Reviewed: January 2022 Released: 2021, Century Media Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Lee Carter As one of the genre’s most celebrated figureheads, Finland’s SWALLOW THE SUN needs absolutely no introduction and continues to carry the torch for those of a death/doom persuasion. They may be over twenty years into their existence as…
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…
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,…
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…
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]”).…
Bloodstock Open Air 2021
Bloodstock Open Air Festival 2021 Catton Park, Derbyshire 11th – 15th August 2021 Review by Jack Merry Photography by Rebecca Bush
Vargstuhr – Dystopia
Reviewed: August 2021 Released: 2021, Vacula Productions Rating: 3/5 Reviewer: Svetlana Likhacheva Dystopia is a second creation of Vargstuhr, a melodic black metal one man project from Spain. Just as his previous full-length Howlings, it is a concept record telling us a finished and philosophical story. As Vargstur claims itself,…
Devin Townsend – Devolution Series #2: Galactic Quarantine
Reviewed: August 2021 Released: 2021, InsideOut Music Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Lee Carter There are two types of people in this world when the going gets tough: those that wilt under pressure, and those that seemingly increase their workload. For the latter, please meet DEVIN TOWNSEND. With the pandemic having set…
Consumption – Recursive Definitions Of Suppuration
Reviewed: July 2021 Released: 2021, Iron, Blood & Death Corporation Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Lee Carter Unless you are of the gore-influenced death metal persuasion, a lot of the more extreme song and album titles will come across quite comedic in their extremity. There must be some form of perverse humour…
Oxblood Forge – Decimator
Reviewed: July 2021 Released: 2021, Independent Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Jack Merry Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, traditional heavy metal outfit Oxblood Forge have unleashed their latest studio effort entitled Decimator onto the world. This is an old-school power metal album through and through, reminiscent of early Hammerfall and Edguy, with tales of myths, legends, dragons,…
The US Power Metal Doctor is in! (Guest Commentary)
U.S.P.M. Doctor We here at Metal-Rules.com have always admired the hard-working and creative fans in the Metal community who take the time and energy write and create. Blogs, Web-sites, Youtube channels, podcasts and radio shows and more, we know from decades of first hand experience how much time and energy and…
Vokonis – Odyssey
Reviewed: April 2021 Released: 2021, The Sign Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Lee Carter There’s somewhat of an expectation with modern progressive metal music that it needs to sound somewhat introspective. Whether that is in harder, heavier subgenres such as death metal, or lighter examples, there’s a certain level of brood that…
Band of Spice – By The Corner of Tomorrow
Reviewed: April 2021 Released: 2021, Scarlet Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Jack Merry Beginning his time in the music industry as the vocalist and bass player for 90s’ stoner metal band Spiritual Beggars, Swedish musician and songwriter Christian “Spice” Sjöstrand has a fondness for 1970s’ hard rock and has incorporated elements…
Stormtide – A Throne of Hollow Fire
Reviewed: March, 2021 Released: 2021, Metal Hell Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Graeme Smith There is a lot of symphonic death metal around these days, and I mean a lot. In fact if you Google exactly that you get a hit with a page of ‘Top symphonic death metal artists’ which…
Stortregn – Impermanence
Reviewed: March 2021 Released: 2021, The Artisan Era Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Svetlana Likhacheva Newbies of The Artisan Era, Geneva-Switzerland-based act Stortregn are ready to show us the next level of their skill with a new record – Impermanence. This 8-track album is real space journey, exploring unorthodox ways and style…