Back in 2022, Portuguese Extreme Metal recluses Gaerea released Mirage (Season of Mist), my album of the year. It was the first time I had been exposed to the shrouded-in-mystery outfit, but it was nearly impossible to choose any other record to headline that year.Continue reading
Majestic, mysterious, magical Blue Oyster Cult career once again down “Hot Rails To Hell”. Join the latest celebration of the most supernatural, sinful and iconic rock ’n’ roll outfit from the Lovecraftian woods, mists and shores of Long Island.Continue reading
In thirty-three minutes, Carnophage balance some of the most fetid vocals with cheeky technical bluster, leaving a mark on Matter Of A Darker Nature (Transcending Obscurity Records) which leaves an enthusiastic Brutal/Tech-Death impression.Continue reading
A dark, dramatic, intense collection of relatively extreme music, Death.Horses.Black. (Listenable Records) is delivered with commitment and no small expertise by Belgian prog-stoner outfit My Diligence.Continue reading
Whilst veteran darkened Gothic Metallers Rotting Christ have been with renowned label Season Of Mist for seventeen years, the partnership seems to have particularly flourished with a quadrilogy of albums that began ten years ago with the revered Κατά τον δαίμονα εαυτού (or, Katá ton Daímona Eaytoy). The 2013 release saw a progression of their sound to a fuller, more refined and stately entity. That proud style and sound has been polished and shaped through the last decade, culminating in ΠΡΟ ΧΡΙΣΤΟU (Pro Xristou). Continue reading
Green Metal like Black Metal … hammered dulcimers instead of guitars … gruff, growling vocals as well as clean singing, plus choral voices and symphonic passages. Yes, Botanist are “plant based”. Yes, Paleobotany (Prophecy Productions) is heavy and proggy. And yes, it’s very different, in a good way. Continue reading
At now around a decade since their inception, Italy’s SYK have been garnering a, perhaps understated, but certainly formidable reputation with a penchant for complex and dissonant Death Metal. Continue reading
A tasty slice of rhythmic, headbanging Sludge, this groovy, nicely gnarly EP finds Hollow Leg in fine fettle, smoking hot and leaving many others in their wake – leaving them in the dust, you could say.Continue reading
How many times have you heard a band described as genuinely “unsettling” to listen to? In all honesty, this scribe in question has probably described a few in writing as such. Well, more than likely those acts cannot come even close to the nauseating realism, punishing content and sonic barrage of New York’s Couch Slut over the last few years.
Edinburgh-formed Progressive Metal heavyweights Dvne take their latest step forward with the accomplished Voidkind (Metal Blade Records).