Blind Monarch – What Is Imposed Must Be Endured (Review)

Blind Monarch - What Is Imposed Must Be EnduredBlind Monarch are a UK doom band and this is their debut album.

Grim, foul, ugly, rotten, bleak, harsh…these and similar words can all be levelled at Blind Monarch’s colossal 56-minute debut album. Across four towering tracks the band embody all of these negatively charged words and more, all in the quest for the most despairing, hopeless doom they can find. Continue reading “Blind Monarch – What Is Imposed Must Be Endured (Review)”

Wormwitch – Heaven That Dwells Within (Review)

Wormwitch - Heaven That Dwells WithinWormwitch are a Canadian black metal band and this is their second album.

Heaven That Dwells Within features 46 minutes of black metal that’s accessible, catchy, and memorable, while still retaining underground aesthetics, dark atmospheres, and grim intent. Continue reading “Wormwitch – Heaven That Dwells Within (Review)”

Ceremony of Silence – Outis (Review)

Ceremony of Silence - OutisThis is the debut album from Ceremony of Silence, a Slovakian blackened death metal band.

Dissonant and atmospheric, this is music that’s dense with malignant promise and filled with a form of bleak, otherworldly evil. Continue reading “Ceremony of Silence – Outis (Review)”

Mord’A’Stigmata – Dreams of Quiet Places (Review)

Mord'A'Stigmata - Dreams of Quiet PlacesMord’A’Stigmata are a post-black metal band from Poland and this is their fifth album.

After 2013’s Ansia and 2017’s Hope, I’m a firm fan of what this band produce, and Dreams of Quiet Places is their latest masterpiece. I don’t use that word lightly either. Continue reading “Mord’A’Stigmata – Dreams of Quiet Places (Review)”

Sloth Hammer – Superbia Ira Acedia (Review)

Sloth Hammer - Superbia Ira AcediaSloth Hammer are an experimental sludge/doom band from the UK. This is their second album.

No guitars, two vocalists, two electronicists, (is that a word?), two drummers, and plenty of bass, Sloth Hammer bring the pain on their second album across a colossal and punishing 78 minutes, recorded live and improvised. Continue reading “Sloth Hammer – Superbia Ira Acedia (Review)”

Falaise – A Place I Don’t Belong To (Review)

Falaise - A Place I Don’t Belong ToThis is the third album from Falaise, a post-black metal band from Italy.

I’ve enjoyed watching Falaise develop over the years. 2015’s As Time Goes By introduced the world to the band’s melancholic, depressive take on atmospheric post-black metal, and then 2017’s My Endless Immensity consolidated the band’s strengths, further expanding their post-black metal sound. Continue reading “Falaise – A Place I Don’t Belong To (Review)”

Dispyt – Den Ständigt Närvarande Ångesten (Review)

Dispyt - Den Ständigt Närvarande ÅngestenDispyt are a blackened crust band from Finland and this is their debut album.

Featuring members of Finntroll & Ondfødt, Den Ständigt Närvarande Ångesten contains 27 minutes of crust, punk, d-beat, and hardcore nastiness, all realised through a second wave black metal filter. Continue reading “Dispyt – Den Ständigt Närvarande Ångesten (Review)”