Tag Archives: metal album reviews

ALBUM REVIEW: King Yosef – Spire of Fear

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King Yosef has always leaned into the more abrasive end of their music, and Spire of Fear (Bleak House Records) has pushed it even further into that direction with an increasingly confrontational aggression. Sonically harrowing with the genre-defining mechanical stomp. That is not to say the entire album just grinds with a robotic pulse, as there are moments like “Glimmer” to provide a more melodic contrast. It’s a darker song with a very reverb-drenched mix that sets the vocals at the end of a dark tunnel. It tapestry of cool sounds that don’t hook into years but serves stark monument of sound.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: In This House of Mourning – Enlèvement

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Striding through a bleak and unsettling journey through the scopes of arcane, malevolent sounds centered around Funeral Doom, Death-Doom, and Extreme Metal; In This House of Mourning releases a full-length entitled Enlèvement–(Self-Released). The album is a 34-minute journey surrounding the discourses of misanthropy and malevolence-centered aesthetics. Aside from the unfiltered, soul-baring thematic discourses, some of the quintessential elements of this album, when it comes to the musical side are the raw production and intricate exploration of a dark, atmospheric sonic worldbuilding.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Blackbraid – Blackbraid III

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The third chapter of Blackbraid is upon us! Blackbraid III (Self-Released ) has been released onto the world, continuing where the previous chapter ended. This installment in the series keeps all of the elements we have all come to love from Sgah’gahsowáh’s (Editor’s note: translated from Indigenous American for “The Witch Hawk”) solo project, with even more guitar leads to melt your face. A few ticks under an hour places Blackbraid III slightly shorter than its predecessor. It’s worth every minute, so keep that finger off the skip button.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Lord of the Lost – OPVS NOIR Vol. 1

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Lord of the Lost is back with OPVS NOIR Vol. 1 (Napalm Records)  which is a grandiose take on Metal that feels like it’s gotten bigger this time around. Midway into the opening track, you can hear how they ae moving up the bill on European festivals with this album. This album comes on the heels of opening slots for Iron Maiden, which forced them to step up their game. They have not dumbed things down for an American audience, so you are either into this or you are not. Yes, the harsher vocals might appeal a little more to Western audiences, but they’re only one aspect. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Alice Cooper – The Revenge of Alice Cooper

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The Revenge of Alice Cooper (earMusic) is the first album with the original Alice Cooper band since Muscle of Love. Making it the band’s 8th album together, and Cooper’s 30th. Bob Ezrin is handling production duties to help them remember what they did back in the day. It opens with the lead single “Black Mamba,” which is slinky and theatrical. Rather than try to recapture the fire that was burning when they recorded Muscle of Love, they are side-stepping this favor of touching on a more “Schools Out” style of borderline Broadway-drama mixed with the Garage Rock sound Cooper has been dipping his boots in the past few albums. Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: False Gods – Lost In Darkness And Distance

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Long Islanders False Gods emerged in 2015 from the ashes of the well-regarded Skeletondealer! Prior releases include a trio of EP’s: 2016’s Wasteland; 2017’s Reports From Oblivion; and 2019’s The Serpent And The Ladde. Twenty-twenty’s full-length debut No Symmetry…Only Disillusion followed soon after, as did 2022’s Neurotopia and finally a 2023 split with Japan’s Abiuro. Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Tar Pit – Scrying the Angel Gate

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The sophomore album from Portland’s Tar Pit, Scrying the Angel Gate (Transylvanian Recordings), sets Lovecraftian themes against a style of doom that relishes the blues-based jams. An organ haunting the opening track from the back of the mix. The backbone of the song is a lumbering wall of fuzzed-out riffage. This song eventually builds the dynamic into a more metallic attack. Vocalist Don Gozalo brings an emotive howl to the songs. Unlike most doom frontmen, he is not as blatant an Ozzy disciple. This helps set their overall sound apart from their peers. Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Umlaut – Désolé

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Post-Mr Bungle’s dissolution in the early 2000s, Clinton “Bär” McKinnon relocated to Melbourne, Australia with stacks of material he’d written originally for the Eureka, California eccentrics. Thereafter, the formation of Umlaut followed, and a line-up that currently reads as the aforementioned McKinnon – Tenor Sax/Flute/ Clarinet/Keyboards/Guitar/Lead Vocals, Angus Leslie – Guitar/Backing Vocals/Keyboards, Bassist Shane Lieber, and recent addition Danny Heifetz (ex-Bungle) on Drums. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Scalp – Not Worthy Of Human Compassion

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If the name doesn’t give it away already, Scalp is your one-stop shop for anything and everything devastating enough to rip the top of your dome clean off.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Tèlma – Ανθρωποβόρος

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Heavily rooted in the traditional Doom Metal-centered alignment, Athens-based Tèlma has consistently presented melancholic sounds with ceremonial atmospheres. They have been around for roughly eight years and are profoundly inspired by many names across the globe when it comes to musical influences – including Russia’s Scald, Finland’s Reverend Bizarre, and Chile’s Procession – though most listeners probably also can sense some Candlemass-esque hints of references in their sounds.  

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