Gurthang – Ascension (Review)

Gurthang - AscensionGurthang are a Polish black metal band and this is their sixth album.

Ascension contains 57 minutes of textured black metal modelled on the second wave, but mixed with some more modern influences and enhanced with doom elements in places. Continue reading “Gurthang – Ascension (Review)”

Frantic Amber – Bellatrix (Review)

Frantic Amber - BellatrixThis is the second album from Swedish melodic death metallers Frantic Amber.

Boasting ex-members of Insision and Ice Age in their ranks, Frantic Amber play death metal that combines melody and brutality into songs that are well-written and tight. Continue reading “Frantic Amber – Bellatrix (Review)”

Killswitch Engage – Atonement (Review)

Killswitch Engage - AtonementKillswitch Engage are a metalcore band from the US and this is their eighth album.

Killswitch Engage are one of the larger, more recognisable names out there in the metal landscape, and I’m sure they need little introduction. Suffice it to say that they’re a big deal in certain circles. Continue reading “Killswitch Engage – Atonement (Review)”

Ragnell – Rebirth in Darkness (Review)

Ragnell - Rebirth in DarknessThis is the second album from Ragnell, a black/death metal band from Mexico.

This is an enjoyable mix of black and death metal, with the ratio skewed towards to the black side a bit more than the death one. Continue reading “Ragnell – Rebirth in Darkness (Review)”

Uniform & The Body – Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back (Review)

Uniform & The Body - Everything That Dies Someday Comes BackThis is the second album from Uniform & The Body, a collaboration between industrial rockers Uniform and experimental metallers The Body. Both are from the US.

I haven’t reviewed Uniform before, but I like 2018’s The Long Walk. As for The Body, you can see some examples of my appreciation for their work here, here, and here. Continue reading “Uniform & The Body – Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back (Review)”

Bound in Fear – The Hand of Violence (Review)

Bound in Fear - The Hand of ViolenceBound in Fear are a UK deathcore band and this is their debut album.

This is downtempo deathcore, which essentially means slow and heavy. Massive, thick chugging guitars crush and destroy, while the singer seems to be vomiting daemons with his absolutely monstrous growls. Continue reading “Bound in Fear – The Hand of Violence (Review)”

Shock Narcotic – I Have Seen the Future and It Doesn’t Work (Review)

Shock Narcotic - I Have Seen the Future and It Doesn't WorkThis is the debut album from Shock Narcotic, a grindcore band from the US.

Featuring current and ex-members of bands such as The Dillinger Escape Plan, Child Bite, and The Black Dahlia Murder, this is 19 minutes of nasty grindcore mixed with elements of chaotic hardcore and jagged metal. Continue reading “Shock Narcotic – I Have Seen the Future and It Doesn’t Work (Review)”

Salvaticus – Ordo Naturalis (Review)

Salvaticus - Ordo NaturalisThis is the second album from US black metallers Salvaticus.

2014 seems quite long ago, but that was when the very enjoyable Hidden Manna was released. I really, really liked that record, and it even made my end of year list for that year. Over five years later, the band have now returned with Ordo Naturalis, and it seems they have been busy. Continue reading “Salvaticus – Ordo Naturalis (Review)”

Aviana – Epicenter (Review)

Aviana - EpicenterThis is the second album from Aviana, a metalcore band from Sweden.

Aviana play modern metalcore that’s mixed with elements of 90s nu-metal and a slight contemporary progressive/djent edge. They play on the heavier end of the metalcore spectrum, and although there’s clean singing included, it’s still with a focus on heaviness overall. Continue reading “Aviana – Epicenter (Review)”