#englishmetal — Public Fediverse posts

Several years removed from their impressive third album, Monokrator, unheralded UK act The Bleeding return with fourth LP, Godless Communion. Time between drinks rings in a significant period of change, with all-bar guitarist Tasos’ newish additions to the line-up. The charismatic, thrash-infused screams of departed longtime vocalist Germ (barring some strategic guest spots) are replaced by the thickly expressive growls of Craig Land, former frontman of powerhouse death metal veterans De Profundis. While still wielding a violent, beefy modern death-meets-old-school aesthetic and thrashy crunch, Godless Communion feels and sounds like a fresh interpretation of The Bleeding sound. The change in vocalist offers a notable contrast from its predecessor, shifting the sound deeper into traditional death metal realms, without neglecting their thrashier roots. Can The Bleeding make good of the switch and up their songwriting game to go head-to-head with 2026’s heavyweight death metal releases?

Unleashing their trademark thrashy death metal energy, while leaning more into Floridian influences and obvious appreciation of the legendary Swedeath scene, The Bleeding charge forward with belligerent intent. Land’s chunky vox hit the spot for traditional death metal enthusiasts; the significant stylistic change to his predecessor almost makes The Bleeding sound like a whole new band. The impact of this change will likely vary depending on individual listeners’ enjoyment of their previous works and preference for one style over the other. Regardless, Land’s is a top-level replacement and makes his own forceful impact, shifting the general tone of The Bleeding’s sound, without squashing their established character. Adding extra spice to the vocal onslaught are the various guest spots featured, including Sinister drummer-turned-vocalist Adrie Kloosterwaard lending his grizzled pipes to the robust grooves and pummeling intensity of “Bestial Bloodlust.” Elsewhere, Ryan Howes (Sodomized Cadaver) lends an extra brutal vocal touch to the faithful yet blistering cover of Cannibal Corpse’s classic “Born in a Casket,” closing the album with a nasty bang.

Clocking a lean and efficient 35 minutes, Godless Communion doesn’t fuck around, cranking the energy, speed, and intensity, supplementing these elements with songwriting that punches hard and shoehorns catchier riffs and blood-soaked grooves into the equation, such as the bruising, Bloodbath-esque midsection of “Death Eternal.” The aforementioned track throws a curveball towards its conclusion via the inclusion of operatic vocal chants, adding an eerie charm to the overlaying growls at the song’s dramatic climax. Older and new elements of The Bleeding’s sound converge on the Germ-led, thrash-laced attack of “Praise the Succubi.” It’s a vitally punchy, venomous ride, highlighting Germ’s unhinged style that stood tall on previous offerings. Explosively meaty cuts, featuring lacerating grooves and roid-munching riffs propel the ripping “Altar of the Ram” and equally potent, chaotic throes of “Sacrificial Onslaught.” Momentum fluctuates to slight degrees; however, the material rarely drops below offering solidly headbangable death metal tunes.

Performances are on point. As previously stated, Land’s makes a sizable impact with his authoritative growls lending the album a gruesome, gnarled edge, backed to the hilt by The Bleeding’s pulverizing rhythms, wild solos, and chunky riffs. Tasos lands killer blows through a lively collection of thrashing, grooving riffs and rabid, chaotic soloing cutting nasty swathes of jagged melody through the fleshy exterior, spearheading a more laser-focused death metal attack. Thrashy elements remain yet are not as prevalent as previous albums. Despite an efficient runtime and solid songwriting throughout, a couple of less impactful songs, including the respite-giving but ultimately disposable instrumental “Through the Morphean Gate,” bring slight drawbacks to the final product. And pushing aside Land’s fine performance, Germ’s ragged vocal style and the thrashier edge of their prior incarnation leaves a hole, despite Godless Communion’s undoubtable strengths.

Yet Godless Communion remains an energetically solid reset from The Bleeding, breaking in the beginning of a new sound and era. Initially jarring for fans of their previous work, Godless Communion stands apart as a rock-solid modern-meets-throwback death metal platter, indebted to the past, without shamelessly falling into derivation or generic songwriting. It also feels somewhat transitional and perhaps, with more time for the new line-up to fully find their voice, greater things may well be in store on the next go around. Until then, Godless Communion is a fun ride and an efficiently potent death metal platter.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Redefining Darkness Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: September 18th, 2026

People have been imagining monsters as the harbingers of their doom for millennia. In Homer’s The Odyssey, men met their makers at the hands of creatures ranging from a man-eating cyclops to dangerously alluring sirens. The English epic poem, Beowulf, included the monstrous Grendel, who terrorized and ate townsfolk, and more than a thousand years later Bram Stoker would tell about a blood-sucking vampire, Count Dracula. Fears of worldwide annihilation eventually came in the form of Kaiju monsters and flesh-eating zombies. For the misery and despair these beings have wrought (at least on our imaginations), it’s only fitting that a band dabbling in epic doom takes on the theme of monsters and demons. England’s Desolate Pathway didn’t start out with an interest in this topic. They formed in 2014, focused on fantasy (2014’s Valley of the King) and mythology (2016’s Of Gods and Heroes). A decade later, on Visions in Death, they evoke the haunting beauty of monsters from a more romantic era.

Desolate Pathway harken back to the old school epic doom of Candlemass, bring modern elements akin to Behölder, and mix in some gothic melancholy from My Dying Bride. They combine your typical funeral doom chuggery with elaborate and achingly beautiful lead riffs to achieve some of the most remarkable performances in doom this year. Visions in Death opens with its strongest cut, “Creeper,” which is catchy as hell, featuring a killer lead riff and a chorus that’s sure to infect your brain and make you belt out “Calling me, haunting me” until it infects your loved ones and eventually the world.1 The rest of the album doesn’t quite reach that level of catchiness, but there are plenty of other infectious numbers that’ll get you singing along about Lucifer (“Horrors of the Night”) and vampires (“The Dark Prince,” “Vampire’s Kiss”). There’s a level of poetry to the lyrics that heightens the emotional impact of the music.

Konrad proves the heart of Visions in Death with his soulful croons and creative riffcrafting. His sudden emotional outpourings on guitar and the mic ensure this record will throw constant surprises your way. The lead riffs on “Creeper” never fail to give me goosebumps, and a gorgeous solo at the tail end of “Dark Prince” leaves me in awe every time I hear it. Vocally, Konrad doesn’t have your typical doom metal delivery, sounding more like Volbeat’s Michael Poulsen than any traditional doom vocalist,2 with a soulful delivery reminiscent of Isole’s Daniel Bryntse. Sparks of impassioned crooning often provide a lift as songs reach their conclusions—on “Dawn of Extinction,” Konrad belts out a stunner that left me feeling both ecstatic and melancholic. Desolate Pathway show a knack for such climactic payoffs, leading to lots of big feelings throughout the record.

A weaker back half unfortunately keeps this from 4.0 territory. The instrumental “Angels without Words” is solid, but it’s missing the emotional oomph of Konrad’s voice. “Vampire’s Kiss” is also good, though it does play things safer and more subdued than the earlier tunes. An appreciable dip in production quality on the closing two songs does the most to weaken the overall impact, and Desolate Pathway’s usual tricks only go so far in redeeming these missteps. “Beasts of Doom” has a rather strong payoff as Konrad turns on the passion towards the end, but this doesn’t quite save the song from its muddy and loud production choices. Closer “Visions in Death” has a cavernous quality that sounds off, and this one never really pops off like the rest. More consistent mixing would have gone a long way towards pushing this to the next level.

Visions in Death proves an astonishing return for a band that’s been out of the game for a decade. Desolate Pathway has also shown incredible growth in that span of time. Their first two albums were rougher around the edges and lacked the inspiration shown here. “Creeper” has made a strong case for my song of the year, and if Desolate Pathway continues to write tunes like that, they will prove themselves a band to keep an eye out for. If you love great riffs and soulful singing in your doom, don’t pass this one up.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Meuse Music
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: September 25th, 2026

Green Lung has always flirted with metal’s ponderous weight and classic rock’s sly melodicism, uniting two musical forces I love. Before I dove into metal whole hog, I spent years soaking up the classics. Rush and Boston were in constant rotation alongside Black Sabbath and Metallica, looping endlessly on my 5-disc CD stereo through high school and college. Gradually, my listening gave way to more extreme acts as I succumbed to what my mother endearingly calls ‘devil music.’ Despite my unflinching commitment to placing my immortal soul in peril, I just can’t resist acts that channel the music I grew up listening to, and London’s Green Lung sticks this balance expertly. Hypnotic grooves, bouncing riffs, and heartfelt vocals run rampant across Green Lung’s fourth album Necropolitan, invoking the rumble of ecclesiastical dynamite and ghoulish glee. But are Necropolitan’s enchanting atmospheres and retro pleasures enough to wreck your Nec to?

Since forming in 2017, Green Lung has celebrated nature and the ways of olde, often through a lens of freewheeling paganism. Their earliest material saturated sylvan rituals with fuzz and thunder, ensconcing songs in the Green haze of stoner metal. Black Harvest redirected attention to elements of occult rituals recalling 1970s horror films like The Wicker Man and The Blood on Satan’s Claw, placing a greater emphasis on hooky riffs and John Wright’s organ, while This Heathen Land adopted a backdrop rooted in history that found Green Lung wallowing in doomier arrangements. Necropolitan hews much closer to Black Harvest, crafting a bevy of heavy earworms and begetting their catchiest and most immediate platter to date. Conceptually, Necropolitan finds Green Lung drawing inspiration from the sprawling necropolis grounds built during the Victorian era to resolve the calculus of too many bodies and too few burial plots. The upkeep of these gardens collapsed in the 1960s, and since then Earth has slowly reclaimed and transformed these gravesites into pockets of wilderness, incidentally furnishing Necropolitan with a fascinating intersection of nature and the occult.

Reference points abound on Necropolitan, although Green Lung always adheres to their own guiding sonic principles. Vocalist Tom Templar’s voice strongly echoes Tobias Forge’s, and there’s also a smidge of Ian Gillan’s upper register as well,1 albeit with punky snottiness. Speaking of Gillan, “Necropolitan Line” is the best song Deep Purple never wrote (and might be my “Mambo No. 5”), and “Evil in This House” strikes me as a more upbeat musical take on Sabbath’s “Electric Funeral.” “Oxymandias” oozes with a swagger that reminds me of Clutch, “Black Magic Radio” marries the pop-forward sensibilities of Ghost with the heft of Black Sabbath or Cathedral, and closer “To the Gallows Born” begins with gorgeous harmonization reminiscent of “The Wellerman”2 before dipping into Wytch Hazel levels of lilting beauty.

Throughout Necropolitan Green Lung dispenses sharp performances in a lean package that offers enough to satisfy yet leaves me wanting more. Templar’s voice smolders as he directs listeners through Necropolitan’s lush landscapes. “Dance to the Grave” and “Black Magic Radio” mesh his top-notch croon with elephantine riffs while “Necropolitan Line” and “To the Gallows Born” gush with Templar’s sweltering magnetism. Guitarist Scott Black wields his fuzz tone with surgical precision, hitting swells and transitions with impeccable instincts and sexy tones (the solo into the bridge on “Oxymandias,” for example) while John Wright’s organ grinding ignites melodies with fabulous vintage verve. Meanwhile, bassist Joseph Ghast unchains a terrific low-end showcase with audible yet unobtrusive obbligatos (“Necropolitan Line,” “To the Gallows Born”) and drummer Matt Wiseman looses frills and fills with measured gusto (“Black Magic Radio,” “Evil in this House”). In all, everyone in Green Lung brings their A-game to Necropolitan.

Everything about Necropolitan leaves me wanting more, and I can’t stop listening to the damned thing. At forty-one minutes, it’s an irresistibly easy listen and has quickly become one of my most played albums this year. The guitar-and-keys interplay is exquisite, the grooves bowl me over with unholy spirit, and the choruses make a fool of me as I try to sing along. Admittedly, “Together in Death” lacks the indispensability of other tracks, and “Dance to the Grave” and “Black Magic Radio” blur together a tad one after the other, but these are minor cavils in what is one of the best damn stoner-adjacent releases this year. So don’t let Green Lung and their latest wares pass you by—hop a rail down “Necropolitan Line” and breathe in the Greatness.

Rating: Great
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Websites: Website | Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: September 11th, 2026

It warms the heart to see that the allure of early At the Gates remains strong among the younger metal generation. England’s Xenith, a quartet made up of 20-somethings,1 cite early At the Gates and Opeth as inspirations for their debut album, To No Avail. While the Opeth inspiration isn’t nearly so obvious, clearly these guys have love for the thrashy melodeath that At the Gates play. It’s easy to see why young, hungry, passionate metal musicians would love them. Their relentless melodicism, playful riffs, and in-your-face vocals sound liberating for those who want to write catchy music with an edge rather than commercially-produced radio rock. With one EP under their belts in early 2025, Xenith quickly set to work expanding their repertoire with To No Avail, in the hopes they haven’t yet reached the zenith of their career.

There’s no doubting the At the Gates inspiration, as Xenith play a tenaciously melodic form of death metal that races forth with spunk and zip. Opener “Take Me Back Where I Belong” starts off with the sort of instrumental strumming that introduces In Flames’s “Moonshield” and Metallica’s “Fight Fire with Fire” and then dives into the exciting riffs and plucky energy played in those long-ago classics. Follow-up “Alone” carries the At the Gates mantle, starting off aggressively and serving as a much more tightly written and catchy composition. Vocalist Billy Hourigan has much in common with Bloodletter’s vocalist, Peter Carparelli—the punky shout of someone carrying a chip on his shoulder. It’s a confident, winning performance that brings a distinct personality to Xenith’s sound. Their songwriting culminates in the apex tune, “Arteries,” a mighty demonstration of their melodic riffcrafting, progressive tendencies, and creative instrumentals. The song packs a wallop and is alone worth the price of admission.

While I struggle to hear the Opeth influence, Xenith has a surprisingly progressive streak stemming from their tendency to go in instrumentally playful directions. This is evident on the opener, where they perhaps stick to the instrumental intro a touch too long, and even return to it later on. Xenith fill lengthy portions of many of their tracks with instrumental-only segments, showing off some fancy fretwork as well as solos on the likes of “Incite the Tragedy.” Even the closing minutes of “Arteries” go into instrumental mode, opting for some moody and creative drumming and tremolos before concluding on the highs of its melodic riffs. It’s clear these guys are bursting with ideas, and they’re able to successfully build them within songs without sacrificing coherence. In fact, it creates more rewarding repeat spins as you catch more nuances with each listen.

A few tunes step outside the melodeath box with mixed results. The most successful is “The Weight to Pretend,” which includes a distortion and lightness on the guitars that has an almost poppy, shoegaze character. It still has plenty of melody, but a distinctly different, almost happier vibe that makes for an interesting change of pace. The follow-up and finale, “Out of Contempt,” keeps some of this shoegaze character, yet what it plays is just not as interesting. Sure, there are some good riffs in the fold, but it just carries on too long at six minutes. The one track that doesn’t work is the bruising, awkward “Bludgeoned.” It nearly kills the record’s momentum following the fantastic “Alone” and lacks the hooks Xenith has in droves elsewhere. While 47 minutes is a decent length for what these guys do, trimming this song plus at least some of the last would give To No Avail a massive boost in energy and cohesion.

Those small issues aside, Xenith have proven a very fun and worthy addition to the melodeath canon. To No Avail is a very promising debut that hopefully foretells good things for these youths. These songs demonstrate impressive musicianship and songwriting as well as a willingness to do some things outside of the box. With a little more consistency combined with their knack for experimentation, the next album these guys record could be something great.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Released
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: August 28th, 2026

London, England’s Fen has a storied history at AMG, with five reviews spread across three different writers. The illustrious Madam X reviewed them thrice with mixed results, followed by Doom_et_Al’s laudatory commentary on The Dead Light and, most recently, Cherd’s favorable-but-less-impressed impression of Monuments to Absence. You should read their words because they’re excellent writers,1 but the upshot of their analysis is that Fen often crafts gorgeous layers of music that sometimes lose focus or take too long to spool out. Imagine my delight, then, when I discovered Fen’s newest album, Elemental Part One: Mourning Earth only runs forty-seven minutes.2 While the overall album length suggests improved self-editing, Mourning Earth is the first part of a greater effort and carries the risk of either feeling incomplete or disguising bloat between multiple releases. In the end, does Fen free their songwriting from the mires that held back some previous albums?

Throughout Mourning Earth, Fen conjures familiar reference points while evoking less obvious connections as well. Opener “Glacier” reminds me of “Storm Son,” the opening track to Enslaved’s E, with its prog-leaning clean guitars playing over galloping blast beats and beautifully written choral arrangements. The last third of “Glacier” and follow-up “Techtonic” rumble and quake with calls to Blood Mountain-era Mastodon,3 while “Massif” and “Abyssal Plain” drift into gazey waters, where shimmering guitars and haunting vocal stacks tread alongside Alcest. The opening riff on “Barrow” reminds me of a cross between Helloween’s “Future World” and something off Avatar’s Feathers & Flesh, casting ties to genres I never previously linked to Fen. Meanwhile, closing track “Moor” begins with sparkling builds akin to Saor and Agalloch, but when the atmosphere gives way to melody,4 I suddenly hear mid-aughts Amon Amarth. Everything on Mourning Earth points to a band harnessing a vast reach of styles and influences and fusing them into a vision uniquely their own.

Given Mourning Earth’s eclectic backdrop, its cohesion and effectiveness remain refreshingly intact. Throughout, Fen’s jaw-droppingly gorgeous textures harken to primordial environs that imbue the album with nature’s innate beauty. Mourning Earth’s midsection broods within layers of reverb and melancholy, entrancing listeners with hypnotic refrains and crystalline guitar work. “Massif,” though, kicks up past the halfway point, recalling the groove and melody from its first half while dialing up the heft and drama. “Techtonic” and “Barrow” both charge out in rollicking fashion, hitting hard early on. “Barrow” even permutates melodies from “Tectonic”‘s midsection, tethering the two songs in a satisfying harmony that took me many listens to notice and appreciate. Bookends “Glacier” and “Moor” round out Mourning Earth’s synchronicity as the longest tracks on the album, supplying grandeur and gravitas that ensure it begins and ends with fully baked moods.

In the past, Fen’s releases initially fascinated me yet lacked the staying power to compel frequent visits despite stellar moments. Mourning Earth changes that, and its forty-seven-minute runtime proves an incredible boon as the band expertly strikes the balance between anticipation and payoff. And despite being Fen’s shortest LP to date, Mourning Earth achieves a remarkable diversity of sounds and influences without ever sacrificing its singular identity. With the bloat plaguing earlier albums gone, not much else requires attention. More space within the mix would give the wealth of sounds a bit more breathing room, particularly on busier songs like “Tectonic” and “Barrow,” and “Abyssal Plain” doesn’t quite live up to the heights of other tracks. In all, though, Mourning Earth stands uncontested as my favorite Fen album to date.

Mourning Earth’s magic takes time to gestate, and over my repeated listens Fen’s hooks unfurled and took root as I helplessly succumbed to their enthralling collection of swamp songs. The Watcher’s spritely and ethereal guitars weave melodic threads throughout, even during atmospheric passages, and his withered rasps and roars scrape like the dry crackle of leaves while the wistful cleans brim with forlorn charm. Mourning Earth bursts at the seams with ideas and styles, and it continues to entice me as my time with this review draws nigh. I’m unclear on when Elemental Part Two may arrive or what it will be about, but Part One lets listeners know that this trio has plenty more to say before they Fenish.

Rating: Great
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Prophecy Productions
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: August 21st, 2026

Imperium – Exodus Unknown Review

Thrash has enjoyed a solid year thus far…Whether your poison has included the head-spinning technical fireworks of Cryptic…
#NewsBeep #News #Music #2026 #3.0 #CrypticShift #Desolus #EnglishMetal #Entertainment #ExodusUnknown #FuriHelium #GrooveMetal #HeavyMetalRecords #Imperium #Kreator #Metallica #NuclearTomb #Pantera #review #Reviews #Testament #ThrashMetal #UK #UnitedKingdom
https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/706399/

Thrash has enjoyed a solid year thus far…Whether your poison has included the head-spinning technical fireworks of Cryptic Shift, the sprightly horns-up gallop of Kreator’s inspired latest, lean, mean death-thrash of Nuclear Tomb, hard-hitting punch of Furi Helium, or rabidly nasty old school battering of Desolus, the legendary genre where many a metalhead cut their teeth has been on a solid streak. My issue with the modern thrash scene is the lack of genuinely exciting outfits releasing standout material, especially when stacked up to other preferred genres, such as the embarrassment of riches of the current death metal scene. Arriving with their full-length debut of retro-inspired modern thrash, UK outfit Imperium unleash debut album Exodus Unknown. Does this fledgling crew contain the songwriting powers and instrumental chops to stand out from the pack?

First up, Imperium boast a pretty cool though not particularly original sound, wrapping chunky modern production values and tight performances with a very palatable, ear-friendly brand of hard rock-infused, hook-laden thrash and modern groove metal. Featuring a retro thrash charm and broad influences recalling the likes of Testament, Metallica and the groove-meets-thrash metal crunch of Pantera amongst other touchstones. Imperium place emphasis on anthemic hooks, bright melodies, chunky riffs, and lashings of more involving, thrashy speed. Opening one-two punch of “Hell and High Water” and “Exodus Unknown” whips a tasty storm of early album momentum and boundless energy. The former features an urgent pulse, earworm chorus, and impressive axe pyrotechnics, creating a punchy, infectious initial impact. Meanwhile, the title track follows suit, though takes a groovier path across a slightly drawn-out nearly six-minute thrash fest. Some questionable lyrics aside, it’s a dynamic and well-composed track, showcasing Imperium’s melodic tricks and technical chops.

Imperium keep the album length at a reasonably efficient 45 minutes, wisely not overstaying their welcome despite the fact some tactful editing may have been a welcome advantage. Leaning into their groovy tendencies and penchant for infectious choruses, and featuring the slick melodicism and solo work of lead guitarist Hardip Sagoo, the chunky “Unstoppable” and album centerpiece “The Gun” both feature their rousing, hooky moments and bouncy grooves. On the flipside, both tunes could use trimming, with ‘The Gun” in particular slogging past its welcome across an overly drawn-out eight-plus minutes. It is a recurring songwriting theme which detracts from the album’s notable strengths. Weaving more dynamic structural and tempo twists into the compositions and striking a keener balance between their heavily utilized mid-paced, groovier elements and higher-octane thrashy sections would be welcome songwriting tweaks. Unfortunately, the overcooked songwriting and extra flab on the aforementioned songs create a mid-album lull in speed and sharper songwriting efficiency.

Momentum pleasingly picks up for late album bangers “Hangman” and “Tread the Serpent,” both featuring solid riffcraft, catchy hooks and urgent, thrashier pacing. Exodus Unknown wraps in disappointingly sedate fashion courtesy of the atmospheric closing power ballad ‘The End,” concluding things with more of a whimper than the desired bang. Qualms aside, Imperium pack tons of energy, tight, quality musicianship, and solid riffs into their groove-centric, retro-tinged modern thrash, and performances are on point. The dual axe work lands more often than it misses the mark, though certain segments and riffs hit with higher potency than the more stock or pedestrian moments. Vocally, frontman Ben Porter boasts a rough-hewn melodic sneer and weathered singing voice and knows his way around a sharp vocal hook, even if occasional clunky phrasing or cliched lyric crops up. Throwing down some more aggressive, deeper growls or screams would add some extra grit and punch to the vocal attack.

Quality thrash can be hard to find and even harder for a young band to bring something fresh and intriguing to the thrash equation. Imperium bring intriguing elements and polish to an assured and confident debut. Exodus Unknown is certainly an intriguing debut which smacks of potential for Imperium to make a bigger splash in the modern thrash scene. As it stands, their remains kinks to iron out and refining of their songwriting formula, but signs are positive Imperium have the basic tools to carve an impact on the modern thrash scene.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Heavy Metal Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Official
Releases Worldwide: July 17th, 2026

Dromos – Failing Light Review

A dromos is a passageway to an underground tomb, likely where a funeral procession would walk to deliver…
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https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/653364/

https://www.europesays.com/ie/352581/ Cryptic Shift – Overspace & Supertime Review #2026 #45 #Atheist #CrypticShift #Cryptworm #Éire #EnglishMetal #Entertainment #Feb26 #FrankZappa #IE #Ireland #KingCrimson #MetalBladeRecords #Music #Overspace&Supertime #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #RiseAgainst #Slayer #TechnicalDeathMetal #ThrashMetal #Vektor

With the same swirling whammy lick opening “Moonbelt Immolator” gracing the opening minute of “Cryogenically Frozen,” Cryptic Shift have returned. Visitations from Enceladus was a monolithic record that rocked my world in 2020, taking me to the most vile reaches of the universe in a technical death/thrash expedition of cosmic horror. Six years later, the group from Leeds, UK aim to expand on their already expansive debut regarding both their sci-fi theming and musicality with their sophomore. They didn’t skimp out on us either: Overspace & Supertime is one track greater than Visitations and nearly twice as long, boasting two twenty-plus-minute epics.1 A feature film’s runtime of borderline avant-garde extreme metal is no small feat, but if designed and shaped with singular vision, patience and skill, then anything can happen. And in the strange aeons Cryptic Shift occupy, anything happens all the time.

An undertaking like Overspace & Supertime demands top-notch performances to survive: Cryptic Shift couldn’t have done much better. Keeping true to the mix of Atheistic death, Vektorian thrash, and King Crimsonian progressive sensibilities that made the debut a knockout, Cryptic Shift have opened another wormhole of technical death/thrash immensity. But if you’re imagining Visitations II: Eldritch Boogaloo, stop. Overspace takes what made Visitations great and kicks it into warp speed. The guitar duo of Xander Bradley and Joss Farrington (Cryptworm)2 tear through an embarrassment of mind-bending, neck-breaking riffs across Overspace, bending across their whole fretboards, soloing on “Stratocumulus Evergaol” and putting their entire asses behind the chugged-up “Hyperspace Topography.” Drummer Ryan Sheperson pummels his kit in time I can only guess at on “Overspace & Supertime” while bassist John Riley fretlessly glides over “Cryogenically Frozen” into solos traded off between the guitars, amounting to a finessed, yet relentless attack. Topped off with Bradley’s cavernous bellows, Overspace & Supertime is a tour de force of musical expertise.

Overspace & Supertime by Cryptic Shift

What carries Cryptic Shift’s longform songwriting is that their music is always in flux. Whenever the band seems lost in their own prog-sauce—like in the effect-heavy openings of “Hexagonal Eyes (Diverity Trepaphymphasyzm)” and “Cryogenically Frozen”—they always swing back with a bruiser riff that helps keep Overspace more approachable than it ought to be. Like on Visitations, Cryptic Shift employ clean guitar passages and eerie atmospheres to outline the heavy bits. But on Overspace, they are woven smoothly into the distorted parts to create dynamic passages, like the shimmering clean strums between monstrous death hits on “Stratocumulus Evergaol” or the blackened surf-rock tremolos of “Hyperspace Topography.” But Cryptic Shift’s greatest dynamic on Overspace is that of light vs. dark. While their debut was a pitch-black exploration of space-born horrors, Overspace injects a healthy dosage of awe into their mix, including strangely bright conclusions to “Cryogenically Frozen” and “Overspace & Supertime” and a passage at ~16 minutes into “Stratocumulus Evergaol” that’s so boppy that it could pass for Rise Against. It’s in the name: Cryptic Shift change in some strange ways over the course of Overspace & Supertime, and I’m here for it.

And this leads me to the true wonder of Overspace & Supertime and where its immensity is most benefited: the beauty of the off-kilter. This is an album of purely aggressive, dissonant, esoteric, and oddly-timed stuff; Cryptic Shift made no obvious move, and they’re clearly not gunning for radio play. So why is it so beautiful? Solos that effortlessly slide from Slayer-like chromatic bullshittery into soaring melodicism. Patient ambiances both tranquil and unsettling, belligerent thrashing as exhilarating as it is hostile. The brilliant production best described by Dolphin Whisperer as “tone porn,” where all cleans are crystalline, and everything dirty is disgusting. How easy it is to fall under Cryptic Shift’s spell and let the freeform journey take you on its many twists and turns. The fact that Overspace & Supertime gets weird and takes its precious time doing so allows the listener to immerse themselves in Cryptic Shift’s world, making for a simply sublime experience.

In retrospect, Visitations from Enceladus feels like Cryptic Shift’s proof-of-concept for Overspace & Supertime. Yes, this is an exhausting record. Trying to catch everything on it during your first listen could make you go blind. Maybe 80 minutes is too damn long. But Overspace & Supertime is a better record than my wildest expectations, six years in the making, ever dreamed up. Like Frank Zappa at his best, Cryptic Shift on Overspace left me frequently confused, sometimes just plain tickled, but never unmoved before their showcase of the bizarre and the otherwordly. In the stranger aeons Cryptic Shift occupy, anything has happened.

Rating: Excellent
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps MP3
Label: Metal Blade Records
Websites: cryptic-shift.bandcamp | facebook.com/crypticshift
Releases Worldwide: February 27, 2026

https://www.europesays.com/uk/746492/ Tailgunner – Midnight Blitz Review #2026 #3.0 #Enforcer #EnglishMetal #Entertainment #Feb26 #GunsForHire #HeavyMetal #MidnightBlitz #music #NapalmRecords #PrimalFear #Review #Reviews #Tailgunner #UK #UnitedKingdom #wolf

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After staggering off four crazy days at sea for the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, my ears and brain are fried unto merciless death. Luckily, I anticipated this contingency and left myself a fairly easy bounce-back to reality with the sophomore album from England’s classic metal rockers, Tailgunner. I was a fan of their 2023 Guns for Hire debut and found their modernized take on NWoBHM antics to be an entertaining ride. They slot into the same category as acts like Enforcer, Wolf, and Skullfist, and they have enough talent to sell traditional metal thrills like they’re something new. On Midnight Blitz, they rock a slightly more polished variant of what we heard last time with less of an obvious NWoBHM core, but their basic attack plan is still there. It’s all high-flying dual-guitar assaults, soaring vocals, and thundering drums, forced through an anthemic stadium-metal filter to create catchy, crunchy little metal nuggets ready to dip in shitty beer. It’s as cutting-edge and innovative as a stick, but sometimes brainless is better anyway. Now shut up and get in the gun seat!

Things open up effectively with the exuberant title track, which delivers all the classic metal goods and recalls Iron Maiden’s “Aces High” in subtle and unsubtle ways, especially in the lusty guitar noodling. The chorus is immediate and hooky and works as intended, and you will suffer involuntary fist-banging disorder as you prepare to strike at something at midnight. They manage to keep things in this winning window for much of the runtime with catchy tidbits like “Tears in the Rain,” which pays homage to the coolest lines from Blade Runner in appropriately big ways with a huge chorus, and the stupidly infectious “Dead Until Dark,” which rocks hard and rides free with a big Euro-power chorus that sticks like peanut butter mixed with Gorilla Glue. Some of the tracks punch above their weight and really win you over, like “Barren Lands and Seas of Red” and “Blood Sacrifice,” which thread that tiny needle between 80s metal and Euro-power to deliver hot guitar work and larger-than-life choruses.

Elsewhere, “Night Raids” reminds me of something off Human Fortress’s immortal Defenders of the Crown album, so that’s a win. Even the big, overwrought power ballad “War in Heaven” hits harder than you’d expect, sounding a bit like Primal Fear, though it does blunt the album’s momentum somewhat. Not every song is as clutch as the top dogs, and there is a minor bloat factor on a few songs, but no track feels like filler or an afterthought, and at 44 minutes, Midnight Blitz flies by like a gloaming onslaught. The production is a bit too clean, and I’d prefer more bite on the guitars, but you can hear everything the band does clearly.

Craig Cairns leads the air attack for Tailgunner, and he sounds more polished and professional here than he did on Guns for Hire. He no longer reminds me of Blaze Baley or Brian Ross of Satan, and his clear, commanding vocals skew more to a Euro-power style now, but there’s still enough grit to get the job done well. Much of the impact comes from guitarists Zach Salvini and Rhea Thompson. They rob the vaults of 80s metal wantonly while dabbling in various levels of Euro-cheese making, but never go too far down that rabbit hole to find the pirate shirts. There are ripping riffs, melodic harmonies, and overblown solos aplenty, and they keep the energy levels sky high for much of the runtime.

Midnight Blitz is a successful evolution of the Tailgunner sound. I might prefer the slightly more raucous sound of their debut, but what these cats do is still in the wheelhouse of Steel, and I eat it up like fruit leather and old Twinkies. If you like high-energy 80s metal designed to get the head nodding, Tailgunner is the caliber of act you should load up and blast. Fun will be had, and planes will be felled. It’s it’s a Midnight Blitz!



Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Fucking Stream
Label: Napalm
Websites: tailgunner.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/tailgunnerhq | instagram.com/tailgunnerhq
Releases Worldwide: February 6th, 2026

Sneaking in at the end of a crowded 2025, Memories of Old released their sophomore record, Never Stop Believing, hoping to fill a Fellowship-sized hole in your heart. Last we saw them in 2020, Emya gave their debut a glowing review, praising vocalist Tommy Johansson and saying the band sounded as if they’d “been playing together for decades.” As you might say in the sports world, Emya may have jinxed them. Since releasing The Zeramin Game, three of the five band members have departed, including Johansson, and it’s taken five years to put together a follow-up. Such high turnover usually spells disaster, and it might also explain the quiet release and lack of a promo. However, both new and remaining members took Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” to heart and want to remind their fans to Never Stop Believing.

It’s clear this new iteration of Memories of Old takes their inspiration from the cheerful style of Fellowship. The record just oozes positivity, from the album title to the lyrical content to the uplifting guitars and synths. Further, new vocalist Noah Simmons sounds a lot like Matthew Corry, with a higher register than your typical power metal vocalist. He just sounds so cheerful every time he sings, and these good vibes are infectious. Songs thrum with energy thanks to the galloping blast beats and the frequent, and often dynamic, solos that invigorate each tune. It’s pure bliss from start to the final track, “Journey to the Stars,” where the band takes us to a place where “angels fly through the sky.” If you’re allergic to this level of optimism, steer clear of Never Stop Believing. For the rest of you, adventure on!

Never Stop Believing by Memories Of Old

Memories of Old excel at not just the good cheer, but also the songwriting and storytelling. Anchored by its catchy chorus “Guardians of the Kingdom” displays these strengths as it methodically builds up from a slower pace to something that has you primed and pumped for battle. There’s a variety on Never Stop Believing that keeps it fresh without sacrificing the character of the band. The muscular, heavy “Memories of Old” takes a page out of the Manowar playbook with an adrenaline-fueled bass drum beat and the second catchiest chorus on the record. Meanwhile, “After the Storm” has a synth that could fit right in with a Trans-Siberian Orchestra holiday hit, followed by a chorus that mixes disco with ABBA pop beats. “Life Begins Again,” the lone ballad, begins with an intro reminiscent of a Mötley Crüe ballad before diving into the tears-of-joy weepies. Memories of Old delivers 55 minutes of symphonic power metal that’s sure to bring out the innocent, joyful child in you.1

In a year that had mid to really good cheesy power metal, with few outstanding acts, Memories of Old stands apart. The vision of the remaining founding members, Billy Jeffs and Anthony Thompson, held together during a period of immense change for the band. I imagine that these guys can put out another set of bangers with some extra time together. Maybe next time they’ll send us the promo so I don’t have to wait to stumble upon this by mistake again.2

Tracks to Check Out: “Never Stop Believing,” “Guardians of the Kingdom,” “Fly Away Together,” “After the Storm”

This stunning debut comes to us via members from across the globe—from England to Spain to Czechia to Brazil. Despite somewhat limited experience between them, the sextet plays like they’ve been jamming together for decades. They bring an eclectic range of styles from their previous and current bands, from black metal to scatological heavy metal to melodic doom to gothic metal, in order to craft a gentle yet brutal piece of gothic doom metal. I would like to give a warm welcome to Opia and their powerful debut album, I Welcome Thee, Eternal Sleep.

Opia deftly balances the gentle with the crushingly heavy, resulting in a record of beautiful melancholy that would make My Dying Bride and Swallow the Sun proud. They achieve this with a dichotomy of soft arpeggios and heavy riffs, of tender cleans and harsh growls. This dichotomy amplifies the melancholic power of the music, and there’s an undeniable satisfaction when a song suddenly grows loud and brutal following a softer stretch. We hear this on tracks like “Days Gone By,” which opens with some nifty fretwork before exploding into heavier riffs. Opia flexes their true muscle on masterpieces like “Man Proposes, God Disposes” and “Silence,” where Tereza Rohelova’s cleans croon a melancholic melody before delving into such despairing heaviness that it’ll have you aching from the hurt. The similarly astonishing “The Eye” flips the melodic element on its head with a chorus where Rohelova’s growls deliver the beauty over top a soaring keyboard part.

I Welcome Thee, Eternal Sleep by Opia

As great as the compositions are, the heartfelt performances by all musicians elevate the material. As frontwoman, Rohelova sets the tone with an electrifying performance on the level of My Dying Bride’s Aaron Stainthorpe. Her cleans take on a haunting quality that adds a touch of the gothic, and while her growls don’t reach the muscular tone of Stainthorpe, they are nonetheless effective in setting a tone of brutality. The dual guitar work from Phoenix Griffiths and Dan Tregenna also dazzle. Their fretwork is so effective and creative, whether it’s the mellower arpeggios or crushing riffs, that there’s never a dull moment or a lull. Marcelo Teixeira, behind the kit, is also solid. He swaps between gentle drum and cymbal taps to pummeling blast beats on a dime. He really goes all out on a climatic moment on the finale, “On Death’s Door Part II,” that’ll leave you breathless. Important to setting up the gothic tone is keyboardist Jorge Afonso Rodriguez, who adds melodic depth as well as atmosphere. There’s a depth to the songwriting that opens up rewarding new avenues every time I give the record another spin.

Having been released in late April, I missed out on the opportunity to review I Welcome Thee, Eternal Sleep by just a few weeks. But when I first heard it, I knew it was special enough to save for a TYMHM. A debut this powerful should not be missed, and having spent this extra time with it late in the year, I believe I made a mistake by not including it in my end of year list. This is a promising start for a group who, I hope, continues to craft songs together for a long time to come.

Songs to Check Out: ”Man Proposes, God Disposes,” “The Fade,” “The Eye,” “Silence

Lychgate – Precipice Review

By Grin Reaper

Dense, dark, and demented, Lychgate’s Precipice breaks nearly six years of silence with music as unsettling as the concept it’s built upon. The album’s primary inspiration draws from E. M. Forster’s short story “The Machine Stops,” a dystopian tale first published in 1909 that cautions against over-reliance on technology.1 In it, The Machine enables people to govern their lives from isolated chambers, interacting virtually rather than in person after the Earth’s surface becomes uninhabitable. Integrating notions such as blind obedience to technology, instantaneous communication, and climate change furnishes a lavish backdrop for London’s Lychgate and their fourth LP.2 Given the promise of its premise, does Precipice step off the ledge and soar, or plummet to the depths of obscurity?

Brandishing a broad array of atmospheres and a flair for generating tension, Lychgate conjures oppressive auras that equally frighten and excite. To that end, Precipice’s aural footprint lands somewhere between Blut aus Nord’s dissonant grooves and a decelerated Imperial Triumphant at their most cinematic (think “Transmission to Mercury”), taking the avant-garde trappings of each and devising a mood and character all Lychgate’s own. Emboldened by jazzy flourishes à la Dødheimsgard, Scarcity’s cacophonous, freeform nonconformity, and Morast’s caustic claustrophobia, Lychgate forges an unforgiving yet layered experience that outstrips single reference points. Tensions runs roughshod throughout Precipice, knotting its nine tracks into gnarled enigmas that demand to be sussed out with care. Gone are the clean vocals from The Contagion in Nine Steps and An Antidote for the Glass Pill, and instead vocalist Greg Chandler focuses solely on barks and snarls that remind of Doug Moore’s urgent rasps. Atop it all, Lychgate further embeds the organ into the band’s core sound and discharges potent riffs at key climactic junctures, leaving Precipice crackling with vitality and unpredictability.

Precipice’s varied compositions and instrumentations coalesce to propel Lychgate to new heights. It’s a mature release that exemplifies the prevailing virtues of prior albums, unifying them into an impressively intricate forty-eight minutes. The organ, credited to permanent member J. C. Young and session musician F. A. Young, plays a central role, spanning the gamut from lunatic funhouse (“Anagnorisis”) to Phantom of the Opera gothic drama (“Mausoleum of Steel”). It keenly weaves a calculated stress, plying tension in ebbs and flows that cleverly and constantly push the album forward. Besides organ and piano, loose guitar structures regularly bleed into riffs plucked out of an eldritch ether, oscillating between Zappa’s Jazz from Hell and unearthly, pit-scorching acrobatics (“Renunciation”). A doleful, introspective melody in “The Meeting of Orion and Scorpio” diversifies the sound and pacing, followed by a hectic skittering in “Hive of Parasites” that gives way to a slow-burn passage heavily featuring jazz flute. Myriad components fuse into a whole that should not sound as cohesive as it does, but Lychgate takes their carnival of sounds and crafts a finely-honed album that deserves more attention than it will get with an end-of-year release.

Lychgate employs a satisfying and well-considered array of ideas in service of Precipice, though a few hiccups are present. Besides the musical diversity, Lychgate flaunts remarkable instincts when it comes to pacing. Having the longest track as the midpoint of the album works well and helps establish a clear listening milestone; I only wish the back end of “Hive of Parasites” had been trimmed a touch, as the last three minutes blur together. The mix is another boon, providing ample space for S. D. Lindsley’s guitar, Tom MacLean’s bass, and T. J. F. Vallely’s drums. The only quibble is Precipice’s density, which could put off those lacking the time to absorb its demure gifts. All told, though, Lychgate earns every bit of praise by merging this many ideas so cohesively.

Despite its late release and complex composition, Lychgate delivers a smash success that commands and indisputably warrants your attention. Precipice isn’t easy to understand, but it’s irresistibly easy to spin again and again. And you should, because it takes time to unravel.3 Precipice has been one of my most played albums of the year at a time when I’ve been busiest both personally and professionally, routinely ensnaring me with its enchanting hooks and wiles. For my money, Lychgate has released the best album of their career, and you owe it to yourself to step up to the Precipice and take a leap of faith.

Rating: Great
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Debemur Morti Productions
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: December 19th, 2025

#2025 #40 #AvantGardeBlackMetal #BlackMetal #BlutAusNord #DebemurMortiProductions #Dec25 #Dödheimsgard #EnglishMetal #FrankZappa #ImperialTriumphant #Lychgate #Morast #Precipice #Review #Reviews

Tzevaot – The Hermetic Way Review

Oh, to have half the confidence of the average solo artist dabbling in the esoteric. Their avant-garde opuses…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Music #1.5 #2025 #Avant-gardeMetal #BlackMetal #emperor #EnglishMetal #Entertainment #Esoctrilihum #EsotericBlackMetal #ExperimentalMetal #IVoidhangerRecords #Nov25 #review #reviews #TheHermeticWay #Tzevaot
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/301495/

Vandampire – Hope Scars Review

Post- historically implies an evolution of or successor to a previous idea (modernism, rock, structuralism, punk, hardcore, colonialism,…
#NewsBeep #News #Music #2.5 #2025 #DeadlyCarnage #EnglishMetal #Entertainment #ExplosionsintheSky #HopeScars #KowloonWalledCity #Mogwai #Oct25 #post-metal #review #Reviews #RipcordRecords #SludgeMetal #UK #UnitedKingdom #Vandampire
https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/264759/

Vandampire – Hope Scars Review

By Spicie Forrest

Post- historically implies an evolution of or successor to a previous idea (modernism, rock, structuralism, punk, hardcore, colonialism, etc.). While a little nebulous, post-metal more or less riffs on the post-rock blueprint. It utilizes metal’s intense, abrasive instrumentation to create an emotional vulnerability that even the best power ballads fail to capture. There is a tenderness in its crushing weight, a sense of freedom and catharsis in its restraint. It is this corner of the metalverse that South West England-based Vandampire inhabits. Founded in 2018 and with two EPs1 under their belt, Hope Scars not only marks Vandampire’s debut full-length, but the official debut of their second guitarist, as well. Post-metal is a saturated field, though, and it’ll take a lot for Hope Scars to stand out in the crowd.

One thing I can say for certain is that Hope Scars stands head and shoulders above Vandampire’s previous EPs. Past releases certainly contained all the elements on display here, but Hope Scars sees Vandampire mixing those sounds in elegant fashion. Where once sludge and post-metal stood apart or minimally integrated, here they are inseparable, a cohesive whole. Crushing, abrasive guitars (Joseph Siddons, Matthew Billingham) dance and thrash over basslines (Michael Edmonds) three c’s thiccc. Drummer Mark Litchfield, rather than simply keeping time, enunciates and elevates his bandmates’ performances. The result is tonally sludgy, like Kowloon Walled City, but softened by the patient, thorough sensibilities of post-metal songcraft. In keeping with this description, Billingham utilizes hardcore shouts and screams, but is smartly pushed back in the mix, so his vocals feel more like an instrument than a focal point. His delivery occasionally fails to capitalize on Hope Scars’ more emotive landscape, but it’s generally well-suited to the style. The Vandampire of Hope Scars is unmistakably the Vandampire of early EPs, but the maturity and nuance on display here is astonishing by comparison.

As noted in their promo material, Vandampire’s core weapon is The Riff™, and Siddons and Billingham wield it well. They oscillate between stone and sludge with surprising dexterity, riffs effortlessly flowing from one to the next (“Ultralow,” “A Promise”). Vaunted lead guitars soar over a dense rhythm section (“Hope Scars,” “Let Ruin End Here”), reminding me of Explosions in the Sky and the erhu played on Deadly Carnage’s Endless Blue. Those leads are my favorite thing on the album, searingly bright amidst the sludge. Siddons and Billingham, in concert with Edmonds’ teeth-rattling bass and Litchfield’s lively and energetic drums, weave a spell both heavy and heartfelt, hopeful and tragic. Like a metal Mogwai, Vandampire ties your feet to a sinking anchor but always makes sure you can see light on the surface.

Vandampire’s evolved style on Hope Scars fails to avoid the bloated and poorly paced pitfalls of the genre. Hope Scars’ two interludes break the album into three digestible parts, but ultimately prove frustrating. “In Ascension” builds beautifully in the back half, but fades out and misses the opportunity to lead into “Eaves.” I enjoyed the Americana tone of “I Will Miss Everything I Forget,” but this is also a standalone, and at three minutes each, these interludes linger entirely too long for what they are. The biggest bloatual offenders, however, are “Eaves” and “Let Ruin End Here.” The former fades out halfway through its five-minute runtime, leaving me with ambient noises and muffled conversation that suggest they just…forgot to turn off the mic. The latter begins to wind down a full three minutes before the end of its 12-minute runtime and concludes with 80 seconds of bird sounds. All told, Hope Scars could stand to lose at least ten minutes.

Vandampire’s vast improvement over previous efforts and an instrumental section that’s absolutely locked in make for good, engaging music. There’s a lot of great playlist fodder on here, but playlist fodder doesn’t make a great album. Roughly a quarter of Hope Scars is fluff, and while some of it—the interludes—could have been better utilized, at least half of it just wastes time. Vandampire has come a long way since they started in 2018, and if Hope Scars proves anything, it’s that they have the chops to go much further. I’ll just have to wait until next time to see if they get there.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Ripcord Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: October 31st, 2025

#25 #2025 #deadlyCarnage #englishMetal #explosionsInTheSky #hopeScars #kowloonWalledCity #mogwai #oct25 #postMetal #review #reviews #ripcordRecords #sludgeMetal #vandampire

Wode – Uncrossing the Keys Review

By ClarkKent

In neither of his two prior Wode reviews did El Cuervo pose the question, what is a wode, outside of being fodder for bad puns? A trip to Wiktionary tells me that it is a term related to rage, insanity, rabidness, and the like. Listening to Wode’s now four full-length albums, that definition feels right; their music does sometimes take on characteristics of frantic madness. Wode took the underground metal world by storm when they released their eponymous debut in 2016 and they have only grown their fan base since then. Though El Cuervo began to sour on them with Burn in Many Mirrors, it was a top seller for 20 Buck Spin in 2021. Four years later Wode now release the successor, Uncrossing the Keys, to anxiously excited fans. The question I pose is this: wode you like to find out if it was worth the wait?

The way it starts off, Uncrossing the Keys promises to be a rollicking good time. Following the sounds of keys unlocking an obnoxiously loud door, “Two Crossed Keys” gets things going with one hell of a catchy melodic lead. Coupled with up-tempo blast beats and great riffs, this opener is just plain fun. Follow-up “Under Lanternlight” continues the hot streak with a similarly catchy, but distinctive, melodic riff and tons of energy. This song shows off Wode’s dynamism with a more winding structure, but they make sure to return to their hooks before it’s over. One of El Cuervo’s main critiques of the preceding album was a lack of strong hooks, and right off the bat, Wode seek to remedy that. If only they had kept going this route, we’d be talking about a great album. As it stands, they move away from the melodic route and take off-ramps to many other styles. This other stuff isn’t bad, but it doesn’t reach the heights of the first two songs.

Wode sounds more complex than they seem on the surface. It’s not all aggressive black in the vein of Sarastus. They also play a fair amount of post-metal with dreamy passages, as well as some doom. The doom works pretty well, evoking Paradise Lost without reaching the quality of their most recent output (“Transmutation,” “Prisoner of the Moon”). These tracks convey a mournful melodicism but don’t stray far from Wode’s characteristic sound. On the less melodic side lies the more dynamic post-metal material. These tracks, which tend to be on the longer side, take twists and turns using tempo shifts and elaborate dual guitar riffs (“Saturn Shadow,” “Lash of the Tyrant”). Even though these songs lack the hooks of the early tracks, the reverb on the guitar and the singer’s unique vocal style provide ample atmosphere. Depending on what it is you like from your black metal, Uncrossing the Keys has a mix that’s sure to either delight or frustrate.

For my tastes, I found this a frustrating listen. Wode made a poor decision in following up their two catchiest tunes with perhaps the most meandering, least hook-y number, “Saturn Shadow,” killing the momentum. At 42 minutes, Uncrossing the Keys is not much longer than its predecessor, but it still feels too long. It doesn’t help that the longest tracks are also the least grounded, and their instrumental wandering makes it easy to feel lost. Add in some pointless musical passages, like the instrumental “Phantom,” and poorly done song intros that take too long to get to the goods (“Dashed on the Rocks”), and Uncrossing the Keys often feels like instrumentation in search of a song. Even when Wode does find killer hooks, they sometimes abandon them early on (“Dashed on the Rocks,” “Fiery End”). It’s as though this black/traditional band has an aversion towards traditional song structures.

I say all of this out of love because I really enjoy a lot of what Wode does here. “Two Crossed Keys” and “Under Lanternlight” are some of my favorite songs of the year. As a whole, Uncrossing the Keys fails to hold up on close listens, and even when listening to it in the background, you get the sense of a discernible drop in the second half. I suspect that if you admired Burn in Many Mirrors, you’ll also enjoy this. At its best, this one outshines its predecessor, but it also struggles with Wode’s inability to lock in their hooks. It’s a shame—these guys are great riffsmiths when they put their minds to it. More focused songwriting could push them to the next level.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: October 3rd, 2025

#25 #20BuckSpin #2025 #BlackMetal #DoomMetal #EnglishMetal #Oct25 #ParadiseLost #Review #Reviews #Sarastus #UncrossingTheKeys #Wode

Cradle of Filth – The Screaming of the Valkyries Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier

It’s funny that I’ve finally come around to reviewing a Cradle of Filth record, considering I’ve probably been listening to Dani Filth and company longer than anyone on staff. But that’s because I’m olde and have been spinning this shit since the days when the only two bands anyone seemed to talk about were Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir. Also, no one else would review them. So, there’s that. What’s interesting about the band, especially considering that so many people bash them, is that they aren’t bad. While most people reminisce about classics like Dusk and Her Embrace and Cruelty and the Beast, the latter half of the band’s career includes stellar albums like Godspeed on the Devil’s Thunder and Hammer of the Witches. So, for all the shit talking, CoF hasn’t slowed down since their naughty birth in 1991. With a new guitarist and female siren on the roster, The Screaming of the Valkyries is here to keep the sexy alive.

One of the reasons why I think CoF has continued to deliver solid records over the years is because of Dani’s gothic outlet, Devilment. There was a time in the early 2000s when CoF’s style started to get far too gothy for my taste (looking at you, Nymphetamine). However, since the inception of Devilment, CoF has refocused on the heavier aspects used for the last thirty years. Sure, the goth is still there (and always will be), but the heaviness of their output continues to surprise me. The Screaming of the Valkyries is no different as it combines chunky riffs with gorgeous leads, haunting orchestrations with punchy choruses, and Dani’s unmistakable shrieks. But, being their 14th full-length release, where does The Screaming of the Valkyries stand with the rest of their catalog?

The Screaming of the Valkyries kicks off nicely with the tasty opener, “To Live Deliciously.” After setting the scene with some orchestration and church chants, it explodes into a punishing riff and a catchy vocal arrangement. Mixing aggression with melody, this song is one of the album highlights, delivering gothy hooks and headbangable action from beginning to end. The other album’s bookend is also intriguing but in a different way. While the opener sports CoF’s classic, mid-career, sing-along songwriting style, “When Misery Was a Stranger” is a blast-in-the-past piece that conjures up memories of Dusk and Her Embrace. It’s got that symphonic sound when the genre was in its prime while incorporating their newer, thrashier side. It also includes gorgeous female vocals that add incredible depth to the melodic chorus and drum work that rattles its foundation.

Other tracks of interest include “White Hellebore” and “Malignant Perfection.” The first acts as the album’s beauty-and-the-beast number, while “Malignant Perfection” incorporates everything CoF stands for, including being home to one of the best choruses on the album. For how much beauty there is in “White Hellebore,” it can still get the ole noggin’ moving with its classic, heavy metal gallop and ever-shifting riff changes. As with most CoF albums, this track exposes ballady vibes as the male and female vox take turns contributing to the melodic chorus. “Malignant Perfection” is a creeping, haunting piece that uses heavy doses of keys, bass, and drums to set the mood. It’s a building piece whose sole purpose is making its way to the massive chorus and its powerful female support. It also provides the lyrical line “mass erection,” which I strongly support.

Some issues surrounding this new release are the lengthy “You Are My Nautilus” and “Ex Sanguine Draculae.” This is odd because CoF are not novices to long songs that fall and rise like the Carpathian mountains. Hell, Cryptoriana (The Seductiveness of Decay) is nothing but lengthy, winding tracks. But, “You Are My Nautilus,” in particular, shapeshifts so much that I’m lost halfway through it. It’s a meandering number with no real direction that is easily dismissed in favor of “Malignant Perfection.” Minus these songs, the production is clean and clear, letting the typically forgotten bass guitar shine at times. The drums kick some major ass and the dueling guitar work brings some old-school character to the record. Zoe Marie Federoff is also a great addition to the band, balancing nicely with Dani without being awkwardly operatic. I can’t put The Screaming of the Valkyries on top of any of the albums mentioned earlier, but it’s a solid outing that fans will enjoy.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: Stream | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: cradleoffilth.bandcamp.com | cradleoffilth.com | facebook.com/cradleoffillth
Releases Worldwide: March 21st, 2025

#2025 #30 #BlackMetal #CradleOfFilth #DimmuBorgir #EnglishMetal #GothicMetal #Mar25 #NapalmRecords #Review #Reviews #SymphonicMetal #TheScreamingOfTheValkyries

NECROMANIAC – Sciomancy, Malediction & Rites Abominable Review

By Tyme

Having toiled and troubled over a bubbling cauldron for the past thirteen years, London, England’s Necromaniac, is finally prepared to cast the spell of its debut album Sciomancy, Malediction & Rites Abominable.1 A multi-national coven consisting of musicians from Sweden, Spain, Greece, and Poland, Necromaniac are self-described practitioners of “morbid metal.” After 2015’s promising and well-received demo Morbid Metal dropped, in addition to 2018’s mini-EP Subterranean Death Rising, Invictus Productions signed on in 2024 to release Sciomancy, Malediction & Rites Abominable, promising listeners “A truly sinister musical journey containing nine forbidden rites steeped in witchcraft, necromancy and an overall occult and utterly macabre atmosphere.” So I wondered, is this pricking in my thumbs a sign that something wicked this way comes, or is Necromaniac‘s witchery nothing more than parlor tricks?

An elixir of blackened death and thrash, with synth-sprigs of thyme and dashes of doomsbane thrown in for atmospheric effect, the morbidity of Necromaniac‘s metal is steeped mainly in the olde ways. Conjuring strong Hellhammer and Morbid2 vibes, there’s a rawness to the sound of the organic mix that belies the DR score you see below. Ensorcelling ‘guitarmageddon’ is Sadistik Fornicator, who laces the swirling potions of Sciomancy, Malediction & Rites Abominable with Toxic Holocaustian riffage (“Daemonomantia”) and guitar passages that sound as if they could have come straight from the cutting room floor of Slayer‘s Show No Mercy sessions (“Teraphim (Skull Sorcery)”). Combine those riffs with the potency of The One’s ‘Basstard Tremblings’ and V. Pestilencia’s ‘Apocalyptic Drumonitions,’ and the thrashily blackened death metal Necromaniac offers up is ruthlessly effective. When things shift toward the more atmospheric, however, cracks start to show and highlight the most significant battle fought within the album’s walls, which pits the strength of its metal against its more melodramatic tendencies.

With nothing to dilute its potency, the metal of Sciomancy, Malediction, & Rites Abominable is razor-sharp and capable of carrying the weight of the entire album. One quaff of the black-‘n-roll draught of riffs from “Grave Mound Oath” will have you bobbing your head and wondering what the hell ever happened to Carpathian Forest. At the same time, the swirling speeds of “Great is the Thirst of the Restless Dead” and the remorseless “Swedenborg’s Skull,” with its ebb and flow of pummeling riff work and atmospherically doomy passages, are a satisfying earworm of harrowing hocus-pocus. Atop all these infernal conflagrations float the vociferous vocalizations of C. Howler, whose grunts, growls, and menacing howls perfectly complement Necromaniac‘s morbidly sharp metal blade. If this were all we had to speak of regarding Sciomancy, Malediction & Rites Abominable, the overall perception would have been mostly positive, but there are elements left to address.

Necromaniac‘s firm forays into the strictly atmospheric fall short, cloaking those elements meant to invoke spine-chilling shivers in shrouds of theatrically overwrought melodrama instead. Other than “Caput Draconis,” with its effectively doomy guitar work and King Diamond-esque warbling3 providing an atmospherically eerie opening to the record, other attempts to tap the same vein miss the mark. Supplied by and known here only as A Corpse Without Soul, the guest vocals on “Bring Forth the Shade” and “Conjuration of St. Cyprian” are a mixture of cantankerous chuckles and over-embellished groans, whispers, and wails, combined then with the half-baked doom instrumentation and synths, create an overall effect more cringe than creepy. These tracks, in tandem with the ten-plus minutes of overly-long closer “Necromancess / Cauda Draconis,” full of meandering drawn-out doom work, make Sciomancy, Malediction & Rites Abominable feel longer than its near forty-nine-minute runtime should, negatively impacting the flow and momentum this witchy metal seance might otherwise have had.

Necromaniac‘s strength lies in the metal of its sciomantic maledictions and less in the melodrama of its abominable rites. Songs like “Grave Mound Oath,” “Teraphim (Skull Sorcery)” and “Swedenborg’s Skull” prove Necromaniac has the chops to stand tall next to other bands successfully peddling this same form of blackened death metal, but using vehicles that end up conjuring an atmosphere more mawkish than macabre costs Necromaniac most here. And while I can’t fully endorse Sciomancy, Maledictions and Rites Abominable, there’s enough meat on this bone to have me scoping Necromaniac‘s next incantation.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Invictus Productions | The Anja Offensive
Websites: necromaniac.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/necromaniacUK
Releases Worldwide: January 13, 2025

#25 #2025 #BlackMetal #DeathMetal #DoomMetal #EnglishMetal #Hellhammer #InvictusProductions #Jan25 #Morbid #Necromaniac #Review #Reviews #SciomancyMaledictionsRitesAbominable #Slayer #TheANJAOffensive #ThrashMetal

Mutagenic Host – The Diseased Machine Review

By Tyme

Cooked up like the T-Virus in some underground UK lab and now stalking the streets of London, is Mutagenic Host, a newcomer to the British death metal scene. After the release of The Genotoxic Demo in 2023, Mutagenic Host signed on with Dry Cough Records, as well as Gurgling Gore and Memento Mori, to release their debut album, The Diseased Machine. Primarily concerned with the world’s increasing levels of apathetic complacency and the rampant proliferation of AI, “their work is an allegory for the systematic industrialization of humanity’s eradication—whether by human hands or by the machines we create to snuff out life.” In a genre packed with competition, Mutagenic Host steps up to the line, prepared to toss their fedoras into the ring alongside fellow new British heavies like Coffin Mulch, Slimelord, and Mortuary Spawn. I wondered if they’d have the DNA necessary to stand out in the crowd or if they should keep percolating in the petri dish.

Mutagenic Host‘s primary organism is a mass of old-school death metal, with hardcore elements pustulating its writhing appendages. More Obituary than Monstrosity, the death of The Diseased Machine‘s metal harkens back to the halcyon days of Florida’s nineties scene. Rife with tight, precise riffs but trading in the thrashier influences for sprinkles of hardcore, Mutagenic Host manages to set themselves apart from their British brethren. Whether they’re crushing skulls with Unleashed abandon (“Genestealer,” “Promethean Dusk”) or dragging their knuckles through chug-a-sludge swamps of Wharflurchian slime (“Organometallic Assimilation,” “The Twisted Helix”), the unrelenting riff-slaught of Jack Thompson and Sami Tuohino1 packs The Diseased Machine with enough globby chugs, oozy leads, and twisty solos to reduce even the meanest Resident Evil end boss to a purulent puddle. Combine that with Dan Bulford’s bulbously punchy bass work and George Kinsella-Pearn’s world-beating drumstrosities, and you have one devastatingly lethal mutant on your hands.

Completing the vehicle through which Mutagenic Host brings you their post-apocalyptic vision are the vocals of Ash Moore. His Maulti-pronged attack comes with the standard weaponry of guttural grunts, throat-ripping roars and raspy shrieks, but floats in a reagent of hardcore-tinged shouts. Moore’s performance, recorded with cavernous echo, sits siloed in Ben Jones’ beefily brutal mix. This bifurcation enhances rather than detracts from The Diseased Machine‘s gene-splicing approach, which opener “Neurological Necrosis” fully encapsulates. After a brief eighties-style science fiction intro, the track builds with slimy guitar licks and bubbling bass lines before spewing forth with Moore’s mighty roar over a brain-bashing brutal riff. The song weaves through hardcore laden d-beats, and gang shouts before lumbering to its conclusion under massively thick riffs that stick like slow-churned pus-butter. And despite its state of youthful embryogenesis, Mutagenic Host presents as a band much more mature, The Diseased Machine sounding like a product from well-established scene veterans.

Weighted neither to its front nor back half, The Diseased Machine is a balanced platter of gurgling goodness, nearly void of anomalous flaws. Deft injections of groove and melody give the tornadic guitar swirls of “Artificial Harvest of the Obscene” and the bludgeoning bass of “Incomprehensible Methods of Slaughter” extra depth, ensuring not a second of The Diseased Machine‘s ideal forty-one-minute run time is wasted. Even the mid-album interlude “DIRECTIVE:: [kill_on_sight]” furthers the narrative effectively and offers a point of poignant respite. This break is needed to make it to the instrumental closer “Rivers of Grief,” with its Holst-inspired riff on the “Mars” theme to start; it gives way to a river of brutal chugs on which listeners float to the album’s conclusion.

Even before my most recent demotion to staff, I had been eyeing The Diseased Machine, so I was exuberant when I saw it glimmering in the sump pit, unclaimed by senior staff. I could only hope the album lived up to my enthusiastic expectations, which it does. Mutagenic Host has released a death metal album that checks all the boxes, a rifferously frenzied affair of epic proportions. It will not be the only thing I recommend in 2025, but it’s undoubtedly the first. I will be intently eyeing Mutagenic Host, anticipating their next evolution, and fans of this style should, too.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Labels: Gurgling Gore | Dry Cough | Memento Mori
Website: mutagenichost.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: January 3rd, 2025

#2025 #40 #CoffinMulch #DeathMetal #DryCoughRecords #EnglishMetal #GurglingGoreRecords #Jan3 #MementoMoriRecords #MutagenicHost #Obituary #Review #Reviews #TheDiseasedMachine #Wharflurch

Spider God – Possess the Devil Review

By Doom_et_Al

Black metal goes with just about anything, so they say. Shoegaze? Check (Deafheaven). Rock ‘n’ roll? Check (Kvelertak). Hell, even dream-pop has been incorporated (An Autumn for Crippled Children). Black metal covers of famous songs are now fairly standard (Fleshgod Apocalypse’s cover of Eiffel 65’s “Blue” and Children of Bodom’s cover of “Oops!… I Did it Again” stand as fairly notorious examples). But when Spider God released their infamous set of covers, Black Renditions, in 2022, the combination of overt pop sensibilities with legit black metal bona fides made metalheads take notice, if only for some to turn their noses up. Two full-lengths of varying quality followed (2022’s Fly in the Trap was a tonal misstep, corrected by 2024’s more energetic and fun The Killing Room). Now, the final part of the trilogy, Possess the Devil is here. Trilogies are notoriously hard to conclude well. Is this The Return of the King? Or The Godfather Part III?

For those who haven’t been keeping up, Possess the Devil follows the mysterious disappearance of ex-band member, Faustus, who got caught up in a deadly online game called—you guessed it!—”Possess the Devil.” This album promises to bring the mystery to an epic conclusion. Or something. I’m not sure that many people care when the vocals are indecipherable. What they might care about, however, is the sound. Spider God promise to not only continue the pop sensibilities noted on previous albums but to incorporate metalcore as well. Now… we have an awful lot of genre cooks in this particular kitchen. And they’re starting to throw things at each other…

The major issue with Possess the Devil is that, to my ears, the addition of new elements has unbalanced a sound that was perched precariously to begin with. The wonderful sense of melodicism remains, but the black metal has been almost entirely discarded, and what’s left is melodeath/metalcore with screeched black metal rasps. But there’s a reason the best melodeath bands have versatile vocalists: the songs rely on melody, and require vocal support to highlight the material. Spider God’s monochromatic growls jar instead with the music. In addition, the aural assault is so all-consuming, so front-and-center in the mix, that the album becomes wearying by the halfway point. This is a real pity because when you give it the time it deserves (and allow your ears a break), the material is some of the best Spider God have put out in their career. The pop has given way to a more Gothenburg-esque sound (think early Tribulation) which feels more natural than the pop/black metal of earlier stuff. Ironically, the best tracks are the ones that abandon the black metal aesthetic altogether. Musically, this is the best musical material of Spider God’s career. I just wish it were better integrated.

I’m also not entirely convinced the ‘mystery’ schtick works at this point. The band clearly loves True Crime and unsolved mysteries, and there’s nothing wrong with incorporating what you love into your work. But the pop and melodicism just don’t gel in my ears with the subject matter. Imagine Britney had sung, “Oops!… I slit her throat again!” Metal fans would rejoice, but it would be kinda weird for everyone else. Possess the Devil is kinda weird, not helped by the fact that the mystery element is totally pointless without a lyric sheet and, frankly, not all that interesting.

Possess the Devil is an odd duck. As the band moves ever away from black metal, the quality of their sound is refined and improved. Yet the reliance on black metal tropes (including the vocals) unbalances the sound. The “true mystery” vibe is also running dangerously thin. While fans of their material will undoubtedly enjoy this, I don’t think it’s persuading the doubters. I am glad this trilogy is over because I think it represents an opportunity for a talented band to think about where to next. Spider God feel like they’re caught (like a Fly in a Trap?) between their past and their future. This transition album is a flawed testament to that. It will be fascinating whether they march forward to melodeath/metalcore, or head back to their roots of underground black metal. Either way, I will be listening.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Repose Records
Websites: spider-god.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/spidergodband
Releases Worldwide: November 14th, 2024

#2024 #30 #BlackMetal #Deafheaven #EnglishMetal #Kvelertak #Metalcore #Nov24 #ReposeRecords #Review #Reviews #SpiderGod

Fellowship – The Skies Above Eternity Review

By Eldritch Elitist

If there had never been a second Fellowship record, I would have been okay. Obviously, I wanted another Fellowship record—and, ideally, biennial releases from England’s premiere life-affirming, self-worth-preserving power metal outfit—but I’ve known since the first time I heard The Saberlight Chronicles that there would never be another Fellowship record like it. Not only would their sophomore album be unable to re-invoke the wonder I felt upon hearing a full-length Fellowship release for the first time, but it would also be nigh impossible for them to recapture the exact vibe of that record after two years of added experience.1 Not that I would want them to. Ideally, subsequent Fellowship records will evolve in a variety of directions, all while still channeling their unmistakable and unbreakable sense of joy. Enter The Skies above Eternity, where—as prophesied—the Fellowship has grown.

As it turns out, the most efficient way for Fellowship to absolve any fears that their sophomore record might fail to capitalize on the strengths of its predecessor is to open with the best power metal song of the year. The winkingly titled “Hold up Your Hearts (Again)” is the ideal power metal opener, excising all chaff and cutting straight to the most giddily melodic lead guitar riff imaginable. The flow and feel of this track are replicated in many of The Skies above Eternity’s best cuts (namely “Dawnbreaker,” “Eternity,” and “World End Slowly”). It took me a while to pinpoint where exactly I’d heard this vibe, but once I realized, it could not be denied: these tracks all invoke the hype-building structure of an excellent anime opening. It may sound silly, and perhaps even cringe if you are a joyless husk given human form. However, if you’re familiar with anime tropes, and you close your eyes during the opening of these songs, you can practically see the logo drop. This feels like a conscious choice to differentiate the feel of a Fellowship song from their contemporaries. Thanks to the band’s ever-boundless optimism, they pull it off without losing so much of a hint of their established charm.

Efficiency is the operative word when it comes to The Skies above Eternity’s pop-oriented structure; excluding the instrumental outro “Memories on the Wind,” the album barely breaches forty minutes. While I don’t think this is a better record than The Saberlight Chronicles, it is nearly as good, with The Skies Above Eternity’s main strength over its predecessor being its digestibility and replayability. Where Saberlight was something of a marathon at sixty-two minutes, Skies is compulsively replayable, and its songs are every bit as excellent (though it did take some time for the training montage-worthy “King of Nothing” to fully grow on me). My only criticism, then, is an unconventional but glaring one: it feels like it’s missing a track. The infectiously bouncy “A New Hope” is a bit of an odd closer, but one that would make much more sense if it were preceded by a darker, more bombastic track in the vein of “Avalon.” As it stands, The Skies above Eternity feels somewhat anticlimactic.

Speaking of “darker,” the announcement for The Skies above Eternity advertised a darker direction for Fellowship. This darkness manifests in a purely lyrical fashion; these songs cover notably more difficult subject matter, with “World End Slowly” in particular addressing the search for solace in the face of an imminent and untimely death. Yet Matthew Corry’s lyrics still manage to kindle hope in a wonderfully poetic fashion, preserving Fellowship’s essential, unshakeable optimism. Corry’s literal voice has evolved as well, with his intense delivery in “Eternity” being my favorite performance from him to date. The band flexes more technical muscle than ever despite multiple lineup alterations; The Skies above Eternity is a riffier experience, with more colorful texturing in both its composition and drummer Callum Tuffen’s kitwork. While former lead guitarist Sam Browne retains a studio presence, Brad Wosko has taken up the bulk of the lead work and proves himself to be every bit as proficient. It should be said as well that incoming bassist Ed Munson delivers one of my favorite bass performances of the year in the verse of “Victim.”

The Skies above Eternity is not an experience on the same level as The Saberlight Chronicles, and—at least from my perspective—it was never going to be. That being said, thanks to its condensed runtime and a stronger sense of instrumental muscle, I find it likely that a sizable chunk of Fellowship’s audience will see it as the superior album. Regardless of where one stands with their abbreviated ranking of Fellowship records, I cannot imagine any previously established fan of Fellowship being disappointed with The Skies Above Eternity. It may not have the same impact on the scene as Fellowship’s debut, but it is vital to their discography. This record doesn’t just confirm that Fellowship’s initial success was anything but a fluke; it assures me that they both understand and have preserved what made them so special in the first place.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 256 kb/s CBR MP3
Label: Scarlet Records
Websites: fellowshipmetal.bandcamp.com | fellowshipmetal.com | facebook.com/fellowshipUK
Releases Worldwide: November 22nd, 2024

#2024 #40 #EnglishMetal #Fellowship #Nov24 #PowerMetal #Review #Reviews #ScarletRecords #TheSkiesAboveEternity

Opeth – The Last Will and Testament Review

By El Cuervo

Little introduction is required for the progressive metal institution that is Sweden’s Opeth. In a career running over 30 years in length and spanning 13 previous studio albums, they have demonstrated an unending pursuit of progression by drawing in more influences as they’ve changed. From death metal to progressive rock to European folk to whimsical jazz, they have tracked a course that has always been fascinating, even if the quality has varied a little more than that. Reaching 2024, The Last Will and Testament is a remarkable record in a career full of remarkable records. It represents all of the following: the most overdue studio album, being released five years after its predecessor; the first release with the young but experienced Waltteri Väyrynen on drums; the return of harsh vocals for the first time in 16 years; and the first concept record since 1999’s Still Life.

Despite these remarkable qualities, The Last Will and Testament offers a smooth and natural progression from 2019’s In Cauda Venenum, but with discernible nods to other records in the Opeth discography. The first and most obvious reference is the progressive melodrama levered on Ghost Reveries and Watershed. The swinging passage from 1:30 on “§2”1 is effortlessly cool, layering groovy guitars and dramatic keyboards with spoken-word narration and a wild vibrato buried in the background. It recalls that specific era of death-influenced progressive metal, dripping with keyboard-generated atmosphere. The second core component of The Last Will and Testament’s sound is the heady compositions favored on In Cauda Venenum. That record featured varied, complex compositions but they’re too disparate. Those here are simultaneously sharper but also freer. “§4” bridges a soft flute interlude with a heavy guitar passage via a subtle drum crescendo, and despite the contrasting instrumentation, it’s smooth and cohesive in a way that few other bands can match. The musical continuity builds a sense of completeness, which is no doubt aided by the final influence in The Last Will and Testament’s sound: Still Life’s rich storytelling.

The album’s concept drives both the music and structure. The Last Will and Testament spins a yarn based around the administration of the estate of a wealthy man, replete with a seedy lawyer (entertainingly performed by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull) and an imposing patriarch (given a voice through Mikael Åkerfeldt’s wrathful roar). The twisting tale of family intrigue and deception—including soap opera grudges and illicit children—is narrated across the first six tracks, before culminating in “§7” where Anderson delivers a deliciously-evil reading of the will to the unsuspecting beneficiaries. While this feels appropriately climactic, the final track “A Story Never Told” succeeds this chicanery with jarring clarity. It’s an excellent tonal shift, with Åkerfeldt’s clean singing layered over a simple piano melody that’s as simple as it is beautiful. While The Last Will and Testament twists and turns throughout, the opening to this track lifts the listener out of the mire of family drama2 and closes affairs with peacefulness.

But The Last Will and Testament’s most important quality is its sheer mastery. There’s no one else that writes music like this, and rarely so successfully. Every element of its core fusion of death metal and progressive rock is highly accomplished, from the knotty compositions to the polished performances to the immaculate production. As referenced earlier, In Cauda Venenum has a similar scope of instrumentation and intricate compositions. But they’re elevated here; more harmonious, more sophisticated, more artful. “§5” is a prime example. There’s a high degree of intricacy as it folds crisp drums, dancing bass lines, beautiful strings, darting vocals, and bluesy guitars into something that oscillates between subtle jazz and crunchy death metal. I love the natural lilt and the unexpected transitions.3 It’s busy and dense with textures, but the bold melodies and crystalline production prevent the material from sinking into murkiness. I’ll also commend “A Story Never Told” as one of the best songs of the year. Its organic swell from delicate piano melodies to the grand guitar solo concludes the album on an endlessly moreish note.

The Last Will and Testament doesn’t yield any weaknesses. On their fourteenth go-round, Opeth has once more delivered something exemplary in conception, performance, and production. The songs are varied but focused, feeling shorter and tighter than prior work. And while its story may not be as tragic as prior Opeth concepts, I admire the willingness to have some fun with it.4 Existing fans will no doubt gain much from this experience, and anyone with their interest limited to O(ld)peth may just find something here too. 2024 sees these Swedes finding a new harmony in their sound, and connoisseurs of progressive music mustn’t miss this.

Rating: 4.5/5.0
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Reigning Phoenix Music
Websites: opeth.com | facebook.com/opeth
Releases Worldwide: November 22nd, 2024

Show 4 footnotes

1. All tracks except the finale are titled as paragraphs within a will, hence the “§”. ↩
2. Above the mire, if you will. ↩
3. But while unexpected, the transitions are not jarring as was the case on Watershed or Heritage, where there was a sense that they were just linking things together at random in the studio and telling Per to play one note on the keyboard as an ‘excuse’ to justify a key change. Instead, The Last Will and Testament is crafted with the deliberate, artisanal expertise that Åkerfeldt demonstrated in his composition and arrangements for his entire career before 2008. – AMG ↩
4. And the growth that Åkerfeldt exemplified by accepting the lessons of In Cada Venenum; lyrics matter and they take real time and effort. The Last Will and Testament plays in genuine Concept Record territory in a way that makes it genuinely fun to listen to. It’s melodramatic and it’s sharp. – AMG ↩

#2024 #45 #DeathMetal #EnglishMetal #JethroTull #Nov24 #Opeth #ProgressiveDeathMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #TheLastWillAndTestament

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Wist – Strange Balance

By Dolphin Whisperer

“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.”

Remember way back in the days of radio? You might have been on a road trip before with your family, and, freshly tasked with trying to find a station that works as you stray away from familiar territory, you turn the knob and land right in between two stations playing a song. It doesn’t sync up, but there’s a mystery to whether that noise worked. Try as you remember, though, you can’t find this balance between two stations again. Wist, I believe, feels this struggle, and with their sophomore outing Strange Balance, they explore the duality of their progressive and atmospheric black metal selves to see where it leads. Would you follow three black metal fans into the Epping Forest? What if they said their album only cost four pounds? Our brave riders thought it wise to say yes, and the results may surprise you. – Dolphin Whisperer

Wist // Strange Balance [June 24th, 2024]

Dr. A.N. Grier: London’s Wist is one hell of a weird atmoblack band. This three-piece outfit goes beyond the traditional Alcestian ways of working, introducing some rather interesting synth atmospheres that lend well to their weird progressive attitude. With their 2022 debut, Stone Still Settling, they only scratched the surface of their sound. With this year’s Strange Balance, they go for broke, shoving everything they can into this tiny album. The title track begins the album with a soothing, ethereal introduction that gets obliterated by a traditional frenzied atmoblack attack. Around the midpoint, it sidetracks to a bass and drum-heavy transition that feels overblown by the lofi production but stomps along all the same. After building for the next few minutes, the chaos fades and is replaced by gorgeous, reverberating acoustic guitars. For all of the opener’s diversity and interesting twists, “Betrayal” is the more divisive of the bunch. Opening with silly cackling the song erupts into gnarly guitars, gigantic, popping bass, and drum work that runs faster than a roadrunner. Using this simple riff structure, the band peppers it with reverberating guitars that feel like they are almost dancing over the surface. When the intensity peaks, the track fades away like its predecessor. In its wake doesn’t come acoustic guitars but Tangerine Dream-styled synth work. Unlike other bands of its caliber, this outro doesn’t have me gazing at my fat gut but instead has me looking to the dark sky to see if the stars are moving. And as if to signify that Strange Balance has always been here and we just walked into it, the instrumental closer, “The River Returning,” fades in with melodic, soothing guitars, adds multiple layers to the mix, and fades away as if driving down an abandoned dirt road. I wouldn’t say Strange Balance is balanced but it’s an interesting record with some unique twists I can get behind. Having never heard of Wist before, they are definitely on my radar and I’ll be looking to see what they do next. 3.0/5.0

Dear Hollow: There’s a lot going on with Wist. It’s black metal, sure, layered with a thick smog of modular synths and overlaying psychedelia à la Tangerine Dream. It’s like Pink Floyd decided to make a black metal album, but really liked Opeth’s acoustic breaks. What makes Wist stand out is that they firmly follow the ambient stylings of black metal or blackgaze but do their damnedest to stay trve to the kvlt in debut Strange Balance—the blackened cackles at the beginning of “Betrayal” would make Immortal blush. “Betrayal” is the wildest and best collision of its ’70s synth and ’90s second-wave black metal palettes, with bouncy 6/8 pagan rhythms and a chill noodling guitar line, only to collapse into a full-on blackened attack. While closer “The River Returning” also features a tasteful repetition and fades that together feels like a modernized rendition of the depressive “My Dying Bride” by ColdWorld. However, the opening title track is nearly impenetrable and painful in its densest synths overlaying high energy blastbeats and shrieks, even if its concluding acoustic passage is decent, and “Grendel” feels incredibly directionless in its fusion of slower DSBM and spacy synths, with a wonky off-key synth conclusion being its only redemption. Ultimately, Wist has some cool ideas that periodically work, but Strange Balance lives true to its name in disproportionately dense and threateningly boring sounds, violently yoinking black metal’s cranky history for an album that feels imbalanced but promising. 2.0/5.0

Dolphin Whisperer: The experience that conjures from the mystical and dated synth layers that Wist pushes against the hazy and shrill is one of an otherwordly atmosphere. In this metal world which we so valiantly occupy, it’s rare to find an album that skews both so alien and terrestrial in scope—a way in which Strange Balance breathes its name. Akin to the new age swells of Tangerine Dream, or similar punctuated by textural guitar works with Fripp & Eno, Wist finds an electronic, oscillating moan to accompany it’s cutting black metal works (“Strange Balance,” “Grendel”). Similar to modern explorations in this world by recent Krallice albums, Wist often finds a forward movement through tightly wound, treble-loads fretwork—a fuzz-loaded squeal, a bend that’s ever so slightly off, a percussive palm-mute more reminiscent of a Cynic slide than any trv kvlt act would hammer—and warbling, nasally fretless bass whines. On heavier sections, and particularly on the horror-tinged mania of “Betrayal,” Wist’s progressive black metal attack feels chanting and bouncy against the lush synth layers in the same way you might, while star-gazing, hear Enslaved if Isa were playing on AM radio at the end of the tower’s nighttime reach. Strange Balance brings fog. Strange Balance brings intrigue. And, most importantly, Strange Balance brings an atmosphere to black metal that doesn’t rely on trem-loaded, trope-chomping sounds of the recent past. There’s a world where the first track is actually the last track, giving just that more weight to its lengthy endeavor. But I’m happy to be in a world, at least, where Wist exists to steal my attention again as they continue to grow. 3.0/5.0.

Iceberg: If I’m going to reach for lo-fi black metal, it sure as hell better have some small-batch, artisanal hot sauce drizzled all over it. Dolph knows this about me, so when he hawked Wist’s latest black-metal-but-with-other-stuff record for a Rodeö, I trusted his cetacean judgement. Strange Balance—you’d be hard-pressed to find a better name for this album—does a mostly brilliant job of oscillating between cavernous second-wave wailing and psychedelic sojourns with droning synths and ren-faire-ready acoustic guitars. The synth work reminiscent of Tangerine Dream (“Strange Balance”) and old-school NES soundtracks (“Betrayal”) makes for an odd bedfellow with the black metal it envelops; but it works! The band stays in a boisterous 6/8 meter for most of the record (“Grendel” especially), giving the music a swaying quality that reinforces the air of blackened whimsy. Listening on good headphones or a quality speaker set-up is a must here; the layering of the clean and harsh vox in “Strange Balance” and the discordant outro of “The River Returning” hold many treasures for the tuned ear. The only thing keeping Strange Balance from greatness is a tendency to harp a bit too long in transitional sections (“Strange Balance,” “Betrayal”), and a bizarre closer that—while well-performed—never seems to justify its existence. But don’t let these quibbles get in the way of a refreshing, unique take on ambient black metal. For those of you who like your shrieking weird and experimental, I have to recommend you check this out. 3.5/5.0

#2024 #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo2024 #AtmosphericBlackMetal #BlackMetal #EnglishMetal #Enslaved #FrippEno #Krallice #Opeth #PinkFloyd #ProgressiveBlackMetal #ProgressiveMetal #StrangeBalance #TangerineDream #Wist

Adorior – Bleed on My Teeth Review

By Mark Z.

Somewhere along the way, Adorior got angry. When this English group released their 1998 debut Like Cutting the Sleeping, they sounded like a pretty traditional black metal band, albeit with occasional experimental touches in the form of cleanly sung segments and moody atmospheric passages. I don’t know what happened after that record was released, but when the band returned with 2005’s Author of Incest, they sounded ready to take up arms against the entire human race. Author of Incest is, simply put, one of the most incendiary albums ever recorded. With its scalding guitars, pummeling drums, and enraged vocals, the record showed Adorior infusing a hefty amount of death metal into the proceedings, ultimately resulting in a napalm bombing in musical form. The album’s opening track, “Hater of Fucking Humans,” is easily one of the most vicious blackened death metal songs of all time, and vocalist Melissa Gray’s performance on that track remains one of the most furious and unhinged I’ve ever heard. Now, after years of dormancy, the group are finally back with their third album, Bleed on My Teeth. Does it continue the band’s diabolical conquest of humanity?

It’s obviously been a long time since the last album, and in the interim Adorior lost all prior members except Melissa1 and drummer “D. Molestör.” Thus, one would understandably be concerned about whether Adorior could maintain their aggression. Fortunately, Mr. Molestör seems to have selected a suitably angry cadre of newcomers from other projects he’s been involved with, including current or former members of Grave Miasma, Cruciamentum, and Qrixkuor. Opener “Begrime Judas” shows that these new recruits have just as much pent-up rage as their predecessors. With explosive riffs, fiery tremolo runs, and surging rhythms, the song is livid and combative, making it sound like no time has passed since Author of Incest. As if to further drive home the band’s militant nature, the track even features a ruthless half-time thrash break overlaid with samples of automatic gunfire. Such intensity rarely subsides until the title track concludes the album with wailing notes approximately 50 minutes later.

Just like the last record, Bleed on My Teeth matches the scorching fury of Impiety while sounding blunter, heavier, and looser. Señor Molestör is an absolute madman on drums, moving furiously between blast beats, frantic thrash drumming, and pummeling breaks that hit like artillery strikes. The guitars ejaculate a nonstop stream of hostility, veering wildly between whiplashing tremolos, searing chords, and even some more rhythmic ideas. Songs like “Ophidian Strike” and “Moment of Mania” may sound chuggier than the others, but they don’t lose one drop of intensity because of it. Likewise, “L.O.T.P. – Vomit Vomit Vomit Bastard” is one of my favorite tracks here not just because of its title, but also for how it swells with gigantic mid-paced riffs that give rise to a triumphant aura and an obscene yet strangely catchy refrain (“He likes to make them cum & then revel in their shame… He likes to make them say his name…”).

If there’s one hangup I have with this album, it’s the vocals. After almost two decades since the last album, Melissa’s raspy shout still sounds pissed off, but she occasionally sounds strained, and her loose sense of timing sometimes feels at odds with the music. Nonetheless, her wild approach ultimately won me over, and her occasional air siren screams only add to the maniacal energy. The chanted gang shouts in songs like “Scavengers of Vengeance” further propel the rampage and are a nice callback to similar moments from Author of Incest. Production-wise, the album is hefty and hot. While it sounds louder than its DR8 would suggest, everything remains clear while swarming together in a way that’s fiery and forceful, but never exhausting. The record’s dynamic drumming, superb sequencing, and occasional moments of brief ambience only further stave off fatigue.

Ultimately, Bleed on My Teeth is a paragon of extremity. It leaves no orifice unfucked. It is an expulsion of hostility, a firestorm of fury, a fist in the ass of decency. Above all, it is a glorious return for Adorior, and a surefire treat for those bloodthirsty cretins who have been waiting so long to finally hear more of what these maniacs have to offer. Close your eyes, open wide, and let them bleed on your fukkin teeth.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Labels: Dark Descent Records | Sepulchral Voice Records
Websites: adorior.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/adorior
Releases Worldwide: September 27th, 2024

#2024 #40 #Adorior #BlackMetal #BleedOnMyTeeth #Cruciamentum #DarkDescentRecords #DeathMetal #EnglishMetal #GraveMiasma #Impiety #Qrixkuor #Review #Reviews #Sep24 #SepulchralVoiceRecords

Monolith – Lord of the Insect Order Review

By Dear Hollow

Monolith is the herald of Earth’s new overlords: the insect swarm. Insects outnumber humans an estimated 1.8 billion to 1, so it was only a matter of time Once united by a hive mind, the planet doesn’t stand a chance. The twist though is that the master race, the Lord of the Insect Order, so to speak, is giant space caterpillars. While Monolith’s first 2024 release Hornets Nest focused on the general depravity of the human condition, Lord of the Insect Order brings the B-movies and pulp. It’s War of the Worlds but with bugs, and you should be afraid, very afraid. In a tidy thirty-two minutes, Monolith takes us on a journey into humanity’s insignificance at the hands of insectoid overlords.

Their 2020 sophomore effort No Saints No Solace was received poorly by the illustrious Saunders but things have changed: Monolith’s got range.1 2024’s Hornets Nest was a foray into untouched territory, as the typically deathcore quartet dove headlong into crusty blackened hardcore that felt like Black Breath, This Gift is a Curse, and Nails got together for a brunch of tar and rusty wrenches—in perhaps one of the most surprisingly solid forays into unfamiliar territory. Lord of the Insect Order is back to its deathcore roots, but experimentation is still a heavy emphasis for this English quartet (from Devon and Cornwall). The first half creates more doom-oriented menace, a bit of The Acacia Strain sans hardcore scrappiness, while the second dives back into the Boris the Blade and Aversions Crown breakdowns-and-blastbeats bread-and-butter you expect from deathcore. Ultimately, thanks to tasteful length, emphasis on relentless beatdown, and never taking itself too seriously, Monolith towers with its cosmic caterpillars.

Truthfully, I’m not sure why more deathcore doesn’t dive into death/doom, because as The Acacia Strain’s Failure Will Follow taught us, the knuckle-dragging crunch fits like a glove into slow-motion pummeling. As such, the first act’s offerings like “Swarm’s Offering” and “Progeny Feast” slow things down to a menacing crawl that doesn’t necessarily forsake its breakdowns and down-tuned noodling, but weaponizes them alongside absolutely vicious vocals and haunting synths. Atmosphere shines most prominently in this half, with the yearning instrumental title track and lamenting “Planetary Hardening” offering synth-infected dirges that reflect upon the ruined landscape and eradicated race. The second act, ripped into creation with “Eclosion; Rise of the Imago Predator,” attacks with relentless brutality that recalls tempo-abusing interpretations like Aversions Crown or Osiah. The common thread of the yearning atmosphere infects “Parasitic Accession” and “Lonomia Pestilence” like a last tragic gasp before being wholly consumed – by a cosmic caterpillar. Neatly, these two sounds do not contradict, as Monolith’s viciousness is only highlighted by its ambiance. It concludes with the most bombastic track, “Unfurling of the Cosmic Caterpillar,” which borrows slightly from the doom palette for a song as epic as it is punishing—a suitable ending to an insane album.

While the differences between the two acts lend themselves to inconsistency, Monolith’s seamlessness between them and the natural resulting crescendo works like the plotline of an engaging story benefited by the influence of B-movie schlock. That being said, for thirty-two minutes, there are a few filler moments. Album intro “IRAS; Larval Comet” and “Holometabolism” do a solid job adhering to the album’s killer cosmic caterpillar theme and establishing the atmosphere in ways that reflect Aegaeon or early Kardashev. However, with such a short runtime Monolith would do well to trim the excess; the first half in particular could do with some more fleshing and breadth, as the three 3-5 minute doom tracks leave me wanting more. The second half, in particular, will not sway deathcore naysayers, as its emphasis on excess and constant breakdowns is never subtle. While Monolith’s theme is lighthearted, recalling the antics of A Breath Before Surfacing, their skill and brutality are certainly forces to be reckoned with.

Monolith’s second 2024 full-length benefits from its frivolous B-movie influence and willingness to experiment. While I’d like to see more of the deathcore-gone-doom vibe, the second half is tight and uncompromising, the first is epic and formidable, and the atmosphere is a breath of fresh air amid the swarming instruments. Monolith’s range cannot be overstated, because Hornets Nest feels like a completely different beast but was equally formidable. Lord of the Insect Order flies by, will get your toe tapping and resurrect your fears of giant cosmic caterpillars overthrowing life as we know it.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Self-Released
Website: facebook.com/monolithuk | bandmonolith.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: August 23rd, 2024

#2024 #30 #ABreathBeforeSurfacing #Aegaeon #AtmosphericDeathMetal #Aug24 #AversionsCrown #BlackBreath #BorisTheBlade #DeathMetal #DeathDoomMetal #Deathcore #DoomMetal #EnglishMetal #Kardashev #LordOfTheInsectOrder #Monolith #Nails #Osiah #Review #Reviews #SelfRelease #TheAcaciaStrain #ThisGiftIsACurse

Dawn Treader – Bloom & Decay Review

By Itchymenace

I love black metal—especially when it’s drenched in an atmosphere that soars between heroic highs and guttural lows. But, finding quality records with dynamic songs that resonate with me on an emotional level can be harder than finding a needle in a Norwegian blizzard. Jorn knows I’ve dipped my scabbed hands into the sump numerous times only to pull out some third or fourth-generation Emperor copy put together by a couple of kids who are in 300 other bands that I’ve also never heard of. Patiently, I’ve waited for a band that has the hood-covered chops to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the great atmo-black bands I adore like Agalloch, Alcest, Panopticon and, dare I say, Deafheaven.1 So, it was as if Odin himself answered my prayers when Dawn Treader steered its mighty Saxon hull into my harbor with an album that’s as fierce, beautiful, stirring, and memorable as anything I’ve heard in the past several years. What makes this album such a gem? Direct your black gaze forward.

Dawn Treader is a “solo, anti-fascist black metal project” from London native, Ross Connell. Bloom & Decay is the project’s second release and the first to include vocals from Mr. Connell, who proves himself a formidable and impassioned vocalist. He balances urgency and angst with an emotional nuance that elevates the songs above most of his contemporaries. His opening shriek on “Idolator” is blood-curdling in the best sense, but he channels that rage into the verse with a near-melodic delivery that will put your heart in your throat. On his previous release, 2021’s The Burial of the Dead, any vocalizations came in the form of soundbites from poems, namely T.S. Elliot’s “Wasteland.” Bloom & Decay still benefits from plenty of carefully curated samples, but the vocals add a much-welcome dimension to the landscape.

The majority of Bloom & Decay is instrumental, but you hardly notice because the music has such a storytelling quality to it. To paraphrase the release notes, it takes you through the “cycles of life and death, grief and glory, hope and melancholy.” And while most black metal bands promise some form of this, Dawn Treader delivers in spades. The opening minutes of “Sunchaser” offer a prelude of everything to come with delicate melodies that intensify into heroic tremolos that feel victorious one moment and mournful the next. The track segues perfectly into “Idolator,” which somehow combines compelling black metal riffs with a crushing, metalcore-style breakdown and a finger-tapping guitar solo. It works, check it out! Listening to Bloom & Decay, you can’t help but feel that it is building up to something. That something is the title track and one of the most uplifting and inspiring songs I’ve ever heard. It’s a monster album closer that soars through some of the best, most melodic blackened guitar work you’ll hear. But, the coup de grace is the masterfully placed sample of Charles Bukowski’s “The Laughing Heart” as read by Tom Waits. The poem, which emphasizes how life’s soul-crushing lows can be offset by glimmering moments of light, perfectly delivers an emotional climax that makes you want to wipe your brow, catch your breath, flip the record and start over.

A big part of me wanted to give this record a 5.0 but the objective voice inside my head (and the thought of Steel’s boot on my neck) persuaded me to step back and reconsider. As good as the good stuff is, there are areas that could be trimmed. Curiously, the first single “Sky Burial,” resonates with me the least. “Iron Price,” with its heavily political and meandering “fuck you” speech may turn off some listeners, but the ferocity of the second half delivers serious chills reminiscent of Panopticon. While I love “The Oxbow Incident,” the Henry Fonda speech included before the final track delays rather than builds my excitement. Still, at 53 minutes, Bloom & Decay is right in the pocket for this sort of epic black metal.

Bloom & Decay not only contains amazing songs that celebrate the highs and lows of the human experience, but it also sounds great. It has a bright and punchy production that submerges you just beneath every cascading note and crashing tidal wave blast. For fans of black metal and certainly post-black metal, black gaze and atmo black (and whatever other hip genre you want to add) Dawn Treader have released a must-have record. Prepare to set sail for greatness!

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 2116 kbps
Label: liminaldreadproductions.com
Website: dawntreaderuk.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: August 23rd, 2024

#40 #AtmophericBlackMetal #Aug24 #BlackMetal #Blackgaze #BloomDecay #DawnTreader #EnglishMetal #Review #Reviews #UKMetal

Fellwarden – Legend: Forged In Defiance Review

By Mystikus Hugebeard

Fellwarden is the solo atmospheric black metal project of The Watcher, the vocalist and co-founder of Fen. Fen has enjoyed a solid chunk of praise over the years from the AMG council, and I myself have always regarded Carrion Skies as an exemplar of quality atmoblack. But it was not this promising pedigree that inspired me to claim Fellwarden, for I wasn’t aware of it on first contact. I was lead by my simple love for the gentler, atmospheric side of metal—a quality I’m told I share with Fellwarden’s previous reviewer, Emya. Emya did not look favorably on Wreathed in Mourncloud, Fellwarden’s previous release, citing it as dull, unmemorable yoga-metal. Perhaps a fresh set of ears is exactly what’s needed to yield a more favorable outlook on Fellwarden’s latest opus, Legend: Forged In Defiance.

As it so happens, I think Legend is Fellwarden’s best work to date. Musically, the formula is familiar both to the atmoblack genre as a whole and Fellwarden’s previous works. The blast beats, tremolos, and The Watcher’s slightly snarling growls sound, coincidentally, a lot like Fen, while the backing clean vocals construct a somber and expansive ambience similar to Saor or Sojourner. The harmonic interplay of the guitars and the vocals is very pretty, as has always been the case with Fellwarden (Fenwarden?), but what makes Legend’s music more engaging this go around is the small matter of a much more present, urgent mix. It’s the kind of production that basically unlocks the band’s potential, where the music finally sounds like it should. The guitars, previously a distant suggestion, are placed farther forward, giving them a satisfying immediacy even as the songwriting emphasizes the sweeping harmonies and the strength of Legend’s atmosphere.

On the topic of atmosphere, Legend is one of classical heroic fantasy, a tribute to the late David Gemmell’s fantasy series of the same name, and this fantastical influence translates to the music of Legend rather well, illuminating an unpleasant world that is pleasant to inhabit as a listener. Blood-soaked battlefields and pale, grassy hills are heard in the grim “Despair,” while the harmonizing guitars in “Renewed Hope” and “Desperation” exude a lonely, mountainous chill. There is a real richness to the atmosphere; the opening riffs of “Renewed Hope” convey the earnest masculinity of a typical sword-wielding hero, contrasting the mournful vocal harmonies of “Desperation,” “Serenity” and “Death” that illustrate the sorrow and loss inherent to a hero’s journey. The lyrics, while thematically appropriate, are a little harder to take seriously. Granted, I know the source material is the literary equivalent to a Boris Vallejo painting, but choice lines like “he needs to be able to know that he is a man” (“Renewed Hope”) or “a man must pass something on, otherwise he is useless” (“Death”) can’t help but induce eye rolls.

Rich though the atmosphere is, it’s typically more in the background as a foundation for the music to build upon. But the opener “Exultance” strikes the perfect balance between atmosphere and music in a way that heightens them both, and it dominates my recollection of the album. The melodies have an invigorating Highlander flair to them, while the subtle, vital detail of the forceful exhalation of the vocals further breathes life into that Highlander feel—it’s an exciting energy that the rest of the album sadly doesn’t follow up on. Considering Legend’s excellent production job, I wish the songs after “Exultance” leaned further into its urgency. It doesn’t help that “Exultance” is followed by “Despair,” whose grimdark baritone vocals don’t quite land and counteract the high bar set by the opener. The remainder of Legend isn’t exactly bad in comparison to “Exultance,” and it’s carried by the strength of The Watcher’s compositional ear for pleasant harmonies. But while Legend is well-composed and appealing, despite all the fantasy themes of masculinity and defiance, few moments truly excite the way “Exultance” does.

Not to outsource my reviews to our dearly departed writers, but I’d like to highlight something Emya said in her Wreathed in Mourncloud review that’s important when talking about Legend: “…Fellwarden has [not] yet released an album which lives up to their potential.” In many ways, Legend represents that potential being realized. The cleaner production enriches the music and allows the fantastical atmosphere to be enjoyed in all its nuance. However, an exciting song like “Exultance” demonstrates that there are depths to Fellwarden’s potential yet unplumbed. I look forward to what Fellwarden does next.

Rating: Good!
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320kbps
Label: Eisenwald
Websites: facebook | bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: June 14th, 2024

#2024 #30 #AtmosphericBlackMetal #BlackMetal #Eisenwald #EnglishMetal #Fellwarden #Fen #Jun24 #LegendForgedInDefiance #Review #Reviews #Saor #Sojourner #WreathedInMourncloud

10 de junio de 2013. La banda británica #BlackSabbath publica su decimonoveno álbum de estudio llamado ''13''. Este es el primer disco de estudio realizado por la banda desde Forbidden (1995), y el primer álbum con el cantante original #OzzyOsbourne y el bajista #GeezerButler desde el doble en vivo Reunion, de 1998. Es también el primer trabajo en estudio con Osbourne desde Never Say Die! (1978), y con Butler desde Cross Purposes (1994), marcando el esperado retorno a los estudios con Ozzy para un disco de larga duración, no obstante el baterista original #BillWard no fue de la partida, reemplazado por #BradWilk (#TommyClufetos para la gira de promoción).

#Metal #HeavyMetal #BritishMetal #MetalBritánico #EnglishMetal #MetalInglés #TonyIommi #Thirteen

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats – Nell’ Ora Blu Review

By Iceberg

Nell’ Ora Blu, or “the blue hour,” is a love letter to Italian cinema, particularly the Poliziotteschi (crime) and Giallo (horror) styles. While Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats are famously a four-piece fuzzy psych-rock band, the vast majority of this record was conceived, written, and performed by main brain Kevin Starrs. This is by and large an instrumental, soundtrack-adjacent album, though there are tracks on here that will remind fans it’s still Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats (“La vipera,” “Solo la morte ti ammanetta”). Starrs’ story centers on corruption and revenge; a morally bankrupt businessman entangled in a plot of deception and murder by the very townsfolk he’s been abusing. The concept is solid enough, and the music and voice talent resembles an authentic ’70s soundtrack. But the proof is in the pudding, can the whopping 78 minutes of Nell’ Ora Blu deliver a rewarding listening experience as well as an ambitious artistic statement?

Nell’ Ora Blu’s tracks can be divided into three categories: voice-overs that propel the plot, instrumentals that set the scene, and more standard psych-rock tracks that emphasize a certain mood or motivation. The music itself evokes throwback Italian cinema without directly sounding like its major contributors, although I hear echoes of Ennio Morricone and Angelo Badalamenti throughout. Warbly, creeping synths form the backbone of many pieces, with simplistic half-ballroom, half-stoner drum patterns thumping over a pleasantly perceptible grooving bassline. I give a lot of credit to Starrs for incorporating as many different timbres and instruments as he did into this record; Nell’ Ora Blu is a labor of love and well outside the wheelhouse for the songwriter. But writing an album masquerading as a film soundtrack—or as Starrs says a radio play—brings with it its own challenges.

The voice-over tracks of Nell’ Ora Blu—all in Italian, much like their titles—shine brightest, hewing closest to the pulpy narrative and providing much-needed context to the shifting tones of the music (speaking Italian would help a lot here). Securing top voice-over talent—industry titans Franco Nero and Edwige Fenech—was a priority for Starrs, and I’ll admit tracks like “Giustizia di strada – Lavora fino alla morte” and “La bara resterà chiusa” pair their dialogue and foreboding atmosphere masterfully. The big plot beats work best; the genesis of the murder plot (“Giustizia di strada – Lavora fino alla morte), the heavy breathing phone call (“Tortura al telefona”) and the violent climactic act itself (“L’omicidio”). Starrs’ music naturally merges with the plot in these tracks, and the listener is swept up in the drama of the pulsing synths and slippery grooves. Taken on their own these exposition-heavy tracks could make a solid, smaller collection, but they co-exist along with other songs that threaten to drag the album past its natural lifespan.

As the beginning of Nell’ Ora Blu passes and the album settles in it becomes apparent this is ideal mood or background music, but poses a challenge for focused listening. The opening third of the album moves quickly with plenty of voice-over, but the one-two punch of “Il tesoro di Sardegna” and “Nell’ora blu,” with their combined 11 minutes of downtempo musings, disperses the suspense of the previous tracks. The lengthy, meandering center of the record doesn’t really pick up again until the end of “Il gatto morto,” where the events of the premeditated murder begin and the music—and story—regains prior energy. The other glaring—and potentially deal-breaking—issue here is the language barrier. I was lucky enough to have a story summary provided to me by the band, but I don’t know if this will be made available to the public. YMMV on this point, but knowing the outline of the story pulls the listener in and orients them with the music as it unfolds. Just as a film would feel half-full without its music, the score here feels less than without the illustration of the story to aid the listener (I envy my Italian-speaking readers, this album should come much easier for you).

This was a difficult album to review and score, if only because Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats presented me with such an outside-the-box album. Ultimately I feel Nell’ Ora Blu is a successful—if overextended—excursion into a sound world not often heard in these halls. Fans of the band and of throwback film music should set aside some time to check this out, and hopefully be able to secure a synopsis. As for me I can see myself, some six months down the line, dealing with an inconsolable newborn and turning to the smoky, slinky sounds of Nell’ Ora Blu to find some measure of respite and release.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: Stream | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Rise Above Records
Websites: facebook.com | uncleacidband.com
Releases Worldwide: May 10, 2024

#2024 #30 #AngeloBadalamenti #EnglishMetal #EnnioMorricone #FilmScore #May24 #NellOraBlu #PsychedlicRock #Review #Reviews #RiseAboveRecords #StonerMetal #StonerRock #UncleAcidAndTheDeadbeats

My Silent Wake – Lost in Memories, Lost in Grief Review

By Saunders

England’s long-running doom act My Silent Wake started slinging old-timey doom tunes since forming in 2005. My Silent Wake boasts an impressively lengthy track record, culminating in their twelfth opus of sadboi gloom, Lost in Memories, Lost in Grief, complete with a side of death and Gothic romanticism. I came across the band on their solid tenth album There Was Death in 2018, dipping into the promo sump blindly and initially thinking I stumbled across a newer, untapped gem to spread the gospel. A bit of research uncovered their storied recording past. There Was Death didn’t inspire enough interest to do a deep dive, however, it left me satisfied with the rich, slab of doomy goodness, bringing modern flavorings and character to Peaceville Three influences, most prominently My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost. I missed 2020’s follow-up, Damnum per Saeculorum (an ambient, experimental excursion), now reconnecting and crossing fingers for a doom album to reach into my soul and bring the feels.

One key criticism of There Was Death related to the significant bloat present, detracting from the more solidly written and compelling material. The band continues to dabble in longer form cuts, pushing upwards of six minutes on half the eight songs present, yet the whole package runs more concisely at a manageable 43 minutes. Immediately the band’s experience and confident grasp of their well-trodden formula is apparent on opener “The Liar and the Fool.” The subdued, almost spoken word opening rolls out the Gothic drama, before kicking into a hefty mid-paced groove adorned with groovy riffs, prominent organ, and dueling vocals. Main growler Ian Arkley (also on guitars) possesses a suitably thick, hearty death growl perfectly befitting the old school death-doom style. Meanwhile, the stately, drama-fueled cleans of the organ-wielding Simon Bibby provide the epic, harmonizing melodic counterpoint, forming a potent combo.

My Silent Wake’s rich, heaving sound comes awash in gloomy atmospheres and crimson-dipped Gothic melancholy, without falling into overly bleak, depressing realms. The well-executed vocal tag team, rich mix of chunky, organ-drenched death grooves, and dreary doom dynamics lend the album an energetic, striking dynamic, backed by engaging guitar work, sorrowful melodies, and earworm hooks. Bibby’s increased role on dual lead vocals is a significant change-up, his dramatic, powerful cleans responsible for many rousing moments across the album, though at times they slightly detract from the meaty old school growls of Arkley. Listeners not down with Bibby’s style may find his increased involvement a potential sticking point. However, it’s hard to argue with some of the strikingly infectious vocal melodies and beauty vs beast harmonies scattered amidst the doom and gloom.

“Lavender Garden” supplies heroic vocal hooks and emotional weight in spades. It’s rugged grooves and sprightly pacing serve a well-constructed song that lodges itself in the brain. “When You Look Back” will please death-doom purists. Despite featuring some clean singing, the song heavily relies on Arkley’s impassioned death vox, settling into a mournful, doomy cadence, with strong results. Elsewhere, “Another Light” picks up the pace and jam packs lots of energy, deathly crunch, and bright, organ-dabbled grooves into the mix. There are no real clunkers to speak of, though album pacing is a bit off on occasions and bloat appears on a couple of lengthier later album tunes (“The Last Lullaby” and “No Time”). I could also do without the occasional spoken word moments. Thankfully, closer “The Judges” concludes the album in a compact, satisfying manner, combining a morose atmosphere with excellent dual vocal harmonies and beautifully soulful guitar work.

Surrounded by his accomplished bandmates, Arkley remains the key figure steering the doom ship. His formidable growls ground the band in deathlier territory and ensure the increased melodic tendencies do not overshadow My Silent Wake’s darker, heftier throes. Arkley’s guitar work is also top-notch, straddling death-doom lines and integrating chunky, harder-hitting riffs amidst the deft melodic touches. My Silent Wake may not be positioned at the forefront of the modern doom scene. However, from my limited exposure to their extensive catalog they are a spirited, gifted act. Proudly wearing their influences on their sleeves, My Silent Wake boast enough character and songwriting smarts to carve their own niche in the retro-minded Goth-tinged doom space. Lost in Memories, Lost in Grief is a warm, inviting and endearingly solid slab of catchy death-doom, well worth a listen.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Ardua Music
Websites: mysilentwake2.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/mysilentwake
Releases Worldwide: May 3rd, 2024

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My Dying Bride – A Mortal Binding Review

By Cherd

I’ve been listening to My Dying Bride’s entire discography, including this new one, nonstop for a good two weeks straight. It’s begun to affect my daily life. A couple nights ago, after putting the Cherdlet to bed, my wife asked me what I’d like to do with the rest of our evening and without thinking I said, “Drink deep of your neck chalice.” While she was still quietly processing this, I complimented her on the whiteness of her breasts. She decided she wanted to watch “one of her shows” instead and bid me good night. I spent the next hour impulse-shopping online for candelabras and a fainting couch. Thirty-four years is a long time to crank out one dismal goth-tinged death doom album after another, but My Dying Bride have been doing it as if their lives—their bride’s life?—depended on it, frequently to legendary results. A Mortal Binding is their 14th studio album. Is it befitting of their lachrymose legacy?

With the exception of small tweaks here and there,1 My Dying Bride has long since abandoned any experimentation with their sound, and A Mortal Binding is no exception. Like nearly every album since 1999’s The Light at the End of the World, the death, doom, and gothic elements balance across the album. Songs may lean one way or the other, for instance, opener “Her Dominion” is as much death metal as anything from the band’s more straightforward 1992 debut, or later career cuts like “The Raven and the Rose.” In fact, the track features no clean vocals, only death growls by Aaron Stainthorpe, which is a rarity these days. Meanwhile “Thornwyck Hymn” and “Unthroned Creed” are as straight doom as the band gets. The gothy bits, aside from Stainthorpe’s wistful singing, are brought by keyboardist/violinist Shaun MacGowan, who adds welcome drama to cuts like lead single “The 2nd of Three Bells” and the otherwise death-leaning “The Apocalyptist.”

The good news for fans of the band, and for fans of doom metal in general, is that guitarist Andrew Craighan and company haven’t forgotten how to write good songs in their dotage. Most of these tracks stand up well to the band’s own impressive body of work—did you catch our ranking piece from yesterday?—with “Her Dominion,” “Thornwyck Hymn,” and “The Apocalyptist” standing out as clear highlights. “Thornwyck Hymn” is the type of deceptively addictive doom song My Dying Bride have always been adept at, with the dignified adagio riffing you would expect from Craighan and relative newcomer Neil Blanchett. “The Apocalyptist” picks up the more aggressive tone laid out in the opener, and it’s good to hear Stainthorpe’s always legible, throwback harsh vocals that remind you these guys formed in death metal’s nascent era. I expect this will be the song most likely to be added to folks’ master MDB playlists, though I wouldn’t say it, or any of this material, reaches the band’s top tier of output.

And of course, that’s the un-ignorable issue with a band’s 14th full-length release in 34 years. Even if it sounds good, and it does, it’s ultimately competing with 13 other siblings for attention, and Mom and Dad definitely play favorites. This is a comfortable album. Certainly more so than 2020’s The Ghost of Orion, with all the personal and professional trials that preceded it. Most of the album is quite good, but not great by My Dying Bride’s own standards, and the last two songs especially don’t quite hold up to the first five. “A Starving Heart” does nothing that “Thornwyck Hymn” didn’t do better, and “Crushed Embers” plods along without any real point of interest until the final two and a half minutes, which feature a winning chorus/refrain and a return of the harsh vocals.

At the time of writing, My Dying Bride has recently canceled without explanation all upcoming shows despite the fact they have a new album. Hopefully, this isn’t an indication that album number 14 will be the last, but whatever news is coming next can’t be good. If this turns out to be the end, the band goes out on a solid effort, but if you’re looking for a late-career highlight, maybe revisit 2015’s Feel the Misery.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Nuclear Blast
Websites: mydyingbridoffical.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/MyDyingBrideOfficial
Releases Worldwide: April 19th, 2024

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