While Return Of The Arsonist (Fysisk Format) is a spiritual successor to the Hand Us The Alpha Male EP, the eight-year gap really shows the songwriting prowess Blood Command have amassed. There is less of a focus on the high octane, scattergun approach to the song structures and, as a result, more memorable moments.Continue reading
Roadburn has a history of creating ‘once in a lifetime’ moments every year the festival comes around, and in 2018 we were exposed to the pairing of two of Finland’s most eclectic and psychedelic outfits performing a one-off commissioned piece of music never to be replicated. Oranssi Pazuzu and Dark Buddha Rising created something truly magical on stage that day, fans and critics alike cried out for more, be it a live recording of the set or just one more show. Thankfully, our prayers were not only answered but exceeded, as the dynamic duo of weird and wonderful artists got together again to create Syntheosis (Svart); an entirely new piece of mind-bending brilliance.Continue reading
Animus’ reversal of more traditional Death Metal imagery was a breath of fresh air for many and a point of contention for others. Alongside tours with the likes of Trivium and Bloodstock main stage slots, Venom Prison garnered a large support base from fans and journalists alike, but it’s the ‘difficult second album’ that often causes younger bands to be ditched by the mainstream Metal press. There were those who debunked the band’s debut record as not much more than industry hype, but those people should brace themselves because Samsara (Prosthetic Records) will make the naysayers eat their words.Continue reading
All the way back in 2010, former members of Wolvhammer, The Gates Of Slumber, and Amiensus formed Chrome Waves, but a focus on other projects meant that the band sat firmly on the backburner for many years with just one EP and a few singles to their name. Nearly ten years later, after founding member and guitarist Jeff Wilson left Wolvhammer and Abigail Williams, Chrome Waves has been given new life and the mid-Western post-Black metal trio present us with A Grief Observed (Disorder)Continue reading
When Atrophy came out a year and a little bit ago, Ontario Hardcore outfit Minors made a lasting impression in their twenty-minute onslaught of Converge melancholy and frenetic All Pigs Must Die-like energy. It was another home run for Holy Roar Records, but due to its December release it sadly got overlooked by a large portion of the Metal media. Well, it’s a new year and with that comes new material from the Canadians in the form of Abject Bodies; a traumatic continuation of their uncompromising sludgy, Hardcore oppression.Continue reading
Newcastle’s latest Hardcore reprobates Starve To Survive are back after a whole three years with a new EP, Have Me To Waste (Caliber), hoping to make their own statement of intent and garner some of the attention that the northern Hardcore scene generates, specifically Loathe and God Complex who have been turning more than a few heads over the past year.Continue reading
For the better part of the past six years, Hull’s Mastiff has been slowly festering in the underbelly of the UK’s underground scene. A handful of demos and 2016’s Wrank set expectations for the band to become mainstays of any grotty pub or club gig you’d care to attend, and Plague (APF Records) continues their trend of spreading as much abject misery as musically possible.Continue reading
London’s Khaidian, while not exactly new to the UK’s DIY metal scene, start 2019 off with ambition to set themselves apart from the herd. Not content to be catalogued as one thing or the other, the foursome present to us their debut record Penumbra (Armalyte Industries) in the hopes to push Metal’s boundaries with their blend of poly-rhythmic technicality and electronic flair.Continue reading
We’re nearing the end of another year and no doubt we’re all scrabbling together our now mandatory album of the year lists, all the while agonizing over those handful of records that we leave out or forget, to showcase our personal highlights and the standouts that will be used in future years as a signifier for the high quality of music 2018 has bestowed upon us.Continue reading
They say it’s grim up north, and few bands encapsulate that word better than Hull’s Battalions. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill frostbitten, Battles In The North kind of grim, Battalions specialize in a more belligerent, sludgy form of gloom with enough fuzz to match the amount of facial hair on these four loveable reprobates.Continue reading