Alkaloid – Numen (Review)

Alkaloid - NumenAlkaloid are a German progressive death metal band and this is their third album.

Containing current and ex-members of bands such as Defeated Sanity, Hate Eternal, Howling Sycamore, Obscura, Obsidious, and many others, Numen is an album that benefits from a wealth of experience, and it shows in all aspects of this professionally crafted record. Continue reading “Alkaloid – Numen (Review)”

Tesseract – War of Being (Review)

Tesseract - War of BeingTesseract are a UK progressive metal band and this is their fifth album.

This is my first time listening to Tesseract since their debut EP Concealing Fate back in 2010, (which appears to be one of my earliest reviews too). It seems that the band have developed and evolved very nicely since their humble djent-injected beginnings, and new record War of Being is leagues ahead of the material on that release. It seems I have some catching up to do at some point. Continue reading “Tesseract – War of Being (Review)”

Sylosis – A Sign of Things to Come (Review)

Sylosis - A Sign of Things to ComeThis is the sixth album from UK metal band Sylosis.

Bringing together metalcore, thrash metal, melodic death metal, and a touch of progressive metal into their crunchy, punchy, modern metal framework, Sylosis have been doing good things with the style for many years now. A Sign of Things to Come provides us with a lean 43 minutes of new material, and finds the band on absolute fire. Continue reading “Sylosis – A Sign of Things to Come (Review)”

Demoniac – Nube Negra (Review)

Demoniac - Nube NegraThis is the third album from thrash metal band Demoniac, from Chile.

Demoniac are back with more ripping thrash that’s memorably enriched with non-standard ideas and songwriting, as well as clarinet, Moog, and accordion. The band’s idiosyncratic style was very nicely demonstrated on 2021’s So It Goes, and on Nube Negra they spend 42 minutes showcasing their individual style once more. Continue reading “Demoniac – Nube Negra (Review)”

Till the Dirt – Outside the Spiral (Review)

Till the Dirt - Outside the SpiralThis is the the debut album by US extreme metal band Till the Dirt.

Brought to us by the singer of Atheist, Outside the Spiral contains 46-minutes of atypical extreme metal. It has a death metal base, but this is spliced with a few different influences to create something a little outside of the norm. Continue reading “Till the Dirt – Outside the Spiral (Review)”

Noveria – The Gates of the Underworld (Review)

Noveria - The Gates of the UnderworldThis is the fourth album from Noveria, a progressive power metal band from Italy.

Containing 108 minutes of material, The Gates of the Underworld is a feast of music for fans of luscious and rich progressive power metal. As a rough guide, think of a mix of bands such as Threshold, Evergrey, and Pagan’s Mind. Continue reading “Noveria – The Gates of the Underworld (Review)”

The Gorge – Mechanical Fiction (Review)

The Gorge - Mechanical FictionThis is the third album from US progressive metallers The Gorge.

Mechanical Fiction contains 45 minutes of modern, heavy music. The Gorge are an interesting band, in that they are ostensibly a band you’d give the tags of  progressive metal and technical metal too, but they also incorporate avant-garde and jazz elements into their style, as well as having an underpinning hardcore/sludge influence that’s formative. Continue reading “The Gorge – Mechanical Fiction (Review)”

Spirit Adrift – Ghost at the Gallows (Review)

Spirit Adrift - Ghost at the GallowsThis is the fifth album from the US heavy metal band Spirit Adrift.

I’ve always enjoyed what Spirit Adrift offer, (check out Chained to Oblivion, Curse of Conception, Divided by Darkness, and Enlightened in Eternity), so new album Ghost at the Gallows is most welcome. Continue reading “Spirit Adrift – Ghost at the Gallows (Review)”

Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium (Review)

Horrendous - Ontological MysteriumThis is the fifth album from US death metallers Horrendous.

Horrendous’ trajectory through their last three albums – 2014’s Ecdysis, 2015’s Anareta, and 2018’s Idol – has been an enjoyable one to experience, but it’s been a while since we’ve heard from them. As such, it’s great to finally have Ontological Mysterium, which contains 38 minutes of new material. Continue reading “Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium (Review)”