Category Archives: Album Reviews

ALBUM REVIEW: Wolftooth – Blood And Iron

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It would be a stretch to call Wolftooth’s third full-length a Doom Metal album, but Blood And Iron (Napalm Records) is a rather methodical listen by their standards. The songs run noticeably longer than their first two efforts, especially when compared to the compact anthems on Valhalla, with the seven-minute runtimes on the opening ‘Ahab’ and the title track being their lengthiest to date. The pacing also seems slightly more lumbering as the faster sequences have a sort of hesitation behind them and the hooks are decidedly more subtle.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Darkwoods My Betrothed – Angel Of Carnage Unleashed

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One of the more fascinating projects to be revived during everyone’s pandemic-induced free time, Darkwoods My Betrothed has returned with their first album since 1998’s Witch-Hunts. Angel of Carnage Unleashed (Napalm Records) sustains their old style for the most part, showing off a variant of Viking Black Metal with hearty Symphonic flourishes. Of course, it’s always interesting to see how time will toy with a preexisting formula, especially one that has gone undisturbed for twenty-three years.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Rhapsody Of Fire – Glory For Salvation

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Ready to wage bloody battle against the drudgery of everyday life once more, Italian power metallers and emerald sword aficionados Rhapsody of Fire return with all dragons blazing on their latest album Glory For Salvation (AFM Records). Driven by escapism and pure fantasy, there’s simply no room or requirement for conventional subjects like relationships, politics or social commentary in this hour or so of questing and wizard worship. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Cynic – Ascension Codes

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It’s been a rough road for Cynic frontman Paul Masvidal over the last year or so. With the sad and untimely deaths of bass player Sean Malone and former drummer Sean Reinert, it would have been reasonable to assume that any new music produced under the Cynic name would cast a bleak shadow indeed.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Apostle of Solitude – Until The Darkness Goes

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Apostle Of Solitude’s fifth full-length doubles down on the formula last expressed on 2018’s From Gold To Ash, condensing their signature melancholic Doom Metal even further to its most foundational elements. Until The Darkness Goes (Cruz Del Sur Music) is just a little over thirty-six minutes long, making it their shortest album to date, with the six songs herein almost exclusively driven by slow riffs and mournful vocal harmonies.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Swallow the Sun – Moonflowers

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Swallow the Sun is one of those bands that has created a notable amount of music over the years while remaining true to their own unique sound. They have managed to consistently innovate their thoughtful voice while maintaining their originality. For over twenty years, this Finnish act has been a wheel and stern to the Doom Metal genre. They have steered their ship into the darker depths of this vast category and beyond. It has only been two years since we were given their last album, When a Shadow is Forced into the Light (Century Media Records), yet the founder and writer for the band, Juha Raivio still has a lot to say. The group’s eighth full-length record, Moonflowers (Century Media Records) is coming out to expose their deeper levels of heartache and affliction. Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: 1914 – Where Fear and Weapons Meet

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1914 may have their Blackened Death/Doom formula honed to a science, but it’s still interesting to note how their methods get affected as their platform gradually expands. Their third album, Where Fear And Weapons Meet (Napalm Records), certainly sees some effects of this as their highest profile release so far. The production job is their most polished to date and the riffs have a more noticeably grandiose edge to them than usual. They even got Nick Holmes to perform guest vocals on the appropriately Paradise Lost-esque brooding of ‘…And A Cross Now Marks His Place.’

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ALBUM REVIEW: The Lurking Fear – Death Madness Horror Decay

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Consistency and identity – albeit a distorted, perturbed sense of being – are the cornerstones of the second album of The Lurking Fear – the “ugly step-child” (according to Tomas Lindberg Redant) of Swedish melodeath rejuvenants At The Gates. There has been a conscious effort to double down and to make clear what was originally “just” a side-project is, why it exists, and just what it’s purpose is. Indeed, as the parent group have taken further strides to redefine and push themselves since their return, particularly this year, so too the offspring has engaged in a campaign of scent-marking; defining their own identity on Death, Madness, Horror, Decay’(Century Media). 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Exodus – Persona Non Grata

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There’s a line in 1982 science fiction movie Blade Runner which goes: “The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long”. While this might be true, every rule has its exception and Bay Area thrashers Exodus are exactly that. Since dishing out their first full-length lesson in violence way back in 1985, the San Franciscan legends have seen off opposition from virtually everywhere. Even with an extended hiatus during the nineties the band’s absence never felt terminal, more like they were simply lying in wait to strike again.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Khemmis –  Deceiver – Nuclear Blast 

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Hailing from Denver, Khemmis is a blossoming band that has been turning heads since they began to jam in 2012. They cultivated their own little corner in the extensive genre of Doom Metal by creating a strong, unique voice among the other hopeful hordes and wannabes. The success from their second full-length, Hunted (20 Buck Spin) released in 2016, gave them a spotlight and they have been thriving in its beam ever since. Now these fellas are trimmed down to three members, have signed a new record deal, and are getting ready to release their fourth full-length album, Deceiver (Nuclear Blast). The raw, artistic depths that this group can reach with their heaviness is tunneling even deeper on this new record. By intensifying their emotional provocation and sound, Khemmis has struck gold.  Continue reading →