Attalla – Glacial Rule (Review)

AttallaThis is the second album from stoner/sludge band Attalla.

Sometimes you just get a craving for some rocking, riff-focused stoner/sludge metal, and for times like that the new Attalla album Glacial Rule is quite the tonic. Continue reading “Attalla – Glacial Rule (Review)”

Fange – Pourrissoir (Review)

FangeThis is the second album form French sludge metallers Fange.

I enjoyed the group’s debut EP Poisse, so it’s good to catch up with them once more for their second album.

This is pitch-black sludge ugliness, with some noise tendencies. Think Primitive Man, Full of Hell and Continue reading “Fange – Pourrissoir (Review)”

Jagged Vision – Death Is This World (Review)

Jagged VisionThis is the second album from Jagged Vision, a Norwegian metallic hardcore band.

As a starting point for Jagged Vision’s sound, imagine a band like Black Tusk or Doomriders, add in some All Pigs Must Die, and then coat the entire thing in a violent metallic hardcore sheen.

Jagged Vision play a hardcore/sludge/metal mix that borrows from aspects of all styles, allowing the band to firmly cement their own personality. Continue reading “Jagged Vision – Death Is This World (Review)”

Floods – Floods (Review)

FloodsFloods are a US black metal band and this is their debut EP.

Floods play a mix of black, death and sludge metal. Which genre they are actually playing is up for debate, although I’d argue that black metal forms the largest part of their musical equation, so we’ll go with that. Continue reading “Floods – Floods (Review)”

Deadwound – Identity Shapes (Review)

DeadwoundDeadwound are a sludge/hardcore band from the UK. This is their debut EP.

Channelling a lovely line in grim filthiness, Deadwound fuse dark hardcore with sludge metal to produce 22 minutes of riotous ugliness.

The singer Continue reading “Deadwound – Identity Shapes (Review)”

Xibalba – Diablo, Con Amor… Adios. (Review)

XibalbaXibalba are a US metalcore band and this is their latest EP.

I liked 2015’s Tierra y Libertad, and on this new short EP, Xibalba continue the theme of merging death metal, hardcore and sludge metal influences together to create some monstrously heavy metallic music. Continue reading “Xibalba – Diablo, Con Amor… Adios. (Review)”

Sunlight’s Bane – The Blackest Volume: Like All the Earth Was Buried (Review)

Sunlight's BaneThis is the debut album from Sunlight’s Bane, a blackened sludge/grindcore band from the US.

This is nasty, raw and nihilistic music that wants nothing more than to terrify, scar and demoralise the listener. With a mix of Nails, Anaal Nathrakh, Hooded Menace, Aborted, Trap Them, Extreme Noise Terror, Primitive Man, Zao, and many others in their sound, Sunlight’s Bane have concocted an identity that’s very much their own and quite a hard one to accurately classify, if you care about such things. Continue reading “Sunlight’s Bane – The Blackest Volume: Like All the Earth Was Buried (Review)”

Everest Queen – Everest Queen (Review)

Everest QueenThis is the debut EP from Everest Queen, a sludge metal band from the UK.

The first song, Ascent, sets out Everest Queen’s love of heaviness in no uncertain terms. At just over a minute in length it’s just an intro track, a warm up for the two main events to come. Continue reading “Everest Queen – Everest Queen (Review)”

Urskog – Urskog (Review)

UrskogUrskog are a Swedish blackened sludge band and this is their debut demo release.

The music is dark and sinister, with eerie melodies used as part of the band’s blackened approach. These are usually deposited on top of darker, blackened riffs that are ably backed up by the percussive section. Continue reading “Urskog – Urskog (Review)”