Reviews – Page 438 – Wonderbox Metal

Suffer Yourself – Ectoplasm (Review)

Suffer Yourself are Ukrainian/Swedish and play atmospheric doom/death metal. This is their second album.

This is atmospheric doom/death with an emphasis on long, slow songs that are filled with morbid beauty and hopeless despair.

The pace is torturously slow, but we like it that way. The band take their time to carefully build atmosphere through relentless heavy distortion and lighter, more restrained passages; frequently combined together. Continue reading “Suffer Yourself – Ectoplasm (Review)”

Rudra – Enemy of Duality (Review)

Rudra are a blackened extreme metal band from Singapore. This is their eighth album.

Despite being around for a very long time at this point, and despite having first heard of them an almost equally long time ago, this is my first actual encounter with Rudra and their so-called Vedic metal. Continue reading “Rudra – Enemy of Duality (Review)”

Earth and Pillars – Pillars I (Review)

This is the second album from Italian black metal band Earth and Pillars.

It starts off softly, leaving you unprepared for what lies within…

This is atmospheric black metal with long songs and epic ambition.

Mixing repetitive atmospheric mood-pieces with suffocating Continue reading “Earth and Pillars – Pillars I (Review)”

Worm Ouroboros – What Graceless Dawn (Review)

Worm Ouroborus are a doom band from the US. This is their third album.

Combining doom, dark ambient, Gothic rock, post-metal and neo-folk, Worm Ouroborus are the kind of band that easily stand out from the rest of the herd. This is not typically something you hear every day. Well, unless you listen to them every day from now on, of course. Continue reading “Worm Ouroboros – What Graceless Dawn (Review)”

Arcade Messiah – III (Review)

Arcade Messiah is a one-man progressive metal project from Ireland. This is his third album.

Although there are some vocals on this release, it’s mainly instrumental, with the man behind the band making sure that the music has the starring role.

The songs are the kind of modern, progressive Continue reading “Arcade Messiah – III (Review)”

Abduction – Une Ombre Régit les Ombres (Review)

This is the debut album from Abduction, a black metal band from France.

Une Ombre Régit les Ombres consists of songs that are epic in length and vision, blasting out of the darkness with confidence, style and much aplomb. The music is a mix of progressive black/death metal, more skewed to the blackened side of things, if only due to the atmospheres evoked and the rasping screams of the main vocals. Continue reading “Abduction – Une Ombre Régit les Ombres (Review)”

Vircolac – The Cursed Travails of the Demeter (Review)

Vircolac are an Irish death metal band and this is their debut EP.

This is a band that have been firmly influenced by the old-school. It’s classic-styled death metal that firmly puts the emphasis on songs and atmosphere, as opposed to mindless speed, technicality or similar such stuff. Continue reading “Vircolac – The Cursed Travails of the Demeter (Review)”

Steve Moore – The Mind’s Eye (OST)

Steve Moore, (Zombi man), turns his hand at creating another soundtrack. I don’t normally listen to soundtrack work, but as I like Zombi, I decided it was worth giving this one a try. I’m glad I did.

There are a lot of moods and feelings at play across the 86 minutes on this release. All of them are arguably cut-short in typical soundtrack style, leading to somewhat of a grindcore-feel, (only synth-based); there Continue reading “Steve Moore – The Mind’s Eye (OST)”

Laster – Ons Vrije Fatum (Review)

Laster are a black metal band from the Netherlands and this is their second album.

We’ve met Laster before, both on their debut album De Verste Verte Is Hier and on their split with Wederganger. Both times they’ve impressed with their atmospheric black metal, and this continues with their newest release. Continue reading “Laster – Ons Vrije Fatum (Review)”

Drevorod – I Swear to Return Here (Review)

Drevorod are an atmospheric black metal band from Russia and this is their debut album.

This is atmospheric black metal with folk influences. It’s well-played and manages to balance the atmospheric/folk sides of the music well, so that the band have an obvious character to their music without it coming across as twee. Continue reading “Drevorod – I Swear to Return Here (Review)”