This is the debut album from one-man Norwegian blackened extreme metal project ILLT.
This solo act is rounded out by session musicians from such notable bands as Megadeth, Soilwork, Nile, and Chrome Division. There’s 36 minutes of material on Urhat containing a modern blackened mix of death metal, thrash, hardcore, and splashes of doom and hard rock. Continue reading “ILLT – Urhat (Review)”
This is the fifth album from Norwegian doom/stoner metal band Kal-El.
This album came highly recommended from a few different sources, so I thought it was high time I checked it out. I have not been disappointed. Continue reading “Kal-El – Dark Majesty (Review)”
Mastiff are a hardcore/sludge metal band from the UK and this is their third album.
Following on from 2019’s well-received Plague, Leave Me the Ashes of the Earth contains 32 minutes of anger and violence. Continue reading “Mastiff – Leave Me the Ashes of the Earth (Review)”
Lunar Ark are a blackened doom band from the US and this is their debut album.
Each of the three tracks on this 49-minute album is a hideous, heaving monstrosity of grim blackened sludge and malevolent drone doom. It’s deeply nasty stuff, yet not without redeeming features. Continue reading “Lunar Ark – Recurring Nightmare (Review)”
This is a split between two death metal bands from the Netherlands, Grim Fate and The Sombre.
Grim Fate get the ball rolling with three songs that last 23 minutes in total. Continue reading “Grim Fate/The Sombre – From Ancient Slumber/The Horrid Silence Thus Began – Split (Review)”
While August was a slower month than some others have been this year for first class metal albums, it was still home to more than enough top releases to warrant this list. Continue reading “Monthly Overview – the Best of August 2021”
This is the debut album from US death metal band Wharflurch.
Across six tracks and 35 minutes, Wharflurch deliver a doom-infested slab of malformed, rancid death metal.
Wharflurch’s death metal contains an experimental edge that’s been dulled by humid rot, but is no less striking and potent for it. Continue reading “Wharflurch – Psychedelic Realms ov Hell (Review)”
Vow are a UK post-metal band and this is their second release.
Is this an EP or an album? The promo blurb says album, but then it only contains two tracks and lasts a total of 17 minutes. Either way, it’s worth getting your hands on, as Vow’s experimental post-metal is very tasty indeed. Continue reading “Vow – Icarian (Review)”
This is the sixth album from Finnish death/doom band Hooded Menace.
Following on from 2015’s Darkness Drips Forth and 2018’s Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed, The Tritonus Bell is another gruesome slab of death/doom, only this time it has been infused with a greater amount of classic heavy metal influences. Continue reading “Hooded Menace – The Tritonus Bell (Review)”
Headshrinker are a death metal band from the US and this is their debut album.
Headshrinker play old-school death metal that incorporates in varying doses, crushing doom, dark black metal, and intricate technicality. Theirs is an atypical approach to death metal, yet one that still benefits from the raw visceral nature of the style. Imagine a cross between Tomb Mold and Ulthar on one hand, and Pyrrhon and Imperial Triumphant on the other, and you’ll be on the right lines for a decent idea of what this album’s 38 minutes hold. Continue reading “Headshrinker – Callous Indifference (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 