This is the debut album from US doom band Vacant Eyes.
Combining funeral doom, death/doom, melodic doom, and progressive doom, A Somber Preclusion of Being contains 75 minutes of sorrowful soundscapes. Continue reading “Vacant Eyes – A Somber Preclusion of Being (Review)”
This is the second album from Hymn, a Norwegian doom/sludge metal band.
Hymn play a mix of doom and sludge, and Breach Us contains 38 minutes of music divided into 4 tracks. The band is made up of only two members, but you wouldn’t necessarily realise this immediately as Breach Us sounds massive. Continue reading “Hymn – Breach Us (Review)”
This is the debut album from Atramentus, a doom metal band from Canada.
Stygian is a monster of dark funeral doom. Three tracks sprawl out over 45 minutes, promising nothing but glacial moods and barren hopelessness, and delivering. There are two colossal songs that bookend a shorter ambient piece. Continue reading “Atramentus – Stygian (Review)”
Incantation are a legendary US death metal band and this is their twelfth album.
The death metal masters return. After 2017’s enjoyable Profane Nexus, I was looking forward to Sect of Vile Divinities, but wasn’t quite expecting just how damn good it would be. Continue reading “Incantation – Sect of Vile Divinities (Review)”
This is the debut album from Finnish black metallers Väki.
Kuolleen Maan Omaksi mixes old and new black metal styles together to create an album that draws from both to weave its dark magicks. The end result is a modern interpretation of blackened extremity, one which ably demonstrates a band with a lot of potential. Continue reading “Väki – Kuolleen Maan Omaksi (Succumbed to the Dead Soil) (Review)”
Primitive Man are a doom band from the US and this is their third album.
I confess a deep love for Primitive Man’s work, (here, here, here, here, here, here, here), so Immersion is much-anticipated by yours truly. Compared to the band’s previous albums, Immersion contains a surprisingly brief 36 minutes of material, but it makes the most of every minute. Continue reading “Primitive Man – Immersion (Review)”
This is the second album from Australian death metal band Faceless Burial.
Speciation contains 38 minutes of classic, old-school death metal. The formula for this sort of music may be tried and tested, but that doesn’t lessen its impact any when it’s done as effectively as it is here. Continue reading “Faceless Burial – Speciation (Review)”
This is the second album from Sinister Downfall, a one-man funeral doom band from Germany.
A Dark Shining Light contains 51 minutes downbeat, mournful music. Slow and moody, this is funeral doom that’s solemn and relentlessly engaging. Continue reading “Sinister Downfall – A Dark Shining Light (Review)”
July was packed with strong releases. With some quality highly anticipated albums seeing the light of day in July, (Defeated Sanity, Gaerea, Imperial Triumphant), I decided to focus on some of my favourites from last month that were less likely to get loads of media coverage, (and it was a struggle to limit the selection to five). So, with that in mind, my highlights are below. What are yours? Continue reading “Monthly Overview – the Best of July 2020”
This is the debut album from Sepulchral Curse, a Finnish death metal band.
It seems an age since 2016’s At the Onset of Extinction, but we are now treated to some new material from Sepulchral Curse. Well, I’m pleased to report that the wait has been worth it. Featuring members of Solothus, (including their impressive singer), Only Ashes Remain contains 45 minutes of blackened death metal that will surely be one of the year’s death metal highlights. Continue reading “Sepulchral Curse – Only Ashes Remain (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 