Author Andrew Doherty
It was a windy night in Camden. Inside the Black Heart, three bands were waiting to treat us to some black metal and other variations. It was dark inside, so much so that Alex on the merch stand had to… Continue Reading →
Infesting Swarm from Germany have taken death metal, mixed it with post metal and doom and some melodic and melancholic passages, and moulded them into perfection. That should be the end of the review, but of course it isn’t. In… Continue Reading →
I remember that Minutian’s first album “Repercussions” (2011) was interesting and accomplished. This one is the same. Since the release of “Repercussions”, the band has had to deal with the death of their guitarist, and this undoubtedly comes across in… Continue Reading →
Hats off to the label for accommodating these two bands from the north of England for this split album. The bands’ own creations are sandwiched between an ambient intro and outro as they would be known in some circles. I’m… Continue Reading →
Loch Vostok blew me away with their previous album “V: The Doctrine Decoded” (2012). Their other albums are pretty good too. The latest one “From These Waters” is self-proclaimed as grittier than the others, and I’d go along with that…. Continue Reading →
From the land of Endstille and Dark Fortress comes Der Weg einer Freiheit, And like those bands there’s a chill in the air, at least to start with as the fire and smoke and darkness develop over the course of… Continue Reading →
It’s cold out there. Everything about this second album and follow up to the impressive “Nihil Euphoria” (2013) from Russia’s Shallow Rivers suggests frost, hopelessness and unmitigated melancholy. So it is with the ominously titled “Of silent winds that whistle… Continue Reading →
Sometimes you hear a story and it’s just a load of whinging, while on other occasions the person or musicians telling the story have something to say and I feel a connection. I find I can make that distinction in… Continue Reading →
A lady sings a Finnish folk song. The soft vocals continue and are accompanied by a hypnotic rhythm. “Salaseura” is slow, steady and calming. It is deep and melancholic. Uhrijuhla, whose name means “Sacrificial Feast” and is inspired by the… Continue Reading →
I was disappointed the last time I reviewed a heavy techno album from Finland, but faced now with the promise of something “left field”, for which I’ve always been a sucker, and the unmissable invitation to “open my bowels”, I… Continue Reading →
Once upon a time … as ever with Carach Angren, stories are being told but they’re unlikely to find themselves on children’s television. In the past we’ve had shipwrecks and curses, and the horrors of the Second World War. We’re… Continue Reading →
When I read that Momentum are from Iceland and play post-metal, I immediately had visions of the recreation of vast expanses and lunar landscapes. To their credit and my shame, they don’t follow such a bland stereotype. “The Freak is… Continue Reading →