drone – Wonderbox Metal

Agenbite Misery – Remorse of Conscience (Review)

This is the debut album from Agenbite Misery, a US black/death/sludge metal band.

Okay, it’s to the promo blurb for this one – “…the band began with a deceptively simple idea: to adapt James Joyce’s Ulysses into an experimental metal album. What emerged from that idea is a 55-minute odyssey of layered sonic aggression and literary depth, an album that blends blackened sludge, dissonant death metal, post-punk, ambient drone, and more into a singular, genre-defying statement of purpose.” So there you have it. Continue reading “Agenbite Misery – Remorse of Conscience (Review)”

Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound (Review)

Agriculture are a post-black metal band from the US and this is their second album.

The Spiritual Sound is the 44-minute follow up to 2023’s well-received Agriculture. Combing a range of diverse ingredients into an engaging post-black metal sound, Agriculture’s new record is a step up for the band. Continue reading “Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound (Review)”

Heathe – Control Your Soul’s Desire for Freedom (Review)

This is the second album from Heathe, a post-metal/rock band from Denmark.

Control Your Soul’s Desire for Freedom is the 64-minute follow up to 2019’s On the Tombstones; the Symbols Engraved. Heathe have developed their sound on this new record, expanding widely into multifaceted waters that take in a broad set of influences. I’ve tagged this above as post-metal/rock, but it’s not really – at least not in any traditional sense. They are simply the closest broad terms relevant. There’s certainly very little in the way of metal on this record, for example. Heathe exist in a niche world, where a lot of recognisable materials have been mangled into something quite atypical. Continue reading “Heathe – Control Your Soul’s Desire for Freedom (Review)”

Ethereal Wound – Defile | Demise (Review)

This is the debut album from Portuguese death metal band Ethereal Wound.

Defile | Demise contains 38 minutes of death metal that’s blackened, dissonant, and atmospheric. Ethereal Wound, (along with a session drummer, from Ashen Horde, Evilyn, Norse, Somnium Nox, Virulent Depravity, and many more), have produced a striking record that offers a rewarding, satisfying experience. Continue reading “Ethereal Wound – Defile | Demise (Review)”

Kayo Dot – Every Rock, Every Half-Truth under Reason (Review)

This is the eleventh album from US experimental band Kayo Dot.

The tag experimental is frequently not a very useful one, but then Kayo Dot aren’t a band that invite easy categorisation. Every Rock, Every Half-Truth under Reason contains 66 minutes of music, and a range of styles and influences have gone into its creation. Continue reading “Kayo Dot – Every Rock, Every Half-Truth under Reason (Review)”

Stomach – Low Demon (Review)

This is the second album by Stomach, a doom/sludge band from the US.

Containing 43 minutes of thoroughly obnoxious doom sludge nastiness, Low Demon is a hideous mix of doom, sludge, drone, noise, grindcore, industrial, and punk. Stomach, brought to us by current/ex-members of Weekend Nachos, know their way around the style, as becomes quickly apparent across these five tracks. Continue reading “Stomach – Low Demon (Review)”

Year of No Light – Les Maîtres Fous (Review)

This is the latest release from French post-metal band Year of No Light.

Les Maîtres Fous is a single 29-minute track that finds Year of No Light at their most droning incarnation. For context for this record, I’m just going to reproduce some of the promo blurb – “Commissioned by Musée Du Quai Branly in Paris for their 2012 ‘L’Invention Du Sauvage’ exhibition, the trance-metal pioneers approached the ritual practices of the Hauka movement as depicted in the film and responded with their uniquely hypnotic heaviness.

Performed only twice, once at the exhibition on the 6th January, 2012 and again in Bordeaux on the 29th January, 2015; this release is a live recording of the second and final performance of ‘Les Maîtres Fous’. ” Continue reading “Year of No Light – Les Maîtres Fous (Review)”

Рожь (Rye) – Знание (Review)

This is the third album from Рожь (otherwise known as Rye), a one-man blackened doom band from Russia.

2023’s Всё was a record that made a strong impression, so it’s good to now have 40 minutes of new material from the artist behind Рожь. Знание contains just three tracks, but each is worth spending time with, as we’ll see. Continue reading “Рожь (Rye) – Знание (Review)”

Lightless – A Foreseen Loss (Review)

This is the debut album from German doom band Lightless.

A Foreseen Loss is a crushing 80-minute slab of blackened doom. Lightless play a gargantuan brand of doom mixed with serrated black metal and dark murderous sludge, (along with touches of post-metal and drone). Let me tell you, it doesn’t just hit the spot, but obliterates it. Continue reading “Lightless – A Foreseen Loss (Review)”

Conan – Violence Dimension (Review)

This is the sixth album from UK doom metallers Conan.

I haven’t managed to review a Conan album since 2016’s Revengeance, so rectifying this is long overdue. Since Revengeance Conan have changed lineup, picking up a drummer from Dread Sovereign and a bassist who used to be in the mighty Fudge Tunnel. Let’s get to it then. Continue reading “Conan – Violence Dimension (Review)”