Blind Monarch – What Is Imposed Must Be Endured (Review)

Blind Monarch - What Is Imposed Must Be EnduredBlind Monarch are a UK doom band and this is their debut album.

Grim, foul, ugly, rotten, bleak, harsh…these and similar words can all be levelled at Blind Monarch’s colossal 56-minute debut album. Across four towering tracks the band embody all of these negatively charged words and more, all in the quest for the most despairing, hopeless doom they can find. Continue reading “Blind Monarch – What Is Imposed Must Be Endured (Review)”

Wormwitch – Heaven That Dwells Within (Review)

Wormwitch - Heaven That Dwells WithinWormwitch are a Canadian black metal band and this is their second album.

Heaven That Dwells Within features 46 minutes of black metal that’s accessible, catchy, and memorable, while still retaining underground aesthetics, dark atmospheres, and grim intent. Continue reading “Wormwitch – Heaven That Dwells Within (Review)”

Ceremony of Silence – Outis (Review)

Ceremony of Silence - OutisThis is the debut album from Ceremony of Silence, a Slovakian blackened death metal band.

Dissonant and atmospheric, this is music that’s dense with malignant promise and filled with a form of bleak, otherworldly evil. Continue reading “Ceremony of Silence – Outis (Review)”

Monthly Overview – the Best of March 2019

March proved to be this year’s strongest month for metal releases yet. I was hard-pressed to keep this list as short as it is, and any of the albums listed below are worthy of your attention. Continue reading “Monthly Overview – the Best of March 2019”

Mord’A’Stigmata – Dreams of Quiet Places (Review)

Mord'A'Stigmata - Dreams of Quiet PlacesMord’A’Stigmata are a post-black metal band from Poland and this is their fifth album.

After 2013’s Ansia and 2017’s Hope, I’m a firm fan of what this band produce, and Dreams of Quiet Places is their latest masterpiece. I don’t use that word lightly either. Continue reading “Mord’A’Stigmata – Dreams of Quiet Places (Review)”

Sloth Hammer – Superbia Ira Acedia (Review)

Sloth Hammer - Superbia Ira AcediaSloth Hammer are an experimental sludge/doom band from the UK. This is their second album.

No guitars, two vocalists, two electronicists, (is that a word?), two drummers, and plenty of bass, Sloth Hammer bring the pain on their second album across a colossal and punishing 78 minutes, recorded live and improvised. Continue reading “Sloth Hammer – Superbia Ira Acedia (Review)”

Falaise – A Place I Don’t Belong To (Review)

Falaise - A Place I Don’t Belong ToThis is the third album from Falaise, a post-black metal band from Italy.

I’ve enjoyed watching Falaise develop over the years. 2015’s As Time Goes By introduced the world to the band’s melancholic, depressive take on atmospheric post-black metal, and then 2017’s My Endless Immensity consolidated the band’s strengths, further expanding their post-black metal sound. Continue reading “Falaise – A Place I Don’t Belong To (Review)”

Interview with Contrarian 2019

Contrarian Logo

Contrarian are a personal favourite of mine in the realms of progressive/technical death metal. Bridging the old-school and the new by taking strengths from both, their albums – and new platter Their Worm Never Dies in particular – are very much worth your time.

Guitarist Jim Tasikas tells us more… Continue reading “Interview with Contrarian 2019”