Vitriolic Sage – 梦路 (Review)

Vitriolic Sage - 梦路This is the third album from Vitriolic Sage, a one-man black metal band from China.

Brought to us by the artist behind the exceptional Ὁπλίτης (Hoplites), 梦路 contains 43 minutes of modern black metal. 梦路 combines elements of the Continue reading “Vitriolic Sage – 梦路 (Review)”

Xalpen – The Curse of Kw​á​nyep (Review)

Xalpen - The Curse of Kw​á​nyepXalpen are a black metal band from Chile and this is their second album.

Xalpen play old-school black metal and The Curse of Kw​á​nyep gives us 49 minutes, (53 minutes with the bonus track), of infernal darkness. Continue reading “Xalpen – The Curse of Kw​á​nyep (Review)”

Leprethere – Tarnished Passion (Review)

Leprethere - Tarnished PassionLeprethere are a death metal/mathcore band from Belarus and this is their debut album.

Tarnished Passion delivers a 34-minute smack to the face. Leprethere play a form of hybrid death metal/mathcore that’s dissonant and harsh, yet not without nuance or depth.

Continue reading “Leprethere – Tarnished Passion (Review)”

Maze of Sothoth – Extirpated Light (Review)

Maze of Sothoth - Extirpated LightThis is the second album from Italian death metallers Maze of Sothoth.

Featuring a member of Beheaded, Maze of Sothoth deliver a scathing brand of death metal on Extirpated Light. Following on from 2017’s Soul Demise, this new material is a 36-minute journey into dark realms of brutality and horror. Yep, this is the stuff right here. Continue reading “Maze of Sothoth – Extirpated Light (Review)”

Morass of Molasses – End All We Know (Review)

Morass of Molasses - End All We KnowThis is the third album from Morass of Molasses, a stoner rock/metal band from the UK.

Following on from 2019’s The Ties That Bind, End All We Know contains 38 minutes of fuzzed-out jams. Playing a stoner-inflected brand of heavy blues that benefits from metal and rock components, Morass of Molasses bring us an individual vision of a well-worn style. Continue reading “Morass of Molasses – End All We Know (Review)”

Ov Sulfur – The Burden ov Faith (Review)

Ov Sulfur - The Burden ov FaithOv Sulfur are a blackened deathcore band from the US and this is their debut album.

The Burden ov Faith is a brutal slab of deathcore that takes a blackened and symphonic approach to its blasphemous heaviness. Ov Sulfur spend 44 minutes dealing out punishment of a form that’s surprisingly rich in delivery. Continue reading “Ov Sulfur – The Burden ov Faith (Review)”

Shores of Null – The Loss of Beauty (Review)

Shores of Null - The Loss of BeautyThis is the fourth album from Italian doom metal band Shores of Null.

I thoroughly enjoyed 2020’s single track album Beyond the Shores (on Death and Dying), so knew that I wanted to catch up with The Loss of Beauty when it appeared. Unlike its predecessor, this new album is divided into individual tracks, and delivers 55 minutes of material, (or 49 minutes without the bonus tracks). Continue reading “Shores of Null – The Loss of Beauty (Review)”

Frozen Crown – Call of the North (Review)

Frozen Crown - Call of the NorthFrozen Crown are an Italian power metal band and this is their fourth album.

With promo blurb that states Call of the North is for fans of Iron Maiden, Blind Guardian, Hammerfall, Dragonforce, and Unleash the Archers, it would be churlish not to check this out. I’m glad I did. Continue reading “Frozen Crown – Call of the North (Review)”

Whore of Bethlehem – Ritual of Homicide (Review)

Whore of Bethlehem - Ritual of HomicideThis is the third album from blackened death metallers Whore of Bethlehem.

Recommended for fans of Morbid Angel, Deicide, Devangelic, and Oath of Damnation by the promo blurb, this sets an appropriately brutal scene for Ritual of Homicide. I’ll also throw in references to acts such as Belphegor, Dark Funeral, Suffocation, Krisiun, and Altars Ablaze for good measure. Continue reading “Whore of Bethlehem – Ritual of Homicide (Review)”

Ne Obliviscaris – Exul (Review)

Ne Obliviscaris - ExulNe Obliviscaris are an Australian extreme progressive metal band and this is their fourth album.

It seems like such a long time ago that 2017’s Urn came out – and it was – so it’s great to now have Ne Obliviscaris back with Exul. Containing 52 minutes of new material, Exul may just be Ne Obliviscaris’ best album yet. Continue reading “Ne Obliviscaris – Exul (Review)”