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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

Shrike – Zeitgeist Geistzeit (S/R)

Work cut out with this one. There’s very little information about German band Shrike to be found in English and this disc didn’t even come with a track listing. Still we like a challenge and reviewing things with all the… Continue Reading →

Crucible Of The Vampire – Ian Ross McNamee (Screenbound) Review and Competition

Scroll down for competition. British horror films definitely need support and encouragement although sometimes it can be a difficult task. I am more of an age to appreciate the old guard such as Peter Walker and Norman J Warren and… Continue Reading →

Pensees Nocturnes – Grand Guignol Orchestra (Ladlo Productions)

Envoyer les clowns, progenitors of black circus metal Pensees Nocturnes are back. Actually I just realised they snuck out an album in 2016 independently ‘À boire et à manger’ which I completely missed and it has been a long time… Continue Reading →

Autumn Tears – Colors Hidden Within The Gray (S/R)

After a ten year plus slumber the return of Autumn Tears with EP ‘The Origin Of Sleep’ was a more than welcome one. The neo-classical US based collective had really made their mark on the fringes of our musical world… Continue Reading →

Altarage – The Approaching Roar (Season Of Mist)

Those strange nameless figures have emerged from their dungeon prisons to mount their skeletal steeds and gallop spreading terror across the lands of The Basque Country once more. Nope we are not talking about The Blind Dead although did you… Continue Reading →

Interview – Saqra’s Cult

2019 certainly got off to a fiery start courtesy of The 9th King, second album from Belgian band Saqra’s Cult. Although fairly new on the scene with debut demo ‘Initiation To Forgotten Rites’ being unleashed in 2015 the quartet have… Continue Reading →

Haiku Funeral – Decadent Luminosity (Aesthetic Death)

The past two albums gave me nightmares and hallucinations in more than just title and now I am promised decadence and luminosity. Will a light suddenly go on in my head and understanding be reached as far as Haiku Funeral… Continue Reading →

Blurr Thrower – Les Avatars du Vide (Ladlo Productions)

Yep I took one look at the band name and thought Britpop meets death metal, well you would wouldn’t you? Blurr Thrower are however French and an entirely different entity from a genre crossover which will hopefully never rear its… Continue Reading →

Saqra’s Cult – The 9th King (Amor Fati Productions)

It’s not unusual to have bands from one geographic region dipping back in time and getting thematically entranced by a far removed and often ancient civilisation. Just think about the amount of Americans who walk like an Egyptian for example…. Continue Reading →

Albums Of The Year 2018

Pete Woods (Editor): Top 20 A wise soul once said that “when the music’s over turn off the lights.” Well it has been far from over in 2018 a year which took off at the gallop and simply hasn’t stopped…. Continue Reading →

NAG – Nagged To Death (Fysisk Format)

Can’t complain, this is the right way to get ‘nagged to death’ especially when the means of doing so is by delivering us a nice slab of vinyl. It was a timely arrival too as I have been reading A… Continue Reading →

Tor Marrock – The Concept Of Self (Black Vulture Records)

I think it is fair to say that I have been enjoying the dark, delicious delights of Welsh band Tor Marrock pretty much since inception. They have now delivered three albums and I have caught them at a few shows,… Continue Reading →

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