Album Reviews

On their second full-length album “In the Jaws of Bereavement” Fargo North Dakota death metal collective Maul delivers a vicious offering by mixing the nuances of hardcore and chugging swampy riffs. The variety in the ten tracks sees Maul blending modern and old-school death metal their musical palette injects dynamics and aggression throughout the album.
Read More >

Gothic doom metal act Funeral returns with another quality release, the seventh studio album “Gospel of Bones” out via Season of Mist since Oct 18th, 2024, is one of the few albums that enfold a structured musical requiem, even though they started as a funeral doom/death metal style, Funeral was one of the first bands to hail from Norway in 1991. The sextet is fronted by Anders Eek (drums), Rune Gandrud (bass guitar), Sareeta (violin and backing vocals), Stian Kråbøl Tom Trones (guitars) and Eirik Krokfjord (vocals) and André Aaslie (keyboards and orchestration).
Read More >

French purveyors of extreme death doom Ataraxie do not write short songs. Just like the predecessor 'Résignés’ the new album ‘Le Déclin’ only counts 4 tracks but still spans a length in excess of 81 minutes across all four sides of the vinyl gatefold.
Read More >

In 2012 Tuomas Saukkonen shocked everyone with his announcement that he will bury all of his metal music projects at the same time to start a new. But a while after that he already released an album with Dawn Of Solace and Before The Dawn that came back from the dead but that aside. Releasing his first album 'Winterborn' in 2013 and now 11 years later we are back to his 7th album already in 11 years. Keep in mind that in these 11 years he also worked on and released work from Dawn Of Solace and Before The Dawn. Let's see what our Finnish busy bee did on his newest release 'Draconian Darkness'.
Read More >

Thomas Eriksen of Mork continues to refine his craftmanship by becoming more known in the Norwegian black metal scene as a songwriter and guitarist. The seventh studio album 'Syv' proves the composer's finest talent. However, the inspiration of Thomas Eriksen stretches far beyond the raw and old-school style of black metal. The nine songs suggest why Mork’s new album is undisputedly diverse.
Read More >

Swedish heavy/doom metal veterans Grand Magus elevated themselves to an inspiring status, the trio opted for a heavier metallic sound to recapture the glory days of heavy metal. The 10th studio album “Sunraven” out via Nuclear Blast on October 18th, 2024, cements Grand Magus’ standard emphasizing the epic infusion of the lead guitars, scorching solos, and pounding drums. The album excels in the tradition of the early pioneers like Black Sabbath and Motörhead hence, forging immense powerful riffs and focusing more on the mid-crushing tempos with a stellar production and a majestic album cover art, having a theme of the legendary Danish hero “Beowulf”.
Read More >

The past decade has been quite diverse for the Finnish outfit Swallow The Sun, the fact that their sound shifted to a melodramatic style of melodic doom metal, leading them to break new grounds. Between the albums "New Moon”, “Emerald Forest and the Blackbird” and the latest release “Moonflower”, they forged a whole new path for the band. Despite my fondness of their earlier albums such as “The Mourning Never Came” and “Ghosts of Loss” there are many memorable moments from the soaring clean vocals and the keyboards.
Read More >

Denver-based death metal four-piece Blood Incantation returns from the deep dark void of space with its third full-length album “Absolute Elsewhere” out via Century Media Records on October 4th, 2024. The quartet is fronted by Paul Riedl (guitars and vocals), Morris Kolontyrsky (guitars), Jeff Barrett (bass guitar), and Isaac Faulk (drums) have captured the quintessence of their previous releases. “Absolute Elsewhere” takes a more porgy direction; compositionally and thematically, the album channels both the endeavor and the focus on diverse sounds that push further beyond the thresholds of their 2019 sophomore “Hidden History of the Human Race”.
Read More >

Slavic black metal pioneers Arkona have remained the mainstay of the underground scene in Poland for over three decades. The original member Khorzon (guitarist, orchestration and songwriter) continues to helm the band and aesthetically explores the straightforward grimness of the second wave of black metal with symphonic elements. With seven albums under their belt, Arkona's musical coherence captures the grand fashion beyond the new trend in the scene today.
Read More >

After twenty years extreme black/death metal act Adorior slithers out from the depths of hell to convey its satanic wicked concept through the medium of raw fucking metal. The lineup couldn’t be completed without the collaboration of renowned band members such as D. Molestör on drums (Grave Miasma, Ex-Cruciamentum), S. Assassinator as lead guitarist and backing vocals (Qrixkuor), and R.C. on rhythm guitar (ex-Deströyer 666, Göat Molestör) and T on bass guitar (Grave Miasma, and Malthusian).
Read More >