Reviews Archive

Dennis Mikula is the driving force behind Ghost Bath and Ghost Bath are one polarising band. During the promo rounds for Moonlover, Mikula never corrected media assumptions the band hailed from Chongqing, China. This lead to peculiar arti...

Suffocation

...Of the Dark Light

By Michael O'Brien | 06 June, 2017

Approaching ...Of the Dark Light for the first time a couple of weeks or so ago, it occurred to me that it’s actually been quite a while since I’ve been really drawn to and hooked by a new Suffocation release. My first instinc...

Sólstafir

Berdreyminn

By Michael O'Brien | 25 May, 2017

While I understand that many view 2009’s Köld as Sólstafir’s watershed album (and they may well be absolutely spot on for all I know as I’ve not heard it), I wasn’t introduced to the band until their 20...

Obelyskkh

The Providence

By Michael O'Brien | 23 April, 2017

Even though I’ve been a fan of the style for quite a while now, I have to admit to feeling pretty burned out on the sludge/stoner doom genre these days. While there are definitely bands occupying this space that are doing interesting things,...

Steel Panther

Lower the Bar

By Simon Milburn | 19 April, 2017

It would be reasonable to be a little worried about Steel Panther. Have they peaked already? Could they hit new highs? Or perhaps, that should be new lows? More than likely, the answer is a little of all of those really. By now, fanthers know what...

Obituary

By Simon Milburn | 18 April, 2017

It’s equally easy as it is challenging to review a new release from Obituary. “How is that possible?” you may rightly ask. Well, consider this - it’s a generally safe rule of thumb that Obituary is a known quantity with res...

Pallbearer

Heartless

By Chris Gibbs | 10 April, 2017

Melodic doom metal band, Pallbearer, impressed doom lovers across the globe with their excellent 2012 debut, Sorrow and Extinction, and we all rejoiced in the splendour of their 2014 sophomore release, the Billy Anderson produced Foun...

Warbringer

Woe to the Vanquished

By Simon Crawley | 08 April, 2017

Thrash is a highly coveted strain of heavy metal. Its speed, groove, and gritty aggression are elements diehard fans hold dear and get very protective over when the progressive arm of metal sidles up to it. In some ways, death and black metal have...

Desecrator

To the Gallows

By Andrew McKaysmith | 07 April, 2017

D-e-s-e-c-r-a-t-o-r... D-e-s-e-c-r-a-t-o-r... I can hear the chants reverberating through clubs and venues across the globe. The (name of band) chant is for only the most worthy and it is offered by the salacious hordes when the lights dim and int...

Empusae

Lueur

By Michael O'Brien | 07 April, 2017

With a string of interesting albums being released over the year or so that I’ve been aware of their existence, I’m at the point where I pay attention to just about everything that Belgian label Consouling Sounds puts out these days, a...

Ulver

The Assassination of Julius Caesar

By Michael O'Brien | 04 April, 2017

Despite their longevity and their prolific nature, I have to admit that Ulver’s career has largely been a mystery to me over the years. Perhaps it's by virtue of the fact that I got in on the ground floor with them on 1995’s Bergta...

Doomsday Kingdom, The

The Doomsday Kingdom

By Andrew McKaysmith | 30 March, 2017

I opened up the promo files to the self-titled album from The Doomsday Kingdom not expecting much. This is another review where I had no background on the artist. What a bloody surprise I was about to receive!

The Doomsday Kingdo...

Mantar

The Spell

By Andrew McKaysmith | 28 March, 2017

With their latest EP, The Spell, Hamburg's very own noise makers, Mantar, offer barely palatable blackened doom riffage to accompany the tortured vocal stylings of guitarist/vocalist Hanno.

I've already mentioned that Mantar are f...

Junius - Eternal Rituals for the Accretion of Light