Here’s a tasty show that I knew I wanted to catch. Both Viscera and Cabal are extremely well-regarded at Wonderbox Metal, so this was one for me to not miss. It was, however, one of the less well-attended gigs I’ve been to in a while. A shame, but it’s other people’s loss, as this was a damn good night out. Continue reading “Cabal/Viscera/Vexed/Lifesick – Rebellion, Manchester – 16/01/24 (Live 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”
Viscera are a death/metalcore band from the UK and this is their second album.
Carcinogenesis follows on from 2020’s Obsidian, which was a record I loved, so I have been really looking forward to hearing this new one. It has not disappointed. Continue reading “Viscera – Carcinogenesis (Review)”
This is the second album from US deathcore band A Wake in Providence.
The promo blurb states that this is for fans of bands like Osiah, Signs of the Swarm, and Aversions Crown, and who am I to disagree with that? Okay, well maybe a little. I’d mention bands like Lorna Shore, Mental Cruelty, and Worm Shepherd too, as A Wake in Providence Continue reading “A Wake in Providence – Eternity (Review)”
This is the second album from UK downtempo deathcore band Bound in Fear.
Following on from the band’s crushing 2019 debut album The Hand of Violence, as well as this year’s EP Eternal, we now turn to their latest release. Containing 43 minutes of massively heavy music, Bound in Fear’s new album is thunderous and demolishing. Continue reading “Bound in Fear – Penance (Review)”
This is the fourth album from South African death metallers Vulvodynia.
After 2016’s Psychosadistic Design and 2019’s Mob Rules, it’s great to once more be exposed to Vulvodynia’s brand of deathcore-laced brutal slamming death metal. There’s a whopping 57-minutes of violent content on Praenuntius Infiniti. Although I was initially concerned about this, as that length is a bit of a push for this sort of punishing material, it turns out that the band have done their best to make good use of the time. Continue reading “Vulvodynia – Praenuntius Infiniti (Review)”
This is the latest EP from UK death/thrash metallers Dominicide.
This four track EP has a duration of 24 minutes and showcases Dominicide’s brand of modern metallic assault. The music mixes death and thrash metal, while also incorporating at various points across the EP elements of deathcore and even symphonic enhancements. Continue reading “Dominicide – The Architecture of Oppression (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)”
Almost every year I think about how challenging it is to compile a definitive best of list, and how subjective it is, etc. Although that’s still true for this collecting of albums, this year, however, has been easier than most. 2020 has been heavy on the black metal for me. It’s been my most reviewed genre, in all its myriad permutations, and this is reflected in the below list.
For the longest of times the bands in positions 5 and 6 vied for top position, but then October and November happened. All of a sudden, unexpectedly, these two months unleashed a wealth of quality, and stole the top four positions in a rampant display of blackened supremacy.
I hope you enjoy the below recommendations of mine and find something new to obsess over. Let me know how you get on.
Let’s dig in… Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2020”
Viscera are a deathcore band from the UK and this is their debut album.
Featuring ex-members of Sylosis, Heart of a Coward, Martyr Defiled, Nervecell, Surfaces, and Abhorrent Decimation, Obsidian contains 36 minutes of modern brutality. Continue reading “Viscera – Obsidian (Review)”
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