This is the fourth album from US doom band Usnea.
After loving 2014’s Random Cosmic Violence and 2017’s Portals into Futility, I am so completely ready for a new Usnea album. Bathed in Light brings us not only their shortest album yet at 43 minutes, but also many of their shortest songs. What does this mean for the Usnea we know and adore? Continue reading “Usnea – Bathed in Light (Review)”
This is the fourth album from US industrial black/sludge metal band Invertia.
When I last caught up with Invertia it was on 2014’s Another Scheme of the Wicked, where they played industrial black metal, complete with remixes of the original tracks. Nine years or so later, the band’s music is darker and uglier, yet also laced with hooks and catchy riffs and beats. Continue reading “Invertia – Through the Black Bubble (Review)”
So here we are again. It’s December, and year end lists are flying around like shrapnel. Due to the inherent subjectivity of music it’s always interesting to see what people have made of the preceding year.
For me, I made a concerted effort to drag myself away from the depths of black metal’s always-enticing abyss to spend some more time with other genres and styles that I also love. I said something similar last year, but I feel this year I was more successful in achieving that end. Of course, I still love black metal, still listen to it constantly, and you’ll still find some great examples of the blackened arts in the list below.
2022 was a strong year for death metal for me, and I enjoyed more death metal bands in a deeper way than I have done for some time. In every year there are standout releases, but I felt this year the standard was raised throughout. Possibly I was simply more receptive to it. Either way, you’ll find more death metal-related acts, and in higher spots, in this selection than you’ll have seen in my lists for a while.
As with last year, grindcore was largely absent from my year, disappointingly, as was hardcore. Additionally, the sort of lengthy, ugly, abyssal doom that I love so much has been largely lacking too. It’s all probably out there somewhere, but I didn’t catch it.
The top two spots this year are both claimed by albums/bands/styles that I simply could not have predicted would be at the pinnacle of my list by the year’s end, (one of the bands I hadn’t even heard of in January). I hope you enjoy these excellent records even half as much as I do.
Lastly I just want to say a big thank you to any and all that might read this site. It’s only a small endeavour, and I do it purely for the love of all things METAL and to support bands that I enjoy in whatever minor way I can, but if this is you, a heartfelt thank you for enduring my scribblings.
On to it! Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2022”
This is the second album from Fell Ruin, a blackened doom band from the US.
It has been a while since we last heard from Fell Ruin, but I liked 2015’s Devices and 2017’s To the Concrete Drifts enough that when I discovered a new album was coming out, I knew I wanted to absorb its dark charms. Continue reading “Fell Ruin – Cast in Oil the Dressed Wrought (Review)”
This is the latest EP from Worm, a blackened death/doom band from the US.
Worm return! After the monstrous slab of blackened doom malevolence that was 2021’s Foreverglade, Worm are back with 27 minutes of foul new material. Continue reading “Worm – Bluenothing (Review)”
This is the second album from Ggu:ll, a blackened doom band from the Netherlands.
Featuring ex-members of Dodecahedron, Ex Est contains 45 minutes of music that’s sharp, bleak, and harsh. With the promo blurb stating that Ex Est is for fans of Mizmor, Bell Witch, Lord Mantis, Bongripper, and Funeral Mist, I couldn’t help but be intrigued. Let’s dive in… Continue reading “Ggu:ll – Ex Est (Review)”
This is the debut album from 1/2 Southern Soul, a one-woman blackened doom band from Greece.
Narrations of a Fallen Soul is a 67-minute journey into lesser travelled terrain. Powered by a single creative artist, but fleshed out by many guests on different tracks and instruments, (including drums, saxophone, violin, davul, kaval, and dahare), 1/2 Southern North provides an unusual album that is well-crafted and realised. Continue reading “1/2 Southern North – Narrations of a Fallen Soul (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal gets sent a lot of new music, (which is great), but there’s no way that everything can get covered unfortunately, (which is not so great). This new column hopes to redress this balance, if only slightly, by taking a look at a handful of releases that a record label has recently sent out that might have otherwise slipped through the cracks.
For this edition we turn to Black Mass Prayers, an Italian label that states it is “supporting the Italian Black Metal underground and aiming to spread its glory worldwide”. Neither other the label nor the bands on it were familiar to me prior to this, so it felt like a good time to dig in and explore what they had to offer… Continue reading “Label Roundup: Black Mass Prayers – Lykten, Urluk, & Valadier (Reviews)”
This is the fourth album from US doom/sludge metallers Behold! The Monolith.
It seems like an age ago that it came out, but 2015’s Architects of the Void stood out from the crowds that year, (and made it into my year end list), and I had wondered if we’d ever hear from the band again. They’ve now reappeared though, and with a new singer to boot, to bring us 46 minutes of new material. Continue reading “Behold! The Monolith – From the Fathomless Deep (Review)”
This is the debut album from US blackened doom band Qaalm.
So here we have a gargantuan, monstrous record. With only four tracks it’s a long-form foulness that’s on offer here, one that spreads across the 70-minute playing time like a virulent plague. Continue reading “Qaalm – Resilience & Despair (Review)”
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