This is the second album from Irish doom/sludge band Soothsayer.
The Unbinding follows on from 2016’s At this Great Depth and 2021’s Echoes of the Earth, heralding the return of the bone-shaking Soothsayer. Across five colossal songs Soothsayer showcase a sound that’s developed, while also retaining what made them so good in the first place. Continue reading “Soothsayer – The Unbinding (Review)”
Acid Bath’s UK debut is one of the hottest shows of the year, in more ways than one. Add to this the mighty Conan and Green Lung, and you have an absolutely scorching bill on an absolutely scorching day. It’s roasting inside and outside of the venue, and it promises to be an extremely sweaty night, but a brilliant one too. Continue reading “Acid Bath/Green Lung/Conan – Academy 1, Manchester – 25/06/26 (Live Review)”
This is the debut album from US grindcore band Kuzu Knot.
Deceitful Above All Things contains 34 minutes of merciless grinding darkness, but of a rarefied sort. Kuzu Knot’s music is abrasive and harsh, but is also a good deal more than just this. Continue reading “Kuzu Knot – Deceitful Above All Things (Review)”
This is the second album from UK sludge/post-metal band Urzah.
A Tranquil Void is the 49-minute successor to 2024’s The Scorching Gaze. This debut record caused more than a few to pay attention to Urzah’s progressive, sludgy post-metal. Have they band managed to capitalise on this for its follow up? Continue reading “Urzah – A Tranquil Void (Review)”
Erdve are from Lithuania and play blackened hardcore/sludge and this is their third album.
Following on from 2018’s Vaitojimas and 2021’s Savigaila, Epigrama delivers 43 minutes of material for listeners to get stuck into. Erdve combine blackened hardcore, sludge, and metallic heaviness into a record that takes no prisoners. Continue reading “Erdve – Epigrama (Review)”
Tooms are an Irish progressive sludge metal band and this is their second album.
Tooms impressed with their 2020 debut The Orb Offers Massive Signals, so Karst is to be approached with great interest and expectation. Tooms have delivered 48 minutes of new material, and it’s worth paying attention to. Continue reading “Tooms – Karst (Review)”
This is the fourth album from The Fifth Alliance, a post-metal band from the Netherlands.
Having graced us with Death Poems in 2015 and then The Depth of the Darkness in 2019, The Fifth Alliance have returned once again, after what seems like an age, with the 38-minute Stenahoria. Armed with a new drummer and a new vocalist, The Fifth Alliance have been reborn in darkness. Continue reading “The Fifth Alliance – Stenahoria (Review)”
Manchester’s hot ticket is tonight is Dragged into Sunlight, and people have turned out in force. As usual, their merch queue is ridiculous, and it stays ridiculous for a ridiculous amount of time. Good for them. They’re not the only tasty treat on this gnarled bill though; first comes death metal most foul. Continue reading “Dragged into Sunlight/Vacuous/Plague Pit – Club Academy, Manchester – 30/05/26 (Live Review)”
Portrayal of Guilt are a blackened hardcore band from the US and this is their fourth album.
…Beginning of the End is the sound of Portrayal of Guilt pushing their sound harder and deeper. Across 31 evocative minutes, the band reach across genres and styles to grasp what they want in an unyielding iron grip. …Beginning of the End brings a lot to the table. Continue reading “Portrayal of Guilt – …Beginning of the End (Review)”
This is the third album from Mexican black metal band Muerto.
Muerto play a modern, hybrid form of gloomy black metal, that mixes together elements of sludge, dissonance, and post-black metal. The 36-minute Eclipsed Realms is the end result, and it is a Continue reading “Muerto – Eclipsed Realms (Review)”
