April 2025 – Wonderbox Metal

No Heroes – Brood Eternal (Review)

This is the debut album from US grindcore band No Heroes.

Now here’s an interesting release. Brood Eternal was created over the course of a decade, and mixes together elements of black metal, sludge, hardcore, grindcore, and noise. Yep, No Heroes, (who feature a member of Ashbringer), play a grim hybrid style, and I frequently end up really liking bands that throw all kinds of influences like this into a melting pot to end up with something really dark and nasty. Let’s have a taste then. Continue reading “No Heroes – Brood Eternal (Review)”

Employed to Serve – Fallen Star (Review)

This is the fifth album from UK metallers Employed to Serve.

With every release Employed to Serve just seem to be getting better. This culminated in 2021’s Conquering, a record that made it onto my best of list of that year. Which is why expectation is high for the band’s latest 48-minute record Fallen Star. Continue reading “Employed to Serve – Fallen Star (Review)”

Cave Sermon – Fragile Wings (Review)

This is the third album from Australian post-metal solo band Cave Sermon.

On Fragile Wings the artist behind Cave Sermon has created an interesting and enjoyable 4o minutes of music. It’s a hybrid style, combining death, black, sludge, progressive, and post-metal, resulting in an album that covers a lot of bases in a well-blended, immersive way. Continue reading “Cave Sermon – Fragile Wings (Review)”

Structure – Heritage (Review)

This is the debut album from Structure, a solo death/doom metal band from the Netherlands.

Heritage contains 50 minutes of atmospheric death/doom. The artist behind Structure knows this style well, and Heritage is certainly an above average slab of deathly, doomy misery, and that’s putting it mildly. Continue reading “Structure – Heritage (Review)”

Lightless – A Foreseen Loss (Review)

This is the debut album from German doom band Lightless.

A Foreseen Loss is a crushing 80-minute slab of blackened doom. Lightless play a gargantuan brand of doom mixed with serrated black metal and dark murderous sludge, (along with touches of post-metal and drone). Let me tell you, it doesn’t just hit the spot, but obliterates it. Continue reading “Lightless – A Foreseen Loss (Review)”

Encelado – Pillars of Creation (Review)

This is the debut release from Italian death metallers Encelado.

Pillars of Creation contains four tracks, with a duration of 14 minutes. To get you in the right mood for Encelado, the promo blurb mentions bands such as Aborted, All Shall Perish, and Dying Fetus for the music, and Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation for the vocals. Continue reading “Encelado – Pillars of Creation (Review)”

Kardashev – Alunea (Review)

This is the third album from US extreme metal band Kardashev.

Kardashev return, after the acclaimed Liminal Rite from 2022. The self-styled deathgaze band have provided us with 43 minutes of new material on Alunea. Continue reading “Kardashev – Alunea (Review)”

Conan – Violence Dimension (Review)

This is the sixth album from UK doom metallers Conan.

I haven’t managed to review a Conan album since 2016’s Revengeance, so rectifying this is long overdue. Since Revengeance Conan have changed lineup, picking up a drummer from Dread Sovereign and a bassist who used to be in the mighty Fudge Tunnel. Let’s get to it then. Continue reading “Conan – Violence Dimension (Review)”

Changeling – Changeling (Review)

This is the debut album from German progressive death metal band Changeling.

Changeling is brought to us by current/ex-members of Alkaloid, Belphegor, Defeated Sanity, Fear Factory, Obscura, Vipassi, and Virvum. It’s supported by an army of guests, who perform everything from guest solos, vocals, and choirs, to cello, flutes, horns, piano, tuba, violins, viola, and much, much more. The music combines progressive and technical death metal, with jazz fusion, progressive rock, and world music. It’s a lot, and it’s all packed into 60 minutes of compelling material. Continue reading “Changeling – Changeling (Review)”

Ahamkara – The Harrow of the Lost (Review)

This is the second album by UK black metal band Ahamkara.

I’ve been waiting for a new Ahamkara album since 2014, which is a shockingly long time to wait for anything. The Embers of the Stars was a damn good album though, so now that a new record is here, it was not one I wanted to overlook. Unfortunately, it seems there was a good reason for this delay, as the promo blurb tells us – “Following ten years of silence after the release of their debut album “The Embers of the Stars” and the untimely death of vocalist Steven, Ahamkara return with a new lineup and new album “The Harrow of the Lost”, an unflinching exploration of the transformative nature of grief.” Continue reading “Ahamkara – The Harrow of the Lost (Review)”