Author Andrew Doherty
Green metal, avant-garde black metal, progressive metal, experimental metal … whatever it is, “VIII: Selenotrope” is Botanist’s eleventh full release. The VIII signifies that it is the eighth with Otrebor in sole charge. Otrebor is the composer and multi-instrumentalist, and… Continue Reading →
From the admirable ViciSolum label comes Ring of Gyges with this album. I hadn’t heard of this band previously, but on the face of it they’re right up my street. Peddling progressive metal with intriguing “odd rhythmic patterns”, the stated… Continue Reading →
This nicely packaged album comes from Parisian band Moonreich, who have been plying their trade since 2008 and have released five albums including this one. The sleeve-work is probably the only nice element of it, as this is a black… Continue Reading →
I was pleased when I read that this, the third album release from Enforced, was “an aggressive, no frills thrash record”. The previous album “Kill Grid” (2021) was exactly that, and I loved it. On the basis of that album… Continue Reading →
I don’t know so much about the Indonesian music scene but what I do know is that there are a vast number of bands, most of whom people don’t know about. Post and atmospheric black metal is Numeron’s chosen style…. Continue Reading →
30 years on from forming, Graveworm now release their ninth album. My time of listening to this band was in the 00s with the releases of “Engraved in Black” (2003) and (N)utopia (2005), both of which form part of my… Continue Reading →
I studied the sleeve picture of this album, trying to work out where the railway station is. Somewhere in the US I guess, not that it matters as the cold, obscure scene with the deserted platform and smattering of lights… Continue Reading →
Four pieces of black metal about the cosmos sum up this short work. The artist and sound engineer behind Dione is Krystian Lukaszewicz, who as the founder of Black Aura Audio offers “sound, chaos and music production”. Fire and fury… Continue Reading →
“Evergreen animates expansive imagery, stirring notes with cerulean bodies of calm rippled surfaces …. Healing grounds, enlighten. To catch fire and fire down over the problematic uncertainties”. This lyrical extract from “Healing Grounds”, the opening track of this second album… Continue Reading →
The very title of this album points to melancholy. The suggestion here was something dark and light, and maybe deep, and hints in style of bands like Swallow the Sun, Katatonia and Novembre. My reaction when I saw mention of… Continue Reading →
A bit more mainstream than some of the works reviewed on this site, Black Orchid Empire do pride themselves on a combination of heaviness, melody, emotion power and rhythmic complexity. If done well, this is a potent combination. The band… Continue Reading →
From Tilburg in the Netherlands, Witte Wieven bring us their first album after almost 10 years of existence. The shadowy dark sounds point us to a deeper underworld on this black post metal work. So as you’d expect this work… Continue Reading →