This is the third album from Swedish death/doom band Soliloquium.
This is a progressive, melodic brand of death/doom, one that also takes elements of post-metal and shoegaze into its mix. The end result is a 45-minute album that strikes a balance between instant-appeal heaviness and songwriting smarts on one hand, and Continue reading “Soliloquium – Things We Leave Behind (Review)”
This is the debut album from US death/doom metal band Rotting Kingdom.
Rotting Kingdom’s 2017 EP of the same name was one that I very much enjoyed, so now that a full length is on the horizon, it’s time to immerse ourselves in the band’s worthy take on the death/doom style. At only 38 minutes in duration, A Deeper Shade of Sorrow is shorter than many albums of this style, and therefore doesn’t outstay its welcome. In fact, I could easily have taken a little more material. Continue reading “Rotting Kingdom – A Deeper Shade of Sorrow (Review)”
Spectral Lore and Mare Cognitum are both one-man black metal bands, (from Greece and the US respectively), and this is their latest collaborative split.
No stranger to teaming up with each other, these two atmospheric black metal bands have created an epic project with Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine. Just under 2 hours in total duration, this monolithic release features four tracks from each band interspersed with each other, topped by a final two tracks that are collaborative, with both artists creating music together. Continue reading “Spectral Lore/Mare Cognitum – Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine – Split (Review)”
This is the second album from Scáth Na Déithe, an Irish black/death metal band.
The Dirge of Endless Mourning contains 44 minutes of atmospheric black metal mixed with malignant death metal. It’s spiritually comparable in scope and breadth to the Cascadian style, but filtered through Irish folklore and history and has a brutal edge that comes from the death metal influences. The result is an album that pulls strengths from Continue reading “Scáth Na Déithe – The Dirge of Endless Mourning (Review)”
Cardinals Folly are a Finnish doom metal band and this is their fifth album.
I have a definite soft spot for Cardinals Folly, and I’d recommend the likes of Our Cult Continues! and Deranged Pagan Sons to anyone who enjoys charismatic doom metal with larger-than-life vocals. Defying the Righteous Way is the band’s latest chapter, and it’s damn good one, worthy of inclusion in the Cardinals Folly saga. Continue reading “Cardinals Folly – Defying the Righteous Way (Review)”
Ilienses Tree are an Italian death/doom metal band and this is their debut album.
After really enjoying 2017’s Edda, it’s good to now have a full length from Ilienses Tree. Continue reading “Ilienses Tree – Till Autumn Comes (Review)”
Crown of Asteria is a one-woman black metal band from the US, and Nodus Tollens in a one-man black metal band, also from the US.
The split opens with the single 19-minute track Claw of the Firemaker by Crown of Asteria. The style is nature-influenced atmospheric black metal with elements of doom, folk, and ambient mixed in. It’s raw and unpolished, but this simply adds to the music’s charms. Continue reading “Crown of Asteria/Nodus Tollens – Split (Review)”
This is the debut album from Mourir, a black metal band from France.
The music on Animal Bouffe Animal takes influence from the Scandinavian second wave, but then updates this with modern touches and uncomfortable dissonance, scathing sludge, and harrowing doom. The end result is 34 minutes of atmospheric rawness that combines old and new to produce something hideously enjoyable. Continue reading “Mourir – Animal Bouffe Animal (Review)”
This is the debut album from one-man Swedish doom metal band Blissful Stream.
It seems like an age since Blissful Stream first appeared in 2016 with Ascending Demons, which impressed with its lo-fi rocky take on doom metal. The next two years saw a release every year, (Devil’s Night to All Souls – Split with Lightsabres, and Dead Religious), and then a quiet 2019. This was apparently due to the artist building up to his fist full length, which we are now lucky enough to have in 2020. Continue reading “Blissful Stream – When the Wolves Start to Circle (Review)”
This is the debut album from US doom band Frayle.
I enjoyed 2018’s The White Witch, which was a hugely impressive entrance into the doom metal scene. We now have the band’s first full length album, and across 37 minutes the band prove that their first EP was no fluke. Frayle have got a real talent for their charismatic and atmospheric form of doom. Continue reading “Frayle – 1692 (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 