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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

Belphegor – Conjuring The Dead (Nuclear Blast)

These Austrians have been a band that I have always had a very fleeting interest in but never paid much attention to. On the occasions that one of their albums has come by it has always had the once over,… Continue Reading →

Orob – Into the Room of Perpetual Echoes (S/R)

A very poetic and atmospheric title sets you up nicely for this second EP from French post, progressive black metal band Orob. After a short choral intro we are flung rapidly down ‘The Pathway’ and it is quickly evident from… Continue Reading →

Midnight – No Mercy For Mayhem (Hell’s Headbangers)

More lust filth and sleaze from masked marauders Midnight and to say I had been looking forward to this second studio album following on from the excellent ‘Satanic Royalty’ of 2011 would be an understatement. Songs on that album were… Continue Reading →

Deadlock – The Re-Arrival (Lifeforce)

There’s been a few changes in the Deadlock camp which means that there has been a certain amount of pressure on the German melodic groovers of late. First they lost original male vocalist Johannes Prem meaning that bassist John Gahlert… Continue Reading →

Pentagram Chile, Ravens Creed, Craven Idol, Hybris & Ataud – London Purple Turtle 2/8/14

South American styled, savage black thrashing madness fills the venue at the ungodly time of 4.30 as 1st band Ataud kick this show off. Unlike the others on the bill this lot are completely new to me but the trio… Continue Reading →

Chaos Moon – Resurrection Extract (I Voidhanger)

Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Alex Poole is behind everything we hear as far as Chaos Moon are concerned. The project was around between 2004 and 2011 releasing various split’s EP’s a compilation and a couple of albums and then was put… Continue Reading →

Cocksure – TVMALSV (Metropolis)

Well this is a welcome return for a brand new band, yeah I know that doesn’t really make sense but…what we actually have here is Chris Connelly going back to his roots in the band that he was an original… Continue Reading →

Possessed, Grave Miasma & Unfathomable Ruination – London Garage 28/7/14

If you had not encountered anything in the way of death metal since the headliners had released their two classic albums you would have wondered just what had happened in the last 3 decades for it to evolve into what… Continue Reading →

Interview – Birth A.D.

I Blame You is the debut album from Texans Birth A.D. Playing a style of crossover thrash not really heard since the glory days of the 80’s it pretty much slapped me silly and is an album that I have… Continue Reading →

Eastern Front – Descent Into Genocide (Candlelight)

It’s been almost four years since debut album ‘Blood On Snow’ was unleashed and we have been looking forward to new material from this English troop formed in Ipswich for some time. One of the reasons it has taken a… Continue Reading →

English Dogs – The Thing With Two Heads (Candlelight)

A very good album title, as The English Dogs are very much a band with two heads, with two different versions of them out there. Forming as a punk band in the early 80’s and playing with the likes of… Continue Reading →

Birdeatsbaby – The Bullet Within (Dead Round Eyes)

Subconsciously knowing that this was next on my review pile I had a really strange dream last night involving birds trying to eat babies. I guess looking at the band name one assumes that it is a human baby being… Continue Reading →

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