Cóndor are a Colombian death/doom/heavy metal band and this is their fourth album.
Cóndor, (with members of Siete Lagunas), play a beguiling and personable mix of death metal and classic doom/heavy metal, at least musically. Vocally, we’re firmly in the territory of formidably daemonic harsh growls for most of the time, (we also get the occasional spoken word part and clean singing on the final song, the folky title track). Continue reading “Cóndor – El Valle del Cóndor (Review)”
Le Menhir is a one man post-metal band from the UK and this is his latest EP.
Earlier in the year I had the pleasure of listening to the debut release from this project, Orage. Well, the artist is now back with a new three track EP. After a brief intro track, we get two songs of new material, lasting 17 minutes in total. Continue reading “Le Menhir – Aube (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Nailed to Obscurity, a melodic doom metal band from Germany.
Nailed to Obscurity play a modernised version of old-school death/doom. Black Frost contains 47 minutes of material that can be roughly characterised as a combination of old Katatonia mixed with elements of Paradise Lost, Insomnium, Opeth, Décembre Noir, and others. The band definitely let their own collective personalities shine through in the music, however. Continue reading “Nailed to Obscurity – Black Frost (Review)”
Yatra are a doom band from the US and this is their debut album.
Now here we have an album that’s infused with darkness; it’s almost tangible, but in a warm, smoky way. Mixing ugly doom, riff-hungry stoner, blackened sludge, and harsh drone influences into 45 minutes of material, Death Ritual showcases the dark underbelly of doom metal. Continue reading “Yatra – Death Ritual (Review)”
Gross Misconduct are a Canadian death metal band and this is their third album.
This is progressive death metal with a thrash influence. The band describe this album in the following way – “Imagine Cynic with a dollop of Death, a smattering of The Crown/Mastodon/Gojira and healthy doses of 1980s Metallica and Slayer.” I’ve simply regurgitated this here as it’s a better descriptor of how Equinox sounds than anything I could come up with. Continue reading “Gross Misconduct – Equinox (Review)”
This is the second album from Polish deathmetallers Eteritus.
Sucker for Scandinavian-styled death metal that I am, I really enjoyed 2016’s Following the Ancient Path, so when I saw this new slab of filth appear I knew I had to give it a listen. Continue reading “Eteritus – Order of Death (Review)”
This is the debut album from UK death metallers Bludgeon.
In some ways this album is a textbook example of what-you-see-is-what-you-get – the album cover just screams brutal death metal ripped from the underground in huge great bloody chunks. In other ways, however, this does Bludgeon a disservice, as this release is surprisingly technical and involved, and the band’s individual personality shines through the gore with an unexpected brightness. Continue reading “Bludgeon – Devoted to Lunacy (Review)”
Shrike are a German black metal band and this is their fourth album.
Following on from 2014’s Sieben, the band have now returned with 41 minutes of new material. Continue reading “Shrike – Zeitgeist – Geistzeit (Review)”
This is the second album from one man death/doom metal band Vanha.
Vanha’s debut album Within the Mist of Sorrow struck me hard, and has stayed with me ever since as a quality exemplar of how to provide a textured and highly atmospheric display of 90s death/doom influences. Delivered as a duo, Vanha is now one man, Melancholia is his latest effort. Continue reading “Vanha – Melancholia (Review)”
Disuse are a grindcore band from the Netherlands and this is their latest EP.
This is blink-and-you’ll-miss-it grindcore, boasting a raw and vicious 14 tracks across just five minutes. Continue reading “Disuse – The Yeti from Kad-Man-Ra (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 