Author Andy Barker
Alcohol can be a terrible thing. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. It was like it was sat there, lonely, on the shelf at Ave Noctum HQ, cold, shivering and unclaimed – The new Gothminister album…. Continue Reading →
Every time I’ve heard current bands in the Thrash/Death Metal category it’s always Kreator/Slayer/Morbid Angel/Death (delete as appropriate) by numbers. Like there were only a limited number of Thrash bands towards the extreme side of the genre and it’s best… Continue Reading →
There has to be Dragons. There’s always Dragons. Occasionally Goblins, Dwarves, Trolls, Knights and Unicorns – sometimes all at the same time (which can really stain the carpet), hopefully there are Damsels, Princesses and at the very least Wenches, but… Continue Reading →
Maybe I should start by stating that Delain have done 3 full length albums to date. I really liked their debut – one of the best Gothic Metal albums of that year, I thought their second one had some good… Continue Reading →
I suppose I should have kept up with Revelation’s releases in recent years but I had good reason not to. Back in 1991, armed with 20 quid I went in to town in search of some good old Doom Metal… Continue Reading →
You’ve got to admire Atrocity for being totally un-taggable! You can’t pigeon-hole Atrocity…usually because the band themselves don’t really know what particular genre their next album will be! They’ve given us albums in the style of Death/Industrial/Gothic/Technical Death/Folk/Dark…you get the… Continue Reading →
I do rather admire Flotsam and Jetsam for sticking with it. They’re not one of the “Thrash is popular again – let’s reform” type bands, they’ve kept plugging away since that debut in 1986. Best known for giving Metallica a… Continue Reading →
As far as I remember, Memory Garden were one of the better known band’s in a 90’s Swedish Metal movement. Along with Memento Mori, Tad Morose, Morgana Lefay and Abstrakt Algebra, it was all a kind of Dark/Power/Doom thing that… Continue Reading →
2013’s Apnoe sees Germany’s Todtgelichter take further strides away from their Black Metal roots of a few years ago. Continuing the trend of the band’s 2010 Angst CD, but pushing things further, there is very little on here that could… Continue Reading →
One of the few bands toiling away incessantly whilst flying the flag for British Metal around the globe are Northampton’s Sacred Mother Tongue. Out of The Darkness builds nicely from the groundwork done on their debut full-length The Ruin Of… Continue Reading →
With a name like This Misery Garden you know you’re not in for a rib-tickling laugh-fest, but which particular area of musical misery do this Swiss Metal band occupy on their second release? From the outset a heavy nod towards… Continue Reading →
On first listen it’s an easy job to review this Austrian Metal band’s 4th CD of premier-league, top quality, Symphonic Power Metal. It hasn’t deviated in style from previous release ‘Death & Legacy’, so most of it sounds like Sonata… Continue Reading →