ASIRA – As Ink in Water

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://asira.bandcamp.com/ What we have here is a highly interesting and uniquely crafted release that displays passion and ambition in equal measure. Somewhere between post-black metal, modern progressive rock, and experimental shoegaze lies this epic and emotionally intense opus titled As Ink in Water by the Reading-based outfit intriguingly named Asira. Sweeping melodies,…

PICTURE ANN ADHERES TO THE LAW OF WHISPERS AND LOW VOICES

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://orcd.co/picture-ann-whispers The villainous purveyors of all things weirdly dark and strangely melancholy are at it again; their “The Law of Whispers and Low Voices” single was released on September 12 by the consistently brilliant Gymnocal Industries and is available in all the relevant digital music stores out there. In addition to the…

ENRAPTURE – Drønn

RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://enrapture1.bandcamp.com/ The Norwegian progressive post death metal ensemble Enrapture’s third installment, Drønn²⁰²⁴ EP, independently released last April 5th is, to, again (as I’ve used it before) quote Patrick Bateman from “American Psycho” a curious little dish I was surprisingly presented by our dear chief editor, Andrea, quite a while ago,…

HELSINKI HORIZON – Sirens

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://helsinkihorizon.bandcamp.com/ Helsinki Horinzon’s second release ’Sirens’ is a cross-genre conceptual album, and a different kind of heavy: the more quiet, lurking sort that ambushes you when you least expect it. ’Sirens’ develops into a sphere of gravitational force, where units and subdivisions converge to make an expertly paced rotation. The more…

SHORES OF NULL – The Loss Of Beauty

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://www.shoresofnull.com/ In my review of the Italian melodic death/doom metallers Shores Of Null’s one track third full length Beyond The Shores (On Death And Dying)²⁰²⁰ (5/6) I necessarily compared it to both Edge Of Sanity’s Crimson¹⁹⁹⁴ and Insomnium’s Wintergate²⁰¹⁶ the former had inspired, but I concluded that it was inferior…