For quite some time now, but arguably in the last few years especially, Transcending Obscurity Records has been one of the most consistently excellent champions for new, exciting and often innovative extreme metal acts, both in quality and in the sheer volume of their releases. Continue reading
Winter is undeniably creeping forward as the nights draw longer and the cold ever sharper. Even aside from this, happenings feel ultimately bleak and the world is increasingly grief-stricken as a result. Perhaps suitably, Convocation makes a welcome return; a band that conjures that sense of foreboding and misery, if in a general sense rather than at specific events.
Named after the epic 17th-century biblical poem by John Milton, Paradise Lost are without a doubt one of the real success stories of British Heavy Metal. Continue reading
There’s a solitary figure on a frozen plane, playing a strange melody, while a howling storm beats a furious march against his back. He’s probably being chased by goblins as well. That’s one way to describe A Dialogue With The Eeriest Sublime (I, Voidhanger Records) the second album by Italian (kind of one man) band Vertebra Atlantis. Another way would be as intricate, powerful, creative and atmospheric death / black metal. Evocative, lyrical, mysterious, magical.
Ghost Cult Keefy caught up with Hamish Glencross of Godthyrmm (ex-Vallenfyre, My Dying Bride, Solstice) to discuss the just-released second album from the band – “Distortions!” It’s out now via Profound Lore! We chatted about the new album, his adjustment to being a frontman, their trilogy of albums, how their friendship with Pallbearer influenced the band, guest appearances, the influence of Metallica and classic metal, and much more!
Allow me to go out on a limb here: the bathroom floor of a frat house on a Saturday night/Sunday morning has less bacteria and filth than Thorn’s newest record. But don’t be fooled into thinking Evergloom (Transcending Obscurity Records) is solely reliant on gag-inducing landscapes. The collective is armed with an innate ability to devise structured songs that possess personality and conjure truly frightening thoughts.
London-based three-piece Urne announced themselves with the stylish Serpent & Spirit, one of the standout Metal debuts of 2021, and a gloriously dismal collection of songs that unashamedly paid homage to an influence of classic eighties Thrash Metal, mixed with an intriguing blend of traditional rock and melodic death metal.
Ghost Cult caught up with Derrick Vella last fall about his band Dream Unending! The band is a side project of Vella (Tomb Mold) and Justin DeTore (Innumerable Forms, Sumerlands). We did a track-by-track review with Derrick of “Song of Salvation” which is out now via 20 Buck Spin! We chatted about side projects, concept albums, and more!
Distortion and volume alone do not equate to heavy. Heaviness is the feeling these sounds invoke. Sonic alchemy can be oppressive, horrifying, depressing, creepy or somehow unsettling; Gateway finds themselves touching on all of these feelings on their new album Galgeendood (Transcending Obscurity Records). Belgium is not at the top of my list when it comes to places I might expect this kind of subterranean death doom to emerge from, but here we are. This album is the follow-up to Robert Van Oyen’s 2015 debut, under the Gateway moniker.Continue reading
Anyone can make a concept album (which is not to say that it’s easy, but that it doesn’t depend on a particular musical style). That said, when it comes to the rock-opera-style concept album, the tendencies towards elaborate instrumental explorations and grand, dramatic spectacle often found in progressive rock and metal, provide particularly fertile ground. Pink Floyd, Queensryche, The Who, and many others have followed this path (coloured by their own particular musical approaches).