Reviewed: October 2021 Released: 2021, Candlelight Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Demitri Levantis Necronautical: all the way from Manchester, this quartet have been working non-stop for the last decade to get into the upper echelons of British black metal, and I can now say they have secured their seats at the…
Album Review
Rivers Of Nihil – The Work
Reviewed: October 2021 Released: 2021, Metal Blade Records Rating: 4.5/5 Reviewer: Lee Carter Well, this has been coming and, after eight years, the cycle is finally complete: RIVERS OF NIHIL’s seasonal tetralogy has reached its end. Debuting with the spring-influenced ‘The Conscious Seed Of Light’, the band have seen their star…
Anomaly – Planet Storm
Reviewed: October 2021 Released: 2021, self-released Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Demitri Levantis Anomaly, all the way from Milwaukee, Wisconsin have released their debut studio album after a decade on the road. And with said album, they have certainly solidified themselves into the echelons of noteworthy 21st-century death metal with how they…
Hex A.D. – Funeral Tango For Gods & Men
Reviewed: October 2021 Released: 2021, Fresh Tea Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Kieron Hayes It was easy to see how this whole thing would affect the music business, and we just went straight into this new project instead of hoping for a possible gig or two. Actually it was great to be…
Shotgun Facelift – Dakota Blood Stampede
Reviewed: October 2021 Released: 2021, Eclipse records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Svetlana Likhacheva Shotgun Facelift, the melodic groove metal five-piece from North Dakota, are ready to present their brand new record, Dakota Blood Stampede. After a long break and major line-up changes, the band has a stronger setup than ever. Moreover,…
Criminal – Sacrificio
Reviewed: October 2021 Released: 2021, Metal Blade Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Paul Macmillan A new Criminal album. Always a good shout. Sacrificio makes it 9 long-players for the Chilean mob, and marks 30 years of their existence. Here encompassed is an explosive, razor-toothed supply of dark, urban thrash. In some ways,…
Triacanthos – Apotheosis
Reviewed: 2021 Released: Purity Through Fire, 2021 Rating: 3/5 Reviewer: Svetlana Likhacheva Triacanthos, the young black metal three-piece from Texas, are ready to show the world their striking debut record called Apotheosis. After many years of creative searching (the first roots of the band were founded back in 2013, when…
Spiritual Deception – Oxymoron
Reviewed: September 2021 Released: 2021, self-released Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Demitri Levantis Oxymoron is the latest EP from the atmospheric brutal death metal organization, Spiritual Deception – all the way from Italy. Atmospheric and brutal death metal are two terms I never thought I’d see in the same sentence, but it…
Skepticism – Companion
Reviewed: September 2021 Released: 2021, Svart Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Kieron Hayes Funeral doom is a tricky one to really get right. It can seem straightforward at first glance, but any band that simply plays doom metal as slow and ponderous as they can will run the risk of rapidly…
Malevolence – Antithetical
Reviewed: September 2021 Released: 2021, Firecum Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Lee Carter It’s an old argument, but we revisit it here: is there much point in reviewing re-releases? On the one hand, you have the potential scenarios of having the easiest writing session of your life (“Review: see comments from [DATE]”).…
In the Company of Serpents – Lux
Reviewed: September 2021 Released: 2021, Petrichor (original release: 2020) Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Kieron Hayes In the Company of Serpents’ fourth full-length was initially a self-release last year, but is now seeing a fresh issue by Petrichor. Listening to it now, you can easily hear how it caught the label’s attention;…
Wraith – Undo the Chains
Reviewed: September 2021 Released: 2021, Redefining Darkness Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Kieron Hayes “WRAITH hasn’t set out to reinvent the style,” states the band’s biography, “or introduce some new ‘core element, they only live to thrash and do it better than most.” A bold claim, but after listening to Undo…
Video Review! Hidden Gems 01: Fear of God – Within the Veil (1991)
Review Date: August 2021 Released: 1991, Warner Bros Rating: 5/5 Reviewer: RC2000 Welcome to the Hidden Gems series! Episode 01: Fear of God – Within the Veil This Hidden Gem was originally released in 1991, and flew largely under the radar. Like many great albums of the era, it never…
Craven Idol – Forked Tongues
Reviewed: August 2021 Released: 2021, Dark Descent Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Demitri Levantis Craven Idol, stalwarts of the old school blackened thrash sound have returned with their third full-length album, Forked Tongues. As the name might suggest this is another beautifully satanic tome of pure evil put to music, however…
Ashen – Godless Oath
Reviewed: August 2021 Released: 2021, Bitter Loss Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Kieron Hayes As has been said before, not every band or release needs to break the mould. Sometimes, doing something tried and tested can be great if you just do it well enough. And Aussies Ashen are damn good…