Month: August 2017

Zaraza – Spasms of Rebirth (Review)

ZarazaZaraza are a doom/sludge band from Ecuador. This is their third album.

Zaraza play experimental industrial-tinged doom/sludge metal. Slow, dreary, and utterly without hope. Continue reading “Zaraza – Spasms of Rebirth (Review)”

Agonia Black Vomit – Cosmosatanic Wisdom (Review)

Agonia Black VomitAgonia Black Vomit is an Italian one-man black metal band and this is his second album.

Ostensibly raw, occult black metal; the brains behind Agonia Black Vomit has surprised by managing to produce and album that recognisably plays the classic blackened style, but offers a lot more depth and variety than you normally find in something of this nature. Continue reading “Agonia Black Vomit – Cosmosatanic Wisdom (Review)”

Interview with First Signs of Frost

First Signs of Frost Header

2017 sees the welcome return of First Signs of Frost, back with a revamped lineup and sound. If you’re into a bit of melodic technical rock and haven’t yet checked out their new EP The Shape of Things to Come, then I point you in the direction of the embedded Bandcamp player at the bottom of this interview.

So, without further preamble, let’s get down to it… Continue reading “Interview with First Signs of Frost”

Hundred Suns – The Prestaliis (Review)

Hundred SunsHundred Suns are an emotive metal band from the US and this is their debut album.

Featuring an ex-member of Every Time I Die and the singer of Normal Jean, it was a complete no-brainer for me to listen to this as soon as I could once I was made aware of it. Thankfully,  I haven’t been disappointed with their very enjoyable brand of modern progressive/alternative metal. Continue reading “Hundred Suns – The Prestaliis (Review)”

Scardust – Sands of Time (Review)

ScardustScardust are a symphonic metal band from Israel and this is their debut album.

Scardust play sumptuous symphonic metal with some progressive elements added in to enhance proceedings.

Usually I find a lot of this kind of thing very generic and I usually lose interest quickly, but bloody Hell Scardust are an exception to this. Sands of Time is a very professional, accomplished, and well-realised release, with both catchy appeal and memorable depth. Continue reading “Scardust – Sands of Time (Review)”

Duality – Elektron (Review)

DualityDuality are a technical death metal band from Italy and this is their debut album.

Duality mix death metal with technical complexity, jazz interludes, and progressive workouts. Think a mix of Death, Obscura, and The Faceless. Continue reading “Duality – Elektron (Review)”

Pyrrhon – What Passes for Survival (Review)

PyrrhonThis is the third album from Pyrrhon, an extreme metal band from the US.

Pyrrhon are not your standard band. I first encountered them on their 2014 album The Mother of Virtues, and even then they were a distinctly atypical and genre-breaking proposition. Continue reading “Pyrrhon – What Passes for Survival (Review)”

Fleshbore – Demo 2017 (Review)

FleshboreFleshbore are a US death metal band and this is their debut demo release.

One of the things I really like about demo releases in this day and age is that they no longer have to sound like they’ve been recorded by a guy screaming into a bucket in a garage somewhere. Hail technological progress! Which is a roundabout way of saying Continue reading “Fleshbore – Demo 2017 (Review)”

Paradise Lost – Medusa (Review)

Paradise LostThis is the 15th album from UK metal band Paradise Lost.

After recently reviewing the reissue of Paradise Lost’s seminal 1997 album One Second, it’s somewhat appropriate that I now catch up with their latest album Medusa, released twenty years later. Continue reading “Paradise Lost – Medusa (Review)”