Reviews

The Womb of the World

Qrixkuor

The album redefines the words “darkness” and “terror.” It’s more like reliving your worst nightmare or torture experience. They bring the death to life, in colors of black, and of the abyss. For me, it’s like standing on the edge of a massive black hole seconds before I am sucked in with a force greater than time itself.

Stargod

Astronoid

This album stands as a testament to how metal’s ironclad backbone can hold up something far brighter than despair or aggression. It can carry joy. Here, the riffs are still muscular, the drums still hit with thunderous conviction, but instead of summoning darkness, they blaze with sunlight. What’s most remarkable is how it embraces melody, harmony, and a sense of fun that most bands in this genre wouldn’t dare approach. In a genre often defined by gloom and fury, this record is the outlier that proves heaviness doesn’t have to mean hopelessness. It’s a joyful roar, a masterclass in making something heavy feel light on its feet, and it burns like love.

Words of Indigo

Novembre

You might expect a band with this longevity to be stale after all of these years, but you would be dead wrong. There’s a powerful tension between grace and aggression. The instruments hit with a sense of purpose, the guitars snarl and shimmer in equal measure, and the vocals hover between anguish and awe. Beneath the thick layers of sound lies a strange sense of wonder, as if the band is trying to wrestle meaning from the chaos, to find some fragile light buried deep within the noise. It’s the kind of record that just feels alive. The melodies ache, the heaviness hums, and it feels like a meditation on strength through struggle. 35 years later, NOVEMBRE is still killing the game.

May the Bridges We Burn Light the Way

Omnium Gatherum

The album doesn’t follow the standard formula of brutality softened by melody…it redefines the balance altogether. The weight here is immense. Riffs crash down with percussive force, and the harsh vocals tear through the mix with a ferocity few in the genre can match. Yet, amid this aggression, the music never succumbs to chaos. The guitars shimmer with melodic grace, weaving intricate harmonies that feel transcendent, while the keyboards act as a spectral counterpoint—lifting the songs into something grander, almost cinematic. The result is a sound both devastating and breathtaking, equal parts storm and sunrise, and another contender for AOTY.

Concept 42

Thermality

This was an excellent album, and the balance the band was able to maintain throughout the album is noteworthy. As a longtime fan of the genre, it’s hard not to compare them to country-mates, and you could do a lot worse than an IN FLAMES comparison. Some might not like too much melody in their music, but again, it is so well done here.

Rise

Fireheart

Fireheart are a UK band formed in December 2024.They are not just a band they […]

Rock Generation

Heavy Pettin

“Rock Generation” is the first album in over thirty years.Back in the ‘80s, Scottish rock […]

Bite The Bullet

Midnite City

Midnite City from Nottingham, UK exploded onto the scene in 2017 with their self titled […]

Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum

Hæresis

This album provided an ever-changing landscape that was at times, as cold and hard as the deep north, and as excruciatingly hot as Hell itself. If by chance you didn’t succumb to the rage, the hopelessness would finish the job. It was masterfully aggressive, and equally as somber.

Mater

Vacua

Don’t get me wrong, the album wasn’t a total loss, and the band is obviously talented, but they need to ease off the gas pedal every now and again. Work in some different vocals, some different sounds…the genre is quite forgiving these days. They can still maintain their intensity while embracing some other methods.

Consume Us

Illusive Key

This album was at raging as it was contentious, with both parts shooting high above the horizon and into the canopy. Like a horribly torture sequence, they never let your pain subside even a bit, or slide up and down. Instead, the continued to twist the hot steel bolts further and further into your flesh.

Ecstatic Kingdom

Akolyth

This was a solid listening experience for me. Although the production could have been clearer, the muted qualities kept the sound in the darkness, and in the shadows, where Black Metal thrives. There is also a strong balance on the album between its inherent aggressiveness and harrowing tones of fright. Don’t go into this experience with a cloudy head, because it could consume you and forever hide your body.

Kala Rupa

Supreme Mytsic

Overall, I have to say, this was a fun album to listen to on a variety of levels. The energy was approaching a 10 out of 10, and although the sounds were punishing at times, the vocal harmonies brought some melody to the table. They kick some ass, and take no prisoners, that’s for sure.

Ordhalia

5Rand

“Ordhalia” is one of the melodic Death Metal highlights this year, since it goes beyond genre boundaries. The album is a must-have for extreme Metal fans

Evertale

Elettra Storm

“Evertale” has all the ingredients of excellent Power Metal: the pace, the guitar riffing, the melodies, and the solos

Ostracism

Orbstruct

This was a solid slab of Death Metal. As I mentioned, the band isn’t trying to reinvent the genre, they are just here to create some punishing sounds, and mission accomplished.

Dejection Chrysalis

Dysentery

Let me put the Death Metal in general and especially the DYSENTERY fans at ease. What you get on “Dejection Chrysalis” can’t be construed as anything else that Brutal Death Metal.

Forever Winter

Unén

Musically the band know where they need to get their ideas from, and they are widely spread. Due to the musical genre UNÉN is using, there are the usual suspects, which I will not mention. The reason for that being is that I feel that you need to listen to the twelve songs on “Forever Winter” in their own merit, experience and judge them as their own entities instead of comparing them to any name I might have mentioned.

No Life ‘Til Leather, A Tribute to Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All

Various Artists

How do you review a tribute to an album that has changed the whole way you look at Metal? That has been a benchmark for other bands to try and equal, emulate or better (as if that was possible).

Umbra

Ellereve

One might consider this album being called Black Metal a stretch, but if you’ve been paying attention to the bended genre boundaries of the genre as of late, it makes more sense. The emotional weight of the album is probably the feature I find most impressive, and as I mentioned above, the titles of the songs match how you feel when you listen to them so well. An emotional rollercoaster, this is an album that I would recommend for all fans of dark music.

The Wounded Healer

Preyrs

I have to remind myself that sometimes, music is supposed to be fun and energetic, and that’s what “The Wounded Healer” by PREYRS is for me. It’s not overly complicated, and it’s dark enough to be interesting, and uses a bevy of emotions during the journey. Amy has an excellent voice as well.

Crossripper

Bastard Cröss

BASTARD CRÖSS comes on like they have a grudge against your eardrums that they need to resolve with insane urgency.

Crucible & Ruin

Howling Giant

As ever, HOWLING GIANT fuse melodic phrasing, sophisticated arrangements, and heavy psych riffs in a variety of permutations that are both inventive and visceral.

Bio Decay

Thrash Bombz

When I start to listen it is clear that the name of THRASH BOMBZ has been chosen for a reason. The Thrash Metal sounds that are being omitted from the speakers are quite tell-tale, as there is no doubt as to that is the musical genre that fills over 55 minutes of “Bio Decay”.

Different Universe (2CD)

Witchunters

Let me start by mentioning that if you want to get your money’s worth when buying a double album you can’t go wrong with “Different Universe” (2CD) by Italian band WITCHUNTERS. The original album already has a playing time of 70:05 minutes, while the “1985 – 1999 More Than A Demos Anthology” is another 67:36 minutes of traditional Heavy Metal.

Adorn

This album is a shining example of the expansiveness of the Black Metal genre in the past decade. If bright melodies work in other genres, why not here? They seem incompatible, but when the two combine, it’s a synergy that results. Hardened and torturous enough for purists, but also warm and inviting, it’s essentially the best of both worlds.

Egregious Defilement

Decrepit Altar

Three songs were just enough for me as a reviewer to taste what the band is offering here. There is very little melody, and plenty of dissonance. The instruments work well with the deep guttural vocals to provide a cold, sterile landscape of both hopelessness and nothingness.

Ex Nihilo

Malepeste

The declarative, symphonic ending of the album brought a note of majesty to it, and I would like to hear more of it. The album offered plenty, including aggression, somberness, and outright hopelessness. The French always have an impressive twist in their music, and this album is no exception.

Out of Step

Esthesis

This is one of those albums that you put on a rainy day in late fall, snuggled up with a blanket, and you can easily get lost in it. There is plenty of weight on the album, especially the emotional side, but the album is more about the mood they set. Sinister at times, and more benign at others, it sweeps the listener off their feet and takes them to an unfamiliar world that is oddly comforting. This is, without a doubt, a band to keep an eye on, and this is a masterclass in the use of atmosphere and emotion in music.

The World Under Unsun

Lunatic Soul

According to the internet, “The world under unsun” might best be understood as a world that exists in darkness. Not destroyed, but deprived of light. The album feels like standing at the edge of existence, staring into the space between what is living and what is lost, and the music drifts like mist across forgotten landscapes, pulling emotion from silence as much as from sound. The emotional weight of the album lies in its reflection. It’s a contemplation set to sound, a journey through metaphysical terrain that lies between the pulse of life and the silence that follows it. It’s progressive rock at its most human…a search for truth carried out in echoes, resonance, and light fading into darkness.

Azure

Nereis

This was a fun album to listen to, and sometimes even we Metalheads need that in our life. The music wasn’t overly complicated, overly serious, or overly heavy, although it did have some of these moments. Instead, the band chose to focus on two key ingredients in good music…melody and harmony. Indeed, what a fun ride is was.

Megalith

Olde Throne

This was an excellent album. It was aggressive enough for purists, but the history interwoven in each song made it more memorable for me. I felt like I was dropped into the old country of Ireland centuries ago, in order to experience what it was like first hand. The music swept me away in that regard, and it was thoughtful, and considerate, in a filthy way of course.

Disse Fugle Får Ingen At Se

Morild

This was a fantastic album. In modern Black Metal, and boundaries are not nearly as narrow as they were, and MORILD takes full advantage of stretching them. In addition to the trademark aggression, there are also atmospheric passages, even melodies, and they connect everything with a darkness that you just can’t shake.

Angel

Unprocessed

I genuinely thought they wouldn’t be able to better “...And Everything In Between”, but they have. UNPROCESSED have produced my album of the year with “Angel”. I dare anyone to make me listen to anything more impressive than this.

Land Of The Damned

RVH Project

“Land Of The Damned” actually is released on the day that this review is published, 30 October 2025. And to say that this is a huge improvement in comparison with the debut album is quite the understatement.

Collapse

The Hyena Kill

At first listen I was very sceptical at what I was listening to. I felt the music of THE HYENA KILL was all over the place, until I realised that I was comparing every song with opening song “Sly”.

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Reviews

The Womb of the World

Qrixkuor

Stargod

Astronoid

Words of Indigo

Novembre

May the Bridges We Burn Light the Way

Omnium Gatherum

Concept 42

Thermality

Rise

Fireheart

Rock Generation

Heavy Pettin

Bite The Bullet

Midnite City

Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum

Hæresis

Mater

Vacua

Consume Us

Illusive Key

Ecstatic Kingdom

Akolyth

Kala Rupa

Supreme Mytsic

Ordhalia

5Rand

Evertale

Elettra Storm

Ostracism

Orbstruct

Dejection Chrysalis

Dysentery

Forever Winter

Unén

No Life ‘Til Leather, A Tribute to Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All

Various Artists

Umbra

Ellereve

The Wounded Healer

Preyrs

Crossripper

Bastard Cröss

Crucible & Ruin

Howling Giant

Bio Decay

Thrash Bombz

Different Universe (2CD)

Witchunters

Adorn

Adorn

Egregious Defilement

Decrepit Altar

Ex Nihilo

Malepeste

Out of Step

Esthesis

The World Under Unsun

Lunatic Soul

Azure

Nereis

Megalith

Olde Throne

Disse Fugle Får Ingen At Se

Morild

Angel

Unprocessed

Land Of The Damned

RVH Project

Collapse

The Hyena Kill

Latest Reviews

The Womb of the World