Author Andrew Doherty
Maybe it’s a Swedish thing, but Tribulation struck me as a strange bunch when I saw them live. They were energetic, creative and interesting in a darkly melodic and progressive way. I liked their album “Children of the Night” (2015),… Continue Reading →
Always a bit of a sucker for symphonic black metal, I was pleased to have the opportunity to sample this album from Finland’s Vargrav, the project of V-Khaoz, the former drummer of the atmospheric black metal band Kalmankantaja. This “act… Continue Reading →
Anything with Jens Bogren in charge of production means high quality and high output. This is the man responsible, amongst others, for works by Opeth, Devin Townsend, Dimmu Borgir and In Vain. This is In Vain’s fourth album release. Sure… Continue Reading →
This is extreme progressive art, a combination of extreme metal, progressive, avant-garde and post rock music. Deconstructing Sequence fell out of the ashes of the black metal band Northwail. The title is grandiose. So is the energy-charged start which soars… Continue Reading →
Yhdarl’s claim to fame is their ability to crush “all music boundaries between suicidal, depressive, doom, noise and drone black metal”. With a link to Cult of Erinyes and a host of other bands, “Loss” is the Franco-Belgian duo’s eighth… Continue Reading →
Gothenburg’s Avatar describe themselves as “a dark, twisted circus sideshow that’s built around bombastically grooving melodic death n’ roll”. Now on their seventh album with a multitude of singles, a live pedigree and a larger than life persona, this album… Continue Reading →
I was hugely impressed with Sinsistro’s previous album “Semente” (2016), as was my fellow reviewer and friend Erik from The Netherlands and no doubt many others who heard it. Broadly gothic at its heart, it exuded sheer dark power. So… Continue Reading →
“Suffer the Cold” is the re-release of a 2015 work by a solo black metal artist from Québec, Canada, who operates under the name of Circle of Salt. This release interested me particularly because historically Canada has such a reputation… Continue Reading →
Solo black metal projects tend to be more intense, I suppose because there’s no possibility of inter-human compromise. Evilfeast is no exception. This is the Polish misanthropist Grim Spirit’s fifth full album release. The expected properties are there: wind, cold,… Continue Reading →
I don’t know how it’s possible not to appreciate Diablo Swing Orchestra, but I suppose we all have different circuitry, which provides our different or even non-existent tastes in music. This is their fourth album of jazz swing metal, laced… Continue Reading →
For today’s dose of atmospheric black metal, we move to Austria. My first impression when picking up this album was of the selection of grandiose titles. And I was pleased when “The Golden Key to a Pandemonium Kingdom” lived up… Continue Reading →
This intriguing-sounding album is in fact this French bass and drum noise duo’s first, but having been around for seven years they have been honing their ideas, touring and releasing a trio of EPs. I don’t know at what point… Continue Reading →