FRIGHTFUL – What Lies Ahead

RELEASE YEAR: 2025  BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/what-lies-ahead A relatively young band in some respects, Frightful came into being in 2016 in Gdansk and have released a couple of demos and EPs since then, but the thing is that they churn out skull-rattling and tightly executed death metal as if they were veterans of the genre. Such is…

MELTED BODIES – The Inevitable Fork

RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: http://www.meltedbodies.com/ Who’s to say it’s impossible to make both original and catchy heavy music these days? The Californian avantgarde experimental eclectic metal quartet Melted Bodies is proof positive that it’s possible, especially with their 2nd album (after People Watching²⁰¹⁹ EP and Enjoy Yourself²⁰²⁰ debut full length), The Inevitable Fork²⁰²⁴ self-released…

OPETH + GRAND MAGUS – live at Sentrum Scene

Full photo gallery: The year start concert bonanza is upon us. a lot of tours happening these months, shows on all venues in the city and sometimes even overlapping the same genre so it can have the fans having to pick between two favorites. For Wednesday, February 11th 2025 the choice in Oslo was Opeth…

HIDEOUS DIVINITY- Unextinct

RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/hideousdivinity/ Adveniens²⁰¹⁷ (Unique Leader Records), the Italian death metallers’ Hideous Divinity’s third album (after Obeisance Rising²⁰¹² and Cobra Verde²⁰¹⁴, both on Unique Leader Records) which I awarded a perfect score here, was universally acclaimed as their finest work. I had missed the subsequent Simulacrum²⁰¹⁹ (which brought a change of the…

SHRIKE – The Divine and the Serpentine

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://linktr.ee/officialshrike Shrike, who hail from the city of Preston in the UK, turned out to be a bit of a musical curve ball in the positive sense of the word. An intense listen in so many ways, this richly textured long-player of theirs defies any attempt at pigeonholing and can perhaps…

THE BREATHING METHOD – After Everything Else

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://thebreathingmethod.band/ From the windswept shores of glorious Scotland comes this grunge-flavored slice of hard and heavy rock courtesy of The Breathing Method. Entitled After Everything Else and containing eleven tracks that recall some of the darker and more sludgy material coming out of Seattle and New York City in the late…

DOUBLE MUTE – Corporate Culture

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://doublemute.bandcamp.com/album/corporate-culture I can honestly say that I have never come across anything that sounds quite like Double Mute does, and I am absolutely loving that! How to even explain or describe such a unique sound as that of this Norwegian-based entity whose sonic experiments take in noise rock, electronica, avantgarde music,…

THIN LIZZY – The Acoustic Sessions

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.thinlizzyofficial.com Considering the evocative and heartfelt nature of the first three Thin Lizzy albums from the early seventies, the prospect of immersing oneself in acoustic renditions and re-workings of some of the very best compositions from those exciting days appeared highly intriguing and interesting to this scribe. So how does the…

STEIN ROGER SORDAL – As I Try to Remember All I Try to Forget

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://steinrogersordal.bandcamp.com/album/as-i-try-to-remember-all-i-try-to-forget Released in late November 2024 and compiling his brand-new second album and his debut offering – they are basically twin records, if you will – this sweetly melancholic gem by songwriter Stein Roger Sordal of Green Carnation fame is not only tailor-made for reflective moments in front of the fireplace…

EXHORDER – Defectum Omnium

RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://www.exhorder.com/ And you will hear wars nearby and reports of wars far away. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must come to pass, but it is not yet the end. For group will rise against group, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes…

ALAN BYRNE – Philip Lynott: Renegade

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.sonicbondpublishing.co.uk/other-books/phil-lynott-renegade It was with great joy that I received and opened a parcel in late December containing one of Sonicbond Publishing’s latest titles, namely this updated version of Alan Byrne’s Renegade, which is a study of (and a reflection on) the sadly missed Philip Lynott of Thin Lizzy fame. From his…

THE ABSENCE – The Absence

RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://theabsenceofficial.bandcamp.com/ As is my custom, stated earlier, many times in my reviews, in order to gain a perspective on new material, I often listen through the back discography, especially with more known and established acts. I am sometimes surprised how my feelings about certain albums, especially those reviewed here, change…

ONSLAUGHT KOMMAND – Malignancy

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/malignancy Malignancy is quite possibly one of the most inhuman and raw-sounding musical documents that I have come all year, and I am perfectly okay with that, thank you very much. The guitar tone is akin to slime and immediately establishes an atmosphere that can only be described as utterly unpleasant.…

DEAMONOLITH – The Monolithic Cult of Death

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/the-monolithic-cult-of-death Leave it to Godz ov War to unearth some of the most captivating underground acts and releases and bring them to light – a case in point being this incredibly dynamic and consistently interesting 35-minute output by Deamonolith, which is as unearthly and disquieting as they come.  Blackened death metal…

REPLICANT – Infinite Mortality

RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://replicant.band/ Most of the time a reviewer generally agrees with others on the quality of reviewed material, differing but in a slightly lower or higher score or a few subjective details, but, every once in a while, one has to stand out from the pack and call an album average…

PERSECUTORY – The Glorious Persecution

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/the-glorious-persecution The Turkish casket removers known as Persecutory are back with a stellar new output, namely this 3-track EP titled The Glorious Persecution, and it marks their finest hour yet in terms of songwriting and atmosphere. Raw and slime-soaked black metal coupled with pulverizing death metal is the name of the…

DELLA NOVA – Della Nova

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.dellanovaband.com/ This is a rather interesting British outfit that came about during the pandemic, and which falls somewhere between alt. rock and grunge with an original twist. Crafted and composed by main man Alex Bowmer, these eleven melodically strong compositions possess an experimental quality that sets them apart from much else…

ONCE UPON THE END – Archive 200

RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://onceupontheend.bandcamp.com/ One of the most interesting and innovative melodic death metal bands in recent memory, the French quartet is even uniquely named, Once Upon The End. After one EP and one full length, plus a change of vocalist, they have independently released (yet promoted by Imperative PR) another EP, the…

DARREN WHARTON’S RENEGADE – 30.11.2024 – Troon

VENUE: Troon Concert HallDATE: 30.11.2024 ORGANIZER: Plan BPHOTOGRAPHER: C. NepperPhotos copyrights belong to the photographer. No unauthorized usage allowed. Please contact photographer if you wish to reuse images in any context.   Darren Wharton’s Renegade was the last band on the main stage on the Saturday at the annual WinterStorm festival, and not only were…

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