Dool – Wonderbox Metal

Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2024

Yes, it’s list season once more, so gather round and witness some of the best metal that 2024 had to offer!

2024 was a fantastic year for metal, and that’s an understatement. I thought 2023 was one of the weaker years for metal releases, overall. As such, putting last year’s list together, although challenging as it always is, was relatively effortless compared to this one. I don’t think I’ve agonised over placings more any other year. In the end, similar to last year, I just decided that enough was enough and I needed to just stop needlessly obsessing. Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2024”

Damnation Festival 2024 – BEC Arena, Manchester – 02/11/24 (Live Review)

Another year, another Damnation Festival. As always, the organisers are to be commended for putting on one of the UK’s premier metal festivals. I’ve been coming here most years for almost two decades now, and I’ve never yet had a bad day.

There are three stages. Two smaller stages that clash with each other, and a main stage that clashes with nothing. Continue reading “Damnation Festival 2024 – BEC Arena, Manchester – 02/11/24 (Live Review)”

Cemetery Skyline – Nordic Gothic (Review)

This is the debut album from dark rock band Cemetery Skyline.

Boasting current/ex-members of bands such as Amorphis, Grand Cadaver, Dark Tranquillity, Entombed A.D., The Halo Effect, Insomnium, Malpractice, Sentenced, and Witchery, a lot of experience and skill has gone into the making of Nordic Gothic. Cemetery Skyline use their experience well, forging a 49-minute album the combines dark and melodic rock with Gothic flair. Continue reading “Cemetery Skyline – Nordic Gothic (Review)”

Solar Temple & Dead Neanderthals – Embers Beget the Divine (Review)

Solar Temple and Dead Neanderthals are both from the Netherlands. The former plays black metal, (and contains members of Fluisteraars and Dool), and the latter is an experimental act.

Embers Beget the Divine documents the live show that the Continue reading “Solar Temple & Dead Neanderthals – Embers Beget the Divine (Review)”

Dool – The Shape of Fluidity (Review)

This is the third album from Dutch dark rock band Dool.

The Shape of Fluidity contains 50 minutes of dark rock music with both a metallic and a Gothic edge, as well as containing elements of doom, post-rock and post-punk. Dool’s music flows together seamlessly, making for an individualistic blend that is extremely enjoyable and moreish. Continue reading “Dool – The Shape of Fluidity (Review)”