Even after nearly half a dozen playthroughs, it’s still a challenge identifying a common thread in which to weave together the five tracks of Branches (Self-Released), the latest output from Through Mists’ mastermind James Aniston.Continue reading
Tag Archives: Albums
ALBUM REVIEW: Akhlys – House Of The Black Geminus
Over the past nine years since releasing The Dreaming, things changed for this band. Changed in the best way possible as Akhlys’ new album House Of The Black Geminus (Debemur Morti Productions) features a darker, more intricate layering of sounds, at least on the opening track of their new album. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Maudissez – Maudissez
What Maudissez are able to do with instruments (at least I assume they’re instruments) is unsettling to the nth degree.
The anonymous and self-described anti-Christian blackened sludge-cum-Death/Doom entity doesn’t simply make music; the four tracks featured within Maudissez (Sentient Ruin Labs) are as raw as a mooing filet mignon. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Xasthur – Disharmonic Variations
Dark folk is an all-around enthralling genre with a wide range of well-known names, from Vàli to Ulvesang, but recently, what especially has been catching my attention is the new release from Xasthur – namely Disharmonic Variations, out via Lupus Lounge. Specializing in Black Metal and avant-garde releases, the label has worked with various names of note, including Nachtmystium and Austere.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Vulvodynia – Entabeni
Don’t call it a comeback.
After dispatching a certain troublesome vocalist, South African Deathcore titans Vulvodynia did the only thing they know how: returned with Entabeni (Unique Leader Records), a rapturous, bites-your-head-off full-length that only furthers the outfit’s comfortable position atop the genre.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: 200 Stab Wounds – Manual Manic Procedures
Despite signing with a big-name label, it’s extremely refreshing to find out that hardcore-influenced death metallers 200 Stab Wounds have retained everything that makes their sound great: pounding, catchy riffs; a rancid atmosphere; and thrashy guitar fills when necessary.Continue reading
EP REVIEW: Slugcrust – Discharge(d)
Slugcrust embody everything – and I mean everything – that makes grindcore the most intense, most unique and most captivating subgenre in the entire scene. Having released a pair of EPs and the hellacious slab that was Ecocide (number 10 on my album of the year list) in 2022, the South Carolina-based maniacs have blessed us all with another EP.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Pijn – From Low Beams Of Hope
Sincerity is difficult to fake – ask any politician in the build-up to an election – yet post-rock Manchester collective Pijn (pronounced “pine”) keep it real on their powerful, atmospheric, heartfelt new album, From Low Beams Of Hope (Floodlit Recordings).Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Bangladeafy – Vulture – Nefarious Industries
Eschewing entirely the notions of guitars and bass, two-piece Industrial / Electronica / call-it-what-you’d-like outfit Bangladeafy take a less-is-more approach for sixth full-length, Vulture (Nefarious Industries), with a (pleasingly) heavy emphasis on blending songs into the next, cementing that this record should be listened to the old-school way.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Construct of Lethe – A Kindness Dealt In Venom
Virginia’s very own Construct Of Lethe has released three full-length albums to this day, with A Kindness Dealt In Venom being the most recent, out via Transcending Obscurity Records. The Death Metal unit seems to be fond of incorporating the lyrical themes of chaotic psychological terror into their songs, but on this album they managed to encompass an even more wider range of emotions, from suicidal depression, self-hatred and existential void. Continue reading