Nattehimmel are an international, (Norway/UK), black metal band and this is their debut album.
Featuring current and ex-members of Emancer, Ewigkeit, Green Carnation, In the Woods…, Old Forest, and The Meads of Asphodel, Mourningstar is a 45-minute journey into 90s black metal that’s nostalgic, yet still relevant, and has a few detours too. Continue reading “Nattehimmel – Mourningstar (Review)”
This is the debut album from US black metal band Mnajdra.
From out of nowhere comes Mnajdra, a 44-minute slice of underworld darkness. This is thick, unfriendly black metal that has subsumed elements of doom and sludge into itself to better portray the utter bleakness and horror of existence. Continue reading “Mnajdra – Mnajdra (Review)”
This is the debut album from solo Irish black metal band Verzauber.
Containing a colossal 80 minutes of material, Frankincense & Vitriol is an extended undertaking, with epic-length songs that are full of immersive content. Verzauber’s primary style is that of raw atmospheric black metal, and within and alongside this a few different influences can be felt, resulting in a well-textured and detailed work. Continue reading “Verzauber – Frankincense & Vitriol (Review)”
This is the second album from US heavy metal band Gatekeeper.
Gatekeeper play epic heavy metal, and they do this with passion and skill. From Western Shores contains 49 minutes of classic-feeling material from a band that clearly know what they’re doing with this old-school style. Continue reading “Gatekeeper – From Western Shores (Review)”
They Watch Us from the Moon are a doom/stoner metal band from the US and this is their debut album.
Cosmic Chronicles, Act I: The Ascension provides us with a feast of progressive stoner doom. Across 45 minutes – five meaty songs – They Watch Us from the Moon impress with their charismatic take on a notoriously bland style. Spoiler alert: bland, this is not. Continue reading “They Watch Us from the Moon – Cosmic Chronicles, Act I: The Ascension (Review)”
This is the debut album from Swedish metal band Curse of Cain.
Now here’s an interesting and unexpected release. Curse of Cain‘s 42 minutes weaves a compelling post-apocalyptic story that cooks together a bunch of different ingredients that probably shouldn’t work, but actually does. The end result is tasty and satisfying. Continue reading “Curse of Cain – Curse of Cain (Review)”
This is the tenth album from veteran US death metal band Cattle Decapitation.
Following on from 2015’s The Anthropocene Extinction and 2019’s Death Atlas, the mighty Cattle Decapitation return with 53 minutes of new material on Terrasite. Continue reading “Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite (Review)”
This is the debut album from Canadian experimental metal band Vvon Dogma I.
The Kvlt of Glitch contains 45 minutes of modern music that combines aspects of progressive, technical, avant-garde, industrial, and nu-metal. Elements of djent, electronica, ambient, and orchestral sounds enrich the music too, making for a very textured, unusual, and multifaceted release. Continue reading “Vvon Dogma I – The Kvlt of Glitch (Review)”
Unearth are a metalcore band form the US and this is their eighth album.
Following on from 2018’s Extinction(s), Unearth continue to deliver the metalcore goods. Their tried-and-tested brand of melodic death metal-meets-thrash-meets-hardcore is on fine fiery form, and The Wretched; The Ruinous is a very enjoyable 37-minute slab of old-school metalcore heaviness. Continue reading “Unearth – The Wretched; The Ruinous (Review)”
Hellish Form are a doom/sludge band from the US and this is their second album.
Embrace the atmospheric nightmare sludge of Hellish Form. If you do, you won’t regret it. Featuring members of Body Void, Elder Devil, and Keeper, Deathless contains 48 minutes of the good stuff. If by good stuff you mean a compelling mood-focused mix of funeral doom, sludge, and drone, of course. Continue reading “Hellish Form – Deathless (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 