Well, there were so many high quality albums that came out in April it was quite impressive. I had a shortlist of 20 that I wanted to highlight, but decided that 20 was a bit too excessive. So, after great pained deliberation, I give you the ten below… Continue reading
Old Night are a Croatian doom metal band and this is their second album.
So, I absolutely adored Old Night’s debut album Pale Cold Irrelevance, and it made it into my best of 2017 list. As such, expectations were running high for the band’s second album.
I’m pleased to say that A Fracture in the Human Soul has more than satisfied me. Continue reading
Varaha are an atmospheric metal band from the US and this is their debut album.
This album contains 69 minutes of music that merges blackgaze, doom, post-black, Gothic, and post-metal together into a beguiling and affecting package. Continue reading
Dead to a Dying World are a blackened doom band from the US and this is their third album.
2015’s Litany was a sprawling, ambitious album. It was also very good, although this new release is something quite new and special in some ways. The band have returned with the even more expansive and developed Elegy. Showing greater focus of delivery, (49 minutes vs Litany’s 73), Elegy is also wider ranging and boasts Continue reading
This is the fourth album from UK atmospheric/post-metal band Latitudes.
Having enjoyed 2016’s Old Sunlight, when Part Island made its presence felt I was compelled to sample its delights. I’m glad I did, as Part Island is a stunningly well-realised development of the band’s sound. Continue reading
Dvne are a progressive metal/doom/sludge band from the UK and this is their debut album.
Here we have a little over 60 minutes of music from a talented UK band that have only just properly come to my attention, despite a friend of mine telling me to check them out when this album was originally released in 2017. It’s definitely my loss, as Asheran is ambitious and huge in all of the best ways. Continue reading
Wrack is a one man progressive/post-metal band from the US.
Here we have 28 minutes of heavy, angular, jagged music. It starts strong, continues to be strong, and ends strong. Yep, this is a very strong release indeed. Continue reading
Built-in Obsolescence are a progressive/post-metal band from Italy. This is their debut album.
Here we have 61 minutes of post-metal with progressive tendencies. Modelled on influences such as The Ocean, Cult of Luna, Isis, and a touch of Tool, Built-in Obsolescence mould elements of these to satisfy their own vision of what heavy music should sound like in 2018. Continue reading
Ails are a US black metal band and this is their debut album.
Featuring two members of the mighty Ludicra, Ails have produced 41 minutes of melodic depth and blackened substance. Continue reading
Arya are an Italian progressive/post-metal band and this is their third album.
I enjoyed last year’s Dreamwars. This was a curiously individual release, blending emotive modern progressive/alternative metal with a dreamy strain of post-metal. It’s an album that is striking upon first listen, but properly Continue reading
