Sonny's Forum Threads

I have been spinning this a few times this week and I am yet to make it through a full sitting in one go as I keep putting it on when I climb into bed and then fall asleep (more of a reflection on how quickly I drift off when I hit the hay as opposed to any scourge on the entertainment value of the record).  What I do like about it is how it captures the violence of black metal and yet still is able to shroud it in that atmospheric hue that we have all come to know and expect of Wintherr (which differs from how Sonny hears it - which is what makes the reviews here so interesting for me, how different people perceive records and hear different things is fascinating to me).

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).

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+)

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi

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)

I thought I would pay tribute to former At the Gates frontman Tomas Lindberg who passed away in September during this month's playlist. The first four tracks all feature Tomas on vocals with various assorted projects from several periods of his career. I must admit that , as someone who is not a massive fan of the Gothenburg scene, that I am not too familiar with his career, but I have tried to provide suitable tribute to a man who was an undeniably important figure in swedish death metal.

Also, as Karl has chosen not to contribute any suggestions this month, I, along with Vinny, have had to do a lot of heavy lifting this month. I have tried to cover all the bases under the Horde umbrella, but my knowledge of some of the sub-genres is limited, so forgive me if it has turned out a bit lame.

Great album. As I said in my own review, I think the cleaner, modern production job allows the listener to really get under the hood of war metal, better than the muddy and often messy production of the genre's earlier classics. ASM's best to date.

OK, so my spare room has started to look like a bit of a bomb site lately as I just haven't got enough space for my collection:

Luckily, retirement means that now I can combine my love of metal with a practical hobby, in this case woodworking and I am coming up with a solution to my space problem!

Here is the new set of shelves I have been working on that just needs some finishing work now and then I can install them:

Anybody else got a collection they would like to share with us? For that matter, are there any hobbyists with creations to share too?

I'm well across this release & have been meaning to give it a revisit & rating at some point.

Making the most of my day working from home, as well as getting through The Fallen playlist, I also ploughed on through The North one as well.

A bit more of a challenging listen for me this one once Sühnopfer kicked in and then Waidelotte too.  I actually sat through the Deafhaven track without skipping it, but it was not my most comfortable moment.

Thankfully the likes of Gorgoroth, Primordial, Krallice, Emperor and Satyricon kept me focused.

I got through this today whilst working from home.  Strong list this month, one of my favourite ones of recent months.

Highlights were, Thou, Yob, Alunah, Black Sheep Wall, Monolord and Worm.

I am still on the fence with the new Paradise Lost tracks and could not get my head around the vocals on Mourning Dawn.  But otherwise had a good ole time listening through this month.

This issue has raised its head on a new list today, to the point where it has rendered the list unusable with multiple duplicate entries. The final entry was triplicated and there were 7 other entries duplicated out of only 50 entries. Deleting and re-adding didn't work, so in the end I have just deleted it altogether.

In saying that, I don't believe that metal is less conducive to absolute garbage than other genres. In fact, the bottom end of my ratings database if littered with metal filth, most of it being far worse than Justin Bieber. 

Me as well.   I've got quite a few metal albums ranked at 0/100, including Attila's Fallacy and the two Thrash Queen albums.  Metal's some incredible stuff, but sometimes somebody puts out something that only manages to be an embarrassment to it's genre.  Hell, that's the only reason to check out Psycho Synner or Keydragon.

Yeah, genre fatigue can be a very real thing sometimes. I have had a similar crisis of faith with traditional doom metal, where every album begins to sound the same after a while with all the newer acts just trying to rip-off the classics in the hope that some of the magic rubs off on them, but it rarely does. I am not one of those people who constantly needs bands to push the boundaries, but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. One of the reasons I am so enthused about Darkthrone's recent doomy efforts is that they are producing something I am eminently familiar with, but in an uncompromised and genuine way that sets them apart from the crowd who are climbing over the legacy of better acts and each other in an attempt to get noticed. 

The automated bots don't succeed in actually creating an account here as it would have to select clans during the process. We've only ever had a small amount of successful fake users created and I'm convinced it's done manually (as in a person actually bothered the manually create the account for the purpose). Anyway, I've deleted the user and review. It just takes a bit to disappear off the front page.

Thanks Ben. Once more your dedication is admirable.

I agree with the sentiment that personal context is massively important to how we as individuals perceive a release, which is why I will always take Blizzard of Ozz over Diary of a Madman. Blizzard was massively important to me at the time as an indication that Ozzy was going to be OK after leaving Sabbath, whereas Diary was just another album amongst a plethora of stuff coming out during the NWOBHM that felt fresher and more exciting than what the old guard could muster.

Next Horde playlist will be October, so suggestions by 15th September please.

Fitting tribute Sonny

I tend to agree with you Vinny. I've never been much of a fan of "Noregs vaapen" & don't think any of Taake's subsequent full-lengths are a match for their first three full-lengths to be honest.

I think you'll find that if you've already rated a release & then add a review to it then it'll maintain the original date & won't be pushed onto the main page. Could that be the case here Rex? To get around that you need to delete your rating before posting your review.

Ah.  Okay.

Really nice playlist. I've listened through this a few times mainly while working, so can't really do a song by song review. I only knew just overe half of it, so was great to hear some new bands. I've got to say I really enjoy the playlist aspect of the site - I've already listened to one from the Horde and the Revolution clans.

The one that really jumped out at me was Mares of Thrace - "The Fifth Stage: Depression" (from "The Loss", 2025) and the album was promptly added onto my to listen to list. I loved the clanging drums and vocals on this one. It appealed to my love of post-hardcore and noise rock and I guess the sound makes sense as I noticed that Thérèse Lanz was briefly a member of KEN mode. Great stuff. 

Yeah, that is a great track. I am glad to see the band finally gaining some traction.

So as we drag ourselves out, blinking blindly, into the summer sun it has rolled around to my turn once more to nominate the monthly feature for The Fallen. This time around I am going to go with those tripped-out pachyderms from Greece, Acid Mammoth and their 2021 album "Caravan". I would love to hear what you think of it either below or in review format - don't be shy now!

https://metal.academy/releases/26626

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Sw9mEcyXo1pGyFHR3znLT

1. Bathory - "Enter the Eternal Fire" (from "Under the Sign of the Black Mark", 1987) [submitted by Sonny]

2. Norrhem - "Teräsmyrskyssä" (from "Aurinko ja teräs", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

3. Enthroned - "Deny the Holy Book of Lies" (from "Prophecies of Pagan Fire", 1995) [submitted by Karl]

4. Trespasser - "To the Barricades!" (from "Чому не вийшло?", 2018) [submitted by Sonny]

5. Immortal - "Storming Through Red Clouds and Holocaustwinds" (from "Pure Holocaust", 1993) [submitted by Karl]

6. Varathron - "Unholy Funeral" (from "His Majesty at the Swamp", 1993) [submitted by Karl]

7. Enslaved - "Lifandi liv undir hamri" (from "Vikingligr veldi", 1994) [submitted by Sonny]

8. Regnum Noricum - "Aminata Muscaria" (from "Lost Legacy", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

9. Groza - "Dysthymian Dreams" (from "Nadir", 2024) [submitted by Saxy]

10. Shylmagoghnar - "A New Dawn" (from "Emergence", 2014) [submitted by Andi]

11. Häxkapell - "Metamorfos" (from "Om jordens blod och urgravens grepp", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

12. Mystifier - "The Baphometic Goat of Knights Templar in the 12th Century" (from "Göetia", 1993) [submitted by Karl]

13. Niden Div. 187 - "A View in the Mirror Black" (from "Impergium", 1997) [submitted by Karl]

14. Lycopolis - "Lord of the Necropolis" (from "The Procession", 2021) [submitted by Sonny]

15. Mortuary Drape - "Evil Death" (from "Secret Sudaria", 1997) [submitted by Karl]

16. Void of Hope - "The Hollow Hymn" (from "Proof of Existence", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

17. Deathspell Omega - "Wings of Predation" (from "Paracletus", 2010) [submitted by Sonny]

18. Summoning - "Beyond Bloodred Horizons" (from "Lugburz", 1995) [submitted by Karl]

19. Malokarpatan - "Ve starém mlyne čerti po nocách mariáš hrávajú" (from "Nordkarpatenland", 2017) [submitted by Sonny]

20. Moonsorrow - "Pimeä" (from "Verisäkeet", 2005)

Next playlist due September 2025

Ripper are yet another of the superb thrash acts hailing from the Santiago / Valpairiso area of Chile, forming in 2007 and still going strong. That said, the lineup that recorded 2016's Experiment of Existence is very different to today's with only band founder, guitarist and vocalist, Patricio Spalinger, remaining. The entire album was written by bassist Pablo Cortés who departed in 2019 and is now to be found in death metal acts, Suppression and Ancient Crypts. As is fairly typical for the chilean thrash scene, Experiment of Existence is very tightly performed and especially aggressive deaththrash that captures the essence of something like Seven Churches, but with more ambitious songwriting and a greater emphasis on technical skill.

One thing you may have come to expect when you spin a chilean thrash album is that you are gonna get some killer thrash riffs along with electrifying soloing thrills and Experiment of Existence certainly doesn't disappoint with Ripper delivering in spades. One particular area where the chileans excel though is in the rhythm department and, again, Ripper tick that box too. Drummer Nicolás Villanueva, who was also sticksman for another favourite of mine, Parkcrest, is an excellent thrash drummer with a powerful and busy style that never misses a beat and his timekeeping drives the tracks at considerable velocity throughout. As I mentioned earlier, bassist Pablo Cortés wrote the album and this may be one of the reasons for the prominence of his driving and fairly complex basslines although, in truth, a prominent bass presence in the mix is yet another telltale sign of the modern chilean thrash scene. Patricio Spalinger's vocals are are of a vemomously ascerbic style that sounds like it takes a lot from Chuck Schuldiner's influence.

So, basically, Ripper have reached back to one of the most interesting times in metal's development as thrash was inexorably metamorphosing into death metal and given it a modern makeover with generally better production values and technical competence whilst never losing sight of what made those times so exciting in the first place. The tightness of the performance is a testament to the four guys' ability and you will be hard-pressed to find a metaphorical musical hair out of place here. Experiment of Existence is a triumph of high velocity, aggressive and muscular thrash metal that proves that thrash didn't die in the 90's - it just moved south!

4.5/5

[Apologies as it appears that this isn't on Spotify. I caught up with it on Bandcamp and have ordered a CD from Discogs so I don't have to bend over backwards next time I want to give it a spin.]

My death metal band Neuropath was originally called Coprophagia which is the condition you have if you eat feces.

It would appear that I’ve rated every one of the releases with over twenty ratings which is perhaps more of an indication that I really should get a life more than anything else.

Do any of us really have lives?

Not being Lynchian here, we're music nerds.

This month it falls to me to nominate the feature for The Horde and I have gone with a recent discovery which is the 2011 debut album, "Harsh Realities", from Finnish grindcore crew Death Toll 80k. Twenty-three tracks in 25 minutes gives you an idea of what to expect.

If you do check it out then we would love to hear your thoughts, either down below or as a review (or both!)

https://metal.academy/releases/12145

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi

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)

Finally got round to a review of this:

I already expressed my love for 2018's The Incubus of Karma by Mournful Congregation in my earlier review on Metal Academy, so it was with a hopeful spring in my step that I ventured into this month’s feature release. It is fair to say that my previous positive experience was instantly replicated as I started to listen to The Exuviae of Gods: Part II. This is instantly recognizable as funeral doom, of course. However, there’s a shrouded light implicit in the songs of Mournful Congregation that at first glance was unexpected the last time around and I am pleased to say is still present now. All the oppressive, crushing elements are lined up here on this macabre and morose parade. The deathly plod you would expect from a funeral doom release continues to trudge at an agonisingly slow pace towards the inevitable end. Still, I cannot shake that flicker of sharp light that Is burning at the centre of all that murk.

There is an odd sense of comfort that I take from good funeral doom, and this release has made for great bedtime listening to drag me off into the land of nod on a few occasions now. Whilst it is a little too short to truly encapsulate many of the great things that I heard in 2018’s offering, in a way that is okay as there is still a distinct sense of fulfilment from the thirty-nine minutes that the three songs run over. The harrowing and punishing repetition never become arduous or boring, indeed it seems to help tracks grow in stature as it repeats. I believe this is successful because once again Mournful Congregation display a real penchant for songwriting of the highest quality. Just as with my comment on The Incubus of Karma, The Exuviae of Gods: Part II continues to grow those strong roots of songwriting prowess. These tacks aren’t just long, they are nurtured, they are grown, cultivated into their optimal form.

The melancholic melodies of the guitar on ‘The Forbidden Abysm’ genuinely moved me to the point of welling up tears in my eyes. It is such a sudden burst of despondency that it caught my completely off-guard. There is a limitless patience to how the drums are played on this track. It would have been easy to lose them in the mix against the backdrop of the relentless wall of riffs and dense atmospheres present here, yet there is no loss of power to the work Tim Call puts in. Some of the picked string work is exquisite, with the intro to the final track 'The Paling Crest' being of note. It is this sense of pacing and build that keeps the release interesting for the whole duration. There is little in the way of criticism, other than to say it needs perhaps a little more bite to really keep things entertaining. However, once again, Mournful Congregation cement themselves as true masters of funeral doom, with a knack for songwriting that few I have experienced can touch. My only regret is not having listened to Part I.

4.5/5

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...

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rSh9MnfQo9HmPLo2W5MBa

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)

The next Fallen playlist will be for August, so suggestions by 15th July please (or, preferably, sooner).

I have done a couple of listens through to this and although I get the talent and the direction, it just doesn’t work for me.  For a start, the songs are too long and have far too much to say over their duration.  As a result they feel like a collection of ideas moulded (although not forcibly so) into whole songs.  I find myself losing interest pretty quickly to be honest and then I get snapped back into the room by a more beautiful or interesting moment.  I even tried the bedtime black metal trick, where I sit in bed with headphones on and listen to something in the dark, yet this still didn’t keep me present with the album.

I like my folk music now and again (in fact, increasingly so of late) but I almost just want this to be all folk or all black metal really.  As I say, clearly a talent, but not one that is resonating with me.

2/5

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

As it is my turn to nominate this month's feature for The Pit I have gone with an album I enjoyed a fair bit at the time, but which I haven't listened to in a while. That is Minneapolis thrashers Antiverse's 2018 album "Under the Regolith". Let us know what you think of it below.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Sw9mEcyXo1pGyFHR3znLT?si=e1f1eac0cfee4656

1. Satyricon - "Du som hater gud" (from "Nemesis Divina", 1996) [submitted by Karl]

2. Desaster - "In the Ban of Satan's Sorcery" (from "Hellfire's Dominion", 1998) [submitted by Sonny]

3. Kvist - "Stupet" (from "For kunsten maa vi evig vike", 1996) [submitted by Vinny]

4. Emperor - "Night of the Graveless Souls" (from "Emperor", 1993) [submitted by Karl]

5. Satanic Warmaster - "Harken the Bells of Damnation" (from "Exultation of Cruelty", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

6. Dawn - "Sorrow Flew on Black Wings" (from "Sorgh på svarte vingar fløgh", 1996) [submitted by Karl]

7. Primordial - "The Mouth of Judas" (from "Redemption at the Puritan's Hand, 2011) [submitted by Sonny]

8. Oubliette - "Desolate Path" (from "Eternity Whispers", 2024) [submitted by Saxy S]

9. Stormlord - "Under the Samnites' Spears" (from At the Gates of Utopia, 2001) [submitted by Andi]

10. Black Witchery - "Barbarism Domination" (from "Inferno of Sacred Destruction", 2010) [submitted by Sonny]

11. Revenge - "Revelation Emaciated (Chalice Abominate)" (from "Violation.Strife.Abominate", 2025) [submitted by Sonny]

12. Ungfell - "Im Ruusch" (from "De Ghörnt", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

13. Sorcier des Glaces - "The Winter Nightsky" (from "Snowland", 1998) [submitted by Karl]

14. Saor - "Glen of Sorrow" (from "Amidst the Ruins", 2025)

15. møl - "Jord" (from "Jord", 2018)

16. Majestic Mass - "Sanguine Dreams of Lust" (from "Savage Empire of Death", 2018)

17. Ieschure - "Cold Stars of Eternity" (from "Cold Stars of Eternity" EP, 2020) [submitted by Sonny]

18. Inferi (ARG) - "Marked with Our Ancestors Blood" (from "The Awakening of the Black Hordes", 2005) [submitted by Karl]

19. Ruïm - "Fall of Seraphs" (from "Black Royal Spiritism - I - O Sino da lgreja", 2023) [submitted by Vinny]

20. Demoncy - "Risen from the Ancient Ruins" (from "Empire of the Fallen Angel: Eternal Black Dominion", 2015) [submitted by Karl]

21. Helheim - "raunijaR" (from "raunijaR", 2015)

Doom Metal 101 #4: Trouble - S/T (Psalm 9) (1984)

Like Saint Vitus, Trouble formed in 1978, but also like their californian counterparts they didn't release their debut album until 1984. In fact Vitus' and Trouble's self-titled debuts were only released a month apart, with "Saint Vitus" issuing forth in February and "Trouble" (later retitiled "Psalm 9") following in March. Preceeding the album, the track "Assassin" was released as a single, backed by a doomy cover of Cream's "Tales of Brave Ulysses", which was decent enough, although Eric Wagner does struggle with some of the higher registers. "Assassin" was chosen as the lead single, I suspect, because of its strong resemblance to NWOBHM stalwarts Diamond Head in an attempt to garner some traction with the fans of the english heavy metallers.

Trouble are well-known for their Christian-themed lyrics but, in all honesty, I never realised this for the longest time because the lyrical content doesn't affect the darkness of the music at all. Their beliefs don't become that apparent until you actually sit down and go over the lyric sheet. The preachiness and happy-clappy demeanour of so many Christian-themed acts was something that Trouble managed to avoid, concentrating more on the music and less on converting the long-haired masses of young metalheads who comprised their prospective audience. This is a band equally at home pouring vitriol on unfeeling leaders with lyrics like "Come on people, let me hear you say, You fuckin' Bastards, you're gonna pay" as they are beseeching their lord for mercy with "I will praise thee O Lord, I will sing praise in thy name, Don't forget the cry of the humble, Have mercy on me".

Instrumentally, "Trouble" has quite a clean and well-produced sound, much more akin to Black Sabbath than the grimy grittiness of Saint Vitus' more distorted and downtuned debut. The band also employ a wider variation of pacing than is often encountered within the context of orthodox doom metal, but make no bones about it, when they want to, they are more than capable of bringing the doom. Despite their penchant for traditional metal-paced riffs, the downtuned and distorted guitar sound often makes the material feel slower and doomier than maybe it actually is. As well as varying the pacing from track to track they are also apt to change the velocity of the riffs within a given track, such as on the opener, "The Tempter," where, after an ominous tympanic intro, the riff crawls unctiously from the speaker and Eric Wagner intones a warning from satan himself before the band change up a gear and kick into a riff Angel Witch would have been proud of as the forces of good rally themselves. This then alternates with the slow, crawling riff as The Tempter tries his powers of pursuasion on man and quickens again when The Good resist. There is even a rocking, bluesy riff accompanying the guitar solo after the second verse, typifying a diversity that more doom-centric releases may lack. That said though, when they embrace a doomier, darker side, such as on "Victim of the Insane" then they are perfectly capable of conjuring up as sinister and ominous an atmosphere as anyone.

Vocalist Eric Wagner is, of course, a legendary name within doom metal circles, although I am sure his vocal style isn't to everyone's taste. Sure, he does sound like a strangled cat occasionally, but, similarly to Scott Reagers on Saint Vitus debut, his higher-pitched style does act as an effective counter and contrast to the low-tuned guitar and bass assault of the riffs. Unconventionally pleasing and technically restricted vocals, of which Wagner's are a solid example, have long since become the norm within doom metal circles and Wagner, Reagers and company, in the spirit of Ozzy Osbourne, were a big factor in that.

I cannot claim that I hold Trouble's debut up as an absolute top-drawer traditional doom metal release as, in all honesty, it doesn't commit enough to the doom aesthetic for me, despite showing promise with the likes of "Victim of the Insane". There are also a couple of clunkers among the tracklisting, with "Revelation (Life or Death)" and the instrumental "Endtime" in particular just not sounding coherent enough within the context of the rest of the album. That said, there is enough quality elsewhere to provide a really solid listening experience and this is ultimately an album that further bridges the gap between traditional heavy metal and doom metal proper and as such deserves the time and respect of all doom metal fans.

4/5

My review is short and sweet, like the EP itself (well, maybe not so sweet!):

Morbid were a death/thrash/black metal band from Sweden who never had an official release before splitting in 1988, a couple of it's members going on to form Entombed (guitarist Ulf Cederlund and drummer Lars-Göran Petrov who was vocalist for Entombed). This demo is (in)famous for featuring legendary Mayhem vocalist Dead and features four tracks with a runtime of 17 minutes. I have loved this from the very first time I heard it, so much so that I managed to get a copy of the Reaper Records 2000 version a couple of years ago that set me back a ridiculous amount, but I felt it was worth it. It's death metal is very thrashy in execution and, mainly because of Dead's contribution, has quite a black metal sound, at least vocally. The production is very good for a demo, there is a hefty bottom end to it that contributes to the deathliness of the riffs and the playing itself is very good indeed with the band sounding like an inordinately tight outfit for a bunch of guys who had only been together a couple of years and had never put out a studio album. The songs are brilliant and easily rival the early stuff from the German thrashers on whom a lot of their material seems to be based. Similarly to the Poison demo this is probably more important to the black metal historian than the death metal antiquarian but either way it is a fantastic snapshot of a band who I wish could have produced more because if they were this good on a demo then we can only guess how fucking great they could have been had they put out a proper album or two.

“Information is not knowledge.

Knowledge is not wisdom.

Wisdom is not truth.

Truth is not beauty.

Beauty is not love.

Love is not music.

Music is THE BEST.”

― Frank Zappa

Here is my review:

Slomatics are a little-known doom metal three-piece from Belfast in Northern Ireland who formed in 2004. As well as their seven full-length albums they have featured on a slew of splits with the likes of Conan and MWWB, so have certainly been around the block a few times, despite making little impact outside of the hardcore doom metal fraternity. Estron was the band's fourth full-length, released in 2014 and, for me, still ranks as their best.

The album is a concise affair, it's seven tracks clocking in at 37 minutes, which is fairly brief for this style of doom metal. It kicks off with a great one-two punch of Troglorite and Tunnel Dragger the former of which runs straight into the latter, denying any respite from the looming, thunderous riffs. It is worth pointing out at this point that the trio has two guitarists and no bassist, yet despite this there is still a huge depth to the distorted riffs and the lack of a bassist is not readily apparent. The vocals are provided by drummer Martin Harvey and are quite thin and reedy, pushed down in the mix to give that distant, heard-on-the-wind kind of feeling that is quite popular in some corners of the doom world and of which I am quite a fan, actually. Harvey's drumming is also very good, with some busy fills and crashing cymbals aplenty, his work on "Futurian" illustrating this best. A feature that sets the band apart from most of their contemporaries is their sci-fi aesthetic which they express through the inclusion of spacey synths both within the tracks generally and in interlude, a trope that puts them more in-line with a band like Ufomammut than Monolord, despite being straight-up doomheads rather than stoners.

Side A, ie the first four tracks, continues in the relentlessly punishing mode of the two openers, providing little relief from it's menacing, booming riffs, other than a short synth-led breather during Tunnel Dragger. Side B is a bit different, featuring two longer tracks, bridged by a brief space ambient interlude called "Red Dawn", which is actually quite a soothing touch after all the sonic bombardment that had gone before it. Red Dawn's ambience leaks into the beginning of the album's longest track, the closer "The Carpenter" which I have seen touted as being about film director John Carpenter, which I would say is a good shout, because those first few minutes of the track come across very much like a John Carpenter soundtrack, which always had a very distinctive feel. Then, four minutes in, a huge, hulking riff kicks in and things get seriously heavy as the riff morph into a very close approximation to the famous riff from the track "Black Sabbath" with Harvey even begging "No, no,no..."

I love this album, I love the huge riffs, the distant-sounding vocals and the cosmic flourishes that lend it something a little different. It is eregiously heavy, yet still manages to turn in some nice melodies within the riffs that stop it becoming relentlessly monolithic. It manages to do something a little bit different whilst still sitting comfortably within the conventional doom metal template and, being quite short, it is never in danger of outstaying it's welcome.

4.5/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi

If you happen to check it out, then let me know what you think below.

1. Just Before Dawn - "Intro: Paths of Armor / To the Last Tiger" (from "An Army at Dawn", 2020) [submitted by Karl]

2. Blood Red Throne - "Revocation of Humankind" (from "Union of Flesh and Machine", 2016) [submitted by Vinny]

3. Unmerciful - "Ravenous Impulse" (from "Ravenous Impulse", 2016) [submitted by Vinny]

4. Pyre - "From the Stygian Depths" (from "Where Obscurity Sways", 2025) [submitted by Karl]

5. Phrenelith - "Stagnated Blood" (from "Ashen Womb", 2025) [submitted by Karl]

6. Darkthrone - "The Watchtower" (from "Soulside Journey", 1989) [submitted by Sonny]

7. Threnody - "The Elder" (from "As the Heavens Fall", 1993) [submitted by Karl]

8. Analepsy - "Witness of Extinction" (from "Atrocities from Beyond", 2017) [submitted by Vinny]

9. Excruciating Terror - "Don't Care Who You Are" (from "Divided We Fall", 1998) [submitted by Sonny]

10. Nuclear Death - "Place of Skulls" (from "Bride of Insect", 1990)

11. Stenched - "Mucus, Phlegm and Bile" (from "Purulence Gushing From the Coffin", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

12. Garden of Shadows - "Citadel of Dreams" (from "Oracle Moon", 2000)

13. Shadowspawn - "Sacrament of Deceit" (from "Blasphemica", 2023) [submitted by Vinny]

14. Necrophagist - "To Breathe in a Casket" (from "Onset of Putrefaction", 2004)

15. Desecresy - "Shattered Monuments" (from "Chasmic Transcendence", 2014) [submitted by Karl]

16. Gatecreeper - "Patriarchal Grip" (from "Sonoran Depravation", 2016) [submitted by Vinny]

17. Noxis - "Horns Echo Over Chorazim" (from "Violence Inherent in the System", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

18. Tormentor Tyrant - "Heavy Death Bombardment" (from "Excessive Escalation of Cruelty", 2025) [submitted by Karl]

19. Deteriorot - "Endless Hauntings of Demons and Despair" (from "In Ancient Beliefs", 2001) [submitted by Karl]

20. Upon Stone - To Seek and Follow the Call of Lions (from "Dead Mother Moon", 2024) [submitted by Saxy S]

21. Death Toll 80k - "Cycle of Misery" (from "Harsh Realities", 2011) [submitted by Sonny]

22. Nails - "Obscene Humanity" (from "Unsilent Death", 2010) [submitted by Sonny]

23. Putridity - "Repugnance Enshrined in Deformity" (from "Ignominious Atonement". 2015)

24. Waking the Cadaver - "Blood Splattered Satisfaction" (from "Peverse Recollections of a Necromangler", 2007) [submitted by Vinny]

25. Putred - "Inscripții antice" (from "Megalit al putrefacției", 2025) [submitted by Karl]

26. Obscura - "Silver Linings" (from "A Sonification", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

27. Iniquitous Deeds - "Infinitive Putrefaction" (from "Incessant Hallucinations", 2015)

28. Twilight Glimmer - "Fate of Mankind" (from "Indignation", 2013) [submitted by Vinny]

29. Infernal Conjuration - "In the Presence of Another World" (from "Infernale metallum mortis", 2019) [submitted by Karl]

30. Sepsism - "Dissection" (from "Purulent Decomposition", 1998) [submitted by Sonny]

31. Engulfed - "Occult Incantations" (from "Unearthly Litanies of Despair", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

Finished reviewing in just in time:

At first glance, Light Will Consume Us All is a nearly unremarkable album. On Metal Archives, the band is listed as doom/sludge, and the similar artists tab lists many, many other doom/sludge bands who form a similar niche that I have little interest in. There is something slightly remarkable about Chrch though, it's that they have a female singer. This is unusual for a band in this niche, does the music follow up on this?
Well, yes, and that sludge part is somewhat misleading. It takes a while before the album gets to anything resembling metal rather than just a dark ambient piece, and when it does, it's just doom. But that dark ambient is interesting, it reminds me of sludge the strongest out of the entire album, because it sounds like the clean bits from Subrosa, even though this doesn't carry over to the metal parts. It's very effective, especially once the vocalist starts kicking in. She's got a lot of the same energy Dawn Crosby did, and it really works in creating a haunting atmosphere.
At times the metal part of the equation actually makes the album worse. Not like it's a bad album because of it, but it just feels like it's there to be there. The opening track relies a lot on a more ambient sound, building up tension for the eventual metal parts. Other tracks feel like they're missing them, and while there are some nice guitar solos to compensate, those feel oddly tacked on.
Ignoring these issues, this is a surprisingly pleasant album, well worth a listen.

4.5/5

Well, this was a neat little find as I went through the feature releases this month. My usual excuse of not having the time to listen to much of the releases was left to one side by virtue of this being an EP. That twenty-one minute run time was perfect for me to perform a few smash and grab raids on Contra iglesia y estado on breaks between work calls and it even accompanied a few workouts this past week also. What kept it on such frequent rotation was the obvious passion for their art that Dekapited clearly have. As thrash metal continues to be viewed with that regurgitated/retro lensed glasses on, it is clear that this band are just out for the fun of it. High energy levels with a consistent and scathing attack make for a very entertaining experience indeed for me.

Laden with Sepultura and Sodom vibes, Contra iglesia y estado does little to reinvent the wheel, and it is stronger as a result of this in my book. I cannot point to any weak tracks on here, even though the overall rating still sitting below a five star mark does mean that I equally cannot flag this EP as being truly remarkable overall. However, what is here is powerful sounding stuff. The blows hit with a consistent level of force and are certainly not pulling any punches as they rain down on the listener. The ferocious form of Chilean thrash that we have come to know and love (well me at least) from the likes of Critical Defiance and Ripper is certainly coursing through the veins of Dekapited as well.

The appeal of this EP for me is its earthiness. It sounds like a true reflection of the band. Never tryingto be something that they are not, Dekapited here simply play the music they love and provide a fine celebration of thrash metal at its best. Short, sharp and succinct whilst being delivered with a hell of a level of grit this leaves me full of promise for further exploration of their discography. My only reservation is how they make this style of balls to the wall intense thrash metal interesting across a full length release, but I guess I will have to wait and see.

4/5

https://metal.academy/hall/570

Fuck Yes! Cheers!

Saint Vitus:

1. Mournful Cries

2. Saint Vitus (1984)

3. V

4. Die Healing

5. Born Too Late

6. Hallow's Victim

7. Thirsty and Miserable EP

8. The Walking Dead EP

9. Saint Vitus (2019)

10. C.O.D.

11. Lillie: F-65

Gorgoroth:

1. Under the Sign of Hell
2. Pentagram
3. Antichrist
4. Destroyer
5. The Last Tormentor / Bergen 1996
6. A Sorcery Written in Blood demo
7. Quantos possunt ad Satanitatem trahunt
8. True Norwegian Black Metal - Live in Grieghallen
9. Incipit Satan
10. Instinctus bestialis
11. Under the Sign of Hell 2011
12. Ad majorem Sathanas gloriam
13. Twilight of the Idols

I honestly think they managed to avoid dipping below a certain level of quality across the whole discography. I'd suggest that even the lowest placed records on the list ain't that bad, although I certainly am biased as far as this band goes - Gorgoroth were my first love when it comes to extreme metal, and I will always place them among the highest deities of my metal pantheon. I hope we're going to hear from them once more - it's been 10 years already since "Instinctus bestialis" and I wouldn't mind at all to witness yet another "Rebirth".

Edit: For every connoisseur of Infernus' unique riff attack, allow me to recommend some 2024 releases to scratch the itch a bit:

1. Förgjord (FIN) - "Perkeleen weri"

2. Sørgelig (GRE) - "Φθορά"

3. Isolert (GRE) - "Wounds of Desolation"

Alright, jumpin' on the Crazy Train.

1. Paranoid

2. Master of Reality

3. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

4. Black Sabbath

5. Heaven and Hell

6. Sabotage

7. Mob Rules

8. Vol. 4

9. Past Lives

10. Technical Ecstasy

11. Born Again

12. The Eternal Idol

13. Never Say Die

14. The Seventh Star

It's not a perfect process, but then there really isn't one. It's the one that I enjoy using and feel happiest with the results.

That's the only thing that matters.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Sw9mEcyXo1pGyFHR3znLT?si=e1f1eac0cfee4656

Tracklist:

1. Bathory - "A Fine Day To Die" (from "Blood Fire Death, 1988) [submitted by Sonny]

2. Dark Funeral – “My Dark Desires” (from “Dark Funeral” E.P., 1994) [submitted by Daniel]

3. Kampfar - "Kledd i brynje og smykket blodorm" (from "Mellom skogkleedde aaser", 1997) [submitted by Karl]

4. Novembre – “Let Me Hate” (from “Dreams d’azur”, 2002) [submitted by Daniel]

5. The Great Old Ones - "Me, the Dreamer" (from "Kadath", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

6. Keep of Kalessin - "Obliterator" (from "Reclaim", 2003)

7. Black Anvil - "On Forgotten Ways" (from "As Was", 2017) [submitted by Sonny]

8. Ragnarok - "Minner om svunne tider" (from "Nattferd", 1995) [submitted by Karl]

9. Imber Luminis - "We Are Not Free" (from "Nausea", 2017)

10. Ellende - "Ballade Auf Den Tod" (from "Todbringer", 2016) [submitted by Vinny]

11. Al-Namrood - "Kail be mekialain" (from "Wala'at", 2020)

12. Aggressa – “VooDoo Doll” (from “Nuclear Death” E.P., 1988) [submitted by Daniel]

13. Kvlthammer - "Hounds" (from "Kvlthammer", 2014)

14. Gehenna - "Morningstar" (from "First Spell", 1994) [submitted by Sonny]

15. Bestial Warlust – “At the Graveyard of God” (from “Vengeance War ‘Till Death”, 1994) [submitted by Daniel]

16. Angantyr - "De dødes valg" (from "Indsigt", 2024) [submitted by Karl]

17. Impaled Nazarene – “Steelvagina” (from “Suomi Finland perkele”, 1994) [submitted by Daniel]

18. Barshasketh - "Nitimur in vetitum" (from "Antinomian Asceticism", 2025) [submitted by Sonny]

19. The Black – “The Black Opal Eye” (from “The Priest of Satan”, 1994) [submitted by Daniel]

20. Смрт - "U raljama košave" (from "Na utrini", 2024) [submitted by Karl]

21. No Point In Living - "The Path To the End" (from "The Cold Night", 2017)

The next playlist for The North will be published at the beginning of April, so suggestions in by 15th March please.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=2dae8e2f5eab47eb

Tracklist:

1. Burn Down Eden - "Fake News for Breakfast" (from "Epiphany", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

2. Dismember – “Fleshless” (from “Indecent & Obscene”, 1993) [submitted by Daniel]

3. Nile – “The Underworld Awaits Us All” (from “The Underworld Awaits Us All”, 2024)

4. Gorguts – “The Erosion of Sanity” (from “The Erosion of Sanity”, 1993) [submitted by Daniel]

5. Siderean - "The Sacred Sea" (from "Spilling the Astral Chalice", 2024) [submitted by Karl]

6. Bolt Thrower - "Celestial Sanctuary" (from "The IVth Crusade", 1992) [submitted by Karl]

7. Coffin Curse - "Reeking Filth of Ages" (from "The Continuous Nothing", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

8. Dissection - "Retribution" (from "Storm of the Light's Bane", 1995) [submitted by Karl]

9. Revocation - "Lessons in Occult Theft" (from "Netherheaven", 2022) [submitted by Vinny]

10. Blood Incantation - "The Stargate [Tablet III]" (from "Absolute Elsewhere", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

11. Vitriol - "Flowers of Sadism" (from "Suffer & Become", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

12. Diabolic Oath - "Oracular Hexations Leeching" (from "Oracular Hexations", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

13. At the Gates - "Windows" (from "The Red in the Sky Is Ours", 1992) [submitted by Karl]

14. Avulsed – “Morgue Defilement” (from “Dead Flesh” compilation, 1993) [submitted by Daniel]

15. Mortician – “Brutally Mutilated” (from “Brutally Mutilated” single, 1990) [submitted by Daniel]

16. Exhumed – “Oozing Rectal Feast” (from “Dissecting the Caseated Omentum” demo, 1992) [submitted by Daniel]

17. Pathologist – “Progression of Putrefaction” (from “Forensic Medicine & Pathology” demo, 1992) [submitted by Daniel]

18. Eucharist - "Floating" (from "A Velvet Creation", 1993) [submitted by Karl]

19. Black Curse - "Ruinous Paths…" (from "Burning in Celestial Poison", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

20. Atomic Aggressor - "Faceless Torment" (from "Sights of Suffering", 2014) [submitted by Sonny]

21. Slaughter Lord – “Die by Power” (from “Taste of Blood” demo, 1987) [submitted by Daniel]

22. Antagonyze - "Deadly Sorrow" (from "Interpretations of the Unknown Wilderness", 2024) [submitted by Karl]

23. The Fallen Prophets - "Beneath the Veil of Flesh" (from "Beneath the Veil of Flesh", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

24. Illdisposed – “When You Scream” (from “1-800 Vindication”, 2004) [submitted by Daniel]

25. Embalmer – “Rotten Body Fluids” (from “Rotting Remains” demo, 1993) [submitted by Daniel]

26. Invocation - "Hypnosis" (from ""The Archaic Sanctuary" (Ritual Body Postures)", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

The next Horde playlist will be published at the beginning of March, so suggestions by 15th February please.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rSh9MnfQo9HmPLo2W5MBa

1. Paradise Lost - "No Forgiveness" (from "Shades of God", 1992) [submitted by Vinny]

2. Avatarium - "My Hair Is on Fire (But I'll Take Your Hand)" (from "Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead", 2025)

3. Smoulder - "The Sword Woman" (from "Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring", 2019)

4. Electric Wizard - "Legalise Drugs and Murder" (from "Legalise Drugs and Murder" single, 2012) [submitted by Sonny]

5. Impaled Nazarene – “Quasb/The Burning” (from “Suomi Finland perkele”, 1994) [submitted by Daniel]

6. Boris - "Farewell" (from "Pink", 2005)

7. Woods of Ypres - "Shards of Love" (from "Woods 4: The Green Album", 2009) [submitted by Vinny]

8. Iron Monkey - "Misanthropizer" (from "Spleen & Goad", 2024)

9. Marthe - "Victimized" (from "Further In Evil", 2023)

10. Hypocrisy – “Apocalypse” (from “The Fourth Dimension”, 1994) [submitted by Daniel]

11. World Below - "Gilgamesh" (from "Repulsion, 2006)

12. Ufomammut - "I" (from "Eve", 2010)

13. Chained To the Bottom of the Ocean - "One Last Dream" (from "Sisyphean Cruelty", 2024)

14. Orphaned Land – “My Requiem” (from “Sahara”, 1994) [submitted by Daniel]

15. Daevar - "Amber Eyes" (from "Amber Eyes", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

16. Toadliquor - "Tenderloin" (from "Feel My Hate - The Power Is the Weight - R.I.P. Cain", 1993)

17. Slimelord - "The Hissing Moor" (from "Chytridiomycosis Relinquished", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

18. Sepulcros - "Vazio" (from "Vazio", 2021)

The next Fallen playlist will be published at the beginning of May, so suggestions need to be in by 15th April