which feels like a downbeat, stonerised version of an Alice in Chains or Soundgarden track. Closing out the album is its longest track, "Prayer" which is a very laid-back sort of track and, to be honest, I found it ended the album on a bit of a low-energy downer that was at odds with the majority of the material on offer and may well send the casual listener away with a slightly distorted memory of what had gone before.

I think it is fair to say that Year of the Cobra inhabit a fairly unique area of stonerdom, with a grungy, punkish attitude to stoner metal that sees them writing some exceedingly groovy and catchy material, whilst still delivering with powerful, bass-heavy thunder some seriously downtuned and fuzz-laden psyched-out trips. I have never seen them perform live, but I suspect they may be one of those bands that attract a quite diverse following. I have not completely made my mind up yet where this S/T ranks in their discography, but it is certainly their most accessible I would suggest and could well see them really start to gain a foothold in the wider world.

4/5

This isn't exactly likely to sit very high on my list of metal favourites, but I would be lying if I said I hated it. On paper this really isn't up my street at all, but there was something I found infectious and likeable in the exuberance with which these Finns delivered their catchy, industrialised alternative metal ditties. In truth, the appeal would probably fade very quickly and even on a single listen the album was a bit too long for my preference. I could definitely do without the nu-metally rap parts and would gladly wave goodbye to those, but for an album of energetic poppy metal anthems this was reasonably tolerable. Damning with faint praise maybe, but considering where my metal tastes lie, that's not bad I would suggest.

2.5/5