This is the debut album from Estonian modern metallers Pridian.
Venetian Dark is a 44-minute contemporary metal album that ably showcases Pridian’s skillset. The band’s music is an amalgam of metalcore, nu-metal, djent, and progressive metal. Think a mix of acts such as Meshuggah, Tesseract, Mnemic, Spiritbox, Gojira, and Make Them Suffer, as a rough starting point. Continue reading “Pridian – Venetian Dark (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)”
Dissocia are a Spanish progressive metal band and this is their debut album.
Brought to us by current/ex-members of Aposento, Bizarre, Cancer, Eternal Storm, and Wormed, Dissocia play modern progressive metal, with elements of death metal incorporated into its cinematic whole. Across 41 minutes, To Lift the Veil makes its intentions known in no uncertain terms, and has an impact. Continue reading “Dissocia – To Lift the Veil (Review)”
This is the debut album from Australian progressive metal band Primrose Path.
The promo blurb says this is for fans of Opeth, Tesseract, Mastodon, and Gojira, which should give you a starting point for approaching the 43-minute Ruminations. Now here’s an underground gem that likely won’t stay underground for long. Continue reading “Primrose Path – Ruminations (Review)”
This is the fifth album from Ukrainian metal band Jinjer.
I haven’t caught up with Jinjer since their 2016 album King of Everything, so this new album seemed like a good place to see how the band are faring in 2025. It turns out, very well indeed. Duél is a keeper. Continue reading “Jinjer – Duél (Review)”
Yes, it’s list season once more, so gather round and witness some of the best metal that 2024 had to offer!
2024 was a fantastic year for metal, and that’s an understatement. I thought 2023 was one of the weaker years for metal releases, overall. As such, putting last year’s list together, although challenging as it always is, was relatively effortless compared to this one. I don’t think I’ve agonised over placings more any other year. In the end, similar to last year, I just decided that enough was enough and I needed to just stop needlessly obsessing. Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2024”
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)”
This is the debut album from French modern metal band Vestige.
To give a flavour of the sort of hybrid style that Vestige play, the promo blurb states that Janis is for fans of Deftones, Alcest, Loathe, and Sylvaine. In practice, this means a modern metal blend of post-metal and black/shoegaze. This results in songs that are highly atmospheric, yet also song-focused. Continue reading “Vestige – Janis (Review)”
This is the fifth album from UK metal band Earthtone9.
11 years after their last album, Earthtone9 have returned to deliver more of their individual and idiosyncratic take on heavy music. You could probably get away with calling this a few different things – alternative metal, post-metal, post-hardcore, modern metal, progressive metal – but ultimately Earthtone9 have always moved to their own beat, and had their own quite distinctive sounds very early on. Continue reading “Earthtone9 – In Resonance Nexus (Review)”
This is the second album from Portuguese deathcore band Downfall of Mankind.
The promo blurb recommends Purgatory for fans of bands such as Distant, Gojira, and Lorna Shore, and calls it a mix of deathcore, progressive metal and atmosphere, which saves me the job of providing a rough overview before we get into the meat of it. Continue reading “Downfall of Mankind – Purgatory (Review)”
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