Author Andrew Doherty
Although British, Horrified wasn’t a name known to me either through recordings or live appearance. I discovered that “Sentinel” is their second EP to go with three full albums in their seven years of existence. Complex riffage with a certain… Continue Reading →
This band from Massachusetts doesn’t conform to stereotypes. An avantgarde front stands with extreme metal and an avowed love of prog-jazz fusion. We don’t lurch from one passage to another as it’s smoother than that, but you have to have… Continue Reading →
Black metal from Poland is not a rarity, but it is a trademark for quality. Arkona are up there amongst them, having spent 26 years on the subject and now reaching the milestone of their seventh full album release. This… Continue Reading →
This is a really interesting release. I remember The Old Dead Tree in particular from their excellent 2003 work “The Nameless Disease”. They followed this up with two albums before splitting, resulting in the EP “The End” being their first… Continue Reading →
After two firecracker albums in “Gates No Longer Shut” (2016) and “Igne Natura Renovatur Integra” (2018), Polish black metal band Misanthropic Rage makes a welcome return with this one. Both of the previous albums were atmospheric and sophisticated, differing from… Continue Reading →
No time for messing about. From the off Avslut, which I believe means “Closed” in Swedish take us down the darkest and most violent path. Dark Funeral meets Marduk. “Stigens Ände”, the second track stirred me more, dragging us along… Continue Reading →
Instrumental albums are not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m fine with them. This band’s music is described as “cinematic”. I would be disappointed if it wasn’t as without the obstacle of vocals, good instrumental music should explore scenes and… Continue Reading →
From the admirable Les Acteurs de l’Ombre label come the band Mur. This is the band’s second album. It is described as “an album with a hardcore organic atmosphere tinted with rough and dynamic post-black metal”. The opener and evocatively… Continue Reading →
Psychedelic rock is the epithet attributed to “III”, appropriately the third album from Bask. I soon realised there was more than this cursory description, helpful as it is in giving a framework. “Three White Feet”, which opens up, is a… Continue Reading →
Driving power metal accompanied by a story line, was my initial reaction when trying to capture this self-proclaimed epic metal work. There is a concept here, which relates to the story of a person whose consciousness is digitally preserved after… Continue Reading →
Potentially we have here a temple of weirdness and melancholy as we have a combination of Canadian “doom experimentalists” Völur and San Franciscan “neo-classical ambient collective” Amber Asylum. Reading up on the background, the two bands involved recognise the same… Continue Reading →
This likeable bunch of Australians have been around since 1999, and are now releasing their seventh album. Their melodic style of prog metal often has a commercial ring to it, and having heard clips prior to receiving this album, and… Continue Reading →