Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2020, Dark Essence Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Lee Carter Ask anyone with even a passing interest in metal to offer a description of black metal and you’ll likely get at least one person mention the word “dark”. And you would usually expect most black metal records…
Album Review
Utbyrd – Varskrik
Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2021, Petrichor Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Svetlana Likhacheva Norwegian black metal band Utbyrd, through Petrichor, are about to give their album Varskrik (which translates into English as Warning) a chance to see the world with the physical release. The digital version was released in the far 2017,…
Bhleg – Odhin
Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2021, Nordvis Produktion Rating: 4.5/5 Reviewer: Demitri Levantis Like all other metal genres, black metal is in a constant state of change, with its numerous subgenres emerging and rising in popularity across the global fandom. With atmospherics and the raw sound marking some of the biggest…
Hatebreed – Weight of the False Self
Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2020, Nuclear Blast Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Jack Merry Hailing from Connecticut, metalcore and hardcore punk outfit Hatebreed have unleashed their ninth studio album Weight of the False Self unto the world, and it arrives on the heels of the band’s sold-out 2019 anniversary shows and the unprecedented…
Theragon – Where the Stories Begin
Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2020, Art Gates Records Rating: 2/5 Reviewer: Kieron Hayes Theragon is a young new entrant into the crowded field of power metal. Hailing from Valencia, Spain, they formed just a couple of years ago and are now releasing their debut full length, the appropriately-titled Where the…
Purbawara – Servants of Alamin (single)
Review Date: January 2021 Released: 2020, Independent Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: RC2000 Here’s an unusual one for you – some death metal with melodic touches from Malaysia! Purbawara have released the single “Servants of Alamin” from their upcoming full-length release WITHERING. Right off the bat you can tell Purbawara mean business.…
Empyrean Fire – Deliverance
Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2020, independent Rating: 4.5/5 Reviewer: Lee Carter In some circles, there is a school of thought to keep music genres pure. By drawing influence from other genres, the one that forms the core of a band’s sound becomes diluted. For some, this makes it worse: a…
Butterfly – Doorways Of Time
Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2021, Petrichor Rating: 3/5 Reviewer: Svetlana Likhacheva The Australian foursome of highly experienced musicians who found themselves together in heavy metal band Butterfly are promising to take their listeners to the unique trip through a musical landscape that relive the 70’s and 80’s traditional metal. At…
Apocalyptic Fear – Decayed Existence & Dawn of the Ritual
Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2020, Awakening Records Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Kieron Hayes Apocalyptic Fear was a little-known early death metal band from Canada, releasing just two demos: Decayed Existence (1992) and Dawn of the Ritual (1994). These have now been combined and reissued by Awakening Records. And for early 90s…
Jaded Star – Realign
Reviewed: December 2020 Released: 2020, Noble Demon Rating: 2/5 Reviewer: Demitri Levantis Realign is the second album from Greek melodic metal act Jaded Star. Melody is certainly the way to describe these Greeks as they don’t seem to employ anything with a particularly extreme or hefty punch in their output.…
When Frames Collide – Quattro (EP)
Reviewed: December 2020 Released: 2020, X-Ray Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Jack Merry WHEN FRAMES COLLIDE is a short-lived Melbourne rock band featuring Andy McLean from AUSTRALIAN ROCK ROYALTY on vocals who graced the stages of a number of intimate venues in 2019, playing to loving crowds before disappearing to record, never to…
Lie In Ruins – Floating in Timeless Streams
Reviewed: December 2020 Released: 2020, Dark Descent Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Demitri Levantis Finland’s death metal institution, Lie In Ruins, have returned with their third album “Floating in Timeless Streams.” It is an album that I can best describe as a harrowing experience put to music, detailing the darkness and…
Chalice – Trembling Crown
Reviewed: December 2020 Released: 2020, High Roller Records Rating: 2.5/5 Reviewer: Kieron Hayes According to their bio, Finland’s Chalice have spent the last 5 years composing the songs present on Trembling Crown, their debut full-length. This only makes it all the more a shame, then, that the album is so…
Time Rift – Eternal Rock
Reviewed: December 2020 Released: 2020, Dying Victims Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Jack Merry Hailing from Portland, Oregon, TIME RIFT stay true to their name, break the space-time continuum, and manage to deliver a debut album in 2020 that would be right at home in the annals of hard rock history; sometime around 1973-1974,…
Hypervolume – Conceive
Reviewed: December 2020 Released: 2020, self-released Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Kieron Hayes Chicago-based duo Hypervolume are just about to release their debut full-length, Conceive, and it’s an absolutely solid slab of stoner doom swagger. For their first offering, Hypervolume present us with an album dominated by confident, rumbling bluster and thick,…