Album Reviews

American black metal outfit Wolves in the Throne Room returns with a new EP release “Crypt of Ancestral Knowledge” released via Relapse Records on September 29th, 2023. If there is ever a personification of their sonic filigree that would personify the art of the trio and the charm of dark beauty that is drawn from nature-themed content, then the new outing simply describes the sublime craft that has been refined over the years.
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Finnish black metal stalwarts Moonlight Sorcery finally bring forth their first full-length album “Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle” released on September 29th, 2023, via Avantgarde Music. Heralding a new era of a hybrid style of symphonic power metal and the epic sound of wintry black metal, Moonlight Sorcery successfully managed to raise the bar high for its new achievement. Following the release of the two EP’s “Piercing Through the Frozen Eternity” and “Nightwind: The Conqueror from the Stars” which was released earlier this year, the trio were focusing on their first studio album to cause a huge stir.
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Black Stone Cherry have their eighth studio album, 'Screamin' At The Sky', set for release on Friday 29th September. After a rather not so hard and heavy styled album, we are very curious what the new album will bring. Back to the roots? Still softer and more melodic? Something completely new? Let's find out.
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Toronto-based death metal outfit Tomb Mold finds its niche with the surprising release of the fourth album “The Enduring Spirit” which was digitally released on September 15th, 2023 out of nowhere. The physical copies are slated for release date on October 13th via 20 Buck Spin. Now evolving into a high-tech Sci-Fi kind of death metal, Tomb Mold’s fourth chapter seems to be the second attempt to navigate further into the realms of cosmic space.
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Mexican death/groove grindcore cartel Brujeria is back with fifth album “Esto Es Brujeria” out now via Nuclear Blast. Established in 1989 Brujeria was one of the first Latin American bands to be influenced by British styled death/grind. In the newest album which features sixteen tracks the band initiates their savage comeback with a vile attitude moreover, the lineup includes four original members Juan Brujo (vocals), Fantasma (vocals), Hongo (bass guitar), Pinche Peach (vocals), and a slew of other musicians from bands such as Criminal, Lock Up, and Carcass.
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Canadian brutal technical death metal quartet Cryptopsy released their eighth studio album “As Gomorrah Burns” on September 8th, 2023, via Nuclear Blast. Cryptopsy had a huge fan base in the early nineties and even the band captured the attention with their second full-length album “None So Vile” in 1996, the Canadian lads pioneered the extreme metal scene. The later albums such as “Whisper Supremacy” and “Once Was Not” were unable to overshadow the success of the sophomore. Despite the band had gone through multiple lineup changes over the past two decades, drummer/backing vocals Flo Mounier (Vltimas) was at the helm as the last remaining original member.
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The bloody history of the Hungarian noblewoman Erszebet or Elisabeth Bathory has inspired countless artists – be it in literature, movies or music. Where you have obviously the Swedish legendary band Bathory itself of course, next to Cradle of Filth’s classic concept album ‘Cruelty and the Beast’ to name but two of the most immediately recognizable ones. It is also the chosen moniker of a one woman project headed by one Rachel Bloodspell Moongoddess, although I doubt that’s actually what’s printed on her driver’s licence.
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U.S. death metal titans Cannibal Corpse are back with their sixteenth album “Chaos Horrific” out on Metal Blade Records on September 22nd, 2023. Following the previous installment “Violence Unhinged” which combined a solid aural splatter of gore-themed death metal, featuring guitarist Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal) who makes his second appearance on this record. The lineup put in a visceral performance with drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz, bassist Alex Webster, guitarist Rob Barrett and vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher to deliver old-fashioned brutality.
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Once more, my favorites Swedish gunslingers have crawled out of their shallow graves from the northern prairies of Scandinavia. How should one describe you the music of the Coffinshakers? Imagine Johnny Cash on Halloween and you’re halfway there.
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Scotland and England based death metal five-piece Ageless Summoning debuted their first studio album “Corruption the Entempled Plane” on July 21st, 2023, via Dark Descent Records. Having the notion of sounding raw and otherworldly in the way of the early wave of Finnish and U.S. death metal, Ageless Summoning aptly invokes the themes of atmospheric death metal. The band's lineup consists of Derek Wright (bass guitar), Hamish Mackintosh (drums), Gregg Cowell (guitars), Ali Lauder (vocals) and Rory Strachan (guitars).
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