This is the third album from UK doom/heavy metal band King Witch.
King Witch play classic doom and heavy metal spliced with equally vintage grunge and heavy rock. It’s a very effective mix, showcasing the band’s songwriting skill as they deliver 44 minutes of the good stuff. III is a high quality record through and through. Continue reading “King Witch – III (Review)”
Serpent Corpse are a Canadian death metal band and this is their latest EP.
I thoroughly enjoyed 2023’s Blood Sabbath, so am pleased to have this new EP from Serpent Corpse. Retaliate contains 26 minutes of new material – four tracks of hideous old-school death metal for fans of the good stuff. On Retaliate Serpent Corpse have pushed themselves further, with longer songs and a wider breadth of deathly vision. Continue reading “Serpent Corpse – Retaliate (Review)”
This is the fifth album from UK metallers Employed to Serve.
With every release Employed to Serve just seem to be getting better. This culminated in 2021’s Conquering, a record that made it onto my best of list of that year. Which is why expectation is high for the band’s latest 48-minute record Fallen Star. Continue reading “Employed to Serve – Fallen Star (Review)”
Havukruunu are a Finnish black metal band and this is their fourth album.
Tavastland is the 54-minute follow up to 2020’s well-regarded Uinuos Syömein Sota, and is an album I’ve been looking forward to hearing. Havukruunu play black metal with heavy, folk, and pagan metal influences, and their latest record continues their ascent. Continue reading “Havukruunu – Tavastland (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal gets sent a lot of new music, (which is great), but there’s no way that everything can get covered unfortunately, (which is not so great). This column hopes to redress this balance, if only slightly, by taking a look at a handful of releases that a record label has recently sent out that might have otherwise slipped through the cracks.
Surprisingly, I haven’t done one of these columns since 2022! I was genuinely shocked when I realised this recently. So, it seemed like the perfect time to revisit it, and to get caught up on some of Avantgarde Music‘s releases. This is a label I rate highly, and never seem to get enough time to adequately cover, so here’s three new albums all seeing the light of day on January 31st 2025. Continue reading “Label Roundup: Avantgarde Music – Selvans, Skaldr, and Void of Hope (Reviews)”
Sarcator are a Swedish thrash metal band and this is their third album.
Sarcator play a black/death-influenced style of thrash metal, and Swarming Angels & Flies contains 44 minutes of material. Think of a blend of early-period old-school metal in the form of bands such as Kreator, Sarcófago, Sodom, and Morbid Angel, and then blend this with more contemporary acts like Hellripper, Devastator, and Midnight, and you’ll be on the right lines. You can throw in some other refences too at various points, but ultimately, despite the ancient style that underpins this album, it’s remarkably fun and fresh sounding. Continue reading “Sarcator – Swarming Angels & Flies (Review)”
This is the sixth album from US doom metal band The Gates of Slumber.
Reforming after many years dormant, and now with a couple of members of the superb Apostle of Solitude in tow, The Gates of Slumber are back. Containing 36 minutes of new material, The Gates of Slumber is a powerhouse of traditional doom metal. Continue reading “The Gates of Slumber – The Gates of Slumber (Review)”
This is the fourth album from US black/speed metal band Bewitcher.
I was taken with Bewitcher’s style of black/speed/thrash metal ever since I first heard 2016’s Bewitcher. After this, the band unleashed a worthy follow up in 2019’s Under the Witching Cross, as well as 2021’s Cursed Be Thy Kingdom, which I missed out on. All of which brings us to Spell Shock, the band’s longest album yet at 40 minutes, (44 if you include the bonus track). Continue reading “Bewitcher – Spell Shock (Review)”
Black Sites are a heavy/progressive metal band from the US and this is their fourth album.
The Promised Land? is the 44-minute follow up to 2021’s enjoyable Untrue. That record was a strong one, narrowly missing on on my end of year list. I’m interested to see how The Promised Land? fares by the end of the year, as it’s arguably even stronger than its predecessor. Continue reading “Black Sites – The Promised Land? (Review)”
Wintersun are an extreme metal band from Finland and this is their fourth album.
Essentially a solo act backed up by some talented musicians, Wintersun’s latest record has been eagerly awaited for some time by many people in the metal world. It’s been seven long years since 2017’s The Forest Seasons, so let’s dig in and see what we have here on Time II. Continue reading “Wintersun – Time II (Review)”
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