Alkira are a thrash metal band from Australia and this is their second album.
You may recall Alkira from their 2014 debut album Juggernaut. This was a very enjoyable slab of aggressive thrash metal that I especially enjoyed as it seemed at the time that so much of thrash was doing the retro/ironic/humour/whatever version of the style, which is largely not for me; Alkira were, (and are), somewhat of a panacea for this. Continue reading “Alkira – Klotho (Review)”
Here we have a short split between death metallers Lago and Calm Hatchery, from the US and Poland, respectively.
Lago’s 2014 album Tyranny was an album that had a kind of darkly melodic brutality to it. It saw the band balance their style somewhere between the old-school and the new, to great effect. Continue reading “Lago/Calm Hatchery – Split (Review)”
Créatures is an avant-garde/experimental black metal one-man project from France and this is his debut album.
The vocals on this release are quite varied, shifting and morphing in line with the demands of the music. Apparently multiple guest vocalists contribute to the tracks, each having a different part to play in the narrative.
Sometimes we get a voice that’s full of commanding authority and blackened malice, sometimes even Continue reading “Créatures – Le Noir Village (Review)”
Call of the Void are a US hardcore/grindcore band and this is their latest EP.
Call of the Void operate from a mixture of hardcore, grind and sludge metal influences. This sees them taking all three, rolling them into a dense, dangerous ball and then throwing it as hard as they can at anyone close by.
It’s always good to hear the band. Continue reading “Call of the Void – AYFKM (Review)”
The Promise of Plague are an industrial black metal band from the US. This is their debut release.
Featuring members of Fatal Step, Astrum, Empyrean Asunder and the mighty Abominant, here we have 16 minutes of raw black metal with industrial/modern influences that place it somewhere between the underground and a more accessible area; not quite polished and commercial, but potentially getting there. Continue reading “The Promise of Plague – Sleepwalking into Armageddon (Review)”
Siberian Hell Sounds are from Australia and play black metal/blackened hardcore. This is their latest EP.
This is 18 minutes of blackened intensity and underground rage. Taking the basic imprint of black metal and running it through the grinder, Siberian Hell Sounds have poured hardcore and grindcore influences liberally over themselves so that their black metal is as abusive and contagious as possible. Continue reading “Siberian Hell Sounds – Svengali (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 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)”
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 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)”
