#nov26 — Public Fediverse posts

https://www.europesays.com/uk/1297193/ Eternity’s End – Titanblood Review #2026 #40 #Aephanemer #Alkaloid #ChildrenOfBodom #ConsortiumProject #Entertainment #Equipoise #Eternity'sEnd #FabioLione'sDawnOfVictory #GermanMetal #HannesGrossmann #IronMaiden #LiveWire #music #Necrophagist #NorthTale #Nov26 #Obscura #Obsidious #PowerMetal #ProgressivePowerMetal #Retromorphosis #Review #Reviews #Rhapsody #RhapsodyOfFire #RunningWild #ScarletRecords #SpeedMetal #Titanblood #UK #UnitedKingdom

From the swampy, fetid lowlands of Portland, Oregon comes the nasty death-doom tidings of Besotten on their debut nutsmasher, Eye of the Monolithicrypt. Taking inspiration from all the biggest deviants on the grimy end of the death-doom rotpit, Besotten bring the hellaciously heavy riffs, subterranean death croaks, and eerie atmosphere that genre fans long for. In a smashed nutshell, they sound like Incantation, Autopsy, and Demilich thrown in an industrial meat juicer with Worm and Eternal Rot. If that doesn’t get your salivation glands pumping, you have no future in the cesspool sorting business. This is seriously grueling listening for those who like their music disgusting, diseased, and decayed (the “Big 3 Ds” in industry speak). Are you hardy enough to meet the icy stare of the Eye of the Monolithicrypt?

You probably aren’t, but here you are anyway. Opener “Mist of Decay” puts the band’s best deformed clubfoot forward with a classic dose of horrific death-doom brutality. Slow, plodding doom riffs are slathered in gut-spewing vocals, and everything feels thick, wet, and menacing. The guitar tone is tooth-rattling, and the vocals are repellant. In other words, this shit factory sounds awesome. Timely blastbeats erupt to disorient the listener and then slide back to a grinding plod again. It’s a classic death-doom blueprint, but Besotten keep things engaging and heavy as fook. “Bathed in Insufferable Light” is 10 minutes of the same rancid delicacies, and the band demonstrates a fairly deft hand at making a long-form song tolerable. Bright melodic harmonies crawl out of the darkness to dazzle you for fleeting moments before the gunk and muck envelop them again. Meanwhile, the vocals retch, discharge, and ooze the very worst bodily fluids imaginable. They even stuff a soft spoken-word segment in that feels like vintage Saturnus. Is it all too long? Yes, but it still mostly works.

The shorter tracks like the opener and “Cruentation” fare better, delivering the vicious pummeling without dragging things out too long. The latter packs the warhammer and uses it liberally, with Bolt Thrower-esque riffs grinding on you as massive death vocals hector and harass, and the drumming is percussive purgatory designed to destabilize the senses. There are faster bits scattered through that sound like classic Sodom, so bonus points awarded. “Storming the Cerebral Citadel” goes for a raw, blackened flavor that sounds like early Gorgoroth at times, and it too does a good job being abrasive. 11-plus-minute closer “Bloodcairn” does a lot of things well. It pulls out all the pacing tricks heard elsewhere while introducing dreamy, languid segments that border on shoegaze. Naturally, these are set against brutal bits where Besotten try to peel your fat face off with vaguely sharpened stones. There are even pieces that bring out a classic trad metal vibe that reminds of recent Khemmis. It’s a good song, but they definitely could have shaved several minutes off of it. At 36 minutes, Monolithicrypt ends up feeling longer than the sum of its parts, but it’s still an enjoyable journey through the catacombs and caverns of the infected mega-dead.

The bulk of Besotten’s hideous charms come by way of the riffage and noodling from Patrick (no last name given to protect his reputation). He’s clearly studied the greats of death-doom and borrows slimy bits and pieces from Incantation, Disma, and Mortiferum along with several other titans, but you never get the sense he’s recycling the past. His lead work is crushing, and his forays into black and especially trad metal work well to spice up the doom dirges. Vocalist Garth Purkett deserves some kind of an award along with a free trip to the nearest Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. This dude sounds unholy, undead, and unhealthy (the “Big 3 Uns”). His booming roars instill a sense of dread, and his loathsome unchunkifying provides the disgusting ICK factor. He’s a special kind of animal and brings a lot of raw extremity to the Besotten sound.

Eye of the Monolithicrypt is a well-executed slab of slippery, slimy death-doom that offers something for everybody with issues. If Besotten can tighten up their writing a bit, they could be like a dangerous experiment that escapes containment. I like what I’m hearing, and I’ll come back to some of the tracks here even if I don’t stick around for the whole sewage enchilada. If you want to be crushed under the weight of some ginormous abomination’s reeking foot, this will approximate that experience. Brace for stench bombing.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Transcending Obscurity
Websites: besotten.bandcamp.com | instagram.com/besottenwithdeath
Releases Worldwide: November 6th, 2026

Germany’s Eternity’s End plays the kind of over-the-top, shred-heavy metal that squeezes three albums’ worth of notes into one. The first band I ever listened to that wielded eye-popping neoclassical theatrics with relentless, reckless fervor was Children of Bodom, and since discovering them I’ve chased the highs of any act that marries the thrills of mind-melting guitar acrobatics with capable songwriting. Eternity’s End fits that bill perfectly, and their fourth outing Titanblood, gushes with technical glitz and hook-laden arrangements. Does Titanblood come out in the wash, or leave an indelible mark on 2026?

If you ever wondered what a power metal band loaded with legendary tech death musicians would sound like, Eternity’s End is the answer. Christian Münzner (Retromorphosis, ex-Obscura, ex-Alkaloid), one of my absolute favorite guitarists, joined forces with drummer Hannes Grossmann (Hannes Grossmann, Alkaloid, ex-Necrophagist), bassist Linus Klausenitzer (Alkaloid, Obsidious, ex-Obscura), keyboardist Jimmy Pitts (Equipoise, NorthTale), and singer Ian Parry (Consortium Project) in 2014 to fulfill Münzner’s dream of forging an unstoppable neoclassical juggernaut. On the band’s official site, Münzner highlights the importance of vocal melodies and how his previous projects never afforded the outlet to feature them. Now on Eternity’s End’s third singer, these Titans of tech death assemble once again to power up.

Throughout Titanblood, Eternity’s End electrifies with showstopping razzle-dazzle and evokes myriad touchstones without ever losing their own voice. Returning from Embers of War, guitarist Justin Hombach (Fabio Lione’s Dawn of Victory, live guitarist for Alkaloid) accompanies Münzner to unfetter fluttering, perpetually urgent guitar leads. United, they unleash six-stringed tempests that invoke the winds of past and present. The central riff from “Eternal Winter” recalls Running Wild’s “Riding the Storm” or “Blazon Stone” played at double speed; “Gates of Eternity” pays homage to Iron Maiden’s “Chains of Misery” as it boasts a brief drum intro that transitions into a slinky groove mirroring the Fear of the Dark nugget, and the neoclassical exuberance of “Titanblood” reminds me of Aephanemer’s Utopie. Through these reference points and others, Eternity’s End occupies a unique stage that exerts the demanding instrumental mastery of technical metal applied to the sweeping, soaring majesty of Rhapsody (of Fire),1 much like DragonForce.2 While the guitars often steal the spotlight, Grossmann deserves mention for another incredible performance as he dials up a fabulous thunder that balances an avalanche of rapid double bass rolls and inhumanly precise snare and tom interplay. Like Münzner and Hombach, Grossmann discharges his performances with an exacting crispness that allows listeners to hear each note with satisfying pop. I only wish Klausenitzer’s bass had a more prominent role, although with such overstuffed compositions I understand that sometimes something has to give.

While the guitars, bass, and drums continue to deliver the same rampant fun as on Embers of War, the keys, vocals, and production put Titanblood a step above its predecessor. As Holdeneye noted in his review, Embers of War felt more direct and grounded in heavy metal roots rather than the prog power bombast of Unyielding, and while this isn’t necessarily negative, I felt Pitts’ absence. With him back in the boardroom, the lavish power cheese I crave returns with full-flavored goodness as he runs alongside the guitars with unyielding dexterity (“Sword in the Storm,” “In the Wake of the Carrion King,” “Rule the Night”) while saturating Titanblood in uplifting atmospheres (“Titanblood,” “Gates of Eternity”). Joining Eternity’s End in 2026, newest band member singer Mike Livas comes in swinging righteous Greek heat. If you’re a fan of power metal vocals that often dwell in the upper register, Titanblood won’t disappoint. Livas submits a powerful performance that improves upon the buried vox on Embers and crows with confidence and enough emotive gusto that I never doubt his earnestness. Listening to the Japanese bonus track “In the Wake of the Carrion King” and comparing it to the version heard on Titanblood perfectly encapsulates the differences between the albums, and it’s powerful.

Though most of this review focuses on Eternity’s End’s outstanding musical performances, I must give due credit to Titanblood’s songwriting as well. Nearly every track has lived rent-free in my head since I got my mitts on the promo, especially “In the Wake of the Carrion King,” “Eternal Winter,” and “Ravenheart.” If my review of LiveWire’s latest didn’t give away what a sucker I am for riffs played fast and ferocious, my adoration for Münzner & Co.’s Titanblood should. The concoction of technical wizardry strained through the sieve of savvy songcraft sets my soul afire, and I’ve no doubt that I’ll be listening to this record until well after Eternity’s End.

Rating: Great
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Scarlet Records
Websites: Official | Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: November 6th, 2026

Icelandic black metal may be a trendy style in the underground and perhaps the few layers interspersed between it and the black metal “mainstream,” but it’s got good reason to be. Deftly balancing sweeping melodies with unsettling dissonance; focusing its propelling force on gnarly, expansive riffs and shimmering flourishes; and boiling blood with hoarse rasps and screeching wails, the style is vivacious and vicious in equal measure. Enter Sentries, a newly minted multinational black metal quartet not from Iceland but owing their sound to the tenets of that region’s style. Hailing from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway, Sentries’ debut LP Disciples of Void & Fire promises all of those shadowed terrors that black metal imprints on the soul, but can it live up to expectations?

Sadly, Sentries forgot the main thing that makes this particular subset of quasi-dissonant, quasi-melodic black metal work: songwriting. Stylistically, they nail the aesthetics, recalling genre stalwarts Sinmara and Misþyrming and aligning well with current upstarts like Vafurlogi. Scorching trem-picked walls of sound bend around writhing and warped melodies that teeter on the edge of dissonance and toy with eerie mischievousness. Hoarse roars barely intelligible calls from the depths, like some unseen otherworldly being. Percussive attack alternates between blasts and double-bass runs, with ample fills in between. On paper it should work, but in practice it lacks the same riotous energy and bristling restlessness that set this style apart. Consequently, Disciples feels generic, anemic, and lackluster compared to its compatriots.

A lack of variation and inventiveness doomed Disciples of Void & Fire from the start. Opener “Arise, Thou Who Dwelleth in the Deep” offers one decent multi-measure refrain but repeats it ad nauseam, with very little in the way of a bridge to break it up. A monotonous pace throughout perpetuates this lack of ideas on other tracks like “Dying Stars and Skies Ablaze” and “Into the Dawn Beyond Mortality.” Monochromatic walls of tremolos move with zero urgency, despite the desperate howls that aim to motivate and muster. Percussion alternates between two main modes, and rarely deviates from blasting or running except to offer a fill that runs through motions rather than froth the glands (“Sentries of Stone and Hatred”). Leads try to offer some shimmer and spice, with relative standout refrains elevating “Laceration of Ages” and “Towards the Monolith of Grief” somewhat, but don’t commit enough to pulling interest and commanding presence to be effective. When evaluating these concerns in concert, it’s clear that Disciples simply lacks personality, and can’t compete in this crowded field with any expectation of success. Its muffled mixing does it no favors, either. Disciples’ engineering buries the drums in particular far enough that certain would-be big moments feel diminutive and frail (“Dying Stars and Skies Ablaze”).

All the same, Sentries shows some promise here. Every performer can clearly play, and the vocals exhibit enough gusto in their utterances and frequent “oughs” that I can imagine the rest of the band is engaged and enthusiastic. Brief flashes of interest perk my ears to back that up in album highlight “Laceration of Ages.” While it occupies the same static tempo as the overwhelming majority of this material, “Laceration” boasts a mean riff that variates in cool ways after midpoint. Some fabulous cymbal work throughout further sets this track above the others. The second half of “Dying Stars and Skies Ablaze” presents unexpected modal shimmers from the guitars that cooperate with sophisticated bass counterpoint, which complements eerie chants that foreshadow that segment. “Towards the Monolith of Grief” tricks me at first into thinking it plagiarizes earlier melodies, but subversively bounces and ping-pongs around the frets in such a way as to surprise and entertain. It also features the first considerable departure from the mid-paced amble that the rest of the record doggedly adheres to, which helps it instantly stand out.

These small nuggets give me hope that with time and more attention to songwriting dynamics, Sentries might find their voice and push their creativity to the heights necessary to make an impact in this field. As it stands, Disciples is a record of missed opportunities and squandered time. Not enough ideas exist to justify an average song length exceeding six minutes, and there’s very little in the way of excitement to speak of in the songwriting or pacing departments. I expected a lot more considering the pedigree on the roster, and I’m disappointed with the product. But I believe there is something salvageable here. It just needs more guts and gall.

Rating: Disappointing
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Amor Fati Productions
Websites: sentriesvoid.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: November 6th, 2026

Fire is a force of destruction, one that can wipe out homes and valuables, a weapon that can obliterate enemies in war. Yet fire can also signify a new beginning. The phoenix reborn from the ashes, wildfires rejuvenating forests. Four years after the release of Call Down the Sun, Konvent released its spiritual successor, a rebirth of sorts that sees the band emerging from the flames with their third album, Firesky.1 This Danish four-piece impressed Carcharodon enough that he wrote up a TYMHM and put Call Down the Sun in his top ten-ish of 2022. The passage of time since then sees Konvent mostly intact, with the only change being a swapping of guitarists: Amira Hernan taking on the lead guitar role in place of Sara Helena Nørregaard. Time and personnel shifts have done little to diminish the passionate flame burning within the band, as Firesky demonstrates a group firing on all cylinders.

Firesky represents an evolution for Konvent, more a step forward than a complete shift in sound. The brooding guitars and heavy distortion remain, as does the guttural nature of Rikke Emilie List’s vocals, yet there’s a greater dynamism at play. This is largely due to a shift in songwriting approach, with track lengths stretched longer than anything written before, ranging anywhere from 8 to 12 minutes (excluding the instrumental outro track). Konvent fill these minutes masterfully, making use of gentle acoustics (“Scorning”) and arpeggios (“Exorcise”) and tempo shifts where drums whisper sweet nothings in your ear while a buildup of suspense culminates in an explosion of reverberating riffs and drums pummeling your ears at a breathless pace. The music is patient, but bubbling beneath it is a searing rage that releases in a controlled burn of melancholy-tinged anger.

Like flames dancing in a campfire, Firesky mesmerizes in its warmth, in its surges of flame as fuel is fed to it, and in its dying breaths as the logs crumble to ashes. Carcharodon’s description of Call Down the Sun as approaching funeral doom feels even more apt here. The gentler arpeggios and acoustics evoke passages from Lone Wanderer, but these moments often erupt suddenly into aggressive bursts, calling to mind LLNN at their most intense. Konvent experiment with more blackened elements as well, with tremolos adding a furious tempo to the conclusion of “Exorcise” and blackened rasps adding scorn to List’s threat that “You will burn” on “In the Unknown.” Yet something hopeful manages to emerge, with tracks like “Firesky” utilizing a triumphant guitar tone, similar to what Oromet did on The Sinking Isle, and also adding some surprise cleans that leave you reeling in complex feelings of exuberance and gloom.2

Stellar performances and strong production values enhance the evocative songwriting. New guitarist Hernan fits right in, with punishing distortion that harks back to prior releases and captivating riffs that sustain the lengthier song passages. These riffs have heft and meat on their bones, and yet Hernan easily swaps from their violence to a lovely, delicate touch on the gentler segments. Julie Simonsen, behind the kit, enhances these tonal shifts, switching between cymbal taps to breakneck drum kicks. The methodical beating of the bass drum on “In the Unknown” adds an ominous note that signals a dark shift in the mood. Heidi Brink’s bass contributes depth and weight, often in surprising ways, including an understated melody on “Scorning” that gives the sense of a boundless current running through the music. Her bass, in combination with a terrific arpeggiated guitar rhythm and List’s formidable growls, leads to an emotionally charged moment that elevates the terrific “Scorning” as the highlight of Firesky—and potential song of the year.

Firesky is a slow burn, albeit with rewarding payoffs that make it a mesmerizing work of art. It builds upon Konvent’s already established strengths while pushing their music into new dynamic directions. One could quibble about the length, as some passages grow a touch repetitive, but the captivating music flies right by, leaving you wanting more. The mix also pushes List’s growls a bit too far back at times, but she remains a powerful presence even so. Even the instrumental outro, that oft-complained-about trope, feels like the perfect closure—the mix of strings, acoustics, and the burning of a fire contributes to the complexity of emotions the album evokes, a sense of justice prevailing but at a dark cost. Firesky is a truly remarkable record.

Rating: 4.5/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: November 6th, 2026

Norwegian progressive metal outfit Extol have carved out quite the niche of a career for themselves in their sporadically functioning thirty-three years of existence. Starting life as a heavily blackened (though not purely black) outfit in debut Burial, sophomore release Undeceived saw them make a lurch towards proper death, only to see third album Synergy still further flirt with thrash, ’til finally fourth LP The Blueprint Dives shed most of their heaviest tendencies into pure post-metalisms. This somewhat controversially received record was the last salvo from the band for eight years, until the self-titled Extol was suddenly unleashed, presenting a remarkably unified album which saw the band channeling each of their previously developed skillsets in a masterfully blended vision while fully restoring the metal to their prog. Now, thirteen years later, they have returned with their scant sixth album, Aura of Decay. Has time brought forth moth and rust to their treasures?

Though typically marked by an evolutionary bent from album to album, Aura of Decay sees Extol picking up right where Extol left off. Rather than focusing on any particular subgenre and augmenting it through their melodic, techy progressivisms, Extol are content to flex all their Opethian muscles at once, filtering deathly riffing, blackened accents, and creative drum patterns that lurch from thrash to death and everything in between with gusto and joy. While various songs channel more of an increased emphasis in specific flavors, with “Shield and Alibi” featuring pit-igniting ferocity, and “Vile Path” utilizing uncomfortable disso-black leads, the overall package is one which uses the widespread building blocks in the Extol toolkit to construct an album which reaches well beyond specific subgenre labels. The net result is a record where each individual cut comes with its own highlight and voice, while the complete body of work gels together with excellent assembly, and usually, excellent flow.

Extol have rarely been a band who channel aggression into typically angry or depressive fare, and Aura of Decay keeps that trend alive. Even the more intense moments across the album—the confident, modern Decapitated-esque chugging section of “Beneath the Dirt”, the melancholic arpeggios kicking off “Merciless Hunger”, to name but a couple—come bookended with tones which are drenched in color, perpetually buoyed by lead vocalist Peter Espevoll’s angelic cleans. His voice is no high-pitched, whiny power metal participant, instead featuring a confident, strong tenor. Using a technique of deeply layered harmonization, his singing adds a celestial flair both to the spacious “End of Times” and the sudden chord bends sandwiched between violent stuttering leads in “Wrecked Within Walls.” Still, the man struts his Norway street-cred aplenty, with his mighty, blackened shriek taking plenty of center stage, sometimes nodding towards Synergy with more thrash-centric rasps. Though never short of fierce moments to trigger the banging of heads, Extol fuse major keys and progressions into expected drops and snarls, leading to a work which is invigorating without channeling the regular negativity one would expect.

In Extol’s zeal for the regal and the expansive, Aura of Decay does come at a slight sacrifice of the more immediate power laced within Extol. Not every track hits with the same cover-to-cover greatness, with “Vile Path” more of a highlight-wielder than a fully fleshed-out song, and “Dimness of Lingering Gloom” appearing more disjointed in its various sections than is typical, with bass solos and uplifting choruses sounding more cobbled together with the requisite heavier parts. Generally, flow is a strength of the band, thanks to the drumming of David Husvik and his talent for creative fills in pockets and cheerful use of cymbal clangs to emphasize weight in riffs where one would normally use double bass. His performance is a standout throughout the album, meshing well with returning founding guitarist Christer Espevoll’s habit of transmogrifying ethereal, meditative leads into sudden and thunderous climaxes. “Beneath the Dirt” shows off Extol’s penchant for mercurial transitions at their best, from sparkling solos, drum virtuosity, and engaging cleans that distort into bellowing, throat-shredding, and back, consistently reinforced by Ole Børud’s meaty, cranked-up bass lines. While arguably devoid of any instant showstoppers like Extol’s “A Gift Beyond Human Reach”,1 Aura of Decay is a grower, finding its memorability by transcending the sum of its parts, rather than being a highlight reel bolstered by “merely” good songs for padding.

Ultimately, these notes on moments of certain songs are mere quibbles, and where Aura of Decay lands in the band’s discography comes down to a matter of taste. One thing is for certain: Extol have returned with an offering which keeps their trajectory of mighty prog excellence alive and well. I can only hope it doesn’t take till my late 40’s for another offering. Colorful, vibrant, and eclectic, while competently wielding thunder and might in harmonious degree, Aura of Decay is a triumphant resurrection of the often overlooked elder statesmen of progressive metal. Though some may be disappointed by the increased focus on melodic theatrics over raw heaviness, Extol have created a worthy celebration of their history while continuing to keep their eyes firmly toward the heavens forward.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: n/a | Format Reviewed: A stream! Blasphemy!
Label: Solid State Records
Website: facebook.com/extolofficial
Releases Worldwide: November 6th, 2026