Category ALBUM
If ever a name could conjure up a mental image, calling your band The Sabbathian and the debut EP ‘Ritual Rites’ does just that, creating an anticipation of dark tones, Black Sabbath guitar work, and lyrics of druidic mysticism; on… Continue Reading →
It’s funny how one minor misgiving (in the case of Myrkur ‘where have they come from that gets their debut recording signed up by Relapse?’) can get you worried. Yes there’s the visuals that made me fear another dull post-rock… Continue Reading →
Whilst I may now be in my 45th year on this planet, and sometimes look back with fondness on the days of vinyl, tape exchanges, and badly printed fanzines on a few pages of photocopied A4 paper, the modern age… Continue Reading →
Their ‘Mounting the World’ EP was a good taster for what this band are about. Essentially, good fun traditional/speed/thrash/glam metal. ‘Rise and Ride’ is a mix of everything that was fun about metal some decades ago. Presented with a sound… Continue Reading →
There is no denying that Steve Bastado aka Steve (Speed Machine) Redman has led one hell of an interesting life. He probably has the scars to prove it and he definitely has the tattoos. He was in both the Magic… Continue Reading →
Thanks to UK Metallers Xerath’s consistent live work it appears that I am one of the few Ave Noctum scribes to be unfamiliar with the band. So why, therefore does it fall upon me to review their imaginatively titled… Continue Reading →
Apparently going since 1999, this is my first crossing of paths with Dutch band Onheil, who describe themselves as blackened thrash/heavy metal. Add ‘highly melodic’ in there and you’re about spot on. The melody comes mostly courtesy of Maidenesque guitar… Continue Reading →
Unrelenting is a word best used to describe this release. Featuring three tracks each from two fairly new US extreme bands, it rages pretty much non-stop for the 26 minute duration of its stay. First up are Throne of Sacrilege,… Continue Reading →
Opener ‘Eternal Rains Will Come’ is a stunner. It kicks straight in with a keyboard style (courtesy of new member Joakim Svalberg) that Ken Hensley would be proud to call his own, before in classic Opeth style, they turn… Continue Reading →
Here’s the seventh album from this particular German school of creeping black death. “The musical expression of emotional abysses” is the way they describe it. “Venereal Dawn” centres on the theme of living light but in a way that spawns… Continue Reading →
“Please Explode” what a polite way to put things. So much nicer than “Circle pit NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW” The title is where the politesse stops though. “Mudfucker” erupts from the speakers with the urgency of a bad pint exiting the colon. This… Continue Reading →
Hardcore merchants Shrine produced a couple of promising demos and have been touring Europe with their brand of Converge-meets-sludge musical compound which, from the evidence, all sounds ideal for the live circuit. But Shrine is no more (too many other… Continue Reading →