Echtra – BardO (Review)

Echtra - BardOEchtra is a one man black metal/drone band, and this is his fourth album.

All Echtra songs clock in at 23 minutes, and BardO contains two of them. Across these sprawling tracks depth and texture is achieved through a variety of instruments that are used in conjunction with each other to create a tapestry of atmospheric darkness and light. Continue reading “Echtra – BardO (Review)”

Ævangelist – Matricide in the Temple of Omega (Review)

Ævangelist - Matricide in the Temple of OmegaThis is the latest abomination from Ævangelist, a blackened atmospheric death metal monstrosity from the US/Finland.

Something is moving in the night. Something is writhing in the murk. It’s ugly, foul, and destined to cloud everything in a miasma of disgusting horror. Continue reading “Ævangelist – Matricide in the Temple of Omega (Review)”

Funeral Chic – Superstition (Review)

Funeral Chic - SuperstitionThis is the second album from US blackened hardcore band Funeral Chic.

Fourteen tracks of violent, foul, ugly blackened hardcore? Yes please! How could I resist? Continue reading “Funeral Chic – Superstition (Review)”

Sigh – Heir to Despair (Review)

Sigh - Heir to DespairSigh are a Japanese black/avant-garde metal band and this is their eleventh album.

A new Sigh album is always somewhat of an event, and you never really quite know what you’re going to be getting yourself into with it. This latest album follows on after the symphonic blackened offering of 2015’s Graveward, but distances itself from its predecessor quite significantly by giving us 53 minutes of material that’s been influenced by folk and old/obscure progressive rock more than ever before. Continue reading “Sigh – Heir to Despair (Review)”

1914 – The Blind Leading the Blind (Review)

1914 - The Blind Leading the Blind1914 are a Ukrainian blackened death/doom band and this is their second album.

I enjoy 1914’s work a lot, (check out Eschatology of War and their split with Minenwerfer, for example). With an appropriate concept for a band with this name, their latest creation is crushingly heavy and full of monolithic songs that devastate and destroy. Continue reading “1914 – The Blind Leading the Blind (Review)”

Damnation Festival – Leeds University, 03/11/18 (Live Review)

Damnation Festival 2018 Header

The UK’s Damnation Festival has once again rolled around, and it’s time for all good music fans to get themselves to Leeds and bask in the amazing lineup that the festival gods always seem to be able to pull together. As you can see from the above poster, this year boasted some great talent.

The running times I’ll post below, so you can get an idea of how the day ran. The festival was once again sold out this year, and really felt it. Continue reading “Damnation Festival – Leeds University, 03/11/18 (Live Review)”

Thron – Abysmal (Review)

Thron - AbysmalThron are a German melodic black metal band and this is their second album.

Thron play professionally-recorded black metal influenced by the second wave, with bands such as Dissection, Dimmu Borgir, Naglfar, Necrophobic, and Marduk worthy of mention as decent starting points for Abysmal. Continue reading “Thron – Abysmal (Review)”

Monthly Overview – the Best of October 2018

So what do we have for you this month? What new batch of metal delights has been unleashed upon the world in October? Let’s find out… Continue reading “Monthly Overview – the Best of October 2018”