Sunnata – Chasing Shadows (Review)

Sunnata - Chasing ShadowsSunnata are a Polish doom metal band and this is their fifth album.

Sunnata hugely impressed me with their 2021 album Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth, which in hindsight I definitely should have included in that year’s best of list. Yes, Chasing Shadows has some big boots to fill, so let’s see what it has to offer. Continue reading “Sunnata – Chasing Shadows (Review)”

Etoile Filante – Mare Tranquillitatis (Review)

Etoile Filante - Mare TranquillitatisEtoile Filante are a French black metal band and this is their second album.

Mare Tranquillitas has a duration of 40 minutes and showcases Etoile Filante’s brand of ambient/atmospheric black metal. Continue reading “Etoile Filante – Mare Tranquillitatis (Review)”

A Burial at Sea – Close to Home (Review)

A Burial at Sea - Close to HomeA Burial at Sea are a post-rock band from Ireland and this is their second album.

Close to Home contains 43 minutes of exquisitely rendered post-rock. Boasting contributions from shoegaze, jazz, and progressive rock, this is a non-standard album for lovers of broad soundscapes and brass-enriched musical vistas. It’s mostly instrumental, and paints wonderfully textured pictures with sound.

Continue reading “A Burial at Sea – Close to Home (Review)”

Solbrud – IIII (Review)

Solbrud - IIIISolbrud are a black metal band from Denmark and this is their fourth album.

IIII is an album of four parts, each written by one of Solbrud’s four band members. The end result is an ambitious album with an imposing length – 94 minutes – that takes the listener on a compelling journey into a vast atmospheric black metal vistas. Continue reading “Solbrud – IIII (Review)”

Lotus Thief/Forlesen – Split (Review)

Lotus Thief Forlesen - SplitThis is a split between Lotus Thief and Forlesen. Both are US bands and both share members.

Lotus Thief open the split with In Perdition, a 12-minute song. I’m not familiar with the band, and I soon regret that immensely. Continue reading “Lotus Thief/Forlesen – Split (Review)”

Earthside – Let the Truth Speak (Review)

Earthside - Let the Truth SpeakThis is the second album from US progressive rock band Earthside.

Let the Truth Speak is a 78-minute odyssey of contemporary progressive rock and metal. Built around a core of the main band, these musicians are augmented by a range of guest musicians and vocalists, (including the singer of Tesseract). Continue reading “Earthside – Let the Truth Speak (Review)”

Infinity Ritual – II (Review)

Infinity Ritual - IIThis is the second EP from New Zealand metal band Infinity Ritual.

2022’s Infinity Ritual was such a strong EP. It came out of nowhere and really made a mark. Now we have its follow up II. It’s hard to really classify this as an EP though, as it contains 40 minutes of new music! Still, who am I to complain about how bands classify their releases? Continue reading “Infinity Ritual – II (Review)”

Howling Giant – Glass Future (Review)

Howling Giant - Glass FutureHowling Giant are a rock band from the US and this is their second album.

I like me a bit of what Howling Giant are peddling, and Glass Future‘s 41 minutes of tuneage hits the spot nicely. Continue reading “Howling Giant – Glass Future (Review)”

Afterbirth – In But Not Of (Review)

Afterbirth - In But Not OfThis is the third album from US death metallers Afterbirth.

Following on from 2020’s Four Dimensional FleshIn But Not Of contains 36 minutes of devastating brutality that sounds like it was spawned in another dimension. Continue reading “Afterbirth – In But Not Of (Review)”