Reviewed: July 2020 Released: 2019, Century Media Records Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Demitri Levantis On the surface, Veil of Imagination from the Boston-based Wilderun looks like another progressive or experimental metal album, but once you dig deeper you find there’s plenty more to this band and album than meets the eye.…
2019
The Acacia Strain – It Comes In Waves
Reviewed: May 2020 Released: 27th December 2019, Closed Casket Activities Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Andrew Shirley The Acacia Strain are not your average heavy band: their sound has progressed through releases, getting heavier, grittier and just downright filthy since their inception in 2001. Since then they’ve gone several line up…
Mayhem – Daemon
Reviewed: February 2020 Released: 2019, Century Media Records Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Demitri Levantis Mayhem, the most notorious band in black metal and, allegedly, the most notorious band in all Scandinavia. A band with a history tarnished with murder, suicide and arson – all of which I will not go into…
MTV Headbangers Ball 2019 (Kataklysm + Whitechapel + Fleshgod Apocalypse + Dyscarnate) @ The Electric Ballroom, London
MTV Headbangers Ball 2019 (Kataklysm + Whitechapel + Fleshgod Apocalypse + Dyscarnate) The Electric Ballroom, London 5th December 2019 Review by Kira Levine Photography by Manu Volpina The Electric Ballroom hosted MTV Headbangers Ball 2019 on the first Thursday in November in Camden, and featured four bands. First up were…
Remembering The Forgotten-2019
Remembering The Forgotten-2019 I wrote these introductory comments for this same column four years ago. It still holds true today. The more things change, the more they stay the same. However (!) in a slight improvement, this year seemed to be less of a stampede to be first to publish ‘End…
Strykjärn – En Jävla Massa Lidande
Reviewed: January 2020 Released: November 2019, Big Balls Productions Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Beandog Twelve years into their career, and this five piece from Sweden are keen to emphasise the potency of their newest release. To be honest, you can probably draw your own conclusions from the 23 minute running time…
Cell – Ancient Incantations Of Xarbos
Reviewed: January 2020 Released: October 2019, Independent Release Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Beandog Winnipeg is located in Canada, underneath a cold air mass, near the fast flowing polar jet streams of the Northern Hemisphere. It’s placement on the flats of the prairie make it susceptible to harsh conditions and brutally cold…
One Hour Hell – Voidwalker
Reviewed: January 2020 Released: September 2019, Vicisolum Records Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Johnny Wolf Swedish death metal is infamous with its high standards, setting the bar high for relatively newer Swedish death metal bands to establish presence in the midst of big names like Entombed and others. One Hour Hell is…
Angel Witch – Angel of Light
Reviewed: January 2020 Released: 2019, Metal Blade Records Rating: 5/5 Reviewer: Jack Merry Angel Witch are a British heavy metal band which formed in London in 1976, and they became a part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement alongside the likes of Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Venom. The group recorded…
Ad Nemori – Akrateia
Reviewed: January 2020 Released: 2019, independent Rating: 4.5/5 Reviewer: Kira Levine Akrateia is the debut full length from Ad Nemori, hailing from Berlin, Germany. It follows their EP Pyre, which was released three years prior. Instrumental ‘Miasma’ is a delicate melodic track, which leads nicely into ‘Tellurian Doom’, transforming the…
Human Fortress – Reign of Gold
Reviewed: January 2020 Released: 2019, AFM Records Rating: 3/5 Reviewer: Kieron Hayes Human Fortress are another of those bands I’ve seen mentioned a lot, but never really dipped my toes into properly. With their 6th studio album, Reign of Gold, it’s time to change that and see if I’ve been…
Mefisto – Octagram
Reviewed: January, 2020 Released: 2019, GMR Music Group Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Ambra Chilenwa The second I began streaming this release from Swedish Blackened thrash group Mefisto, I was already grasped by its melodic opening dancing with the acoustic, atmospheric rhythms. It opens with such an uplifting first track, providing hair-raising…
Façade – The Eternal Dance
Reviewed: January 2020 Released: 2019, self-released Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Kieron Hayes The Eternal Dance is the second full-length release of Dutch six-piece Facade. In keeping with its cover art, the album takes a focus on the life-death cycles of the Hindu goddess Kali. The band explore this life-death cycle through…
Red Death – Sickness Divine
Reviewed: January, 2020 Released: 2019, Century Media Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Ambra Chilenwa The modern metal scene has been unveiling more passion as great examples of uniting thrash metal and crossover continue being demonstrated. Hailing from the United States’ capital, Washington, are Red Death, who have presented their 3rd full-length…
Alter Bridge + Shinedown + The Raven Age @ The O2 Arena London
Alter Bridge + Shinedown + The Raven Age @ The O2 Arena, London 21st of December 2019 Review by Johnny Wolf Photography by Rebecca Bush The O2 Arena is the world’s busiest arena and the largest indoor venue in London if not the UK, a very well organised venue, highly…