This is the second album from Shaam Larein, a Swedish rock band.
Sticka en Kniv I Världen contains 39 minutes of idiosyncratic heavy rock. Mixing together elements of Gothic, doom, avant-garde, and post-punk, this offers a distinguished work for the listener to be mesmerised by. Continue reading “Shaam Larein – Sticka en Kniv I Världen (Review)”
This is the third album from UK stoner rock band Psychlona.
Palo Verde delivers 49 minutes of quality psychedelic stoner rock. Continue reading “Psychlona – Palo Verde (Review)”
Oreyeon are an Italian stoner rock band and this is their third album.
Here we have 42 minutes of stoner rock crafted by a band that know the style well enough to want something extra from it. Oreyeon combine elements of doom, grunge, stoner, psychedelic, progressive, and heavy rock into their music, pushing themselves to produce a quality listen that doesn’t rely on tired tropes to make its impact felt. Continue reading “Oreyeon – Equations for the Useless (Review)”
Messa are an Italian doom rock band and this is their third album.
It’s with great expectations that I turned to Close, having enjoyed both 2016’s Belfry and 2018’s Feast for Water so much. I have not been disappointed, I can assure you. Continue reading “Messa – Close (Review)”
Yes, it’s that time of year again! 2021 gave us some very, very good metal, and I feel honoured to have been able to have listened to as much of it as I have done. There are some notable absences, (for me at least), from the below list, but there’s just not enough time or space for everything, dammit!
2020 was a very blackened year for me; I listened to a lot of black metal, and the list for that year reflected that. At the start of 2021 I decided I’d consciously try to ensure I cast my net a bit wider again, reconnecting more deeply with some of many other styles of metal that I enjoy. 2021’s list reflects this. However, I’ve still ended up with much more of a black metal presence in the list than I was initially expecting. What can I say? I’m a sucker for all of the myriad blackened flavours of the style. However, there’s also a lot of other stuff here that I hope you’ll dig into and enjoy too. I felt that there was a notable absence of grindcore in 2021, as well as some of the more extreme styles of doom. What do you think?
I hope you enjoy perusing some of my favourite records from this year, and I hope you find something new to tickle your fancy. What’s your number one this year? Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2021”
October was an absolutely stacked month for great albums! It was very hard to choose just a handful below. There were so many high quality releases and I know whatever I ended up choosing I’d miss some out that deserved to be highlighted, so I’ve just gone with whatever felt right in the moment – if had to do this list again, I’m sure there would be some changes. Having said that, all of the below are superlative albums. Continue reading “Monthly Overview – the Best of October 2021”
This is the second album from Russian doom rockers Scarecrow.
Scarecrow play a classic, old-school mix of doom, hard rock, heavy blues, prog rock, psychedelia, and proto-metal.
Scarecrow II is a 44-minute time travelling psychedelic journey into the past, with the band as very capable guides. If you think of a 70s-style rock band, with some beefy guitars, the occasional Continue reading “Scarecrow – Scarecrow II (Review)”
Green Lung are a doom rock band from the UK and this is their second album.
Green Lung play a catchy and infectious brand of doom rock. The band have an expansive sound that takes liberally from doom metal, hard rock, folk, stoner, and Gothic rock. Continue reading “Green Lung – Black Harvest (Review)”
Alastor are a Swedish doom metal band and this is their second album.
Onwards and Downwards contains 46 minutes of old-school music that sits somewhere between doom metal and psychedelic hard rock. Continue reading “Alastor – Onwards and Downwards (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Brimstone Coven, a rock band from the US.
Here we have 35 minutes of endearing rock that mixes together elements of proto-metal and doom rock to produce music that has a 70s feel, while not being overly beholden to it. Bands like Black Sabbath, Pentagram, and Deep Continue reading “Brimstone Coven – The Woes of a Mortal Earth (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 