Bethmoora – Thresholds (Review)

Bethmoora - ThresholdsThis is the debut album from Bethmoora, a doom/sludge band from Denmark.

It’s good to hear such a malignant slab of filthy doom-fuelled hateful sludge like this now and again. It strips away pretentions and allows you to get a good long hard look at the muck and grime. Continue reading “Bethmoora – Thresholds (Review)”

Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2017

2017 was an amazing year for music, with so many top-notch albums seeing the light of day. I pretty much say this every year, of course, but that doesn’t seem to stop it being true. With this in mind, the 2017 list was especially hard to put together, and I agonised over this one more than I did for any of the lists in previous years.

As is traditional, I also want to mention some releases by bands that could easily have made it onto the list, and should have by many rights, if only I could have somehow managed to fit them all in –

Abhorrent DecimationAmenra, Apes, Artificial BrainAu-Dessus,

CelesteDesecrate the FaithEarth RotEarth WitchFalls of Rauros,

Full of HellGnawGutslitHelplessHenry Kane,

Hundred SunsIngurgitating OblivionInto OrbitJohn FrumKarne,

KvalLividMorbid AngelPrimitive ManCraven Idol,

SlowSoulskinnerThe Kennedy VeilUlsectWildspeaker.

I urge you to check out all of the above releases, in addition to the ones in the actual list below. I could probably keep adding more bands you should give a listen to, but a line has to be drawn somewhere, I suppose.

So, without further ado, let’s get right down to it… Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2017”

Owlcrusher – Owlcrusher (Review)

OwlcrusherOwlcrusher are a blackened doom/sludge band from the UK and this is their debut album.

Here we have some truly ugly, colossally heavy music, the likes of which you don’t stumble upon too often. Which, for the listener’s sanity and well-being, is probably a good thing. Continue reading “Owlcrusher – Owlcrusher (Review)”

Nomadic Rituals – Marking the Day (Review)

Nomadic RitualsNomadic Rituals are an Irish doom band and this is their second album.

I’m going to start this review with all of my cards on the table, as they say; this is a great album and Nomadic Rituals deserve to be far higher profile than they currently are.

Now that’s out of the way, we can proceed. Continue reading “Nomadic Rituals – Marking the Day (Review)”