Album Reviews

The ninth studio album “Lord of Two Horns” by the U.S. brutal death metal band Drawn and Quartered delivers an unprecedented level of mastery. The Seattle, Washington quartet has been a force to be reckoned with. Drawn and Quartered identified its style through superb instrumental efficiency, and there is no doubt that the new album reeks of a gloomy atmosphere and hypersonic barbarity.
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As expected, the 10th studio album “Unholy Trinity” of Swedish black metal cult Lord Belial shows no mercy in its combination of hellish aggression with powerful and catchy melodic sections. Despite thirty years of existence, the trio of Micke Backelin (drums), Niclas Pepa Green (guitar), and Thomas Backelin (guitars and vocals) ensures perfect consistency from start to finish. With a length of more than forty-eight minutes, Lord Belial managed to offer a slew of blazing melodies; the listener is led to the gates of hell, where a dreary landscape of roaring snarls forms the backdrop of each track on this grandiose album.
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Now metal’s genetic upmake is known for being quite suitable for crossbreeding, not only within its own subgenres but also with virtually every other strain of music out there. Even so, I was quite intrigued by what the heck flamenco death metal would sound like; because that is exactly what the Franco-Spanish troupe of Impureza deliver: a mixture of classical Latin flamenco music and pretty technical yet still brutal death metal.
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Australian metalcore band Ghostseeker has brought their debut album 'Divergence' to the world on April 25th, 2025. Their EP 'Initium Novum' was streamed almost a million times, and they were having success across Australia, So with this album they would love to go worldwide. Let's check them out!
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Katatonia’s first post-Anders Nyström album was always going to be a noteworthy release. Either in a positive or negative sense, no matter which way it would have gone stylistically or quality wise. In truth, the leap from the previous record ‘Sky void of Stars’ to this new one, is not as huge as one would have you believe after the departure of your original lead guitar player, somebody who have been part of the band for some three decades.
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There has been an influx of U.S. black metal bands in the last decade or so, with rising acts such as Ceremonial Castings, Amongst the Moonlight, Chaos Moon, Nightbringer, Skáphe, Mare Cognitum, Esoterica, Kveldstimer, and many more. One can certainly surmise that this is the golden age for the U.S. black metal bands and this has led me to discover another entity known as Anfauglir. If you are into bands like Summoning and Elffor, I recommend you check their sophomore 'Akallabêth'.
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Canadian brutal and technical death metal outfit Cryptopsy defined its uncompromising boundaries in the early 90s, spawning a hellish mixture of Suffocation, Gorguts and many more. There is no doubt that Cryptopsy delivered classic albums like 'Blasphemy Made Flesh' and 'None So Vile', thanks to the legendary former vocalist Lord Worm, who cemented his inhuman guttural growls on these two albums.
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Kristian Espedal's, also known as Gaahl (ex-Gorgoroth, ex-Godseed, Trelldom, Gaahlskagg), musical inspirations extend beyond the spectrum of black metal, despite his early days with Gorgoroth and Trelldom, Gaahl delves into something deeper on the sophomore “Braiding the Stories” released via Season of Mist on June 6th, 2025. I was curious enough to review the new album, and the reason is that I was impressed by his deep thrilling vocals on the debut album “GastiR - Ghosts Invited”.
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With a name preceding its fantastic reputation, Cincinnati-based melodic black metal formation Valdrin returns after two years with a new EP in follow-up to their 2023 epic opus 'Throne of the Lunar Soul'. The direction of the five new tracks blends elements from the previous endeavor, taking an overly heavier approach. 'Apex Violator' is scheduled for a release date on June 20th, via the Italian underground label Avantgarde Music.
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As a prolific artist in the realm of black metal, Swartadauþuz has emerged with originality. His varied side project bands include Gardsghastr, Secrets, and Greve and he is mostly recognized for his work on Bekëth Nexëhmü. Gygath is yet another side project band formed by Sortilege, who made his first appearance with the band Greve as a session musician and did excellent work on Secrets' debut album 'Towards the Nightside'. It’s no surprise that both musicians have great chemistry.
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