#irish-metal — Public Fediverse posts

DEATH THE LEVELLER – DEATH THE LEVELLER
#Doom #IrishDoom #Irishmetal #Metal #epicdoom #Dublin
CC BY (#CreativeCommons Attribution) #ccmusic
https://deaththeleveller.bandcamp.com/album/death-the-leveller-2

For the second review in a row, I heard about a band via skimming YouTube, heard something I liked, and tracked down their promo. I’m used to working this from the other direction, but when the almighty algorithm gives, one must take and be thankful. Domhain is an atmospheric post-black metal band from Northern Ireland, and In Perfect Stillness is their debut full-length. With an emotionally charged sound and style, Domhain touches on the past works of Darkest Era, Primordial, and Agalloch while utilizing cellos and haunting female vocals to punctuate the melancholic, often grim moods they wallow in. Over the album’s runtime, they do a lot of things very well and a few things spectacularly. What they do best is keep me locked in, listening raptly to the ebb and flow of their compositions. There’s something here, and that something has teeth.

At just over 35 minutes, In Perfect Stillness is composed of a mood-setting intro and 4 songs running between 7-9 minutes. With so little meat on the bone, the marrow had best be savory and memorable, and Domhain achieve that. First track proper “Talamh Lom” kicks off in highly Gothic realms with post-y cold trems ungirding Andy Ennis’ plaintive, forlorn clean singing. He lapses into harsh blackened croaks soon enough, and when things slow down, the sawing cello appears alongside sad, ethereal vocals from cellist/drummer Anaïs Chareyre. It’s a beautiful and poignant combination that keeps you listening attentively as the band moves between harsh and fragile, heavy and soft. There’s a beautiful flow to the music that carries you away to another place and makes you forget about the passage of time. There are slight touches of A Swarm of the Sun here alongside Darkest Era-esque moments, and there’s a vague Warning vibe in the music too. “Footsteps II” bears a strong resemblance to the moodier moments of Ghost Brigade and Deathwhite, which is an easy way to win me over as the sadboi feelz flow like hobo wine on Skid Row.

The title track brings strong Agalloch notes as downcast but furious black metal takes centerstage, and select moments remind me of Nechochwen as well. The way the ethereal female vocals pair with the blackened rasps is captivating and expertly done, creating a wealth of emotional resonance. The album’s high point arrives with the 9-plus-minute “My Tomb Beneath the Tide,” which is a gigantic dose of negative emotions delivered in a beautiful, beguiling package. Here, the post-black, melodoom, and atmospheric black metal ingredients coalesce into a potent brew that will make you feel things you might not want. There’s an epic scope to the song that recalls the best of Primordial, but I hear a lot of vintage Votum in the vocals, and the shifts from harsh to sullen and soft are very well-conceived and executed. This is easily my favorite song so far in 2026, and I can’t stop getting lost in the moods here. The production is quite good, but there’s a weird background static-hiss that leaks through at times, most noticeably on “My Tomb Beneath the Tide.” It’s a bit distracting, and I hoped it was just on the video, but it’s on the promo copy as well, which is unfortunate.

The vocal combination of Andy Ennis and Anaïs Chareyre pays major dividends across In Perfect Stillness. Ennis has a convincingly dour singing voice that conveys grief and despair, and his blackened rasps are equally powerful. When he leans more toward death roars, he reminds me a bit of Nick Holmes of Paradise Lost. The guitar work by Nathan Irvine and Bryn Boothby sets the dark, dreary tableau perfectly. The frantic, post-y trems and the savage blackened riffage deliver real impact, and their morose doom noodling and trilling captivate the ear. This is an ensemble that knows how to toy with the listener’s heart and mind, and over the too-short runtime, they have their way with you emotionally again and again.

Domhain have a great thing going here, and though it isn’t something entirely new, they stamp it with enough identity to make it their own. In Perfect Stillness is a short, sharp shock to the part of the brain that deals with feelings, and there’s a genuine, raw beauty to their music that sticks with you long after you step away. It’s the rare album I wish were longer, and I actually don’t want it to end when it does. That’s a sure sign that a band created something special. Hear this sooner rather than later, as it will make waves.



Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: These Hands Melt
Websites: domhain-band.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/domhain.band | instagram.com/domhain_band
Releases Worldwide: February 20, 2026

Sounds a little bit thin at the moment, but as soon as the bass goes in, this is going to sound enormous!

There's going to be plenty of vocal layering. Big ethereal sounding vocals.

It's going to be insane.

#Musician #Metal #MetalHead #IrishMetal #IrishMusic #Irish #Mastodaoine

Throwback to the Cork music scene: The former bass player of Ethereal (from ~35 years ago!) has a brand new project out.
​It’s a great blend of metal, rock, and blues. Give it a spin! 🎧
#Cork #Ethereal #IrishMetal #RockMusic #metal #rock #blues #bladehound #music
https://bladehound.bandcamp.com/album/skerries-of-the-dreaming

Atlantic – Timeworn [Things You Might Have Missed 2025]

By ClarkKent

The picture I have in my head of Ireland is an isolated, yet calming, place by the sea. Callan Hoy, from the western coastal town of Galway, further cements this image on the debut record of his atmospheric post-black project, Atlantic. It’s apparent that the setting is important to Timeworn, as crashing waves not only begin and end the album, but they make frequent appearances throughout. This gives the feeling that Hoy recorded Timeworn right along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. A calm pervades despite the energetic black metal on display, making Atlantic a pleasing melodic journey you’ll want to play on repeat.

Atlantic alternates between atmospheric post-black metal and a much more poppy-style of black rock. The three longer tracks hue more towards the atmospheric (“Weathered,” “Underside,” “Spirit Trails”), but rather than atmoblack of the depressive variety, this is more of an uplifting form. Hoy’s guitar tones ooze feel-good vibes along the lines of Countless Skies, but with plenty of blackened reverb. These lengthier songs have a lot in common with the black metal of Starer and the black/shoegaze of Deafheaven. On the other end are the shorter tracks (“Timeworn,” “Voyages”), which sound almost like pop/rock songs, only with heavy reverb and dark growls. There’s a feeling of joy in the instrumentation that takes me back to Torche’s Harmonicraft. The drums by Milan Jejina bring out the pop with simple yet powerful beats that’ll get you bopping along. The combo of kitwork and catchy riffs make “Voyages” one of the most memorable tunes of the year.

There’s something about all of the performances that make Timeworn so pleasing to listen to. Hoy makes heavy use of tremolos to keep up a feeling of constant kinetic motion. The jubilant tone of the tremolos is pleasant enough, but the way Hoy blends melodies with the atmospherics elevates the music. The melodic elements also make the lengthier passages on songs like “Spirit Trails” work—they keep you engaged for every second. Hoy’s vocal performance is also nothing to sneeze at. His growls are guttural rather than the piercing screamo style of some shoegaze, and he has a surprisingly melodic cadence that helps fill up every second with satisfying, catchy sounds. Atlantic features very little cleans, but they do complement the growls on “Underside” and reveal just how versatile an artist Hoy is.

Timeworn is an impressive achievement, the mark of a young talent with strong songwriting clout. While most of the songs pass the seven-minute mark, they never meander or feel boring. Hoy mixes in the shorter, poppier tracks to create a varied and powerful listening experience. Atlantic blew me away when it crept into my Bandcamp feed back in April. Hoy has created something special that I think even those who don’t love atmospheric or post-black metal can appreciate. Given that it’s just a bite-sized 34 minutes, there’s no reason not to give it a spin—and then another as it calls to you like a siren luring unwitting sailors into the sea. But don’t worry, there’s no danger here, just some pleasant earworms.

Tracks to Check Out: “Underside,” “Voyages,” “Spirit Trails”

#2025 #Atlantic #AtmosphericBlackMetal #BlackMetal #CountlessSkies #Deafheaven #FiadhProductions #IrishMetal #PostBlackMetal #PostMetal #Starer #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2025 #Timeworn #Torche #TYMHM

Machina Kore – Ghosts of Everest Review

By Kenstrosity

Identified as “Groovy Power Metal” in our promo bin, Irish independents Machina Kore promise something that pushes past genre convention while still delivering high-octane, high-quality steel. With their latest release, entitled Ghosts of Everest, Machina Kore offer up ten tracks (two of which are remasters of earlier single releases) across roughly an hour—fairly standard if we use power metal as a baseline. Thematically, Ghosts of Everest tackle an emotional subject matter largely surrounding the highs and lows of life as brought on by both forces beyond control and our own actions/reactions, and of resilience and growth only ever manifested by perseverance. The question remains, would a release like Ghosts of Everest persevere in the midst of a crowded field of steely wares?

One thing is for certain: Machina Kore is not your standard power metal record, and claims of groove earn more than their keep. In fact, Ghosts of Everest is more groove than power, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The power of riffs is strong with this one, bolstered further by uncharacteristically meaty guitar and bass tones which approach death metal or sludge in crunch and heft. However, song structure and arrangement more closely follow the blueprint of riffy power metal innovated by Nevermore, after a lurid dalliance with alternative names like Sevendust1 and Nonpoint. A sense of grandeur not unlike Borealis runs through many of these numbers as well, contributing to the 5-7 minute average song length and winding choruses. Altogether, the experience is an unusual mix that took some getting used to, but there’s merit to Machina Kore’s execution here that proves Ghosts of Everest’s concept holds water.

Ghosts of Everest offers many cool moments, often separated by wide swaths of material that range from decently engaging to meandering. Its first three songs proper (excluding the overlong, but gentle into “Silver”) offer the best encapsulation of Machina Kore’s sound when it works best. Swaggering grooves, tectonic riffs, and serviceable choruses allow these tracks to strike while the iron is hot, impressing upon its audience its unorthodox sound and generous helping of crushing guitars. And while those heavily distorted guitars shine throughout, it’s not until the meat of the record that they make their biggest impact. A massive one-two punch, “Goliath” and “Death Mask” offer energetic grooves, thunderous tones, and dynamic shifts in style and structure. Nonetheless, they feel unified with the material surrounding them, which allows for smooth transitions in and out. In a different way, epic closer “Ghosts of Everest” makes a mark as well; this time, striking use of melody cooperates with the album’s finest vocal display to exit on a powerful note capable of selling listeners on a follow-up spin.

Unfortunately, those aforementioned swaths of meandering material conspire to unravel immersion and redirect to boredom. Every song preceding “Goliath”—and several afterwards—opens with at least a minute and a half of repetitive jamming. While they do a great job of creating an initial burst of momentum, inertia gets the best of them quickly, coming close to a standstill before finally hitting the gas again. This problem persists in bouts across Ghosts of Everest, with wandering numbers “Alpha Luna” and “Breathe” offering some decent to very good ideas every now and then, only to be undone by long stretches of composition unsure of its direction or purpose. The occasional guitar solo alleviates this problem to some degree, in concert with some clever drumming (this is primarily what helps “Death Mask” stand out, in fact). Alas, it’s not quite enough to carry 6 minutes plus of uninspired material. As a final note, the albeit competent post-grunge vocals aren’t always the best fit for this sound (“Stone to Farewell”), with the one caveat that they often inspire a fair measure of nostalgia (“Sober”).

All that said, Machina Kore has a ton of potential, and it wouldn’t be too difficult for them to realize it. Their biggest hurdle going forward is one of writing and of editing, wherein songs need tightening, streamlining, and focusing. All of the right elements are there, from tone to riffcraft to the unlikely melding of disparate styles. They just don’t quite gel into a final product that feels greater than the sum of its parts yet. With time and a little perseverance, I’ve no doubt that Machina Kore can bring me to the peak next time around.

Rating: Mixed
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: STREAM 2
Label: Self-Release
Websites: machinakore.bandcamp.com/album/ghosts-of-everest | facebook.com/MachinaKore
Releases Worldwide: July 25th, 2025

#25 #2025 #AlternativeMetal #Borealis #GhostsOfEverest #GrooveMetal #HeavyMetal #IrishMetal #Jul25 #MachinaKore #Nevermore #Nonpoint #PowerMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfRelease #Sevendust

Sonus Mortis – Collapse The Mountain
#Metal #SymphonicDeathMetal #Symphonicblackmetal #blackeneddeathdoom #darkmetal #deathdoommetal #ireland #irishmetal #melodicdeathmetal #metal #sonusmortis #symphonicdeathmetal #Dublin
CC BY-NC-ND (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives)
https://sonusmortis.bandcamp.com/album/collapse-the-mountain

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BLACK OIL Release “Nowhere To Run” Video
LA-based metal band Black Oil has released their new video and single “Nowhere To Run”

https://bravewords.com/news/black-oil-release-nowhere-to-run-video

#BlackOil
#NowhereToRun
#NewVideo
#DebutSingle
#IrishMetal

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#MetalSucks
Saint Patrick’s Doom and Sludge – 20 Irish Metal Bands
You don't need the luck of the Irish to enjoy these bands. The post Saint Patrick’s Doom and Sludge – 20 Irish Metal Bands appeared first on MetalSucks.

https://www.metalsucks.net/2023/03/17/saint-patricks-doom-and-sludge-20-irish-metal-bands/

#IrishMetal #Sludge #DoomMetal #StPatricksDay #UndergroundMetal #IrishBands