Frozen Crown are an Italian power metal band and this is their fifth album.
Frozen Crown, a band I’d never heard of before last year’s excellent Call of the North, did the completely unexpected with that album and came out of nowhere and topped my end of year list. Now that we have War Hearts, especially so soon after its predecessor, I was apprehensive before listening to it; could lightning strike twice? Continue reading “Frozen Crown – War Hearts (Review)”
Day two of UK Slam Fest. I couldn’t make day one unfortunately, but I had to make sure I was here for today. After all, it promises a glorious celebration of ugly heaviness. It’s brutal, fun, and had to be seen. The Bread Shed is not a venue I’ve been to before, but I like it and I’d happily come back here again.
Spoiler alert – this was a top day of brutality. Even Borat was in attendance, unexpectedly. Continue reading “UK Slam Fest 2024 – Day Two: Saturday – Disavowed/Devangelic/Fulci/Anime Torment/Impurist/Anoxide/Spawned from Hate/Slug Gore/Colpocleisis/Type A Secretor – The Bread Shed, Manchester – 19/10/24 (Live Review)”
This is the second album from Vomit Forth, a death metal band from the US.
Following on from 2022’s ugly and brutal Seething Malevolence, Terrified of God contains 27 minutes of ferocious material. Vomit Forth’s new record is a hideous slab of nasty death metal carnage. Continue reading “Vomit Forth – Terrified of God (Review)”
Devin Townsend is a prolific Canadian artist who has a vast and intimidating discography. Whatever he touches though is always individual and interesting, and frequently brilliant.
PowerNerd is a 44-minute progressive rock album that has apparently been born out of a desire by the artist to simplify his approach to songwriting. Continue reading “Devin Townsend – PowerNerd (Review)”
Fit for an Autopsy are a deathcore band from the US and this is their seventh album.
I do so like Fit for an Autopsy. If you haven’t already, check out The Depression Sessions, The Great Collapse, The Sea of Tragic Beasts, Oh What the Future Holds, and The Aggression Sessions; all are worth your time and document a band increasingly carving their own niche in deathcore’s crowded landscapes. So then, what do the 44 minutes of new material on The Nothing That Is provide us with? Continue reading “Fit for an Autopsy – The Nothing That Is (Review)”
Iotunn are a progressive metal band from Denmark, and this is their second album.
Now here’s one that’s been greatly anticipated. It’s an absolute travesty that Iotunn’s 2021 debut Access All Worlds didn’t end up on that year’s end of year list. How it didn’t I’ll never know, as it would easily have been in the top 5 or 10. Entirely my mistake, as it’s a fantastic record. All of which is to say that Kinship has a lot of expectation riding on it. Continue reading “Iotunn – Kinship (Review)”
Schammasch are a black metal band from Switzerland and this is their fifth album.
I have been really excited to hear this one. I’ve been a big fan of everything I’ve heard from Schammasch; make sure you check out 2016’s Triangle and 2019’s Hearts of No Light, both of which are top tier records, and both of which placed on my end of year lists for 2016 and 2019. Interestingly though, The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean is the spiritual follow up to Schammasch’s 2017 avant-garde EP The Maldoror Chants: Hermaphrodite, making me even more interested to find out what this new opus had to offer. Continue reading “Schammasch – The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Portuguese black metallers Gaerea.
Ever since I first heard 2018’s Unsettling Whispers Gaerea have stood out to me as something pretty special. In 2020 Limbo solidified this opinion, and then in 2022 Mirage cemented this further. In fact, my appreciation of Mirage has only increased since catching the band’s transcendental live experience at this year’s fantastic Fortress Festival. I have high hopes for Coma. Continue reading “Gaerea – Coma (Review)”
Black Curse are a US black/death metal band and this is their second album.
Following on from 2020’s hideously good Endless Wound, comes the 45-minute monstrosity that is Burning in Celestial Poison. Featuring five tracks that are mostly far longer than their predecessors, Black Curse have unleashed a severe statement of malevolent intent with their new record. Continue reading “Black Curse – Burning in Celestial Poison (Review)”
This is the fifth album from Polish experimental metal band Thaw.
It’s been more than a while since 2017’s Grains, so I was intrigued to see what Thaw have to offer in 2024. An experimental act, who have operated in black metal, sludge, doom, drone, ambient, and noise waters across their career, what does Fading Backwards and its 36 minutes of new material bring us? Continue reading “Thaw – Fading Backwards (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 