Metal – Page 18 – 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)”

Epimetheus – Perseus 9 (Review)

This is the debut album from UK doom band Epimetheus.

Containing 48 minutes of prime underground doom, Perseus 9 heralds the arrival of Epimetheus as ones to definitely watch. More than that though, as not only am I very intrigued by where Epimetheus take their material in the future, where they’re at right now is very compelling in its own right. Continue reading “Epimetheus – Perseus 9 (Review)”

Mayhem – Liturgy of Death (Review)

This is the seventh album from legendary Norwegian black metallers Mayhem.

New Mayhem material is always A Big Event. Despite enjoying 2019’s Daemon, it wasn’t quite as special compared to the band’s other records. So what of the 49-minute Liturgy of Death? Does it suffer the same malady? Continue reading “Mayhem – Liturgy of Death (Review)”

Invictus – Nocturnal Visions (Review)

This is the second album from Japanese death metallers Invictus.

Delivering 35 minutes of old-school death metal devastation, Nocturnal Visions arrives with the impact of a meteor. Invictus are not messing around. Apart from the seemingly mandatory pointless intro, there’s Continue reading “Invictus – Nocturnal Visions (Review)”

Mors Verum – Canvas (Review)

This is the second album from international death metallers Mors Verum.

Brought to us by current and ex-members of Æpoch, (amongst other bands), Canvas contains 31 minutes of material. Mors Verum play their death metal in a non-standard way that really pays off, offering up something different to the norm that’s very good indeed. Continue reading “Mors Verum – Canvas (Review)”

Tailgunner – Midnight Blitz (Review)

Tailgunner are a heavy metal band from the UK and this is their second album.

Following on from 2023’s Guns for Hire, we now get treated to a new platter of classic heavy metal shenanigans by Tailgunner. With a refreshed lineup, the band burn through Midnight Blitz like it’s the last thing they’ll ever do. Hopefully it won’t be, as Continue reading “Tailgunner – Midnight Blitz (Review)”

Phendrana – Cathexis (Review)

This is the second album from Mexican progressive metal solo act Phendrana.

Here we have a 38-minute album that takes a lot of different influences into itself. Blackgaze, post-metal, progressive rock, avant-garde metal, folk, and post-black metal all come together with nuance and grace inside a progressive extreme metal framework that’s highly compelling. The artist behind Phendrana has made a convincing case for Cathexis being Continue reading “Phendrana – Cathexis (Review)”

Eximperitus – Meritoriousness of Equanimity (Review)

Eximperitus, (full name – Eximperituserqethhzebibšiptugakkathšulweliarzaxułum), are a death metal band from Belarus, and this is their third album.

Meritoriousness of Equanimity is the 34-minute successor to 2021’s Šahrartu. Eximperitus have crafted a death metal album that serves up a more complex and evocative flavour of death metal than is normal for the genre. Continue reading “Eximperitus – Meritoriousness of Equanimity (Review)”

Nightmarer – Hell Interface (Review)

Nightmarer are an international death metal band and this is their latest EP.

Following on from 2023’s Deformity Adrift, Nightmarer have returned with four new tracks of brutal avant-garde death metal. Hell Interface is a 21-minute granite-hard slab of dissonant blades and venomous technicality. Continue reading “Nightmarer – Hell Interface (Review)”

Sidious – Malefic Necropolis (Review)

This is the fourth album from UK black metal band Sidious.

From 2014’s symphonic blackened death metal Revealed in Profane Splendour, to 2019’s reinvention as the raw black metal darkness of Temporal, and then 2022’s slice of contemporary blackened might Blackest Insurrection, Sidious always put out something I want to listen to. Each album so far has been better than the last too. Can Malefic Necropolis continue to follow this upward trend? Continue reading “Sidious – Malefic Necropolis (Review)”