Album Reviews

Apart from having very finely honed material, the international black metal super group Parfaxitas has brought their brand of dark esoteric music on the debut album 'Weaver of the Black Moon'. The band is formed by members of Merihem, Almyrkvi, Sinmara, Slidhr, Whoredom Rife and Manetheren. Their distinct style of incorporating elements from the second and third wave of black metal can easily create any atmosphere they like.
Read More >

Tampa, Florida-based technical death metal formation Nocturnus AD is back with the sophomore offering 'Unicursal' out via Profound Lore Records on May 17th, 2024. Five years after debuting their full-length album 'Paradox', the quintet bends time and space in the next gritty symphonic sci-fi installment. While the cosmic blend of synth and technical riffing somehow defines the composition, Mike Browning (vocals, drums), Damien Heftel (guitars), Belial Koblak (guitars, backing vocals), John Holdren (keyboards) and Kyle Sokol (bass) elaborate on a complex and a unique style of death metal.
Read More >

‘Citylight Sessions’ is a recording of a live concert, but not just any run-of-the-mill tour gig this Finnish ensemble did. Quite the contrary, these masters of melancholy have taken 5 tracks from their latest album ‘The Garden’ and essentially reinvented themselves.
Read More >

In 2021, Holding Absence released their previous album The Greatest Mistake of My Life. Their second album, for me the first one that I got to hear. I remember that it felt so pure, so raw and so real. The album was about loss, and you felt that. Their first album was about love, their new album The Noble Art of Self Destruction is about the person that has left after all you've been though together, and the lessons that they have learned from their trauma. I'm ready for this one, are you?
Read More >

Having made a name for themselves in the past years, the Philadelphia doom metal act Crypt Sermon took the epic elements of bands such as Solitude Aeturnus and Candlemass and molded them into an exceptional sound. Heavy, well-paced and crushing, there is something strongly reminiscent of classic doom metal bands here. The latest full-length album 'Stygian Rose' is out via Dark Descent Records since 14th June 2024. Crypt Sermon is all about the quality and the musical talents of drummer Enrique Sagarnaga, guitarists Steve Jannson and Frank Chin, bassist Matt Knox and keyboardist Tanner Anderson are all at their peak.
Read More >

New Zealand-based dissonant death metal act Ulcerate follows its modern agglomeration principle in the band’s seventh album 'Cutting the Throat of God', out via Debemur Morti Productions on July 14th, 2024. The conception of fusing atmosphere and technicality has been enhanced with each studio release. It is the way of this New Zealander trio to bring their works of wonder and to push further the thresholds in the realms of death metal.
Read More >

Trondheim’s black metal entity Whoredom Rife continues to rise into the edifice of the Norwegian black metal scene alongside bands like Djevel. The duo V (all instruments, songwriting) and K.R (vocals) always have an exceptional taste in black metal to offer. Their influence and the rooted songwriting bring atmosphere and malevolence of cold dark tremolos. Whoredom Rife has infested its roots from the likes of Satyricon and Taake and the fourth installment 'Den Vrede Makt' achieves the Northern signature of icy black metal, but the band takes a different direction on the latest studio album.
Read More >

GHØSTKID may not sound too familiar to your ears, but lead singer Sushi maybe will. He used to be the lead singer of Electric Callboy, doing scream and clean vocals. As an Electric Callboy fan, I definitely wanted to check GHØSTKID out as well. Let's see what they have to offer with their second album called 'Hollywood Suicide'.
Read More >

Long-running German black metal quartet Tsatthoggua returns after two decades and a half. The third full-length album 'We Are God' harnesses an intense, beastly sound and takes its splendor to an energetic formula, thus bringing back the infernal black metal trait of the 90s. Tsatthoggua was formed in 1993 and released its debut album 'Hosanna Bizarre' in 1996 and was followed by the second album 'Trans Cunt Whip' in 1998 before the band went disappearing from the international scene. The classic lineup includes the founding members False Prophet (bass), Lightning Bolt (drums), Nar Marratuk (guitars) and Northwind (vocals).
Read More >

Rising like a burning phoenix from the ashes of Nifelheim, Hellbutcher is an international black metal band formed by vocalist Per "Hellbutcher" Gustavsson (ex-Nifelheim), the debut self-titled album 'Hellbutcher' is one of the finest albums I have heard so far this year. The lineup includes Devastator (drums) AKA Martin Axenrot, Necrophiliac (guitars), Eld (bass), and Iron Beast (guitars). The ultimate embodiment of raw black/thrash metal appears to be exempt of the modern sound hence, Hellbutcher infests an aesthetic that will likely draw fans of old-school metal.
Read More >