Fjords – Onirica (Review)

Fjords - OniricaFjords are a progressive metal band from the UK and this is their debut album.

Onirica is an interesting and wide-ranging album, spanning, as it it does, elements of melodic doom and death metal, (think bands such as Katatonia, Opeth, and Agalloch), as well as more modern progressive and atmospheric metal. The end result is a curious mix of old and new, wrapped up in a professional, polished package that allows the band to be displayed in their best light. Continue reading “Fjords – Onirica (Review)”

Unfathomable Ruination – Enraged and Unbound (Review)

Unfathomable Ruination - Enraged and UnboundThis is the third album from UK death metallers Unfathomable Ruination.

Enraged and Unbound is a contains a monstrous 43 minutes of brutal, technical death metal. Continue reading “Unfathomable Ruination – Enraged and Unbound (Review)”

Lord Mantis – Universal Death Church (Review)

Lord Mantis - Universal Death ChurchLord Mantis are from the US and play Blackened Sludge Metal. This is their fourth album.

2014’s Death Mask was a tortured nightmare of evil sludge, pretty much as foul as the style gets. Five years later the band have returned, infecting the world with 44 minutes of new material that’s as virulent and as nasty as ever. Continue reading “Lord Mantis – Universal Death Church (Review)”

Avatarium – The Fire I Long For (Review)

Avatarium - The Fire I Long ForThis is the fourth album from doom rockers Avatarium, who are from Sweden.

2017’s Hurricanes and Halos was a quality album that stood out from other ostensibly similar bands playing this sort of style. On The Fire I Long For, however, there’s the impression that the band have really come into their own. Continue reading “Avatarium – The Fire I Long For (Review)”

Earth and Pillars – Earth II (Review)

Earth and Pillars - Earth IIThis is the third album from Italian black metal band Earth and Pillars.

2016’s Pillars I consisted of four monolithic tracks that made a very good impression. A release full of dark delights, it was a memorable album that still holds itself very well three years later. Continue reading “Earth and Pillars – Earth II (Review)”

Drift into Black – Anthems from the Darkest Winter (Review)

Drift into Black - Anthems from the Darkest WinterThis is the second album from Drift into Black, a solo, (with guest musicians), death/doom metal act from the US.

Anthems from the Darkest Winter contains 56 minutes of material, (including a Pink Floyd cover). The music mixes death, doom, and Gothic metal together into songs that have a good balance between all three strains of heaviness. Continue reading “Drift into Black – Anthems from the Darkest Winter (Review)”

Chronoboros – The Mass Saw Acres of Chain (Review)

Chronoboros - The Mass Saw Acres of Chain

This is the second album Greek post-hardcore/sludge band Chronoboros.

Having enjoyed both Dialing up the Cutter and No Dirt or Silver Will Have Us Sated, we now turn to the latest Chronoboros release, which finds the band in good form as they plough through 35 minutes of angular, unorthodox material. Continue reading “Chronoboros – The Mass Saw Acres of Chain (Review)”

Iapetus – The Body Cosmic (Review)

Iapetus - The Body CosmicThis is the second album from Iapetus, a progressive death metal band from the US.

2017’s The Long Road Home impressed with its colossal take on atmospheric, progressive, melodic death metal. Now, in 2019, the band have returned with an even more professional delivery and production, one which features the percussive skill of the drummer of Ne Obliviscaris too. As for the music? Well, it’s simply breathtakingly good. Continue reading “Iapetus – The Body Cosmic (Review)”