Svneatr are a Canadian black metal band and this is their third album.
Across six tracks Never Return delivers 40 minutes of progressive black metal. Taking a second wave base and building on it with contemporary influences and an array of additional musical layers, Svneatr’s music is impressive and moreish. Continue reading “Svneatr – Never Return (Review)”
This is the second album from Naxen, a German black metal band.
Descending into a Deeper Darkness is the follow up to 2020’s Towards the Tomb of Times, and contains 43 minutes of new material that’s spread out over four sprawling tracks. Naxen were already a quality band before this, but Descending into a Deeper Darkness sees them raise their standards even higher. Continue reading “Naxen – Descending into a Deeper Darkness (Review)”
This is the fifth album from Corpus Diavolis, a French black metal band.
I enjoyed 2017’s Atra Lumen and 2021’s Apocatastase, (which I honestly thought I had reviewed), so when the promo for Elixiria Ekstasis appeared I wanted very much to be able to get to it. Alas, it was not to be, as sadly there just isn’t enough time in the world. However, as I like Corpus Diavolis I eventually made the mistake of listening to it – a mistake, only because it’s damn good and I knew I had to write about it – which is why, despite this coming out in March, you’re reading this now. Continue reading “Corpus Diavolis – Elixiria Ekstasis (Review)”
Lifvsleda are a Swedish black metal band and this is their third album.
Evangelii Härold brings us 48 minutes of classic-style second wave Scandinavian black metal. Lifvsleda appear to know the genre inside and out, and on Evangelii Härold deliver a display of artistry that’s compelling. Continue reading “Lifvsleda – Evangelii Härold (Review)”
Inter Arma are a post-metal band from the US and this is their fifth album.
Inter Arma are not your average band. They contort and shapeshift from one track to the next – from one part of a song to the next – delivering a multifaceted metallic journey through all kinds of different styles and genres, including doom, death metal, black metal, sludge, and more, all wrapped up in a progressive/post-metal bow that’s just wonderfully realised. Continue reading “Inter Arma – New Heaven (Review)”
This is the latest EP from UK blackened post-metal band Ba’al.
I was introduced to Ba’al on 2017’s In Gallows by Mass, but it wasn’t until 2020’s colossal debut Ellipsism that they truly came into their own. Four years on from that record, Ba’al return with the three-track EP Soft Eyes, which brings us 27 minutes of new material. Continue reading “Ba’al – Soft Eyes (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Ancst, a shapeshifting German metal band.
You’re never quite sure what you’re going to get from Ancst. Black metal, crust, hardcore, death metal, dark ambient – these are just genres to play with for the band, using and discarding styles and influences at will, depending on the needs of any given release or song. Which brings us to Culture of Brutality, a 35-minute, 20-track album that fuses deathgrind, metalcore, and hardcore into a monster of brutal heaviness. Continue reading “Ancst – Culture of Brutality (Review)”
Cryfemal are a Spanish black metal band and this is their ninth album.
We’re going back to 2023 for this one. Why? Well, simply because while I’ve been aware of Cryfemal for some time, I’ve never heard them, so when I recently received the promo for this, I really wanted to check it out. So I did, and it made a big impression. Continue reading “Cryfemal – La Gran Victoria del Mal (Review)”
This is the sixth album from German solo black metal band Infestus.
Has it really been ten years since 2014’s The Reflecting Void? I really liked that record. With only one album since then – 2018’s Thrypsis, which I somehow missed – I’ve been looking forward to exploring the 46-minute Entzweiung. Continue reading “Infestus – Entzweiung (Review)”
This is the debut album from US one-woman black metal band Lust Hag.
It’s here! It’s finally happening! A full Lust Hag album! Rejoice! This artist was one of my favourite new finds of 2023, so I have been massively looking forward to the day a full album would appear. And now it has – 37 minutes of elite black metal to get to grips with. Let’s be clear from the start – Lust Hag is so damn good it hurts. Continue reading “Lust Hag – Lust Hag (Review)”
