Another year, another list. 2025 followed 2024 as it was meant to, and brought with it a plethora of new metal albums to get excited about. Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2025”
Tag: Sludge metal
Beastwars – The Ship // The Sea (Review)
Beastwars are a sludge/stoner metal band from New Zealand and this is their fifth album.
Following on from 2019’s IV, (via a covers album in 2023 called Tyranny of Distance), comes the 40-minute The Ship // The Sea. I was excited to listen to this, as Beastwars always deliver, and it hasn’t disappointed. Continue reading “Beastwars – The Ship // The Sea (Review)”
Believe in Nothing – Rot (Review)
This is the debut album from UK sludge metallers Believe in Nothing.
When the promo blurb tells me a release is for fans of Full of Hell, Thou, and Primitive Man, I can’t help but pay attention. Upon being exposed to Believe in Nothing’s foul mix of sludge, doom, and noise, I can tell you that Rot is worth getting down in the filth for. Continue reading “Believe in Nothing – Rot (Review)”
Space Witch – Mountains of Neptune (Review)
Space Witch are a stoner doom metal band from the UK and this is their third album.
Space Witch’s style is instrumental, and takes from the sludge, stoner, and doom metal styles. Their new record – Mountains of Neptune – contains just a single eponymous song, but it’s a 37-minute behemoth, so you’d better prepare for a crushing, cosmic experience.
Continue reading “Space Witch – Mountains of Neptune (Review)”
Mastiff – For All the Dead Dreams (Review)
This is the latest EP from UK hardcore/sludge metallers Mastiff.
A new Mastiff release is always something to pay attention to. Since 2019’s Plague I’ve thoroughly enjoyed betting beaten around the head by their brutal heaviness. On 2021’s Leave Me the Ashes of the Earth and last year’s Deprecipice they only seemed to get heavier and nastier. Which brings us to For All the Dead Dreams, which delivers seventeen minutes of punishment for us to soak up. Continue reading “Mastiff – For All the Dead Dreams (Review)”
Void of Sleep – The Abyss into Which We All Have to Stare (Review)
This is the fourth album from Italian progressive doom/sludge metallers Void of Sleep.
It feels like an age has passed since 2020’s sterling record Metaphora, so it’s great that Void of Sleep grace us with their progressive doom/sludge metal once more. Containing 52 minutes of new material, The Abyss into Which We All Have to Stare is an album to spend some quality time with, unlocking its multitude of secrets. Continue reading “Void of Sleep – The Abyss into Which We All Have to Stare (Review)”
Zatokrev – …Bring Mirrors to the Surface (Review)
Zatokrev are a doom/sludge/post-metal band from Switzerland and this is their fifth album.
I was very, very excited to see this one appear. Rather shockingly, it’s been a whole decade since 2015’s Silk Spiders Underwater…, so it’s great to finally have the 65-minute …Bring Mirrors to the Surface. Zatokrev are one of the greatest doom/sludge/post-metal bands in existence, yet are criminally unknown. They’ve now signed to the fantastic Pelagic Records, wo hopefully this will allow them to get the exposure they deserve. Continue reading “Zatokrev – …Bring Mirrors to the Surface (Review)”
Malevich – Under a Gilded Sun (Review)
Malevich are a screamo/sludge metal band from the US and this is their third album.
Under a Gilded Sun is the 39-minute follow up to 2019’s Our Hollow, and reveals a band that have spend their time wisely between albums. Malevich have impressed with this latest collection of songs. Continue reading “Malevich – Under a Gilded Sun (Review)”
Ba’al – The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here (Review)
This is the second album by Ba’al, a blackened post-metal band from the UK.
I’ve been looking forward to this. 2017’s In Gallows by Mass introduced me to Ba’al’s brand of post-metal, but it was on 2020’s Elipsism where the band truly came into their own, developing a post-black metal framework for their post-metal that was hugely impressive. Last year’s EP Soft Eyes, a quality collection of songs, merely whetted my appetite for more, which we are now gifted with in the form of the 62-minute The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here. Continue reading “Ba’al – The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here (Review)”
AAWKS – On Through the Sky Maze (Review)
AAWKS are a Canadian doom band and this is their second album.
Up until now my first and only encounter with AAWKS was on their enjoyable split with Aiwass from 2023. I almost missed this one, until a friend recommended it, and here we are. On Through the Sky Maze delivers 48 minutes of occult psychedelic doom metal for us to devour, and it tastes damn good. Continue reading “AAWKS – On Through the Sky Maze (Review)”
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