Svalbard are a crust/hardcore band from the UK and this is their fourth album.
This is one I’ve been quite eagerly awaiting. 2018’s It’s Hard to Have Hope was a very enjoyable record, but 2020’s When I Die, Will I Get Better? was the record that really put Svalbard on most people’s radars. Now the band have returned, with the 44-minute wonder that is The Weight of the Mask. Continue reading “Svalbard – The Weight of the Mask (Review)”
KEN Mode are a noise rock/hardcore band from Canada and this is their ninth album.
While I really liked 2018’s Loved, 2022’s Null hit harder, and really made KEN Mode an exciting proposition. Apparently I missed out on reviewing Null, (I honestly thought I did), but Void offers an opportunity of sorts to correct that oversight; Void is the companion piece to Null, recorded at the same time, and designed to go together. Continue reading “KEN Mode – Void (Review)”
This is the second album from UK hardcore band Geist.
Following on from 2019’s Swarming Season, Blueprints to Moderate Sedation provides us with 31 minutes of dark aggression. Combining punk, crust, and metal into an abrasive hardcore intensity, Geist have produced an enjoyable album of dark heaviness. Continue reading “Geist – Blueprints to Moderate Sedation (Review)”
Boris & Uniform, the former an experimental doom/drone/metal/rock act from Japan, and the latter an industrial rock/metal band from the US, have teamed up together on this collaborative album.
I like Boris, and I like Uniform, so listening to this release was a given. Bright New Disease combines the two act’s talents into new and twisted ways, resulting in an album Continue reading “Boris & Uniform – Bright New Disease (Review)”
Geld are an Australian hardcore band and this is their third album.
Currency // Castration is a 23-minute album of punk intensity and scathing riffs. Geld are a bundle of riotous energy, and they’re here to loudly cause mayhem. Continue reading “Geld – Currency // Castration (Review)”
This is the second album from UK mathcore band Pupil Slicer.
With a sci-fi theme and a range of different influences, Blossom is a 46-minute journey into Pupil Slicer’s absorbingly intense world. The promo blurb states bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Deafheaven, Radiohead, and Botch as prime influences, and this should set the scene for what is a broad and compelling work. Continue reading “Pupil Slicer – Blossom (Review)”
This is the second album from Death Goals, a hardcore band from the UK.
A Garden of Dead Flowers is a 29-minute album full of character and personality. This is partially down to the varied and charismatic vocals – everything from shrieks to clean singing – and partially down to the music itself, which is expressive and colourful, while Continue reading “Death Goals – A Garden of Dead Flowers (Review)”
This is the debut album from Thørn, a blackened crust band from Italy.
Inferno contains 36 minutes of anger, teeth, and crushing distorted intensity. Thørn’s blackened crusty hardcore is a shockingly good record. Continue reading “Thørn – Inferno (Review)”
This is the fifth album by Polar, a UK Hardcore band.
Having really enjoyed 2016’s No Cure No Saviour and 2019’s Nova, I’m pleased by Polar’s return.
Everywhere, Everything takes Polar’s existing sound – heavy hardcore with melodic and emotive highlights – and broadens it further into post-hardcore waters. Of course, these are waters that Polar already wade in, but on this new collection of songs they venture deeper than ever before. As such, Continue reading “Polar – Everywhere, Everything (Review)”
Death Engine are a French post-hardcore band and this is their third album.
2015’s Mud and 2018’s Place Noir were both impressive, enjoyable, and individual records, displaying Death Engine’s multifaceted approach to heavy music. Now, across 36 minutes, Death Engine showcase a progression in their sound, one which threatens to bring about the end of days with its intensity and negative energies. Continue reading “Death Engine – Ocean (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 