Puppe Magnetik has existed since 2022 as the brainchild of Finnish musician Aina Virtanen. Laudans Deum (Rune Serpent Europa) is the project’s debut record, and it promises to blend elements of Neofolk, Dark Ambient, Death-Industrial, and Avant-Garde music.Continue reading
Although only formed in 2022, you could easily be forgiven for thinking that Leipzig speed metallers Morbyda have been around since the early eighties as debut album Under the Spell (Dying Victims Productions) hits all the right nostalgia notes while delivering something uniquely its own.Continue reading
Over the years, I have come across music that covers the full spectrum of emotion and appreciate most of it. Sometimes I just need a good angry album to take the edge off, and Mugshot has delivered just that. All The Devils Are Here (Pure Noise Records) is a storm of twelve tracks that blow past you in less than half an hour. The mixture of hardcore punk and Swedish death metal ebbs and flows in either direction as the album progresses, keeping my attention.Continue reading
Melodic Metalcore has come on in leaps and bounds in the past half decade, with acts like Catch Your Breath earning their stripes with the high numbers of streams on TikTok as well as Bad Omens becoming a stand-out act in the genre with the help of a single album, the cleaner, more Pop and R&B-influenced side to the genre is making waves in the scene. Continue reading
Charleston, West Virginia’s metal veterans Byzantine return with their long-anticipated new album, Harbingers (Metal Blade Records), set for release on June 13th, 2025.Continue reading
Volbeat‘s hook-heavy fusion of Rock and Roll and Metal continues apace with G.O.A.T (Republic/Universal) – not a reference to Ronaldo or Messi but rather God Of Angels Trust. This is their ninth record and it follows in the footsteps of predecessor Servant of the Mind – but much heavier. Continue reading
There’s something about Grindcore that is so ridiculous that it ironically makes me like it more. Melbourne’s own King Parrot dropped their long-awaited fourth full-length record, A Young Person’s Guide To (Housecore Records), which brings the riffs, the groove, and all the disgusting, yet funny lyrics. Each track attempts to stand out on its own, but the back half of the album has a couple of duds; however, it does finish strong!Continue reading
Change often comes at the most inconvenient time. Something Pennsylvanian Progressive Death Metal act Rivers Of Nihil discovered when they were forced into parting ways with enigmatic frontman Jake Dieffenbach after 2021’s groundbreaking album The Work. Hiring from within to avoid losing momentum, bassist Adam Biggs took over the now vacant vocalist position while second guitarist Andy Thomas was recruited from fellow Pennsylvanians Black Crown Initiate.Continue reading
Among the decades-old origins of Thrash, Hardcore Punk looms large. Many acts evolved from those humble rage-fueled beginnings. Onslaught never forgot; Origins Of Aggression (Reigning Phoenix Music), a celebration of the band’s forty years, aggressively reminds us of their fidelity.Continue reading
Proving that career paths often never work out quite the way you imagine, Finnish experimentalists …And Oceans was founded by the two guitarists of Death Metallers Festerday and began life as a fairly straight-forward Black Metal act. After metamorphosing into something more akin to Black Cybermetal on their 2001 album A.M.G.O.D., in 2005, the band changed their name to Havoc Unit before reverting to Festerday a few years later. A band that continues to exist despite the reformation of …And Oceans in 2019. Continue reading