ALBUM REVIEW: Woe – Legacies of Frailty


 

It has been six years since we last saw new material from Chris Grigg’s Black Metal outfit Woe, and on a global scale it has certainly been an eventful and ultimately catastrophic time in which humanity seems consciously hell-bent on self-destruction and that of the world itself. It is pretty easy to see therefore just where Grigg’s inspiration comes from in the overarching narrative of Legacies of Frailty (Vendetta Records), an album that holds the anguish of such at its forefront alongside a sound of striking ferocity.

Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Celestial Sanctuary- Insatiable Thirst For Torment


 

In an ever-increasingly rich and exciting underground Death Metal scene in the UK, Celestial Sanctuary have been a prominent standard bearer and the ones most likely to break out to bigger things. 2021’s Soul Diminished was a case of a very strong debut album which also showed strong potential to be realised and was backed up with some feverishly received live outings, with the band maximising their opportunities with the likes of Undeath, so expectations on the follow up were always going to be high. Expectations which have been well and truly smashed with the immensely realised Insatiable Thirst For Torment (Church Road Records).

Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: The Sun’s Journey Through The Night- Worldless


 

Whilst perhaps not as highly regarded for the genre as the likes of Norway, the United Kingdom does have a formidable pedigree for producing Black Metal, whether that being down to recognisable names such as Cradle Of Filth up to a current and brilliant crop including the likes of Underdark and Dawn Ray’d. Adding to these ranks are the enigmatic The Sun’s Journey Through The Night, led by vividly masked architect No One (and now joined by equally mysterious Corvus, Deimos, and Lune) and quickly growing a formidable reputation following three, contrasting, full-length albums encompassing raw Black Metal and a full ambient release, plus several smaller releases and demos, leading up to this, their fourth full-length and most realised and adventurous work to date.

Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: The Zenith Passage – Datalysium


 

Having been seven years since the release of their stellar debut full-length album Solipsist (Unique Leader Records), it was sadly seeming to be the case that Technical Death Metaller’s The Zenith Passage were perhaps going to be lost to the annals of time. Therefore it is a given news of a follow-up on Metal Blade is very welcome news and perhaps a sign of bigger things to come from them and as evidenced on Datalysium, time appears to have been kind to them.

Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Voice Of Baceprot – Retas


 

It isn’t often that a band can make a legitimate claim at making a cultural impact on, or even before, their debut album is released, however, it is one that Voice Of Baceprot (or VOB) can certainly make. Hailing from a largely conservative Muslim province and nation in Singajaya, outside of Garut, West Java, Indonesia, the fact the band consists of three young, hijab-wearing women has generated plenty of ire.

Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Scar Symmetry – The Singularity (Phase II – Xenotaph)


 

It has been nine years since Scar Symmetry released their previous album and the first in a planned trilogy, and time has seemingly not been the kindest to them since then with a plethora of delays (am pretty sure we can all guess one of them by now) preventing them releasing any form of follow up.

Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Aodon – Portraits


There are certain facets of life and the world that are absolute. Until the inevitable apocalypse it is simply a given that the sun will rise and set, that the tides ebb and flow, and that, most importantly, Willowtip Records rarely miss. Continue reading