Khaldera are from Switzerland. They play post-metal and this is their second EP.
Khaldera play their music as an instrumental band with plenty of atmosphere.
Weaving heavy, down-beat grooves with atmospheric doom and post-metal contemplation, this 18 minute Continue reading “Khaldera – Alteration (Review)”
This is the second album from Season of Arrows, a doom/stoner metal band from the US.
This is an album that combines retro/70s doom metal stylings with a more contemporary stoner rock vibe.
The songs on this release merge the various influences of the band effectively, creating tracks that not only worship at the altars of old-school doom and more recent stoner, but also give nods towards post-metal and atmospheric metal in places too. Continue reading “Season of Arrows – Give It to the Mountain (Review)”
This is the debut album by Pénitence Onirique, a French black metal band.
Pénitence Onirique play scathing black metal, filled with dark atmosphere and with a foreboding presence.
Razor sharp vocals lash out from the music like barbs, lacerating with ease, while the Continue reading “Pénitence Onirique – V.I.T.R.I.O.L. (Review)”
This is the third album from this Greek black/heavy metal band.
Now this is an interesting release. 14 years after their second album, Agatus return with even more of a progressive/heavy metal approach to their music.
70s progressive rock and NWOBHM influences collide head-on with the black metal background of the group, making for an album that sounds little like any of their contemporaries.
The closest I can come to compare with other bands would be a crazy fusion of Rotting Christ, Vintersorg and Countess, all given a workover by NWOBHM and 70s progressive rock. or something. All I know is it’s infectious, addictive, individual and bloody good.
The black metal aspects Continue reading “Agatus – The Eternalist (Review)”
This is the fourth album from US death metallers Allegaeon.
This is an ambitious, epic release; 72 minutes of science fiction-themed grandeur and technical aggression.
The band’s music is technical, melodic death metal that features a lot of engaging content and some quite virtuoso playing. For a band like this, the level of technicality on display is always going to be high, but Allegaeon never Continue reading “Allegaeon – Proponent for Sentience (Review)”
Delain are a symphonic metal band from The Netherlands and this is their fifth album.
Delain are one of those bands that I feel I should have heard a long time ago, but Moonbathers is actually my first encounter with the band’s material.
Within Temptation and Nightwish are the obvious reference points for a band like this, and Continue reading “Delain – Moonbathers (Review)”
Myteri are a crust/punk band from Sweden and this is their debut album.
Myteri combine crust and punk influences into 27 minutes of roiling hardcore, recalling a mix of Poison Idea, Fredag Den 13:e and Martyrdöd.
With a very unassuming cover, along with the brief intro track, this seems to Continue reading “Myteri – Myteri (Review)”
This is the second album from Deprive, a one-man death metal band from Spain.
This is thickly emotive death metal, forged in the fires of the 90s metal scene. This was a time when death metal was allowed to be slower and incorporate elements of doom/death to increase the atmosphere, and this is something that Continue reading “Deprive – Temple of the Lost Wisdom (Review)”
Vrtra are a black metal/post-black metal/blackened doom band from the US. This is their debut album.
Holy shit this is good! Is that an appropriate way to start a review? I dunno. Probably not, but who cares, because holy shit this is good!
This is a sickly-blackened release that contains elements of doom, death, black and post-metal within its 31 minute length. Vrtra do not respect musical boundaries, and why should they? I’ll tentatively refer to them as Continue reading “Vrtra – My Bones Hold a Stillness (Review)”
This is the second album from Vulvodynia, a death metal band from South Africa.
Vulvodynia specialise in a form of brutal death metal that features a large helping of slam, beatdowns and deathcore/whatever – basically it’s brutal, bouncy and smashes the Hell out of everything around it.
This is heavy and groovy, designed to fuel violence in mosh pits Continue reading “Vulvodynia – Psychosadistic Design (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 