This is the debut album from Italian blackened death metal band Patristic.
Brought to us by current/ex-members of Frostmoon Eclipse, Hideous Divinity, Hour of Penance, and Liber Null, Catechesis contains 41 minutes of intensity and violent moodbuilding. Continue reading “Patristic – Catechesis (Review)”
AVKRVST are a Norwegian progressive rock/metal band and this is their second album.
Following on from 2023’s The Approbation, AVKRVST have now returned with the 45-minute Waving at the Sky. The band have taken the sound that their debut album embraced and individualised it further, making for a confident step forward, and an enjoyable record to boot. Continue reading “AVKRVST – Waving at the Sky (Review)”
This is the second album from UK extreme metallers Outergods.
Outergods play a hybrid style that mixes black, death, and grind influences into a 45-minute record of brutal intensity. The band’s Bandcamp page recommends this for At The Gates, Anaal Nathrakh, Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal, and Strapping Young Lad, which should give you a good starting point for Dethroned & Devoured. Continue reading “Outergods – Dethroned & Devoured (Review)”
This is the third album by Russian grindcore band Byonoisegenerator.
Jazzgrind, eh? Okay, I’ll bite. Subnormal Dives brings together, as advertised, the worlds of grindcore and jazz. It’s aggressive and dense, and Byonoisegenerator make a splash with the 23-minute free form savagery that is Subnormal Dives. Continue reading “Byonoisegenerator – Subnormal Dives (Review)”
This is the fifth album from US death metal band Fallujah.
Fallujah have a storied list of releases at this point, (The Flesh Prevails, Dreamless, Undying Light, Empyrean), all worth getting your teeth into. After the slight dip in quality that was Undying Light, Fallujah returned very strong with Empyrean. All of which means I have been interested to see what the 42-minute Xenotaph brings us this time around. Continue reading “Fallujah – Xenotaph (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Slovakian black metal band Aeon Winds.
An Ode to the Mountains contains 60 minutes, (with bonus track), of symphonic black metal. Aeon Winds play in the older style, recalling bands such as Aquilus, Emperor, Limbonic Art, and Midnight Odyssey. Continue reading “Aeon Winds – An Ode to the Mountains (Review)”
Goya are a doom metal band from the US and this is their fourth album.
It’s been a long time since 2017’s Harvester of Bongloads, so it’s great to finally have a new album from Goya. The band’s previous album was stronger than most in the realms of doom metal, so expectations are high for the 40-minute In the Dawn of November. Continue reading “Goya – In the Dawn of November (Review)”
This is the debut album from international doom metal band Lights of Vimana.
That Déhà chap certainly gets around. Apart from his own prolific output, he recently supplied vocals to the new album from the mighty Aphonic Threnody. I mention this here because he’s back once more, providing vocals to another doom band – Lights of Vimana. This time he is working in concert with two others, (current/ex-members of Dalla Nebbia, Mesmur, Void of Silence, and Pantheïst), to bring us 48 minutes of atmospheric/progressive doom, in the shape of Neopolis. Continue reading “Lights of Vimana – Neopolis (Review)”
This is the third album by Norwegian mathcore band Agabas.
How could you not see a band described in the promo blurb as a “brutal heavy deathjazz metal/mathcore quintet” and not want to check them out? Although, I note in the band pics there’s six people, so no idea what that’s about. Regardless, Hard Anger is a 36-minute melting pot of ideas and influences, so strap in tight and get ready for mayhem. Continue reading “Agabas – Hard Anger (Review)”
I’m so happy to be back at one of the world’s best black metal festivals. I love it here at Fortress Festival, and I can’t wait to work through such a great lineup again. If you haven’t been here before, make sure you don’t miss the 2026 edition.
Last year’s Fortress was excellent. I saw every band available, with the exception of a mere few when I needed to find food, essentially. This year I’m going to try an adopt a more sensible approach, (at least from one perspective), and not kill myself trying to catch everything again. Having said that, I’ll still be trying to watch as many bands as I realistically can, while factoring in food, downtime, circumstances, etc. This year’s lineup is so good though, that every band is worth seeing, and in an ideal world I’d do just that. Regardless, we’ll see how we get on. And also, there are some bands playing this weekend that are just absolutely mandatory.
Before we get into it – as was the case last year, I have once again been blessed to be able to use the stunning photographs from the very talented Aleksandra Hogg, (which is why they are far, far, far superior to the photos I normally take when left to my own devices). I urge you to check out her work at Acidolka here, here, or here. Continue reading “Fortress Festival 2025 – Scarborough Spa, Scarborough, 31/05/25-01/06/24 (Live Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 