This is the debut album from US grindcore band The Drip.
The band’s 2014 EP A Presentation of Gruesome Poetics was a brief glimpse into the world of The Drip and what they were capable of. I said in the review that the EP bodes well for a future album release and that they were ones to watch. Well, after a longer wait than Continue reading “The Drip – The Haunting Fear of Inevitability (Review)”
This is the fourth album by Swedish black metal band Grafvitnir.
Influenced by the second wave of black metal, Grafvitnir take the traditional template and for 39 minutes bend this to their will, providing the listener with sophisticated brutality and thoughtful harshness. Continue reading “Grafvitnir – Obeisance to a Witch Moon (Review)”
This is the debut album by Cryptic Realms, a death metal band with members from various countries.
Featuring the singer of Abyssus, (one of my favourites), I was keen to see what Cryptic Realms had to offer.
Here we have classic, old-school death metal, played with a purity of intent and grim authenticity. Taking cues from Continue reading “Cryptic Realms – Enraptured by Horror (Review)”
Prisoner 639 are from Belgium and play grinding powerviolence. They have teamed up for this split with Dutch sludge band Throw Me in the Crater.
Prisoner 639 get things going in a slow-burning fashion, opening up with lots of noise, distortion and feedback. Before long some drums and bass enter the fray, producing grim sludgy sounds. After a couple of minutes of this the Continue reading “Prisoner 639/Throw Me in the Crater – Split (Review)”
This is the third album from Ukrainian black metal band Balfor.
This is upbeat black metal that uses blackened melodies and aspects of death metal as weapons in the war against their enemies. If you’re looking for music that’s direct and aggressive, yet still has depth and longevity, you’ve come to the right place. Continue reading “Balfor – Black Serpent Rising (Review)”
Herem are a sludge metal band from Finland. This is their third album.
Ahh, heavy, sludgy doom. Always a pleasure to make your acquaintance.
Deep deathgrowls are backed up by serrated screams; both are very ably performed and both get the job done nicely. The singer’s voice Continue reading “Herem – III (Review)”
This is the second album from US death metallers Rude.
2014’s Soul Recall was a thoroughly enjoyable slab of old-school death metal. The band have now returned with a new album, ready to crush all those that would oppose their classic death metal onslaught. Continue reading “Rude – Remnants… (Review)”
Yes, it’s that time of year again. 2016 has been a phenomenal year in terms of metal releases, and here I’d like to pay tribute to my top 25.
As always, it was very tough to compile this list into any form of decent order, and I’m sure, (again, as always), that if I were to do this again, the list would look quite different.
I’ve limited the list to a mere 25 releases, so there are necessarily sooooo many good ones that have been missed out. Below are a selection of some of my other favourite releases of 2016, all of which made it into some previous version of my top 25 before I settled on the final one – Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2016”
Revelations of Rain are a doom/death metal band from Russia. This is their fifth album.
This is music with a richly melodic streak running through it. Taking influence from the classic old-school doom/death bands in the 90s, the band pump out 8 tracks of heavy, emotive metal, full of dark colour and deep impression.
Delivered with a traditional authenticity for this kind of music, Revelations of Rain know Continue reading “Revelations of Rain – Akrasia (Review)”
This is the latest EP from US black metallers Thralldom.
Returning after an absence of a decade, the band have re-cast themselves and emerge as a reborn, terrifying proposition. Thralldom’s black metal delivers us a 28 minute release that sounds quite disturbing and individual. Continue reading “Thralldom – Time Will Bend into Horror (Review)”
