I’ve decided to do something new for 2020 – a second End of Year list. If you’ve missed it, my standard, definitive best of 2020 list can be seen here, and is made up of albums I was lucky enough to get to review. However, this year I want to also highlight some of the many albums that I’ve enjoyed listening to, but for one reason or another never had the chance to review. So, consider this a complementary list of sorts to the main one. Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List EXTRA! – Best Non-Reviewed Metal of 2020”
Tag: Doom Metal
Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2020
Almost every year I think about how challenging it is to compile a definitive best of list, and how subjective it is, etc. Although that’s still true for this collecting of albums, this year, however, has been easier than most. 2020 has been heavy on the black metal for me. It’s been my most reviewed genre, in all its myriad permutations, and this is reflected in the below list.
For the longest of times the bands in positions 5 and 6 vied for top position, but then October and November happened. All of a sudden, unexpectedly, these two months unleashed a wealth of quality, and stole the top four positions in a rampant display of blackened supremacy.
I hope you enjoy the below recommendations of mine and find something new to obsess over. Let me know how you get on.
Let’s dig in… Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2020”
Haunted Cenotaph – Abyssal Menace (Review)
This is the debut album from Polish death/doom metal band Haunted Cenotaph.
Abyssal Menace contains 41 minutes of gloomy old-school death metal. With a hefty amount of doom metal elements, and a Celtic Frost influence, this is an enjoyable listen for anyone that wants to explore OSDM that has a different perspective on the genre than that of many of the band’s contemporaries. Continue reading “Haunted Cenotaph – Abyssal Menace (Review)”
Pneuma Hagion – Voidgazer (Review)
This is the debut album from Pneuma Hagion, a death metal band from the US.
Ugly and heavy, death metal like this feels like it should be able to swallow stars. You can hear influences from both black and doom metal, but mostly you can hear the sound of brutal nightmares forged into music. Continue reading “Pneuma Hagion – Voidgazer (Review)”
Subterraen – Rotten Human Kingdom (Review)
Subterraen are a French sludge/doom band and this is their debut album.
When the promo blurb states that Rotten Human Kingdom is for fans of bands like Eremit, Jupiterian, Lurk, Eyehategod, Neurosis, 71TONMAN, Conan, and Primitive Man, you know you have to check it out. You won’t be disappointed, either. Far from it, in fact. Continue reading “Subterraen – Rotten Human Kingdom (Review)”
Sunyata – The Great Beyond (Review)
This is the debut album from UK atmospheric doom metal solo act Sunyata.
The artist describes Sunyata’s music as a mix of funeral doom and modern classical. Although this serves as a decent description, it doesn’t quite do justice to the wealth of rich content that’s to be found on The Great Beyond. Continue reading “Sunyata – The Great Beyond (Review)”
Soulburn – Noa’s D’ark (Review)
This is the fourth album from Soulburn, a black metal band from the Netherlands.
Following up from 2016’s Earthless Pagan Spirit, (via an EP I hadn’t heard, but is actually included here as bonus tracks), Noa’s D’ark is 47 minutes of music with snarling attitude and infectious guitars. Continue reading “Soulburn – Noa’s D’ark (Review)”
Cult Burial – Cult Burial (Review)
This is the debut album from Cult Burial, a death/black/doom metal band from the UK.
After being a big fan of the band’s early work, expectations were high for Cult Burial. I have to say that they have been met, and this is a superlative album. Cult Burial play a hybrid form of blackened extreme metal, one which takes what it likes from black, death, and doom metal and then slaughters what’s left. Continue reading “Cult Burial – Cult Burial (Review)”
Spirit Adrift – Enlightened in Eternity (Review)
This is the fourth album from the US heavy metal band Spirit Adrift.
Up to this point, each Spirit Adrift album has been better and more developed than its predecessor. From 2016’s Chained to Oblivion, to 2017’s Curse of Conception, and then last year’s Divided by Darkness, this prolific Continue reading “Spirit Adrift – Enlightened in Eternity (Review)”
Pallbearer – Forgotten Days (Review)
This is the fourth album from US doom metallers Pallbearer.
This is old-school doom metal mixed with a progressive delivery. Black Sabbath and Candlemass are obvious rough starting points for the band’s sound, but you can also hear the influence of 70s progressive rock on the songs too. Continue reading “Pallbearer – Forgotten Days (Review)”
