Your No. 1 Source For Extreme And Atmospheric Music And Film.

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

The Sacrifice – S/T (Season Of Mist)

It’s not the first time we have been caught out by press hyperbole and definitely won’t be the last. French trio The Sacrifice apparently were originally called Panzer Flower and with a name like that and a number 2 hit… Continue Reading →

Opera – Dario Argento (Cult Films)

As far as many are concerned Opera made in 1987 is the last film truly deserving of director Dario Argento’s auteur status. It also saw the end of the golden era for Italian genre cinema which was rapidly in decline… Continue Reading →

Furia, Au Dessus & Solleme – London Nambucca 6/12/18

Plenty of gigs on in town yet again tonight, heavyweight thrash titans Exodus with Sodom and Death Angel having a Headbangers Ball as well as memories being invoked by Clawfinger. It’s off down the Holloway Road for us black clad… Continue Reading →

Yarn Of The Wicked – Lore * Anne (Pagan Records)

I absolutely had to review this before hearing a single note as this Polish band featuring members of Sauron and Misanthropic Rage have conceptually tackled a subject very close to my heart. Lore Fournier and Anne de Boissy are two… Continue Reading →

The Monolith Deathcult – V2 Vergelding (Human Detonator Records)

Although their music is nothing short of lethally serious Dutch nutters The Monolith Deathcult have a rare sense of humour in the death metal scene and have never been above cracking the odd joke at their expense either. V2 Vergelding… Continue Reading →

Zeal & Ardor + Blanket – London Electric Ballroom 2/12/18

As we hit December silly season commences and for the next couple of weeks there are multiple shows on practically every night and we aint talking pantomimes. Round the corner Terror and assorted crews are tearing The Underworld a new… Continue Reading →

Istina – Revelation Of Unknown (S/R)

Or to give this it’s native title Истина – Откровение Неизвестности. Well I had a case of deja-vu when this turned up from Russia and did not have a clue what I had in front of me but on playing… Continue Reading →

Transmaniacon – The Strange World Of Suzie Pellet (New Heavy Sounds)

Just who is Suzie and why is her world strange? Plenty of questions to answer here. Well apparently she is the creation of author Ian Miller whose work has stretched to book, art, graphic novels and films. She is a… Continue Reading →

Vidres A La Sang – Set De Sang (Blood Fire Death)

Now this lot are a blast from the past as I remembered reviewing the Spanish band whose name means Glass In Blood’s debut self-titled album via Xtreem music way back in 2004. Finding this in my promo boxes of discs… Continue Reading →

Idle Hands – Don’t Waste Your Time (Eisenwald)

Band number 72,453 from the Portland Oregon area. Not sure what is in the water there but it seems to make everyone at least attempt to become a musician, thankfully with this lot, despite the title we are not completely… Continue Reading →

Anomalie – Integra (AOP Records)

The scene in Austria seems a little bit incestuous and anyone involved either on album or live with prime exports Harakiri For The Sky seems to be heavily involved in plenty of other projects and a good family tree between… Continue Reading →

Necandi Homines – Black Hole (Third I Rex)

I have not quite worked out whether it is deep space that Italian cult act Necandi Homines have been mining or the void beneath the crust of the earth but they have certainly dredged up some obsidian gold in their… Continue Reading →

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