The Crawling – All of This for Nothing (Review)

The Crawling - All of This for NothingThe Crawling are a death/doom band from Northern Ireland and this is their third album.

The promo blurb for this album recommends it for fans of Paradise Lost, Officium Triste, Evoken, and Sentenced, which gives a decent starting point for what sort of style The Crawling play. To this I’d also add touches of My Dying Bride and, from a Continue reading “The Crawling – All of This for Nothing (Review)”

Dusk Cult – Night Sky Revelations (Review)

Dusk Cult - Night Sky RevelationsDusk Cult are an Australian black metal band and this is their second album.

Brought to us by members of Be’lakor and Rainshadow, Night Sky Revelations contains 43 minutes of enticing black metal. Dusk Cult have impressed with their brand of blackened extremity. Continue reading “Dusk Cult – Night Sky Revelations (Review)”

Reaper Festival 2023 – Day One: Saturday – Ultha/Darkher/Coscradh/Dawn Ray’d/The Sun’s Journey Through the Night/Ruadh/Calligram/Cairns – Derby The Hairy Dog, 29/07/23 (Live Review)

Reaper Festival 2023I’ve never been to The Hairy Dog before, but it’s a great venue with a good vibe and good sound system. I don’t actually think I’ve ever been to Derby before at all, but if anything was going to entice me here, it was this year’s Reaper Festival, brought to us by the wonderful Reaper Agency UK. It was a great day overall, and I’d gladly attend such a well-organised show again. Sadly I could only make day one of the festival, which is a shame, as day two has many great bands too. Continue reading “Reaper Festival 2023 – Day One: Saturday – Ultha/Darkher/Coscradh/Dawn Ray’d/The Sun’s Journey Through the Night/Ruadh/Calligram/Cairns – Derby The Hairy Dog, 29/07/23 (Live Review)”

Lust Hag – Demo II / Promo 2023 (Review)

Lust Hag - Demo II Promo 2023Lust Hag is a one-woman black metal band from the US, and this is her latest release.

I really liked Mistress in the Mirror, so was pleased to have some more raw nastiness from this artist to digest. Apparently she is becoming quite prolific, as there’s also a Lust Hag split that I somehow missed out on that was released after Mistress in the Mirror. But fear not, as those tracks seem to have made it onto this release. Continue reading “Lust Hag – Demo II / Promo 2023 (Review)”

Lokust – Infidel (Review)

Lokust - InfidelThis is the debut album from UK metal band Lokust.

Infidel is a 52-minute metal album that uses modern, groove, and thrash metal to produce a crushing assault that’s shockingly accomplished for a debut album. Despite the genre tags I’ve just thrown around though, Infidel might not be what you’re expecting. Continue reading “Lokust – Infidel (Review)”

Starer – Wind, Breeze, or Breath (Review)

Starer - Wind, Breeze, or BreathThis is the third album from Starer, a one-man black metal band from the US.

It’s time for some new Starer once more! After making a splash with 2021’s stellar 18° Below the Horizon, and then following up with last year’s The What It Is to Be, the artist has returned to us once more. Wind, Breeze, or Breath contains 38 minutes of symphonic black metal, divided over seven movements, and it’s quite exceptionally good. Continue reading “Starer – Wind, Breeze, or Breath (Review)”

Urbain – A Soul Purged (Review)

Urbain - A Soul PurgedUrbain are a black metal band from the US and this is their debut album.

With a description of urban black metal, and a recommendation for fans of Emperor, White Ward, early Dimmu Borgir, and Cradle of Filth, I was intrigued to hear what Urbain had to offer. The fact that the band contain members of Ovnev and Wills Dissolve was further reason, if any were needed. Continue reading “Urbain – A Soul Purged (Review)”

Tongues – Formløse Stjerner (Review)

Tongues - Formløse StjernerTongues are a black metal band from Denmark and this is their second album.

Tongues create quality extreme metal – just check out 2014’s Thelésis Ignis or 2017’s Hreilia for ample evidence of this. It’s been a while, but Tongues have now returned with Formløse Stjerner, a 40-minute odyssey of abyssal exploration. Continue reading “Tongues – Formløse Stjerner (Review)”

Standard Interrogation Techniques: Five Questions for Fen (Interview)

Although I’d ideally love to be able to conduct hard-hitting, in-depth interviews, who has the time these days? In lieu of this, I’ve thrown together the below question template, hopefully to gather some interesting and informative results, without taking up too much of anyone’s time.

Introduce yourself – who are you and what do you do?

I am The Watcher – I play guitar and perform vocals. Continue reading “Standard Interrogation Techniques: Five Questions for Fen (Interview)”