RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://rottencoffin.bandcamp.com/ You may ask why I am reviewing a 2022 album in the middle of 2023. After all, the debut full length from this Portuguese death metal trio was released on December 10th by Escaravelho Records last year to follow the independent demo Suffering, Chaos And Death²⁰²¹. However, Bitter Loss…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://degreedmusic.com/ The Swedish hard rock sensation Degreed are back with a follow-up to last year’s near-flawless Are You Ready, and it goes without saying that I had been looking forward to cranking Public Address up real loud in the living room. I shall keep things short here and merely state that…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: http://www.joelhoekstra.com/ The brilliant songwriter and guitarist Joel Hoekstra has not only done wonderful things for Whitesnake but also released a couple of fabulous solo records, the latest being this 12-track effort titled Crash of Life where he is joined by a stellar cast of friends and musicians, namely Vinny Appice, Tony…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://facebook.com/DescentIntoMaelstromBand/ Although I had never visited the dodecaphonic metaller’s Andrea “Bigna” “Maelstrom” Bignardi’s independently released (later also on Maculata Anima Records) debut Descent Into Maelstrom’s eponymous²⁰¹⁷, Bignardi handling everything as a sole member after the 2016 conception, I liked the sophomore Iconoclasm (released on Maculata Anima Records in 2019 and…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/artnationswe/ Hard-hitting Swedish rockers Art Nation are back with a brand-new batch of energetic and hook-laden tunes that are stuffed with fist-pumping riffs, big vocal melodies, and punchy choruses. There is nothing radically different nor particularly original to what these guys does compared to many other acts out there, yet they…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://stillbirthofficial.bandcamp.com/ As you listen to the German brutal death metal and death core act’s Stillbirth’s new album Homo Deus²⁰²³ released on April 7th, you may get an impression you’re dealing with one of those young highly skilled ensembles at most on their 3rd installment, stylistically somewhere between All Shall Perish,…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://magnacorporea.bandcamp.com/album/bliss-of-non-temporal-condition This debut album by the mysterious Argentinian entity known as Magna Corporea is a most impressive and well-composed piece of underground darkness that is borderline spellbinding at times due to its strong riffs and excellent vocals, and I must say that I find it all rather alluring. Hypnotic is definitely…
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…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://nethermostcaverns.bandcamp.com/album/ancient-spells-within-a-stalagnate-crypt This ceaselessly grim and melancholy eight-track offering by the US black metal horde known as Nethermost Caverns is one that I have been looking forward to ever since they released the Shadows of Seclusion demo a few months ago. Ancient Spells within a Stalagnate Crypt is an unpolished and raw-sounding…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://heatwavesbergen.bandcamp.com/album/kappa Released in late June by the ever-reliable Apollon Records and containing some of the coolest vibes and most inviting atmospheres that I have come across lately, this eclectic disc is a strangely beguiling affair that weaves indie pop, psychedelic rock, and jazz-like elements together to great effect. Actually, that description…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/kings-road-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-hippest-street-in-the-world-published-on-6th-april-2023 This expanded and revised edition of author Max Décharné’s vibrant and colorful story of the infamous King’s Road in London makes for a delightful summer read and is both insightful and humorous. With its warm and perfectly ironic tone, the book expertly guides us through the labyrinthine and deeply fascinating…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://www.circusofrockofficial.com/ King Company drummer Mirka Rantanen impressed me a couple of years ago by means of his Come One, Come All album under the Circus of Rock banner, and this latest effort of his very much follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, which means that you get ridiculously catchy hard…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://tsjuder.bandcamp.com/album/helvegr Norwegian black metal stalwarts Tsjuder have been at it for thirty years and show no sign of letting up or losing creative steam, which is perfectly illustrated by the band’s upcoming barrage of harsh and gut-piercing sounds of darkness entitled Helvegr. Comprising nine compositions that encompass the cold and raging…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelThompsonBand/ To state this as succinctly and concisely as I possibly can, the Michael Thompson Band is just the thing if one is on the lookout for melodic rock and AOR performed by world-class musicians and superb songwriters as evidenced by the overall quality of The Love Goes On. With…
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)…
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…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://meltmotif.bandcamp.com/album/particles-death-objective The brilliant Norwegian/Brazilian purveyors of melancholic textures and soundscapes known as Melt Motif impressed me greatly last year by means of their uniquely crafted A White Horse Will Take You Home. This latest slice of experimental excellence sounds like the logical next step, or the natural successor to the aforementioned…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/OneDesireBand The Finnish melodic hard rock outfit known as One Desire is bloody marvelous, and its five members sure know to craft a big and juicy tune filled to the brim with soaring vocals, stadium-sized riffs, and more hooks that one can possibly digest. Having said that, their previous live effort…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/L.A.GunsOfficial/ Renowned glam metal rockers L.A. Guns have enjoyed some rather productive years and a bit of a renaissance lately, and this gritty 2023 effort of theirs shows that there is still a lot of mileage left in the tank. Although not as hard-hitting and thrilling as its predecessor titled Checkered…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://gerseydeoful.bandcamp.com/album/gersey-deoful Here is a grim and ugly treat for all you lovers of raw, unfiltered black metal from the American underground, namely the self-titled offering by the skilled horde from New Jersey known as Gersey Deoful. This short and concise 6-track EP is only seventeen minutes long but do not…
