Author Andrew Doherty
The colourful sleeve picture is of a city at war, lightening, barbed wire and skeletons. This is the image of the coolly-named Canadian old-school thrash metal band Mortillery. Destruction is their world in common with the band of that name…. Continue Reading →
In the same way that Tool redefine musical boundaries and structures, so do Minutian from Finland. ”Repercussions” matches the claim they make to have an unusual angle on progressive music. What is remarkable is that it is their debut album…. Continue Reading →
The progressive scene in Poland is very interesting. Spearheaded by Riverside and supported by excellent bands like Votum and Acute, here’s another one. In fact Disperse draw influence from Cynic, Dream Theater and Pink Floyd with this, their second album…. Continue Reading →
This is the first full release from Italian band Your Tomorrow Alone whose gothic-progressive output recalls the likes of Paradise Lost, Anathema and Trail of Tears. “Ordinary Lives” was a case of much promise and lost momentum. The promise was… Continue Reading →
By way of preparation I had the pleasure of listening again to Dperd’s previous work “Io Sono Un Errore”. It is as moody and sultry a work as you could wish to hear. “Sleepy” was my wife’s description. I’d have… Continue Reading →
As death metal goes, this is about as brutal and uncompromising as it gets. “Iconoclasm” is the second album from this Swedish band and comes, to quote the lead singer, “with a nosebleed guarantee”. Yet in spite of the all-conquering… Continue Reading →
Here’s a theory. Bands with four letter words have something interesting to say: Tool, Rush, Root, dEUS, Wham! Ok, perhaps this isn’t universally true but it certainly works for Boil from Denmark. It took me a while to get to… Continue Reading →
I’d experienced Vedic metal before and gained insight into this extremely dark form by listening to Rudra and interviewing the band’s highly intelligent leader Kathir. Where I was breaking new ground here was in reviewing metal from India. This seven… Continue Reading →
The concept behind this album is of a “post-apocalyptic” cosmos in which two rival bands, the Raiders and the Crystal Gods fight it out after the collapse of industrial revolution. Another claim which this Berlin band make is of playing… Continue Reading →
My first task here was to get over my initial impression that “The Gift of Life” by Switzerland’s Dreamshade sounds a bit girly. My hang-up, I know, and not everything needs to be about crumbling edges, failed opportunities and ruination…. Continue Reading →
Audrey Horne are an interesting band. With illustrious connections in the sphere of more extreme metal, this hard rock band from Bergen in Norway specialise in original and interesting songs. Thus was my experience of one live performance and the… Continue Reading →
Over the years, Cult of Luna have carved out a formidable reputation for the creation of dark atmospheric metal music. In 2003, I saw them play in Brighton alongside, bizarrely, Dillinger Escape Plan. Barely visible through the fog of dry… Continue Reading →