Scardust – Sands of Time (Review)

ScardustScardust are a symphonic metal band from Israel and this is their debut album.

Scardust play sumptuous symphonic metal with some progressive elements added in to enhance proceedings.

Usually I find a lot of this kind of thing very generic and I usually lose interest quickly, but bloody Hell Scardust are an exception to this. Sands of Time is a very professional, accomplished, and well-realised release, with both catchy appeal and memorable depth. Continue reading “Scardust – Sands of Time (Review)”

Duality – Elektron (Review)

DualityDuality are a technical death metal band from Italy and this is their debut album.

Duality mix death metal with technical complexity, jazz interludes, and progressive workouts. Think a mix of Death, Obscura, and The Faceless. Continue reading “Duality – Elektron (Review)”

Pyrrhon – What Passes for Survival (Review)

PyrrhonThis is the third album from Pyrrhon, an extreme metal band from the US.

Pyrrhon are not your standard band. I first encountered them on their 2014 album The Mother of Virtues, and even then they were a distinctly atypical and genre-breaking proposition. Continue reading “Pyrrhon – What Passes for Survival (Review)”

Fleshbore – Demo 2017 (Review)

FleshboreFleshbore are a US death metal band and this is their debut demo release.

One of the things I really like about demo releases in this day and age is that they no longer have to sound like they’ve been recorded by a guy screaming into a bucket in a garage somewhere. Hail technological progress! Which is a roundabout way of saying Continue reading “Fleshbore – Demo 2017 (Review)”

Paradise Lost – Medusa (Review)

Paradise LostThis is the 15th album from UK metal band Paradise Lost.

After recently reviewing the reissue of Paradise Lost’s seminal 1997 album One Second, it’s somewhat appropriate that I now catch up with their latest album Medusa, released twenty years later. Continue reading “Paradise Lost – Medusa (Review)”

Ligæder – Fordøjet Levende (Review)

LigæderLigæder are a Danish death metal band and this is their debut EP.

This is ugly, rotting, primitive music that has a blackened crusty aspect to it alongside the crushing death metal onslaught that is the band’s main mode of delivery. Continue reading “Ligæder – Fordøjet Levende (Review)”

Falaise – My Endless Immensity (Review)

FalaiseThis is the second album from Falaise, a black metal band from Italy.

A very much enjoyed the band’s debut album As Time Goes By, which was an hour of enjoyable blackgaze melancholy, with dark atmosphere and depressive moods. Continue reading “Falaise – My Endless Immensity (Review)”

Samot – Across the Abyss (Review)

SamotSamot are a blackened death metal band from Chile and this is their debut EP.

With a rumbling, old-school sound, this is a cobweb-strewn blend of old-school death metal and equally old-school black metal. The music combines both of these effectively and naturally, making for an enjoyable release of atavistic darkness. Continue reading “Samot – Across the Abyss (Review)”