This is the second album from Vorga, a German black metal band.
With 2022’s Striving Toward Oblivion Vorga made a notable impact in the world of melodic black metal. Now they’re back with Beyond the Palest Star, which delivers another sci-fi trip through 43 minutes of sharp melodic aggression. Continue reading “Vorga – Beyond the Palest Star (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 – Best Metal of 2023”
This is the fourth album from US black metallers Valdrin.
It’s been a long time since 2014’s Beyond the Forest, and Valdrin have had two other full albums since then. Throne of the Lunar Soul is their latest, and boasts an imposing 73 minutes of material. What does the Valdrin of 2023 have to offer the discerning black metal fan? Continue reading “Valdrin – Throne of the Lunar Soul (Review)”
This is the eighth album from Australian one-man black metal act Midnight Odyssey.
Here it is, the one we’ve all been waiting for – the third and final part of the Biolume trilogy. Emerging from the long, deep shadows of 2015’s Shards of Silver Fade, 2019’s Biolume Part 1 – In Tartarean Chains, and 2021’s Biolume Part 2 – The Golden Orb, how can Biolume Part 3: A Fullmoon Madness possibly compare? After all, all three of the aforementioned releases either made it into my end of year list in the top five, (here), or the coveted top spot, (here and here). How does this one one fare? Continue reading “Midnight Odyssey – Biolume Part 3 – A Fullmoon Madness (Review)”
This is the third album from French black metallers Pénitence Onirique.
Following on from 2016’s V.I.T.R.I.O.L. and 2019’s Vestige comes Nature Morte; 46 minutes of glorious celestial violence and deep immersive feeling. Oh my, this is a good one. Continue reading “Pénitence Onirique – Nature Morte (Review)”
This is the debut album from Finnish black metallers Moonlight Sorcery.
Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle contains 44 minutes of symphonic melodic black metal. However, beneath this simple description hides a deeper truth, that Moonlight Sorcery offer more than just black metal to enjoy here. Continue reading “Moonlight Sorcery – Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle (Review)”
This is the latest EP from US black metal band Wolves in the Throne Room.
A new Wolves in the Throne Room release is always a cause for celebration, even if it’s not a full album. Crypt of Ancestral Knowledge provides us with two new songs, a remix, and an ambient outro. Let’s dig in and see what this is all about. Continue reading “Wolves in the Throne Room – Crypt of Ancestral Knowledge (Review)”
Lepra are a black metal band from the US and this is their debut album.
In a fit of pure laziness on my part, I’m going to just reproduce a line from the promo blurb to set the scene for this release – “It is not your usual cup of black metal, this one has a unique blend of black punk/and roll, folk, goth rock, doom… All played with drums, bass, flute, endless keyboards, and duelling vocals.” Continue reading “Lepra – Devil’s Blood in Her Tongue (Review)”
The Circle are a German black metal band and this is their second album.
Of Awakening is a 33-minute black metal album of sorts that incorporates elements of doom, ambient, symphonic, and post-black metal. While black metal is the obvious tag for this, and it’s superficially the correct one, it doesn’t tell the whole story of Continue reading “The Circle – Of Awakening (Review)”
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