This is the debut album from UK sludge/post-metal band Urzah.
The Scorching Gaze contains 42 minutes of material delivered in a charismatic hybrid metallic style. Urzah combine elements of sludge, post-metal, progressive metal, doom, and hardcore/metalcore into an exemplar of heaviness that feels timeless. Continue reading “Urzah – The Scorching Gaze (Review)”
Subterraen are a French sludge/post-metal band and this is their second album.
The follow up to 2020’s humungous Rotten Human Kingdom, In the Aftermath of Blight contains 37 minutes of music spread over four tracks. Continue reading “Subterraen – In the Aftermath of Blight (Review)”
This is the third album from French sludge metal band Love Sex Machine.
When the promo blurb states that this is for fans of Meshuggah, Intronaut, Amenra, LLNN, Sumac, and Herod, you know it’s gonna be a heavy one. And it is. Trve is 36 minutes of heaviness wrapped in an expressive outer coating. Continue reading “Love Sex Machine – Trve (Review)”
Iron Monkey are sludge metal band from the UK and this is their fourth album.
2017 now seems a very long time ago, but that was when Iron Monkey returned to spread their sonic violence with 9-13. I didn’t think we’d hear from them again after so much time, but it shows what I know, as now Spleen & Goad is here to kick us in the teeth and rearrange our internal organs. Continue reading “Iron Monkey – Spleen & Goad (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Greek doom/sludge metal band Sun of Nothing.
Well, it’s been a while since I’ve heard from Sun of Nothing – well over a decade in fact – so Maze appearing unheralded into my world was really unexpected, although greatly welcomed. If you’re unfamiliar with the band’s blackened sludge metal horror, then I can heartily recommend their entire discography to you. Continue reading “Sun of Nothing – Maze (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Lord Dying, a sludge metal band from the US.
I absolutely loved 2019’s Mysterium Tremendum, (it ended up in fourth position in that year’s best of list), so I was thrilled when the 59-minute Clandestine Transcendence appeared. Well, it’s five years later and the band have a new lineup, (current/ex-Eight Bells/Tithe), so what does Clandestine Transcendence have to offer discerning metal fans in 2024? Continue reading “Lord Dying – Clandestine Transcendence (Review)”
Yersin are from the UK and play crust/metal. This is their second album.
Yersin play a hybrid style that combines grindcore, crust, death metal, black metal, and thrash metal into 25 minutes of sludgy filth and fury. This may be a short album, but it packs a punch. Continue reading “Yersin – The Scythe Is Remorseless (Review)”
Welcome to my annual attempt to make sense of the ridiculous amount of good metal albums out there, awaiting discovery by intrepid metal explorers.
2023’s best of list has been one of the more difficult ones to put together, placing-wise, which is one of the reasons that I’m posting it later than I usually do. Even more so than normal many of the slots are interchangeable, and I especially struggled with positions two-nine – if such a thing were possible, they all deserve to be higher! In the end I decided to stop overthinking it and go with my gut, but the usual caveat of these lists being very subjective and subject to change depending on mood, feelings, etc. is larger than normal here.
There are some notable acts missing form the below. Not because they’re not worthy of inclusion, but because there are only so many spaces to be had. In fact, I almost ended up limiting this list to 20, rather than the now-customary 30, as I found it really difficult to know who to include and who not to. In the end I went with the standard 30 so that I could promote a few extra bands, as they absolutely all deserve it.
As for the top position, I wasn’t expecting it to be filled by a band I’d never heard before, playing a style that I don’t listen to as much as I used to. However, I suppose after last year, I shouldn’t have been too surprised.
I do hope you enjoy this list and find some new music to obsess over. Like always, thanks for your support if you have ever visited this site before, and here’s to a great 2024 for as many of us as possible. Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List ā Best Metal of 2023”
Thronehammer are an international doom metal band and this is their third album.
Thronehammer’s 2021 albumĀ Incantation Rites was an absolutely colossal gem of an album that almost made it to the very top of my year end list. As such, it’s with some trepidation that I approached Kingslayer, as the previous record casts a long shadow. Continue reading “Thronehammer – Kingslayer (Review)”
This is the second album from Tides of Sulfur, a blackened sludge metal band from the UK.
Apathy Chasm is the eagerly awaited, (by me at any rate), 39-minute follow up to 2016’s mighty Extinction Curse. Prepare yourself for punishment. The foul music on Apathy Chasm is a merciless blackened amalgamation of fetid death metal and unearthly sludge. Continue reading “Tides of Sulfur – Apathy Chasm (Review)”
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