This is the fifth album from UK metallers Employed to Serve.
With every release Employed to Serve just seem to be getting better. This culminated in 2021’s Conquering, a record that made it onto my best of list of that year. Which is why expectation is high for the band’s latest 48-minute record Fallen Star. Continue reading “Employed to Serve – Fallen Star (Review)”
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)”
Upon Stone are a melodic death metal band from the US and this is their debut album.
Upon Stone play melodic death metal in the classic Scandinavian style. The band list influences such as At the Gates, In Flames, and Dissection, so you should have a decent idea of where Dead Mother Moon is coming from. Across a lean 32 minutes Upon Stone demonstrate that they understand the style well. Continue reading “Upon Stone – Dead Mother Moon (Review)”
This is the debut EP from US metal band Dead Icarus.
What do you get when you throw together the ex-singer of Atreyu and members of Enterprise Earth? Something quite heavy and tasty, apparently. This five track EP has a duration of 23 minutes, and is pretty damn crushing. Continue reading “Dead Icarus – Ad infernum (Review)”
It’s Damnation o-clock once more! This is always such a good festival to attend. The line up is an interesting and varied one, with some bands I’m less interested in, some that are an essential experience, and some frustrating clashes. I missed some great bands today, unfortunately, but that’s always going to be the case with such a jam-packed festival. Continue reading “Damnation Festival 2023 – BEC Arena, Manchester, 04/11/23 (Live Review)”
This is the second album from US metalcore band Dying Wish.
2021’s Fragments of a Bitter Memory was a solid slab of 00s-style metalcore, so Symptoms of Survival is one that I know I wanted to check out. Boasting a lean, mean 32 minutes of new material, in what form do we find Dying Wish’s 2023 offering? Continue reading “Dying Wish – Symptoms of Survival (Review)”
This is the third album from Canadian metalcore band Arrival of Autumn, (who feature a member of Alterbeast).
Containing 39 minutes of material Kingdom Undone is an easy album to like if you were raised on 00s metalcore, yet want a modern update. To be fair, Arrival of Autumn’s sound has more older components and influences than newer ones, but that seems to have worked out for the best as the band have impressed with a very enjoyable album. Continue reading “Arrival of Autumn – Kingdom Undone (Review)”
Unearth are a metalcore band form the US and this is their eighth album.
Following on from 2018’s Extinction(s), Unearth continue to deliver the metalcore goods. Their tried-and-tested brand of melodic death metal-meets-thrash-meets-hardcore is on fine fiery form, and The Wretched; The Ruinous is a very enjoyable 37-minute slab of old-school metalcore heaviness. Continue reading “Unearth – The Wretched; The Ruinous (Review)”
For I Am King are a metal band from the Netherlands and this is their third album.
For I Am King play a style of heavy music rooted in melodic death metal and the more merciless strains of metalcore. Think a mix of bands like Darkest Hour and Arch Enemy, with a touch of The Black Dahlia Murder and you’ll be on the right lines. Continue reading “For I Am King – Crown (Review)”
This is the second album from solo blackened metalcore act The Ember, the Ash.
Fixation is an interesting blend of symphonic black metal and breakdown-heavy metalcore. Only a few bands are playing around with blackened elements in metalcore, to varying degrees of success, so it’s always good to hear another such act throw their interpretation of this unusual subgenre into the ring. Continue reading “The Ember, the Ash – Fixation (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 