DWAAL – Never Enough

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://dwaaldoom.bandcamp.com/album/never-enough Ever since the outstanding Gospel of the Vile opus saw the light of day in 2020, I have been eagerly awaiting a follow-up to that crushing piece of work. The arrival of Never Enough is imminent and you might as well start preparing for it now, because this is one…

LURK – Aegis

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://lurkdoom.bandcamp.com/ The Finnish psychedelic doom and death rock and metallers have an interesting genre trajectory, active since 2008. Their debut Lurk²⁰¹² (on Totalrust/Svart Records) was more of a hardcorish straightforward death/doom affair with just a bit of sludge, but the Crowbar-ic and Ulcerate-d Kaldera²⁰¹⁴ (on Doomentia Records) already swayed more…

STRANGE HORIZON – Skur 14

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://strangehorizon.bandcamp.com/album/skur-14 The previous album titled Beyond the Strange Horizon by this fabulous Norwegian outfit impressed this scribe greatly, and their lively, exciting, and organic mixture of heavy metal, stoner rock, and doom metal worked like a wicked charm and had instant appeal to these ears. This upcoming LP of theirs, Skur…

LEPER COLONY – Leper Colony

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://lepercolonydm.bandcamp.com/ The mighty death metal warrior Roger “Rogga” Johansson (bass, guitars) whose musical contributions to the genre run for four lines on Encyclopedia Metallum, is back with another slab of classic extremity, here infused with substantial amount of doom, thrash, groove and even traditional metal, joined by Marc Grewe (vocals)…

DEAD SOUL ALLIANCE – Spiraling To Lunacy

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://dsadeath.bandcamp.com/ It’s a good feeling to be able to rest from a genre, in this case melodeath, and take in some good old classic death metal in the vein of the first two Paradise Lost albums, early Hypocrisy, Immolation and Death, with a few surprising twists courtesy of the Canadian…

NECROPANTHER – Betrayal

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://necropanther.bandcamp.com/ Yet another melodic death metal release on my plate, the Coloradan quartet featuring Paul Anop (guitars, vocals), Joe Johnson (guitars), Marcus Corich (bass), Haakon Sjoegren (drums), is actually quite a genre hopper on their 4th (after the eponymous²⁰¹⁶, “Eyes Of Blue Light”²⁰¹⁸ and “The Doomed City”²⁰¹⁹ with a couple…

HEX A.D. – Delightful Sharp Edges

RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://hexad.bandcamp.com/ What a marvelous treat this epic new offering by Norwegian hard rock/doom metal masters Hex A.D. is! Huge chords, thunderous drums, earth-shattering riffs, heartfelt vocals, heaps of melancholy atmospheres, and that warm, analogue sound that is simply irresistible – this charismatic and brilliantly conceived opus simply ticks all the boxes…

SARCOPTES – Prayers To Oblivion

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://sarcoptes.bandcamp.com/ The “Plague Hyms”²⁰²⁰ EP, released after “Thanatos”²⁰¹³ EP and “Songs And Dances Of Death”²⁰¹⁶ full length, was a fantastic 2 track release I gave an enthusiastic review (5.5/6) even as Garrett Garvey (drums, vocals) and Sean Zimmerman (bass, guitars, keyboards) the duo comprising the Californian progressive blackthrashing death metal…

BODYFARM – Ultimate Abomination

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bodyfarm/107945989258106 The last Asphyx full length “Necroceros” was an album that proved that classic death metal (with plenty of melody) does not have to sound antiquated but can excite like those well-known by Death or Obituary, especially since Asphyx was born in/into the same time. Their fellow countrymen Dutch purveyors…

ANTIPOPE – Rex Mundi

RELEASE YEAR: 2022 BAND URL: https://antipope.bandcamp.com/music Once agan I find myself reviewing a fantastic album from a long standing band I have never heard of before. One of my excuses could be that Antipope started as a black metal band and, to be honest, black metal is a cherry pick genre for me. Another one…

BIS-NTE – Broken

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://www.bisonteofficial.com/ This review is the 4th in the 5 album expose on the work of Palma de Mallorca Spanish vocalist, guitarist and bassist Vicente Javier Payá Galindo, the creator of 5 metal bands: Golgotha, Unbounded Terror, Decrapted, Bis.nte and Sons Of Cult – all currently on David Sánchez “Dave Rotten”…

DECRAPTED – Bloody Rivers Of Death

RELEASE YEAR: 2022 BAND URL: https://facebook.com/Decrapted/ This review is the 3rd in the 5 album expose on the work of Palma de Mallorca Spanish vocalist, guitarist and bassist Vicente Javier Payá Galindo, the creator the creator of 5 metal bands: Golgotha, Unbounded Terror, Decrapted, Bis.nte and Sons Of Cult – all currently on David Sánchez…

UNBOUNDED TERROR – Echoes Of Despair

RELEASE YEAR: 2022 BAND URL: http://www.unboundedterror.com/ This review is the 2nd in the 5 album expose on the work of Palma de Mallorca Spanish vocalist, guitarist and bassist Vicente Javier Payá Galindo, the creator of 5 metal bands: Golgotha, Unbounded Terror, Decrapted, Bis.nte and Sons Of Cult – all currently on David Sánchez “Dave Rotten”…

PICTURE ANN RELEASES THE “IN ITS OWN UNBEARABLE LONELINESS” SINGLE

The last output of the year by moody experimental rockers Picture Ann is out now. Entitled In Its Unbearable Loneliness and containing two fairly dynamic instrumental tunes, these compositions revolve around the notion of understanding the experience of loneliness and how being alone differs vastly from being lonely. Or are they in reality the sound…

SPLIT IMAGE – Torrent Of Illusion

RELEASE YEAR: 2022 BAND URL: https://splitimage.bandcamp.com/ Metal albums about mental illness are hardly unique but each album is unique in the way each artist conveys the message, that is, sounds the alarm that mentally ill people feel increasingly estranged from society which ironically is not that normal to boast superiority over them. As one of…

IN NOTHINGNESS – Black Sun Funeral

RELEASE YEAR: 2022 BAND URL: https://m.facebook.com/InNothingness “If anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself and must take up his cross and then follow me” (Matthew 16:24, REV) Do you miss the classic melodic death metal of In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, At The Gates or Edge Of Sanity? Then look no further but…

OMEGASHIFT – Doctrine of Dust

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://omegashift.bandcamp.com/releases Now what we have here is something exciting and potent from the Norwegian underground. Omegashift were kind enough to mail me a digital copy of this 5-track opus of theirs entitled Doctrine of Dust about a week ago, and I have been thoroughly enjoying listening to it ever since. With…

PICTURE ANN’S RIDE TO THE RUINS

A rather mellow, introspective, and folk-inspired little thing of wicked beauty titled Those Abundant Ruins by the harbingers of bleak music known as Picture Ann is out now via all the usual digital music shops and retailers, and this particular release is meant to serve as a soundtrack and homage to the coming autumn and…

STRANGE HORIZON – Beyond the Strange Horizon

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: Beyond The Strange Horizon | Strange Horizon (bandcamp.com) Yes, this is just what the good doctor ordered; a thoroughly convincing and energetic stoner rock/doom metal opus that pays tribute to the days of yore when fuzzy riffs ruled the roost and records were heavy as fuck while simultaneously looking to the…

PICTURE ANN RELEASES THE GLOOMY (MISSINGS AND CAPTURES) RETOLD ALBUM

Yet another musically eclectic and delightfully lo-fi output by the experimental ambient/doom metal freaks Picture Ann has seen the light of day, more specifically the full-length album entitled (Missings and Captures) Retold, which was released upon an unsuspecting public on January 28 via all the usual streaming services and digital music stores out there.      …

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