Celeste are a French blackened doom/sludge/hardcore band and this is their seventh album.
This is the follow up to 2017’s Infidèle(s), which I enjoyed a great deal. Clocking in at 41 minutes, this is on the shorter side for a Celeste album, and Assassine(s) finds the band focused and sharp. Continue reading “Celeste – Assassine(s) (Review)”
This is the second album from Tyhjä, a black metal band from Finland.
We’ve met Tyhjä before on their 2017 debut EP. Apparently they had an album out in 2019, which I completely missed, so this is my first exposure to them since that first release. Continue reading “Tyhjä – Valtakunta (Review)”
Wolfbastard are from the UK and play blackened crust. This is their third album.
Wolfbastard play the sort of sick and depraved blackened crust punk that you know you probably shouldn’t like, but you can’t help it as the songs are just so damn infectious. Seriously, the band can write a good hook, even if it is covered in grime and filth. Continue reading “Wolfbastard – Hammer the Bastards (Review)”
Wiegedood are a Belgian black metal band and this is their fourth album.
Featuring current and ex-members of Living Gate, Amenra, and Oathbreaker, There’s Always Blood at the End of the Road features 44 minutes of new material. I really, really liked 2017’s De Doden Hebben Het Goed II, so I was looking forward to this new one, (apparently there was also an album after this from 2018, which I somehow managed to miss out on). As we’ll see below though, the Wiegedood of 2022 is a different beast to the one I knew. Since I last heard them Wiegedood’s sound has changed, and they have now become more extreme and more idiosyncratic. Continue reading “Wiegedood – There’s Always Blood at the End of the Road (Review)”
This is the fourth album from US metal/deathcore band Enterprise Earth.
Enterprise Earth walk a line between modern death metal, deathcore, and metalcore, and on The Chosen the band deliver a whopping 71 minutes of meaty material for listeners to get their teeth into. Continue reading “Enterprise Earth – The Chosen (Review)”
Worm Shepherd are a blackened deathcore band and this is their second album.
It’s been less than a year since 2021’s In the Wake of Sol, but here we are already with another Worm Shepherd album. Not that I’m complaining, as that album was a solid slab of blackened atmosphere and crushing deathcore heaviness. Continue reading “Worm Shepherd – Ritual Hymns (Review)”
This is the debut album from Australian post-black metallers Oar.
Oar’s brand of post-black metal is expressive and dark. There is a sizeable doom influence, which is great to hear and works really well in the band’s blackened context. Elements of blackgaze and hardcore can also be heard, and these succeed in broadening the palette with which Oar paint their soundscapes. Continue reading “Oar – The Blood You Crave (Review)”
This is the debut album from US one-man black metal act Antimony.
Antimony’s black metal is a combination of the progressive, atmospheric, and melodic styles. These are mixed together to produce lengthy songs that describe a journey into existential dread. The promo blurb states that it’s reminiscent of Moonsorrow, Mgła, and Drudkh, and this should give an appropriate starting reference for the style you’ll find on Ending. Continue reading “Antimony – Ending (Review)”
Armed only with the album cover and the briefest promo blurb I’ve probably ever seen simply identifying this as black metal, I decided to take a chance on it. In fact, I’ll reproduce the promo text in its entirety here – Continue reading “Pakkt – To Brocken Heights Where Witches Dance (Review)”
This is the second album from Mütterlein, a one-woman experimental band from France.
After being really struck by the quality of Mütterlein’s split with Limbes from earlier in the year, I was looking forward to getting to grips with what Bring Down the Flags had to offer. Continue reading “Mütterlein – Bring Down the Flags (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 