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Author Pete Woods

Quickly discovering in formative years that I was never quite going to fit in anywhere, I spent time growing up listening to punk, futurist, goth, industrial, metal and psychedelic sounds ranging from Hawkwind to The Sex Gang Children via Japan through to Crass mangled in with Psychic TV and New Model Army. Catching my first band live by accident; The Poison Girls at a G.L.C. free festival, I never looked back. Musical tastes have developed accordingly and I now spend time writing for both Terrorizer and Dominion magazine as well as co-running www.avenoctum.com and pushing the boundaries of genre definition to mould around my own eclectic tastes. Not having the patience to play any instrument myself, I see my writing, to a certain degree as putting something back into the music I love. If I didn't spend time doing this I would be an alcoholic slumped without hope on the cold streets of London. Instead I can be found pint, camera and notepad in hand covering bands both old and new and will happily accept free cider without

Lipid – The Perfect Killing Machine (Great Dane Records)

The family who play together slay together. Well that could well be the case here as I note that three members of this Perfect Killing Machine share the same surname. Active firstly as Naracus since 95 and then as Lipid,… Continue Reading →

Endbroken – Defeat Of Common Sense (Great Dane Records)

Obviously intent on giving me a sound thrashing this is one of a couple of albums landing on the doormat here just before Xmas from Great Dane. Endbroken are a French quintet who are basically starting out having just released… Continue Reading →

Insurrection – Exiled To Earth (Tunnelgeur)

Apparently this label is “responsible for underground alternative releases” although they appear to be few and far between. Judging by the presentation of this EP which turned up with a release date of the 22nd December, Tunnelgeur Records put a… Continue Reading →

Mortuary Drape – Black Mirror (Peaceville)

We are slightly late to this particular funeral. Mind you the same could be said for the cult Italian act who have been relatively quiet as far as new studio material has been concerned after last album ‘Spiritual Independence’ in… Continue Reading →

Ringarë – Of Momentous Endless Night (Avantgarde)

I was interested to hear this as it is along with Häxanu, Krieg, Skáphe and Chaos Moon one of many projects from US guitarist Alex Poole. Jack Blackburn drummer here has almost as many on the go himself and here… Continue Reading →

Albums Of The Year 2023

As we prepare to bid farewell, whether fondly or not, to another year and look back on the albums released in 2023, one thing is evident; creativity is once again through the roof and the music has not slowed down… Continue Reading →

Ektomorf – Vivid Black (AFM)

There’s no stopping Hungarian groove thrashers Ektomorf even if Covid left founding member Zoltàn Farkas full of “pain, hate, anger and disappointment at ungrateful people.” What else was he going to do but turn it all into an angry album?… Continue Reading →

Void – Jadjow (Brucia Records)

With roots stemming back to the late 90’s Void have always been a bit of a curious beast. Founding member Matt Jarman has through the group’s career had not so much as one foot in the Scandi-weird scene but has… Continue Reading →

Ni – Fol Naïs (Dur et Doux)

Mathcore, Noise, Metal, Jazz? That’s the conundrum we are posed with on confronting this album by French instru(mentalists) Ni. Well to me it’s mathcore due to the fact that things never stand still for a second and the motion within… Continue Reading →

RüYYn – Chapter II: The Flames, The Fallen, The Fury (LADLO)

Primarily the work of Romain Paulet although extended to a full band for live excursions RüYYn (pronounced Ruin) are a fairly new outfit only active since 2021. Previous to this they released a self-titled EP which kind of left our… Continue Reading →

The Sun’s Journey Through The Night, Spider God & The Oracle – London Black Heart 26/11/23

This intriguing line-up on a wet and dismal Sunday evening in Camden was certainly an enticing one and is the last of a select few dates throughout the UK. First up are the mysteries of synth wizard The Oracle, a… Continue Reading →

The Oracle & Reign A.D. – The Mountain Peaks Of Prophecy (Repose Records)

Lovingly presented on 180g vinyl, this is a split release from a couple of bands differing in style but with a common theme as inspiration. Said narrative is the biblical resurrection of Christ after spending three days in the tomb… Continue Reading →

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