ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • DECEPTION – Daenacteh

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://deceptionnorway.bandcamp.com/ A few reviews back, I had the pleasure to review the latest album from the Norwegian death metal stalwarts Blood Red Throne, Nonagon²⁰²⁴ as well as a chance to give my first 6/6 in a long time. Their new vocalist, Sindre Wathne Johnsen, is the founder of another Norwegian…

  • DONNER – The Van Gennep Gap

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://donner.bandcamp.com/album/the-van-gennep-gap Being rather infatuated with this entity’s debut effort, namely the evocative Hesitant Light from 2021, I had high hopes for White Willow mastermind Jacob Holm-Lupo’s latest creation under the Donner moniker. Now that The Van Gennep Gap is out and I have had the opportunity to properly immerse myself in…

  • WHITE WILLOW – Storm Season (2024 Remaster)

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://whitewillow.bandcamp.com/album/storm-season-remaster Storm Season, the fourth full-length journey by renowned prog outfit White Willow, was recently remastered by the group’s very own Jakob Holm-Lupo, and the sparkling new edition will see the light of day in mid-December thanks to the good people at Karisma Records. Did I mention that it will be…

  • THE FALLEN PROPHETS – Primordial Instinct

    RELEASE YEAR:  2024BAND URL: Review by Raynier Swiegers Now this is Death Metal! With top-notch production, exceptional sound quality, striking artwork, and outstanding musicianship, this EP is a true masterpiece. The classical guitar intro and outro are simply brilliant – a perfect way to kick off a blistering Death Metal EP. The vocals, like the…

  • BENIGHTED – Ekbom

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://www.benighted.fr/ The French purveyors of (currently) death metal grindcore have been around since the dusk of the last century but are getting only tighter and better as if in spite of their name, Benighted, which means “pitifully ignorant or in a state of contemptible intellectual or moral ignorance” or “overtaken…

  • WIZRD – Elements

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024  BAND URL: https://wizrd.bandcamp.com/album/elements The musically gifted and delightfully adventurous Norwegian rockers named Wizrd released a stunning debut album titled Seasons back in 2022, and ever since then I have been looking forward to its follow- up. Elements will arrive in early December and let me tell you straight up that this could very…

  • THE VERGE – The Verge

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://the–verge.bandcamp.com/album/the-verge The latest release on the lovable Is It Jazz? Records is a proper tour de force in every conceivable way and a dizzying yet incredibly cohesive output that harbors a raw, authentic power unlike anything else that I have come across.   This musically tasty and elegant yet highly explosive…

  • WHITE WILLOW – Sacrament (2024 Remaster)

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024  BAND URL: https://whitewillow.bandcamp.com/album/sacrament-remaster The third album by renowned prog rockers White willow, namely the one entitled Sacrament, was recently given an all-analogue boost and remastered by main-man (and musical mastermind) Jacob Holm Lupo, and new life has definitely been breathed into this already evocative creation. Originally released back in 2000 to great acclaim…

  • YOBREPUS – A Rhizome Revolution Part 2

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://yobrepus.bandcamp.com/album/a-rhizome-revolution-part-1-2 I was thoroughly taken with A Rhizome Revolution Part 1 when that came out roughly seven months ago as it was an emotionally demanding yet perfectly accessible and rewarding listen that managed to transport the listener elsewhere and leave a lasting impression. The textures and motifs the band so effortlessly…

  • ELECTRIC HIGH – Colorful White Lies

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://electrichigh.bandcamp.com/album/colorful-white-lies Apollon Records were kind enough to hand me a copy of this raw and raunchy debut offering by the Bergen-based hard rockers known as Electric High, and I am eternally grateful to them for that as this groove-laden, catchy, and energetic record ticks a lot of the boxes for me…

  • TOBY AND THE WHOLE TRUTH – Look Out! (Vol. 1)

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://tobyjepsonofficial.com/ Renowned songwriter, screenwriter, record producer, and radio host Toby Jepson is as talented as they come, but as much as I admire his work with Wayward Sons, it is rather refreshing to once again hear same brand-new solo compositions of his. “Look Out!” marks the first musical chapter of a…

  • INADREAM – Strange Words

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/inadreamband/ Inadream, which is a German outfit dabbling in 80s inspired post-punk, released this energetic record of theirs via Echozone just a few days ago, and it certainly has its merits and some catchy and cool moments to it without being a decidedly great or noteworthy slab of raunchy rock. The…

  • ARS VENEFICIUM – The Lurking Shadow of Death

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: http://lnk.to/thelurkingshadowofdeath Ars Veneficium is about as trustworthy as a dark roast coffee on an early Sunday morning, which means fucking excellent, solid, and massively potent in every sense of the word. While I have enjoyed their previous albums and outputs immensely, their latest offering is undoubtedly their most remarkable and accomplished…

  • THERMALITY – The Final Hours

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://thermalitysweden.bandcamp.com/ I wonder if In Flames founders Anders Frieden and Björn Gelotte had been privy to listening to fellow Gothenburg melodeathsters Thermality’s independently released (3 years after formation) very good debut album Before I Get To Rest²⁰²³ when the former contemplated the direction of Foregone²⁰²³, which was released on that…

  • STARFORCE – Age of Nano

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://starforce.bandcamp.com/album/age-of-nano-ep Thanks to the good people over at Darkhan Music we can now look forward to a glorious vinyl edition of the deftly executed Age of Nano by the gifted Finnish entity known as Starforce, and what could possibly be cooler than that? Stylistically speaking, we are talking synthwave of the…

  • UTFLOD – Efterdønn

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024  BAND URL: https://utflod.bandcamp.com/album/efterd-nn I absolutely love and cherish pretty much everything about this band and their latest pummeling effort. Not only is Utflod one (if not the) hardest hitting thing since the first Rocky movie and as devastatingly fierce as they come; they have also shaped and perfected a unique sound and a…

  • ULCERATE – Cutting The Throat Of God

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://www.ulcerate-officia.com/ Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God? – Epicurus As soon…

  • ENDE – L’Aube Des Anath​è​mes

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024  BAND URL: https://lnk.to/laubedesanathemes The French black metal horde known as Ende is not one that I had encountered prior to this, but they have been quite prolific ever since the band’s inception in 2010, and I must say that this seven-track opus of theirs is oftentimes rather spellbinding and a perfectly melancholy listen.…

  • GURTHANG – Martyrium

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://lnk.to/martyrium The delightfully brooding and utterly compelling act known as Gurthang rarely fails to disappoint this scribe, and it just so happens that Martyrium is their most accomplished and impressive musical feat to date. Thoroughly drenched in a thick and impenetrably dark atmosphere that swallows you whole, these five addictive compositions merge somber…

  • ETERNAL STORM – A Giant Bound To Fall

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://eternalstorm.bandcamp.com/ The debut album by the Spanish progressive melodeathsters Eternal Storm was a perfect blend of the melodic and the brutal with both aspects as genuinely in its proper extreme, and I heralded that fact in my review here. There is always trepidation and anxiety that accompanies any band’s sophomore…

  • DEVIN TOWNSEND – PowerNerd

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://hevydevy.com One of my top musical heroes since…many years now (I couldn’t help but fall in love with the musician whose preconcert playlist included Aqua and Vengaboys and other 90s party hits, prior to an Oslo show many years ago and having tons of black-clothed mean looking people dancing wildly on…

  • THANATEROS – Tranceforming

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://thanateros.bandcamp.com/ I distinctly recall reviewing the previous two offerings by Thanateros, namely Insomnia (2020) and On Fragile Wings (2022), and back then I was of the opinion that the German outfit had a lot of good ideas and that their records contained promise and potential. In other words, the albums had their noteworthy and enjoyable…

  • GERSEY DEOFUL – Reign ov Hoof and Wing

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024  BAND URL: https://gerseydeoful.bandcamp.com/album/reign-ov-hoof-and-wing I could not have been happier (nor more excited for that matter) when I saw that the New Jersey-based black metal outfit known as Gersey Deoful had unleashed a fresh new torrent of tunes collectively titled Reign ov Hoof and Wing. Their previous offerings have been a most welcome addition…

  • THE FLYING NORSEMEN – The Flying Norsemen

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://theflyingnorsemen.bandcamp.com/album/the-flying-norsemen With a few original members of renowned prog rockers Arabs in Aspic in tow and a brilliantly designed album artwork, this is exactly the kind of thing that immediately caught my attention and let me tell you straight off the bat that I was not disappointed in the slightest by…

  • TROJKA – Strobemørke

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://trojkabergen.bandcamp.com/album/strobem-rke Norwegian prog-pop rockers Trojka is a rather engaging and entertaining musical experience and an entity that brings a certain warmth and humor to its eclectic brand of music. Quirky is certainly one word that comes into play here, and the great thing about this Bergen-based outfit is that these chaps…

  • RITUAL – The Story of Mr. Bogd – Part 1

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/ritual.se/ Swedish prog rockers Ritual are back on the musical radar following a painfully long hiatus, but judging by the quality of the sprawling epics that constitute this grand-sounding opus of theirs, they have spent their time between albums wisely as The Story of Mr. Bogd – Part 1 displays great…

  • ARILD BRØTER – A Spectre of Sounds: James Bond Music Reimagined

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.apollonrecords.no/product-page/arild-br%C3%B8ter-a-spectre-of-sounds-james-bond-music-reimagined This staggeringly creative and hugely enjoyable album by Arild Brøter (who is primarily known for his work with Norwegian prog rockers Pymlico) totally swept me off my feet and instantly made me pay close attention. Arild is apparently a humongous James Bond fan, and rightly so, if you ask me.…

  • TEMPLE OF DECAY – Anti Deus

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/ Ever since I received and reviewed the Temple of Decay album titled Rigor Mortis (2022), which also came out via the awe-inspiring Godz ov War Productions, I have eagerly awaited a follow- up to that excellent piece of work, and the time has finally come to sink one’s teeth into…

  • 1349 – The Wolf & the King

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://1349som.bandcamp.com/album/the-wolf-the-king The Norwegian black metal stalwarts 1349 have been a force to be reckoned with these past many years, and this fiery eighth output of theirs is yet another solid and tightly executed affair with plenty of venom and sinister power to it. To these ears, The Wolf and the King…

  • KLOGR – Fractured Realities

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://klogr.net/ The good people over at Stampede Press were kind enough to mail me a promo copy of the eagerly anticipated new album by the Italian alt. rock/modern melodic metal group known as Klogr, which turned out to be a pleasingly impassioned affair containing several thrilling and darkly sensuous moments. These…