Category ALBUM
Doom/death, when done well, can be truly crushing; a wall of dramatic, desolate despair, dripping with atmosphere (and a whole lot of other words beginning with `d’ no doubt). In rare cases, it can be an almost life-changing experience (like… Continue Reading →
The French have a habit of throwing curveballs into whatever purist theme tries to assert itself in extreme metal but, even by Gallic standards, Decline Of The I is a CD-sized can of worms. First of all, this is a… Continue Reading →
Sweden’s fashion of going back to the early 80’s in both musical style and dress code couldn’t be more suited to this band. Night went back to the future to reinvent their self-proclaimed 80’s heavy metal before ’81 attitude as… Continue Reading →
I like simple stuff. I’m no musician (I think my guitar teacher Jack would agree) and I can’t get into hyper technical metal. Stuff that gets guitar nerds worked up into a frothy mess tends to leave me cold. I… 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 →
Poland, musically a land of extremity, be it ‘Hate’ filled, church burning black death or absolute unforgiving grinding carnage. When it comes to doom and certainly that which is of the funeral orientated style it probably is not a country… Continue Reading →
My Dying Bride have a lot to answer for if, as I suspect, the proliferation of doom death bands across various parts of Europe can be laid at their feet. But while with My Dying Bride you can hear the… Continue Reading →
If the last Acherontas album was ambitious in its scope, then this is on another level altogether. Amenti saw Acherontas spreading their leathery wings in ever more promising directions with some solid occult-laden black metal bathed in a backdrop of… Continue Reading →
The biog tells us very little unless you walk firmly down the left hand path. It’s all about Qliphothic depths and catacombs, sulphur dragons, storming beasts, draconian flames, gnostic origins and the fiery King Sutekh. Put the lyrical narratives aside… Continue Reading →
For the uninitiated, Glaciation sees Alcest members Indria (bass) and Winterhalter (drums) take a break from their somewhat higher-profile day job and let their hair down with some rather invigorating post black metal. Given that their parent band has almost… Continue Reading →
This 6 track EP is the third offering from the Swedish trio comprising of Rogga Johansson on bass, guitars and vocals; Grave guitarist Mika Lagrén and drummer Jocke Ringdahl from Sinners Burn. The project is a rather brash black, death,… Continue Reading →
This Dutch sextet’s promo blurb describes their debut as a “72-minute long musical narration through darkness and light, hope and despair”. Within they pummel the listener with a combination of sludge-packed crush, barren post-hardcore and black metal affectations before soothing… Continue Reading →