Clouds – Doliu (Reissue) Reviewed: April 2021 Released: 2021, Personal Records Rating: 4.5/5 Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz Sometimes you need a second chance to make a first impression. Originally released independently in 2014, DOLIU was the debut album from the multi-national doom conglomerate known as Clouds (Tiamat reference?). Though the band…
Gothic Metal
Paradise Lost – Gothic Live at Roadburn 2016
Paradise Lost – Gothic Live at Roadburn 2016 Reviewed: April 2021 Released: 2021, Bandcamp Rating: 5/5 Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz I’m going to date myself here, but bear with me. 30 years ago, I walked into Murmur Records in College Park, FL and purchased LOST PARADISE and GOTHIC on cassette tape…
Moonspell – Hermitage
March 2021 February 26th, 2021 / Napalm Records Rating: 4.5 / 5.0 Reviewer: John Haseltine By now, when the name Moonspell is said aloud, you should all know who is being spoken of. Moonspell is approaching their 30th year in the metal world. HERMITAGE is the band’s 13th full-length…
Lake Of Tears – Ominous
March 2021 February 19th, 2021 / AFM Records Rating: 4.0 / 5.0 Reviewer: John Haseltine Lake of Tears is a Swedish heavy metal band initially formed in 1994. The band’s sound consists mainly of playing gothic metal and doom. After some creative differences in the early 2000’s they disbanded…
Malacoda – Crawling Chaos
Reviewed: March 2021 Released: 2021, self- released Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Andrea Di Stasio “Crawling Chaos” is a solid EP that sets its tone from the very first note of the first homonym track: a wonderful gothic atmosphere, where every sound paints darkness with a different voice. The delicate vocals of…
Amederia – Sometimes We Have Wings
November 2020 November 27th, 2020 / BadMoodMan Music Rating: 4.0 / 5.0 Reviewer: John Haseltine If you are a connoisseur of the gloomy side of gothic doom-laden metal, you will be in for a surprise here. Amederia is just that. Hailing from Russia, Amederia has been in existence since 2006.…
Anthea – Illusion
Reviewed: October 2020 Released: 2020, Rockshots Records Rating: 3/5 Reviewer: Lee Carter If you have even a passing interest in rock or metal, it’s quite likely you will have heard some form of either that weaves in symphonic/orchestral elements. Done well, the grand aural spectacle that unfolds can pack the…
Vampiric – Supernatural Tales
Reviewed: [August 2020] Released [2020 Self-released] Rating [3.5/5] Reviewer: Peter Atkinson Supernatural Tales is the second full-length from Arizona-based one-man band Vampiric. Self-released less than a year after 2019’s The Magic Of The Night, it shows some notable and impressive growth and lessons learned by master-mind and sole studio member…
Ba’alzamon – A Desolate Place
Ba’alzamon – A Desolate Place Reviewed: April 2020 Released: 2020, Bandcamp Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz A DESOLATE PLACE sounds like the kind of record that had it been released in the mid to late-90’s when gothic metal was going through that weird transition phase from its traditional black/death roots…
Old Corpse Road – Interview with The Bearer
Old Corpse Road – Interview with The Bearer Interview by Demitri Levantis The British black metal institution have returned with their third album: “On Ghastly Shores Lay the Wreckage of our Lore”, and to find out more on this new release, Metal-Rules caught up with the band to find out…
Lord Vigo – Danse De Noir
April 2020 April 10th, 2020 / High Roller Records Rating: 5.0 / 5.0 Reviewer: John Haseltine When it comes to my expertise in the doom-metal genre, I will be the first to admit; the ‘expert’ part should be stricken from the record. I suppose that could translate into others as…
Dominia – The Withering Of The Rose
March 2020 January 20th, 2020 / Morning Star Heathen Music Group Rating: 5.0 / 5.0 Reviewer: John Haseltine Just as beautiful and mesmerizing as the music contained on THE WITHERING OF THE ROSE are the words which describe Dominia and their latest album. These words were included with the press…
Lacuna Coil – Black Anima
Reviewed: February 2020 Released: 2019, Century Media Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Lee Carter To many readers, and the many bitter artists whose work has been ripped apart by a cold-hearted, dead-inside cynic, a music critic is a bitter, twisted husk of something once-human that feeds on the maniacal pleasure of…
Female Metal Voices Tour 2019 (Leaves’ Eyes, Sirenia, Forever Still, Lost in Grey, Kassogtha) @ O2 Academy Islington, London
Female Metal Voices Tour 2019 @ O2 Academy Islington, London 26th November 2019 Review by Kira Levine Photography by Graham Hilling
Lacuna Coil + Eluveitie + Infected Rain @ O2 Forum Kentish Town
Lacuna Coil + Eluveitie + Infected Rain @ O2 Forum Kentish Town 16th November 2019 Review & Photography by Graham Hilling