Boss Keloid are a progressive sludge metal band from the UK and this is their fifth album.
Family the Smiling Thrush contains 47 minutes of new material from the ever-welcome Boss Keloid. A shining light in the UK’s heavy music scene, I’ve enjoyed watching their development from 2016’s Herb Your Enthusiasm to 2018’s Melted on the Inch. Now they’ve Continue reading “Boss Keloid – Family the Smiling Thrush (Review)”
Alastor are a Swedish doom metal band and this is their second album.
Onwards and Downwards contains 46 minutes of old-school music that sits somewhere between doom metal and psychedelic hard rock. Continue reading “Alastor – Onwards and Downwards (Review)”
This is the latest EP from French sludge doom band Cult of Occult.
Ruin contains a single 22-minute eponymous track; a nightmarish monster of prodigious proportions. Not only that, but there’s also a bonus track in the form of a remix of the title track, which itself lasts 19 minutes. Overall, this release boasts 41 minutes of anguished blackened sludge doom. It’s nasty, but it’s also damn good. Continue reading “Cult of Occult – Ruin (Review)”
This is a split between post-metal bands Psychonaut from Belgium and Sâver, (who also feature members of Hymn), from Norway.
Psychonaut start the split with the 16-minute The Great Realisation. Continue reading “Psychonaut/Sâver – Emerald – Split (Review)”
Oryx are a sludge metal band from the US and this is their third album.
Oryx combine waves of crushing doom with pulverising sludge groove. As a simple description of what you’ll encounter on this album, it serves, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. The band’s apocalyptic heaviness also contains moments of dark Continue reading “Oryx – Lamenting a Dead World (Review)”
This is the second album from US sludge metallers Conclave.
Now here’s an unexpected treat for yours truly.
I’ve had no prior experience with Conclave, and was initially drawn to Dawn of Days purely because of its artwork. Imagine my surprise when, on closer inspection, it was Continue reading “Conclave – Dawn of Days (Review)”
Neptunian Maximalism are a Belgian drone/doom band and this is their latest release.
Solar Drone Ceremony was recorded live over a year ago, and consists of a single 54-minute track. The piece is performed by nine people and features a range of different instruments and sounds. Apparently it’s a Continue reading “Neptunian Maximalism – Solar Drone Ceremony (Review)”
Aphonic Threnody are an international funeral doom band and this is their fourth album.
It’s always a grim pleasure to hear new Aphonic Threnody material. If you’re unfamiliar with the band, also check out 2017’s Of Loss and Grief, and 2020’s The Great Hatred, both of which are well worth your time. Continue reading “Aphonic Threnody – The All Consuming Void (Review)”
This is the third album from Body Void, a doom band from the US.
If you haven’t heard Body Void before, then you absolutely need to check out 2018’s I Live Inside a Burning House, 2019’s You Will Know the Fear You Forced upon Us, and their 2020 split with Keeper. It’s now 2021, and time for the colossal Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth to be unleashed. Continue reading “Body Void – Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth (Review)”
This is the debut album from Irish doom/sludge band Soothsayer.
Ever since thoroughly enjoying 2016’s At This Great Depth, I’ve been looking forward to something more substantial from Soothsayer. And now it’s here in the form of Echoes of the Earth – 52 minutes of atmospheric doom sludge metal. Continue reading “Soothsayer – Echoes of the Earth (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 