Author Andrew Doherty
I first became acquainted with Leprous’s quirky brand of prog metal in 2010 at ProgPower Europe. Everyone there was struck by the originality and freedom of their music. “The Congregation” is the Norwegian band’s fourth album. “The Congregation” is extraordinary…. Continue Reading →
Normally split albums serve as a sampler for a couple of unknown bands. These two bands may be unknown but this double cd is a substantial package. Dormant Inferno are from India while Dionysus hail from Pakistan. I can’t add… Continue Reading →
Fresh from the black pudding fields of Ramsbottom come Foetal Juice. Actually “fresh” wouldn’t really describe Sam, the vocalist of FJ (the new OJ?) when I first met him, as he was drenched in sweat after the band’s performance at… Continue Reading →
For their third album Sammal have declared a “second coming”, declaring that they want to be themselves and shake off any comparisons with Black Sabbath or Uriah Heep. My personal recollection of listening to Sammal was of a retro progressive… Continue Reading →
Some years ago a lively Belgian band Iconoclasm played at the Infernal Damnation Fest in London. Their brand of black metal was so intense and noxious that their sound managed to drown out the fire alarm. Someone alerted us to… Continue Reading →
Do you ever hark back to the sounds of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span? Or have you never heard of these groups? I can’t say that I was especially into 1970s folk rock, being more enthused by the likes of… Continue Reading →
Who could resist “seven tracks of classic black metal replenished by cold wave melancholy and depressive-catatonic doom metal”? On top of that Cién are from Poland. The description of these seven hefty tracks doesn’t do them justice. There are of… Continue Reading →
Florida’s Abiotic present their second album “Casuistry”. Whatever “Casuistry” is, it seems to involve large portions of technical riffage in a decidedly death metal framework. It’s impossible not to come back to the word technical. Progressive patterns are interwoven into… Continue Reading →
“Haunted”, Demonic Slaughter’s fifth album release, captures the aura of old school black metal. It’s about the decay of mankind. It’s cold and frosty. Essentially, that’s the sum of it. Demonic Slaughter are Polish but that’s incidental as the style… Continue Reading →
It was no hardship to listen to Kontinuum’s 2012 album “Earth Blood Magic” again in preparation for this one. Rightly the Icelandic band’s contribution to “hypnotic and spiritual music noise” received universal claim. “Kyrr” is another album of intrigue, and… Continue Reading →
Khors seem to have been carving a good reputation for a long time, treading a path of heathen black metal, so I was surprised to find out that their first album was not released until 2005. “Night Falls onto the… Continue Reading →
Black metal from Poland conjures up a vivid image of uncompromising throaty harshness. I happened to mention to someone the other day that I was reviewing this band’s album, and unwittingly earned a badge of respect for being willing to… Continue Reading →