Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2017

2017 was an amazing year for music, with so many top-notch albums seeing the light of day. I pretty much say this every year, of course, but that doesn’t seem to stop it being true. With this in mind, the 2017 list was especially hard to put together, and I agonised over this one more than I did for any of the lists in previous years.

As is traditional, I also want to mention some releases by bands that could easily have made it onto the list, and should have by many rights, if only I could have somehow managed to fit them all in –

Abhorrent Decimation, Amenra, Apes, Artificial Brain, Au-Dessus,

Celeste, Desecrate the Faith, Earth Rot, Earth Witch, Falls of Rauros,

Full of Hell, Gnaw, Gutslit, Helpless, Henry Kane,

Hundred Suns, Ingurgitating Oblivion, Into Orbit, John Frum, Karne,

Kval, Livid, Morbid Angel, Primitive Man, Craven Idol,

Slow, Soulskinner, The Kennedy Veil, Ulsect, Wildspeaker.

I urge you to check out all of the above releases, in addition to the ones in the actual list below. I could probably keep adding more bands you should give a listen to, but a line has to be drawn somewhere, I suppose.

So, without further ado, let’s get right down to it… Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2017”

Blissful Stream/Lightsabres – Devil’s Night to All Souls – Split (Review)

Blissful Stream LightsabresThis is a split between two Swedish one man bands; the doom metal of Blissful Stream and the dark rock of Lightsabres.

Blissful Stream are up first, with the first new material from the project since 2016’s Ascending Demons. Continue reading “Blissful Stream/Lightsabres – Devil’s Night to All Souls – Split (Review)”

Minors – Atrophy (Review)

MinorsMinors are a hardcore/sludge band from Canada. This is their debut album.

This is 19 minutes of ugly feedback and remorseless intensity. Containing elements of hardcore, punk, metal, and powerviolence, all wrapped up in a harsh sludge delivery, Atrophy is a withering, caustic listen. The keyword here is violence. Continue reading “Minors – Atrophy (Review)”

Slow – V – Oceans (Review)

SlowSlow is a solo funeral doom band from Belgium and this is his fifth album.

From the man involved with bands such as We All Die (Laughing), COAG, Merda Mundi, Cult of Erinyes, and many others, this is 57 minutes of atmospheric funeral doom that’s come to drag you down into a bleak, watery abyss. Continue reading “Slow – V – Oceans (Review)”

Traffic Death – Dead End (Review)

Traffic DeathTraffic Death are a US crossover grind band and this is their second album.

This is raging thrashcore, taking thrash metal, hardcore, grindcore, and punk elements into consideration as it spends 24 minutes doing a bucketload of damage. Continue reading “Traffic Death – Dead End (Review)”

Djinn and Miskatonic – Even Gods Must Die (Review)

Djinn and MiskatonicDjinn and Miskatonic are an Indian doom metal band and this is their second album.

2013’s Forever in the Realm was a charismatic and flavoured doom metal album that made a firm impression on me. It’s been far too long since we’ve had some more music from this notable band, but they’ve more than made Continue reading “Djinn and Miskatonic – Even Gods Must Die (Review)”