This is the debut album from US black metallers Predatory Light.
Featuring members of Mania, Triumvir Foul and Ash Borer, this release comes with high expectations before it even starts. As you can probably guess, those expectations are fulfilled.
Predatory Light play black metal with a serving of doom and a keen Continue reading “Predatory Light – Predatory Light (Review)”
In Obscurity Revealed are a blackened death metal band from Mexico and this is their debut EP.
Something about the cover of this release just made it impossible to pass over for review; as soon as I saw it I knew I had to listen to it and write words about it.
So here we are.
So what’s all this about then, I hear you ask? Continue reading “In Obscurity Revealed – Grim Fumes of Revelation (Review)”
Axxen Conners are a progressive death metal band from Turkey. This is their debut EP.
This short, sub-13 minute EP is an interesting listen. Professionally recorded with a solid sound, the band effectively showcase their metal vision.
The band play a sort of death metal that has a progressive/melodic edge, with elements of black metal stirred into Continue reading “Axxen Conners – Nowhere to Escape Sins (Review)”
This is the debut album by Pénitence Onirique, a French black metal band.
Pénitence Onirique play scathing black metal, filled with dark atmosphere and with a foreboding presence.
Razor sharp vocals lash out from the music like barbs, lacerating with ease, while the Continue reading “Pénitence Onirique – V.I.T.R.I.O.L. (Review)”
This is the third album from this Greek black/heavy metal band.
Now this is an interesting release. 14 years after their second album, Agatus return with even more of a progressive/heavy metal approach to their music.
70s progressive rock and NWOBHM influences collide head-on with the black metal background of the group, making for an album that sounds little like any of their contemporaries.
The closest I can come to compare with other bands would be a crazy fusion of Rotting Christ, Vintersorg and Countess, all given a workover by NWOBHM and 70s progressive rock. or something. All I know is it’s infectious, addictive, individual and bloody good.
The black metal aspects Continue reading “Agatus – The Eternalist (Review)”
Ancient have returned! Back to the Land of the Dead is the band’s first outing in 12 years, and one that has amassed no small amount of expectation in certain quarters.
You’ll no doubt be pleased to know that it’s an album that lives up to these expectations, one that’s worth taking the time to listen to and to get to know as it lashes you with its frosted riffs and serrated vocals.
Thankfully, when speaking to the owner of said serrated vocals, he revealed himself to be much less scary than his recordings would suggest.
Step into the world of Ancient…
My name is Zel, founder of the band Ancient, an extreme metal band, with roots in the Norwegian black metal scene, founded in Norway in 1992, but today is based in Italy, and Greece (where I live). Continue reading “Interview with Ancient”
Vrtra are a black metal/post-black metal/blackened doom band from the US. This is their debut album.
Holy shit this is good! Is that an appropriate way to start a review? I dunno. Probably not, but who cares, because holy shit this is good!
This is a sickly-blackened release that contains elements of doom, death, black and post-metal within its 31 minute length. Vrtra do not respect musical boundaries, and why should they? I’ll tentatively refer to them as Continue reading “Vrtra – My Bones Hold a Stillness (Review)”
Swampcult are a doom metal band from The Netherlands, this is their second album.
The Festival is a H. P. Lovecraft-themed release, completely built and fashioned around one of his stories of the same name.
This is heavily atmospheric doom metal and sees the band mixing elements of classic proto-black metal into their cauldron and Continue reading “Swampcult – The Festival (Review)”
This is the debut release from Kalloused, a UK blackened sludge/doom band.
Kalloused have a powerfully heavy sound that they still manage to insert nuance into when the need arises. This release features a plethora of textured riffs that manage to show a certain degree of subtlety and finesse even when they’re smashing your skull in.
The band have a black metal element Continue reading “Kalloused – Damn You Believer (Review)”
Nox Formulae are a Greek black metal band and this is their debut album.
This is ritualistic/occult black metal that combines a raw delivery with elements of the avant-garde and atmospheric.
The band take the second-wave black metal template and mutate it into something a bit more atypical. Synths and dark Continue reading “Nox Formulae – The Hidden Paths to Black Ecstasy (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 