This is the latest EP from French sludge doom band Cult of Occult.
Ruin contains a single 22-minute eponymous track; a nightmarish monster of prodigious proportions. Not only that, but there’s also a bonus track in the form of a remix of the title track, which itself lasts 19 minutes. Overall, this release boasts 41 minutes of anguished blackened sludge doom. It’s nasty, but it’s also damn good. Continue reading “Cult of Occult – Ruin (Review)”
Another month, another truckload of top tier metal releases. 2021 just keeps on giving when it comes to music. I struggled hard to limit the below list to the ones that I did, and could easily have included more albums from what was a very packed April. Continue reading “Monthly Overview – the Best of April 2021”
Oryx are a sludge metal band from the US and this is their third album.
Oryx combine waves of crushing doom with pulverising sludge groove. As a simple description of what you’ll encounter on this album, it serves, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. The band’s apocalyptic heaviness also contains moments of dark Continue reading “Oryx – Lamenting a Dead World (Review)”
This is the third album from Body Void, a doom band from the US.
If you haven’t heard Body Void before, then you absolutely need to check out 2018’s I Live Inside a Burning House, 2019’s You Will Know the Fear You Forced upon Us, and their 2020 split with Keeper. It’s now 2021, and time for the colossal Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth to be unleashed. Continue reading “Body Void – Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth (Review)”
March was an insanely good month for metal. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than one of the below made it to my end of year list. Check out these scorchers! Continue reading “Monthly Overview – the Best of March 2021”
Culted are an international blackened doom band and this is their third album.
It has been many years since 2014’s Oblique to All Paths, although we were gifted with an EP in 2019 – Vespertina Synaxis – A Prayer for Union & Emptiness. Nous contains 64 minutes of new, apocalyptic material, which Continue reading “Culted – Nous (Review)”
This is the debut album from Naxen, a German black metal band.
Mixing classic second wave black metal with the atmospheric style from the US, Towards the Tomb of Times contains 47 minutes of compelling material divided into four epic tracks. Continue reading “Naxen – Towards the Tomb of Times (Review)”
Ashtar are from Switzerland and play blackened doom. This is their second album.
It’s been five years since we were graced with Ashtar’s presence; Ilmasaari was a very notable and satisfying record, and Kaijuka even more so. Continue reading “Ashtar – Kaikuja (Review)”
This is the second album from Italy’s one-man blackened doom band Noctu.
Gelidae Mortis Imago contains 74 minutes of atmospheric blackened funeral doom. Containing three brief atmospheric pieces as preludes to the three main monstrous songs, this album is an imposing proposition for people allergic to Continue reading “Noctu – Gelidae Mortis Imago (Review)”
Forlesen are from the US and play doom. This is their debut album.
There are only two lengthy tracks on this album, but with a total duration of 36 minutes, that matters not. The band members in Forlesen have a lot of experience with atypical music, as they play in a variety of bands such as Lotus Thief, Kayo Dot, Botanist, Maudlin of the Well, Nero Order, Palace of Worms, and Vesper Moth. Continue reading “Forlesen – Hierophant Violent (Review)”
