ALBUM REVIEW: Dark Embrace – Land Of Witches


 

Known more for its repetitive club beats and nauseatingly upbeat dance music, Spain does actually have an ever-increasing underground metal scene, and the symphonic/melodic death metal of Galician act Dark Embrace is about as far removed from glow sticks and foam parties as you can possibly get.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Bedsore – Dreaming The Strife For Love


Hello friends, quick question, what do you get when you mix prog rock with metal? Well short answer, you get the Italian based band Bedsore. This statement, although true falls very short though, of defining what this band is presenting on their new cut Dreaming The Strife For Love (20 Buck Spin.)Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Luna Honey – Bound


When the music leads you into strange lands and genre categorisations start to feel like a near-impossibility, thank the heavens for Luna Honey who save us from wandering the streets at night, lost in perplexed reflection. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Conjonctive – Misère de Poussière


Swiss death metallers Conjonctive have released Misère de Poussière (Tenacity Music), an album that features their dual vocalists Randy Schaller from Voice Of Ruin and Sonia Kaya. Unlike many European Death Metal bands, there is a bouncing groove to their sound at times that might bring to mind the rougher moments of a band like Slipknot. Not that the band is trying to hop on the Nu-Metal revival train; things like the tremolo-picked guitars prove to the contrary. Though with ample Black Metal influence, aggression is more of a focus than a worship of darkness. They are skilled at delivering deliberate accents to provide more hooks than just battering your senses.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Opeth – The Last Will and Testament


 

Rejoice, fellow death metal fans, Opeth has brought back the harsh vocals! That’s right. Mikael Ackerfeldt and company figured now was the time, as their new album, The Last Will & Testament (Reigning Phoenix Music), has the perfect concept to complement it. The reading of a post-World War 1 patriarch’s last will and testament that spills out family secrets, track by track, section by section of the document (the first seven tracks are named simply after which paragraph is being recited). In terms of instrumentals, this album is my favorite mix of the melodic death metal era of Opeth and the more recent prog-rock era of the band.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Polar – Five Arrows


It seemed as if it was the end for the Guildford-based Metalcore stalwarts Polar after having lost a lot of members of the original band in 2023. 

Not content with letting the band be put to rest, Adam Woodford decided to bring on a whole new team and carry on the passion project. Continue reading