Esoteric – A Pyrrhic Existence (Review)

Esoteric - A Pyrrhic ExistenceThis is the seventh album from Esoteric, a funeral doom band from the UK.

After a gap of eight years, legendary doom act Esoteric have returned. The band’s strain of crushing, suffocating music has lead the way in funeral doom since their first album was unleashed in 1994. On A Pyrrhic Existence they return with a colossal double album spanning 98 minutes of huge, awe-inspiring monolithic doom songs. Continue reading “Esoteric – A Pyrrhic Existence (Review)”

Slow – VI – Dantalion (Review)

Slow - VI - DantalionSlow is a funeral doom band from Belgium and this is their sixth album.

2017’s V – Oceans was a monolithic slab of atmospheric funeral doom that I really, really enjoyed. Brought to us by the artist behind bands such as We All Die (Laughing), COAG, Merda Mundi, Cult of Erinyes, and many others, Slow has now been expanded to a duo, which seems to have inspired them to produce an absolute monster of an album – here they give us 78 minutes of content to become transfixed by. Continue reading “Slow – VI – Dantalion (Review)”

Schammasch – Hearts of No Light (Review)

Schammasch - Hearts of No LightSchammasch are a Black Metal band from Switzerland. This is their fourth album.

Was it really 2016 that the epic Triangle was released to an unsuspecting world? Apparently so. An incredibly strong release, it narrowly missed out on the top spot for my best albums of 2016 list. It was followed up in 2017 by the even more avant-garde EP The Maldoror Chants: Hermaphrodite, which provided a compelling dose of atmospheric material. Continue reading “Schammasch – Hearts of No Light (Review)”

Midnight Odyssey – Biolume Part 1 – In Tartarean Chains (Review)

Midnight Odyssey - Biolume Part 1 - In Tartarean ChainsMidnight Odyssey is an Australian one-man black metal band and this is his third album.

As ridiculous as it sounds, I almost didn’t want to review or even listen to this album. Why? Because the band’s last album – 2015’s immense Shards of Silver Fade – was so hideously good that I couldn’t imagine being anything but disappointed with Biolume Part 1 – In Tartarean Chains. After all, Shards of Silver Fade claimed the coveted top spot in my end of year list for 2015, so this new one had a lot to live up to.

Anyway, enough preamble. Time to judge Biolume Part 1 – In Tartarean Chains on its own merits, of which there are many. Apparently this is the first in a trilogy of albums. I can’t wait to hear the next one already. Continue reading “Midnight Odyssey – Biolume Part 1 – In Tartarean Chains (Review)”

Paganizer – The Tower of the Morbid (Review)

Paganizer - The Tower of the MorbidPaganizer are a Swedish death metal band and this is their eleventh album.

Paganizer are a very well-respected band with an imposing body of work, (we’ve covered On the Outskirts of Hades and Land of Weeping Souls in the past). Brought to us by the legendary Rogga Johansson, (Echelon, Megascavenger, The Grotesquery, Those Who Bring the Torture, Just Before Dawn, Ursinne, and many more!), The Tower of the Morbid is 38 minutes of Grade A Swedish death metal ready to destroy. Continue reading “Paganizer – The Tower of the Morbid (Review)”