Sworn are a Norwegian black metal band and this is their fifth album.
Sworn are one of the best melodic black metal bands active right now. Coming off a genuinely top tier previous album, (2023’s A Journey Told Through Fire), and with a strong back catalogue overall, any new Sworn material is going to be hotly anticipated. Enter the 44-minute Null Crowned the Infinite. Continue reading “Sworn – Null Crowned the Infinite (Review)”
This is the third album from Chat Pile, a noise/sludge rock band from the US.
Chat Pile understandably made a stir with their debut album God’s Country, so Who Loves the Sun is a most welcome release. This time the band have gifted us with a 10-track, 44-minute record that’s much anticipated by many who thought very highly of their last two records. Continue reading “Chat Pile – Who Loves the Sun (Review)”
Russian Circles are an instrumental post-rock/metal band from the US. This is their ninth album.
Russian Circles can do no wrong. Sorry, but them’s the rules. More seriously, coming off the back of 2022’s fantastic Gnostic, Nine has big shoes to fill, but fill them it does. Across 39 minutes of new material, Russian Circles showcase their considerable talents in no uncertain terms. Continue reading “Russian Circles – Nine (Review)”
Epicardiectomy are a death metal band from Czechia and this is their fourth album.
Dismal Landscapes of Voluptuous Pustular Cadaverosis offers up a feast of gruesome death metal brutality. Epicardiectomy are here to give you a big face full of SLAM, and they’re not interested in your cries for mercy. Across 37 minutes you’ll be horribly abused and violated, and you’ll love it. At least, you will if you’re a fan of brutal slamming death metal of the foulest sort. Continue reading “Epicardiectomy – Dismal Landscapes of Voluptuous Pustular Cadaverosis (Review)”
This is the third album from UK doom/sludge band Kulk.
Now here’s an intriguing release. On the surface of it, Choosing to Die is a 26-minute doomsludge album ostensibly in the vein of many others. Look more closely though, and you’ll find a record far broader in scope and ambition. Kulk take a style that’s been done to death and infuse it with fresh vitality. Continue reading “Kulk – Choosing to Die (Review)”
This is the eighth album by French death metal band Gorod.
After their very strong 2023 album The Orb, the return of Gorod is to be celebrated. The Ember Gone delivers 44 minutes of the band’s charismatic take on progressive and technical death metal, yet with a different spin. This time, the music places a much greater emphasis on the band’s progressive side. Continue reading “Gorod – The Ember Gone (Review)”
Fen are a UK black metal band and this is their eighth album.
Following on from 2023’s Monuments to Absence, Fen have now returned with 47 minutes of new material in the form of Elemental Part One: Mourning Earth. As the name might suggest, this is the first part of two. Continue reading “Fen – Elemental Part One: Mourning Earth (Review)”
This is the third album from US grinders Deathgrave.
Here we have 32 minutes of deathgrind, shot through with elements of thrash, mathcore, and doom. Deathgrave smash it all together into ten nasty tracks that are hideously good fun. Continue reading “Deathgrave – Hell Is Evil (Review)”
This is the latest EP from Russian black/death metal band Thanatomass.
Following on from 2023’s Hades, Thanatomass have now returned with the three-track EP The Rabid Dead. Across 20 minutes, Thanatomass deliver a scorching display of corrosive black/death nastiness. Continue reading “Thanatomass – The Rabid Dead (Review)”
This is the third album from Spanish doom metal band Todomal.
Graveyards of Joy brings us 43 minutes of compelling material. Todomal’s style can be described as doom metal mixed with progressive rock stylings and atmospheric depth. Atmospheric doom, in essence. The promo blurb names Pink Floyd, Katatonia, Candlemass, and Anathema, which sets the scene nicely, (you could also throw in Devin Townsend, Green Carnation, and Wolverine as touchpoints too). Continue reading “Todomal – Graveyards of Joy (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 