This is the debut album from Astral Tomb, a death metal band from the US.
I’ve enjoyed watching Astral Tomb develop their ghastly death metal sound, from 2020’s split with Cryptic Shift, Replicant, and Inoculation, to 2021’s EP Degradation of Human Consciousness, (which I honestly thought I had reviewed, but apparently not). Soulgazer is the band’s first album, and I have been looking forward to it. Continue reading “Astral Tomb – Soulgazer (Review)”
This is the debut album from Cryptivore, a one-man Australian death metal band.
Across 27 minutes the artist behind Cryptivore hammers into us his vision for old-school death metal. Taking influence from early Amorphis, Carcass, and Grave, Celestial Extinction is a mix of brutal Swedish death metal, moody melodic death metal, and feral grindcore. Continue reading “Cryptivore – Celestial Extinction (Review)”
This is the second album from Swedish death metallers Creeping Flesh.
Creeping Flesh play old-school death metal that feels like it’s underpinned and powered by the classic Swedish style, but has an obvious love of Bolt Thrower that they then build on top of these sturdy foundations. The end result throws bands such as Hail Continue reading “Creeping Flesh – …And Then the Bombs Came (Review)”
This is the second album from Abyssus, a Greek death metal band.
I’ve been an avid follower of Abyssus’ work for many years, (see here, here, here, here, and here), and their output never fails to put a smile on my face. Which is why it’s great to have a new album from the band. Seven tracks, 33 minutes; Abyssus bring their old-school death metal sound to the masses once more, and it’s damn good fun. Continue reading “Abyssus – Death Revival (Review)”
This is the debut album from Necrophagous, a death metal band from Sweden.
Featuring ex-members of Visceral Bleeding and Entrails, In Chaos Ascend contains 45 minutes of groove-laden, blast beat-driven timeless death metal.
The promo blurb compares Necrophagous’ sound to a combination of the above two bands, along with Continue reading “Necrophagous – In Chaos Ascend (Review)”
Yes, it’s that time of year again! 2021 gave us some very, very good metal, and I feel honoured to have been able to have listened to as much of it as I have done. There are some notable absences, (for me at least), from the below list, but there’s just not enough time or space for everything, dammit!
2020 was a very blackened year for me; I listened to a lot of black metal, and the list for that year reflected that. At the start of 2021 I decided I’d consciously try to ensure I cast my net a bit wider again, reconnecting more deeply with some of many other styles of metal that I enjoy. 2021’s list reflects this. However, I’ve still ended up with much more of a black metal presence in the list than I was initially expecting. What can I say? I’m a sucker for all of the myriad blackened flavours of the style. However, there’s also a lot of other stuff here that I hope you’ll dig into and enjoy too. I felt that there was a notable absence of grindcore in 2021, as well as some of the more extreme styles of doom. What do you think?
I hope you enjoy perusing some of my favourite records from this year, and I hope you find something new to tickle your fancy. What’s your number one this year? Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2021”
Phenocryst are a Portuguese death metal band and this is their debut EP.
This 23-minute EP erupts with the sort of underground death metal that impresses on first listen and then simply gets better on subsequent ones. Continue reading “Phenocryst – Explosions (Review)”
Genocide Pact are a death metal band from the US and this is their third album.
I really liked Genocide Pact’s filthy 2018 release Order of Torment, which was a very satisfying album. This new self-titled is even filthier, even more crushingly heavy, and even uglier than its predecessor. Continue reading “Genocide Pact – Genocide Pact (Review)”
This is the second album from Hyperdontia, an international death metal band.
Hyperdontia, (who feature current and ex-members of Burial Invocation, Diabolizer, and Sulphurous), present us with 39 minutes of old-school death metal on Hideous Entity. Continue reading “Hyperdontia – Hideous Entity (Review)”
Outre-Tombe are a Canadian death metal band and this is their third album.
Outre-Tombe are here to supply all of your old-school death metal needs. Looking for something grotesque and foul, populated with enough bloody riffs to keep you going for months? They got Continue reading “Outre-Tombe – Abysse Mortifère (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 