Your No. 1 Source For Extreme And Atmospheric Music And Film.

Author Chris Davison

I've been a metal fan since before I can remember anything else, more or less. My dad was always playing Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and AC/DC, so you can probably blame whatever crap score I have just awarded your terrible demo band indirectly to him. I spent my teenage years obsessing about thrash metal, before obsessing about all metal from that point onwards until now. I started reviewing music when Doug McClure was still trying to find the Land That Time Forgot, and in that time I have single handedly listened to every album ever released from Russia and the Baltic States. I live in a rural idyll, and so I don't get to gigs all that often, and thus you can always find me at Bloodstock clutching a flagon of rot-gut cider and smelling like a recently exhumed corpse, making the most of seeing a) other metal fans and b) metal bands. I once got poked in the eye by Lee Dorrian, and Fast Eddie Clarke told me he was still great. I also pulled Lesley Crowther's hair; The rest is just rumour.

Runemagick – Beyond the Cenotaph of Mankind (Hammerheart)

A new Runemagick album is always a source of great pleasure for me. One of the most prolific, yet still obscure bands since the turn of the century, the masters of dread atmosphere have been plying their wares since the… Continue Reading →

Rotpit – Let There Be Rot (War Anthem Records)

Well, at the very least Rotpit gets the best “AC/DC adjacent album pun of the month” award, with the amusing moniker “Let There Be Rot”. Turns out Rotpit are a project featuring the ever-prolific Jonny Pettersson (here on bass and… Continue Reading →

Extermination Order – The Siege of Ascalon (War Anthem Records)

Extermination Order, it would seem, are a five piece from all over the place (California, Germany, Iceland). They cite influences such as early Amon Amarth, Edge of Sanity, and crucially, Bolt Thrower. I have always been puzzled why Bolt Thrower,… Continue Reading →

Lurk – Aegis (Transcending Obscurity)

I always get a little giddy when I get a release from Transcending Obscurity, mostly because owner Kunal has got one of the best ears in extreme metal when it comes to signing exciting bands. I confess that I hadn’t… Continue Reading →

Demonstealer – The Propaganda Machine (Black Lion)

The Demonstealer, whom we shall come back to shortly, has been a band since 1998, but has also been producing released records since 2008, and so by any measure has been in the game a long time. Turns out that… Continue Reading →

Verminous Serpent – The Malign Covenant (Amor Fati Productions)

I volunteered to review this malevolent creature essentially on the basis that it featured none other than A.A.Nemthegea on vocals and bass, and I am a big fan of his output. I really had no idea what else the band… Continue Reading →

Siege of Power – This is Tomorrow (Metal Blade)

I hadn’t heard of Siege of Power to be honest with you, but once I took a look at the band members, I realised that I probably should have done. An American-Dutch collaboration, they’re essentially a bit of a “who’s… Continue Reading →

Aglo – Into the Maze (Gutter Prince Cabal)

Well, it may just be my own sense of stereotyping, but the one place I didn’t expect to get crushing death/doom from was Melbourne, Australia. I of course know that Australia has a proud history of pure heavy metal and… Continue Reading →

Memoriam – Rise to Power (Reaper Entertainment)

Are Memoriam the hardest working British Death Metal band? You’d be hard pressed to find a band who have been quite so industrious with their release schedule, with this – their fifth album in six years, and coming just less… Continue Reading →

Ashen – Ritual of Ash (Bitter Loss Records)

It’s not all that often that I get to listen to Australian Extreme bands, but it turns out that antipodean four piece hail from Perth, and incredibly have only been together since 2020. I say incredibly, because this is a… Continue Reading →

Leper Colony – Leper Colony (Transcending Obscurity)

1985-1988 were really important years in the development of extreme metal. For a while, the terms now used in relatively precise terms by lovers of our brands of noise were relatively interchangeable. I can recall Megadeth proudly calling themselves “state… Continue Reading →

Arkham Witch – Swords Against Death (Metal-On-Metal Records)

The fourth release from the truer-than-true metal warriors from Keighley. It’s fair to say that I am a big fan of Arkham Witch (and The Lamp of Thoth before them), and I think every one of their releases has been… Continue Reading →

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