May saw an unreasonable amount of good metal albums released into the wild. The below are just the tip of the iceberg, but more than worth celebrating in their own right. Continue reading “Monthly Overview – the Best of May 2022”
Tag: Folk
Battle Symphony – War on Earth (Review)
This is the debut album from Greek heavy metal band Battle Symphony.
War on Earth gives us a whopping 69 minutes of music to absorb, (including the bonus track). Described as a conceptual metal opera with a sci-fi theme, it’s the result of one man’s vision, who then brought a plethora of people together to realise it. It combines symphonic, folk, power, and classical styles into a meaty heavy metal feast, and contains contributions from Continue reading “Battle Symphony – War on Earth (Review)”
Monthly Overview – the Best of April 2022
Another month, another explosion of quality metal albums to listen to and fall in love with. Peruse the five standout releases below from April and let me know what tickles your fancy… Continue reading “Monthly Overview – the Best of April 2022”
Tzompantli – Tlazcaltiliztli (Review)
This is the debut album from US death/doom band Tzompantli.
Tlazcaltiliztli contains 33 minutes of crushing death/doom, brought to us by members of Teeth and Xibalba. The band’s take on doom-infused death metal is terrifying and harsh; Tlazcaltiliztli is one of the foulest and most baleful albums I’ve heard in a while. Continue reading “Tzompantli – Tlazcaltiliztli (Review)”
Soldat Hans – Anthaupt (Review)
Soldat Hans are a doom band from Switzerland and this is their third album.
Es Taut came out of nowhere in 2018 and blew me away. Its multifaceted sound was as impressive and emotive as it was accomplished and well-delivered. No wonder it appeared high on my end of year list. Due to this, Anthaupt had a great deal of expectation placed upon it before I even heard a single second of its 66-minute duration. Continue reading “Soldat Hans – Anthaupt (Review)”
Darkher – The Buried Storm (Review)
This is the second album from UK doom/folk band Darkher.
Primarily the work of one artist, (with a drummer), the music of Darkher exists where doom and dark folk collide. Across eight luscious tracks The Buried Storm crafts deep atmosphere with a 41-minute doom-filled soundscape. Continue reading “Darkher – The Buried Storm (Review)”
Archvile King – À la Ruine (Review)
Archvile King is a solo black metal band from France and this is his debut album.
The music of Archvile King is that of classic black metal mixed with elements of thrash, punk, and folk. The latter style is lesser-heard in general, but can be detected in some of the melodies and the occasional acoustic guitar, (and is especially apparent in tracks like Chroniques du Royaume Avili and À la Ruine). The punk and thrash elements are embedded in parts of the blackened guitars that rage and tear out of the speakers like envenomed claws. Continue reading “Archvile King – À la Ruine (Review)”
Mur – Cut the Rivers Vein (Review)
This is the fourth album from one-man blackened doom act Mur.
Cut the Rivers Vein spends 51 minutes mixing together doom, post-metal, and black metal, with elements of folk, ambient, and drone, to great effect. Continue reading “Mur – Cut the Rivers Vein (Review)”
Wilderun – Epigone (Review)
This is the fourth album from Wilderun, a progressive metal band from the US.
Wilderun play progressive metal with elements of death and symphonic metal, and touches of folk. This simple description does little to fully describe how good Wilderun are at weaving these various influences together on Epigone. Continue reading “Wilderun – Epigone (Review)”
Aquilus – Bellum I (Review)
This is the second album from one-man Australian black metal act Aquilus.
Bellum I features 62 minutes of atmospheric black metal combined with folk and classical elements. The promo blurb states that Aquilus’ music is for fans of Midnight Odyssey, Skogen, and Falls of Rauros, which immediately caused me to be interested. I’d also add bands like Opeth, Ne Obliviscaris, Agalloch, and Wilderun to this list too. Continue reading “Aquilus – Bellum I (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 