Krigsgrav – Fires in the Fall (Review)

Krigsgrav - Fires in the FallKrigsgrav are a black metal band from the US and this is their seventh album.

I haven’t caught up with Krigsgrav since their 2016 album Waves of Degradation, so it’s good to check in with them once more. Fires in the Fall contains 53 minutes of new material and reveals some changes to the band’s sound, which can be roughly and facetiously summarised as shorter songs, more doom. Continue reading “Krigsgrav – Fires in the Fall (Review)”

High Priest – Invocation (Review)

High Priest - InvocationHigh Priest are a US doom metal band and this is their debut album.

Invocation combines classic doom metal with elements of heavy metal, hard rock, stoner, and grunge. Across 45 minutes High Priest impress with their charismatic and vibrant take on a well-worn style. Continue reading “High Priest – Invocation (Review)”

Elder Devil – Everything Worth Loving (Review)

Elder Devil - Everything Worth LovingThis is the second album from US sludge metal/grindcore band Elder Devil.

Here we are then – 33 minutes of nasty sludgy grind to clear away the cobwebs. It’s not pretty, but it’s certainly brutal. Elder Devil know how to produce an engaging slab of aggressive hostility. Continue reading “Elder Devil – Everything Worth Loving (Review)”

Church of Misery – Born Under a Mad Sign (Review)

Church of Misery - Born Under a Mad SignThis is the sixth or seventh album, (depending on who you ask), from Japanese doom metal band Church of Misery.

Born Under a Mad Sign is a 55-minute Black Sabbath-influenced slab of humungous doom metal. It sounds pretty much exactly as you’d expect it to with this description, but it works well, and this is a very enjoyable album that should also find favour with fans of bands such as Electric Wizard, Sleep, Corrosion of Conformity, Orange Goblin, Trouble, etc. Continue reading “Church of Misery – Born Under a Mad Sign (Review)”

Khanate – To Be Cruel (Review)

Khanate - To Be CruelKhanate are a doom/drone band from the US and this is their fifth album.

The unthinkable has happened. Utterly impossible. After 14 years, a new Khanate album has arisen from the depths of untold bottomless horror to grace an undeserving planet with its unique form of grim darkness. How and why it has appeared now is anyone’s guess, but surely it must be a sign of the end times? Continue reading “Khanate – To Be Cruel (Review)”

Bell Witch – Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate (Review)

Bell Witch - Future's Shadow Part 1 The Clandestine GateBell Witch are a funeral doom band from the US and this is their fourth album.

Following on from 2017’s now-classic Mirror Reaper, (by way of 2020’s collaboration with Aerial Ruin Stygian Bough: Volume I), Bell Witch have unleashed another giant work of funeral doom art. Continue reading “Bell Witch – Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate (Review)”

Usnea – Bathed in Light (Review)

Usnea - Bathed in LightThis is the fourth album from US doom band Usnea.

After loving 2014’s Random Cosmic Violence and 2017’s Portals into Futility, I am so completely ready for a new Usnea album. Bathed in Light brings us not only their shortest album yet at 43 minutes, but also many of their shortest songs. What does this mean for the Usnea we know and adore? Continue reading “Usnea – Bathed in Light (Review)”

Yakuza – Sutra (Review)

Yakuza - SutraThis is the seventh album from US avant-garde/experimental doom band Yakuza.

Sutra is a 54-minute journey into the unexpected and the atypical. Few genre tags will do this justice, so I’ve settled on avant-garde doom, which is vague enough to be relevant, so why not. Whatever you call them, Yakuza have provided a multifaceted metal album that’s diverse and enjoyable. Continue reading “Yakuza – Sutra (Review)”

Radien – Unissa Palaneet (Review)

Radien - Unissa PalaneetThis is the second album from Radien, a sludge metal band from Finland.

Unissa Palaneet is a 46-minute album containing five tracks, where the a full 21 minutes of the total duration is made up of just the final song. Radien are not without ambition, and they have the skills to back up their vision for doom-heavy sludge music. Continue reading “Radien – Unissa Palaneet (Review)”