RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://orcd.co/enthronedashspawn The Belgian black metal trailblazers known as Enthroned have been rather prolific since the band’s inception back in 1993, and the remarkable thing about this most unholy and impenetrably dark outfit is that they are getting better and better with time. With that in mind, let us take a closer look…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://zebulondoom.bandcamp.com/album/come-day-of-reckoning-2 The splendid Norwegian doom metal outfit known as Zebulon unleashed this musically dynamic force of nature just a couple of weeks ago, and there is an exciting and emotive edge as well as heaps of gloom to the 6-track effort, which sports the evocative title Come Day of Reckoning, reflecting its…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.stevemorseofficial.com/ The supremely skilled Steve Morse, who has delighted us for decades with his vibrant and vigorous work with Deep Purple, Dixie Dregs, Flying Colors, Kansas, and not least his solo offerings, is back with a new album that sees him team up with such renowned musicians as bass player Dave LaRue…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://apollonrecords.bandcamp.com/music Originally released twenty-five years ago, what better way to mark the occasion and celebrate its anniversary than having Jacob Holm-Lupo remaster the material and release it on vinyl and digitally via Apollon Records Prog for the first time ever?! Inspired by the likes of Camel and Uriah Heep, this self-titled offering…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://1349som.bandcamp.com/album/winter-mass Captured for posterity four years ago at the Parkteatret in Oslo, this ungodly conjuring of Norwegian black metal by long-running ensemble 1349 is an exciting live document that shows how well their compositions translate to the stage, and the fact that they performed on home turf in front of an appreciative…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://doublemute.bandcamp.com/album/corporate-culture-final-v2 One of the most unique entities out there today is undoubtedly the deeply intriguing Double Mute and their highly eclectic and delightfully twisted on all things progressive. Also, for the sake of clarity, let there be no doubt that main man Jake Rosenberg is a musical genius whose ideas and visions…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://antinoe.bandcamp.com/ Far removed from the world of metal music yet infinitely darker, more haunting, and relentlessly bleaker is this mesmerizing output titled The Fold by the Spanish artist known as Antinoë, which is the solo vehicle of the immensely talented neo-classical pianist and vocalist Teresa Marraco. Although she does have black metal…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://patriarchy.bandcamp.com/album/manual-for-dying-2 Hot on the heels of their wicked live album (namely Suffer with Me) released earlier this year comes this riveting new studio offering, which sports the brilliant title Manual for Dying, and the disc is nothing if not consistent, cohesive, and mesmeric. Its ten sharp and memorable tracks represent the very…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/ This is my first encounter with the Polish black metal entity known as Königreichssaal, and I must say that I am impressed with (and rather intrigued by) this splendid little 4-track EP of theirs, which is frontloaded with stellar ideas and thick, impenetrable atmospheres of the moody and contemplative variety. …
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://aflyingfish.bandcamp.com/album/el-pez-que-vol-act-ii The previous full-length extravaganza by A Flying Fish appropriately titled El Pez Que Voló – ACT I was one of the prog rock highlights of 2023, so naturally, this recently released successor sporting a most fabulous artwork was highly welcome, and given the content and lyrical narrative of the album, I…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://linktr.ee/LunaMarble Manchester’s very own Luna Marble are set to release this self-titled opus of theirs in early November, and I might as well start out by saying that it is a proper gem that weaves the best parts of Led Zeppelin, the Yardbirds, Jimi Hendrix, early Fleetwood Mac, Rival Sons, and Pink…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://lnk.to/theaphoticvortex Spawned in Austria nearly twenty years ago and having undergone quite the interesting musical evolution since then, Asphagor recently unleashed their fifth full-length onslaught via Immortal Frost Productions, and it just so happens that The Aphotic Vortex ticks pretty much all the right black/death metal boxes and delivers plenty of chills…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://airbagsound.bandcamp.com/album/airbag-dysphoria-live-in-the-netherlands A live album by Norwegian prog rock stalwarts Airbag is not something to be taken lightly; it is a huge-sounding representation of some of their most outstanding and inspired epics being performed by a tight, well-oiled machine that knows exactly how to stir the senses and stimulate the mind of the…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://larsfredrikfroislie.bandcamp.com/album/quattro-racconti The splendid and gloriously appealing Fire Fortellinger opus from 2023 by Wobbler keyboard maestro Lars Fredrik Frøislie is one of those all-around remarkable experiences that I return to at least once a week, and new layers and nuances are discovered every time I do so. With its warm, vibrant, and analogue…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://zakaz.bandcamp.com/album/merki-s-lar-2 The Icelandic entity known as Zakaz recorded this bleak, blood-chilling opus a few years ago, and thanks to the good people over at Gymnocal Industries, the utterly compelling and frighteningly dark gem is now available on physical media and will hopefully reach a wide audience. Rooted in icy and windswept black…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/czarne-obrazy Godz ov War Productions have an uncanny talent for unearthing some of the best and most musically interesting extreme metal bands hailing from the underground, and the Polish quintet known as Pogarda is a prime example of just that. This 5-track EP of theirs was released just a couple of days…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/grahambonnetofficial/ The legendary Graham Bonnet (whose highly productive career in music has lasted for more years than he probably cares to remember himself) is set to release this cool-looking live album just in time for Christmas, and it is a robust-sounding affair all around. Bonnet is arguably best known for his work…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.tobyjepsonofficial.com/ The second installment in the talented Toby Jepson’s (Wayward Sons, Little Angels) “Look Out” chronicle will be out in late October and trumps its predecessor in every conceivable way. As simple as that, really. Now, do please read on, okay? Weaving traits and influences from classic rock, early seventies glam rock,…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/ronnieromeroofficial/ The immensely talented vocalist Ronnie Romero has become a household name in hard rock and heavy metal circles, which is hardly surprising given that he has lent his incredible voice to recordings by Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, Michael Schenker, Vandenberg, Sunstorm, and Lords of Black just to list a few examples. His…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://ringvanmbius.bandcamp.com/album/firebrand The legendary Norwegian proggers collectively known as Ring Van Möbius have consistently made remarkable albums of which no two were alike, and that turns out to be the case with Firebrand also, which came out in early October via Apollon Records Prog. The record differs from everything that came before…
