Category: Metal

Oceans – The Sun and the Cold (Review)

Oceans - The Sun and the ColdOceans are a metal band from Germany/Austria, and this is their debut album.

Oceans are an interesting band. Their music consists of an engaging combination of diverse influences, all wrapped together with coherent skill. Elements of death metal, melodic metal, melodic doom, nu-metal, and progressive metal can all be heard. Think of Continue reading “Oceans – The Sun and the Cold (Review)”

Haunt – Mind Freeze (Review)

Haunt - Mind FreezeHaunt are a heavy metal band from the US and this is their third album.

Haunt clearly exist to worship at the altar of 80s heavy metal and NWOBHM, yet do so in a way that allows the band a contemporary edge all of their own. This new album delivers 37 minutes of anthemic tuneage, and does so with skill and aplomb. Continue reading “Haunt – Mind Freeze (Review)”

Kontagion – Kontagion (Review)

Kontagion - KontagionThis is the second album from Polish industrial metallers Kontagion.

Following on from their 2015 album [R-!-E]elentless and 2017 EP KO[R-!-E], Kontagion present us with 48 minutes of industrial metal on their latest outing. Continue reading “Kontagion – Kontagion (Review)”

Timeworn – Leave the Soul for Now (Review)

Timeworn - Leave the Soul for NowThis is the third album from Timeworn, a Norwegian sludge metal band.

This is riff-friendly sludge metal, with both a hardcore influence and an atmospheric one. There’s a mix of the harsh and the beautiful here, which is weighted towards the energetic former, but the latter is still an important part of the band’s sound too. Continue reading “Timeworn – Leave the Soul for Now (Review)”

Fjords – Onirica (Review)

Fjords - OniricaFjords are a progressive metal band from the UK and this is their debut album.

Onirica is an interesting and wide-ranging album, spanning, as it it does, elements of melodic doom and death metal, (think bands such as Katatonia, Opeth, and Agalloch), as well as more modern progressive and atmospheric metal. The end result is a curious mix of old and new, wrapped up in a professional, polished package that allows the band to be displayed in their best light. Continue reading “Fjords – Onirica (Review)”

Lord Mantis – Universal Death Church (Review)

Lord Mantis - Universal Death ChurchLord Mantis are from the US and play Blackened Sludge Metal. This is their fourth album.

2014’s Death Mask was a tortured nightmare of evil sludge, pretty much as foul as the style gets. Five years later the band have returned, infecting the world with 44 minutes of new material that’s as virulent and as nasty as ever. Continue reading “Lord Mantis – Universal Death Church (Review)”

Uneven Structure – Paragon (Review)

Uneven Structure - ParagonUneven Structure are a French progressive metal band and this is their third album.

I really enjoyed 2017’s La Partition, so it’s good to have some more material from the band. On Paragon Uneven Structure run through 53 minutes of modern progressive metal that demonstrates a band at the height of their abilities. Continue reading “Uneven Structure – Paragon (Review)”