Encelado – Pillars of Creation (Review)

Encelado - Pillars of CreationThis is the debut release from Italian death metallers Encelado.

Pillars of Creation contains four tracks, with a duration of 14 minutes. To get you in the right mood for Encelado, the promo blurb mentions bands such as Aborted, All Shall Perish, and Dying Fetus for the music, and Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation for the vocals. Continue reading “Encelado – Pillars of Creation (Review)”

Kardashev – Alunea (Review)

Kardashev - AluneaThis is the third album from US extreme metal band Kardashev.

Kardashev return, after the acclaimed Liminal Rite from 2022. The self-styled deathgaze band have provided us with 43 minutes of new material on Alunea. Continue reading “Kardashev – Alunea (Review)”

Conan – Violence Dimension (Review)

Conan - Violence DimensionThis is the sixth album from UK doom metallers Conan.

I haven’t managed to review a Conan album since 2016’s Revengeance, so rectifying this is long overdue. Since Revengeance Conan have changed lineup, picking up a drummer from Dread Sovereign and a bassist who used to be in the mighty Fudge Tunnel. Let’s get to it then. Continue reading “Conan – Violence Dimension (Review)”

Changeling – Changeling (Review)

Changeling - ChangelingThis is the debut album from German progressive death metal band Changeling.

Changeling is brought to us by current/ex-members of Alkaloid, Belphegor, Defeated Sanity, Fear Factory, Obscura, Vipassi, and Virvum. It’s supported by an army of guests, who perform everything from guest solos, vocals, and choirs, to cello, flutes, horns, piano, tuba, violins, viola, and much, much more. The music combines progressive and technical death metal, with jazz fusion, progressive rock, and world music. It’s a lot, and it’s all packed into 60 minutes of compelling material. Continue reading “Changeling – Changeling (Review)”

Ahamkara – The Harrow of the Lost (Review)

Ahamkara - The Harrow of the LostThis is the second album by UK black metal band Ahamkara.

I’ve been waiting for a new Ahamkara album since 2014, which is a shockingly long time to wait for anything. The Embers of the Stars was a damn good album though, so now that a new record is here, it was not one I wanted to overlook. Unfortunately, it seems there was a good reason for this delay, as the promo blurb tells us – “Following ten years of silence after the release of their debut album “The Embers of the Stars” and the untimely death of vocalist Steven, Ahamkara return with a new lineup and new album “The Harrow of the Lost”, an unflinching exploration of the transformative nature of grief.” Continue reading “Ahamkara – The Harrow of the Lost (Review)”

Haemorrhage – Opera Medica (Review)

Haemorrhage - Opera MedicaThis is the latest EP from Spanish grindcore band Haemorrhage.

It’s been a while since 2017’s We Are the Gore, but now we have this new 19-minute EP from the gore-covered Haemorrhage. Containing four new songs and a Dismember cover, Opera Medica offers an enjoyable hit of deathgrind extremity for aficionados of the band to sink their bloodstained teeth into. Continue reading “Haemorrhage – Opera Medica (Review)”

Cancer – Inverted World (Review)

Cancer - Inverted WorldCancer are a UK death metal band and this is their seventh album.

As far as 90s death metal bands go, Cancer are severely underrated. When they returned in 2018 with Shadow Gripped they returned strong, and I actually can’t believe it was so long ago that it came out and that I saw them at that year’s Damnation Festival. Time really does fly. Anyway, Cancer have now returned with a new lineup, (including members of Dissocia, Eternal Storm, and Wormed), and the 46-minute Inverted World. Continue reading “Cancer – Inverted World (Review)”

Diabolizer – Murderous Revelations (Review)

Diabolizer - Murderous RevelationsThis is the second album from Turkish death metallers Diabolizer.

2021’s Khalkedonian Death was a very enjoyable slab of devastatingly effective death metal. Murderous Revelations continues Diabolizer’s ascent, delivering a crushing 39-minute feast of classic death metal butchery. Continue reading “Diabolizer – Murderous Revelations (Review)”

Silver Knife – Silver Knife (Review)

Silver Knife - Silver KnifeSilver Knife are an international post-black metal band and this is their second album.

Silver Knife is the 47-minute successor to 2020’s well-received Unyielding/Unseeing. Containing the extremely busy and talented Déhà, as well as current/ex-members of Burial Remains, Laster, Monads, Paramnesia, and Vuur & Zijde, Silver Knife is an album with a lot of experience poured into it, and it shows. Continue reading “Silver Knife – Silver Knife (Review)”