Skythala – Boreal Despair (Review)

Skythala - Boreal DespairThis is the debut album from US black metal band Skythala.

Boreal Dispair offers discerning listeners 57 minutes of avant-garde black metal, which is a really simplistic way of describing a work that’s the complete opposite of simple. Continue reading “Skythala – Boreal Despair (Review)”

An Abstract Illusion – Woe (Review)

An Abstract Illusion - WoeThis is the second album from Swedish atmospheric death metal band An Abstract Illusion.

An Abstract Illusion play an electronically enriched form of atmospheric death metal, replete with black and progressive metal elements. Woe is a 60-minute journey into the band’s accomplished realm. Continue reading “An Abstract Illusion – Woe (Review)”

Aeternam – Heir of the Rising Sun (Review)

Aeternam - Heir of the Rising SunThis is the fifth album from Canadian symphonic death metal band Aeternam.

Aeternam play a form of orchestral death metal that takes in Middle Eastern folk influences. If you’re a fan of the type of individual approach that bands such as Arallu, Melechesh, Orphaned Land, Septicflesh, Rudra, and Nile bring to extreme metal, then Aeternam is definitely an album you should check out. Continue reading “Aeternam – Heir of the Rising Sun (Review)”

Septicflesh – Modern Primitive (Review)

Septicflesh - Modern PrimitiveSepticflesh, (Septic Flesh?), are a symphonic death metal band from Greece and this is their eleventh album.

Following on from 2017’s Codex OmegaModern Primitives is another devastatingly effective slab of dark grandeur from the band. Across 39 minutes Septicflesh once again demonstrate that very few bands can compete with them when it comes to Continue reading “Septicflesh – Modern Primitive (Review)”

Zornheym – The Zornheim Sleep Experiment (Review)

Zornheym - The Zornheim Sleep ExperimentThis is the second album from Zornheym, a symphonic extreme metal band from Sweden.

Featuring an ex-member of Dark Funeral, Zornheym present us with a symphonic monster of black/death/heavy/extreme metal. Yes, a lot of genres are thrown into this one, to great effect. The Zornheim Sleep Experiment contains 37 minutes of the stuff, and it’s a damn good listen. Continue reading “Zornheym – The Zornheim Sleep Experiment (Review)”

Sylvatica – Ashes and Snow (Review)

Sylvatica - Ashes and SnowThis is the second album from Danish melodic death metallers Sylvatica.

The core of Ashes and Snow‘s 43 minutes is that of melodic death metal. This is then augmented by folk and symphonic metal influences. If you think you’d enjoy a band that mixes together aspects of groups such as Continue reading “Sylvatica – Ashes and Snow (Review)”

Deception – The Mire (Review)

Deception - The MireDeception are a death metal band from Norway and this is their third album.

Deception play their death metal with a combination of sleek melodic skill, tempered brutality, and symphonic highlights. Bands such as Septic Flesh, Hypocrisy, Continue reading “Deception – The Mire (Review)”

Foretoken – Ruin (Review)

Foretoken - RuinThis is the debut album from US black/death metal band Foretoken.

So, you fancy a good-sized chunk of Scandinavian death metal? That’s no problem, take your pick. What’s that? You also want a decent black metal influence to be felt? That’s easily done. Now you want a take on the style that’s highly melodic too? Sure, Continue reading “Foretoken – Ruin (Review)”

Symbolik – Emergence (Review)

Symbolik - EmergenceSymbolik are a death metal band from the US and this is their debut album.

Symbolik’s brand of death metal is a modern mix of the technical and the melodic. Across 39 minutes of material the band take the listener down pathways of bright melody and sharp aggression. Continue reading “Symbolik – Emergence (Review)”

Fleshgod Apocalypse – Veleno (Review)

Fleshgod Apocalypse - VelenoThis is the fifth album from Fleshgod Apocalypse, an Italian death metal band.

The follow up to the acclaimed King, Fleshgod Apocalypse’s orchestral death metal is in fine form on Veleno, with the band’s symphonic orchestration once again ably enmeshed in their technical workouts and core brutality. However, the Continue reading “Fleshgod Apocalypse – Veleno (Review)”