Reviews

2.5 – Nighttime

Ars Onirica

Although only an EP, this album was quite memorable. It had a mix of anger, some sadness, and best of all, hope, and the way the artist combined them was done with great timing. Overflowing with magic, indeed.

Release Me

Blackwood

Blackwood are a high energy rock band from Nashville USA who were born out of […]

The Long Way Home

November

November is a Hard Rock Band from Spain. The line-up consists of Danny G […]

Neurogenesis

Phaeton

I’ve always maintained that instrumental bands have to work harder at their craft, because the lack of vocals is one more thing they have to find a replacement for. Lead guitar breaks can take the place of vocals, as can keyboards. They do a solid job of this on the album, but it’s a little thin at times, even a little light. They have the chops, that’s for sure. It might be a matter of just sharpening things up a bit.

Lhotse

Brevine

What keeps the album from sinking into unrelenting bleakness is its remarkable sense of melody and restraint. Just when the walls of noise threaten to overwhelm, the music opens into passages of calm reflection: clean guitar lines shimmering through the haze, bass tones carrying an almost mournful weight, and melodies that feel fragile but determined to endure. This is Post Metal at its most evocative…an album that sounds like standing among ruins, feeling both the weight of what has been lost and the faint hope of what might be rebuilt.

Вечность

Gnot

I really connected with the way that aggression was mixed with melody. It’s a formula that a lot of bands use these days, but not all of them do it as well as GNOT. They interweave them into each song in such a way that they are locked together, like separate strings that together make an article of clothing. If you remove one, you damage it permanently. What a gorgeously contentious sound they have created on “Eternity.”

Insoucient Metaphysical Granduer

Skjolden

This was a fantastic album…Melo Death, combined Black Metal. Carl kept your interest by creating songs that were energetic and speedy, but also with a lot of emotional depth. Both the lyrics and the cover art are excellent as well, and it’s clear that he presents a total package here.

A Funeral of Being

My Last Promise

For me, “A Funeral of Being” is an excellent descriptor of the duality of our existence. Consider the phrasing of the album title We all try our best, most of the time, so why does it seem like we are always getting beat down, and can’t get ahead? Maybe that’s the pessimist in me talking. In any case, the album is an absolute depressive affair that is fueled by raw emotion.

Australopithecus

My Purest Heart For You

This is an album that seems relatively easy to assimilate, but it presents as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. There are a lot of mysteries within, and the story goes deeper than just tortured screams over melancholy, solemn music. In many ways, I don’t want to unravel them. I would rather leave them there for the next listener.

A Break of the Wide Valley

Basarabian Hills

During the day, the forest can be a welcomed and warming place…a place where someone can connect with nature, a place to rest among the trees, plants, and even wildlife. But at night, it can be quite the opposite. This album encapsulated both of these opposing feelings quite well, and it leaves the listener enveloped in the deep mysteries of the forest.

As Ink In Water

Asira

This album is a storm forged from countless currents of Metal, pulling from blackened ferocity, progressive intricacy, and melodic catharsis. Rather than sounding like a disjointed patchwork, the band bends these influences into a fluid, purposeful whole. It’s a journey where every shade of Metal collides and coexists. The result is both cathartic and challenging, an album that reminds us why Metal’s endless diversity is its greatest strength.

Decay

Wretched

Overall, this was a solid listen for me. It started off a little one sided, with one weighted, desolate song after another, but the band managed to keep me fixed, by adding in some diversity here and there. It was indeed a heavy and at times groovy album, with sadness in tow, as well as some melody, but I feel like they can take just a few more chances the next time around.

First Metastasis

Cancer Void

“First Metastasis” leans on traditional Death Metal with inspirations taken from the Swedish Death Metal sound

From Welkin To Tundra

GraveRipper

“From Welkin To Tundra” offers a smart blend of different styles with Black and Thrash Metal at its core but also including Speed Metal, Hardcore, and Punk elements

Upon Tall Thrones

Warcoe

Quintessential Italian Doom Metal. “Upon Tall Thrones” is the third proof point for WARCOE. This is a band with some unholy staying power.

The Bestiary

Castle Rat

A metal band that would feel as comfortable at GenCon as they would at Wacken Open Air.

Process of Elimination

Dead Heat

I like is that the songs will have you thrashing around at some times, moshing the room when needed and headbanging until your neck snaps the rest of the time. Oh, and if you have a chandelier, who knows, you might feel the need to using it to swing about like Tarzan does.

The Speed Of Metal

Warrant

I have to admit that I can’t help smiling when listening to "The Speed Of Metal". WARRANT have done good.

Of Gods and Ancestors

Occult Kenji

This was a solid listening experience for me, and the themes of the album were easy to digest, and were reflected well in the music. The band’s musicianship was strong, and you can tell that they put every bit of passion they have for their music into the album.

Inclination

Vulnificus

The music that VULNIFICUS plays is anything but straight forward or simple. On the contrary, even though it does sound that way, when you really listen you hear and experience all the twists and turns, the breaks, the changes in tempo, while all the time being able to maintain that Extreme Heaviness and intense atmosphere.

Mysterium

Paradox

The songs on “Mysterium” are all of a very good standard, all have a tale to tell, and are without exception well written, properly played and expertly recorded.

Echoes Of The Machine

Hatred's Rise

HATRED’S RISE has a hell of a sound, but most of all is comprised by a group of very good and experienced players.

A Dying Light

Arson Charge

I love that ARSON CHARGE has been signed by a record company with the apt name of Anxious & Angry, as that is the main description of what the music on “A Dying Light” is portraying.

Hall of the Dead

Withered Land

Overall, this was a solid listening experience, and it conjured up images of what one might find in the cold north. The music was delightfully wicked, and the vocals spoke from the void, but with an emotional punch.

Fragment Quatrieme (Metacosmos)

Thy Apokalypse

This was a delightfully dark album that was well composed, and well performed. At times, the sound was so thick it felt as if the wheels might come of the bus careening across the highway at breakneck speed, but Adz always maintains control. That was the centerpiece of the album for me, how he managed just enough restraint amidst a veritable shower of chaotic sound, thick riffs, and lightning fast blast beat drumming. Darkness was the key…it’s everywhere.

Songs Of Yesterday

Rust N' Rage

Rust N’ Rage come from a small Finnish town called Pori.Vince,Johnny,Eddy & Jezzie share a […]

Wonderland

Crowne

Crowne is a Swedish supergroup which was put together by Jona Tee (H.E.A.T.).Crowne’s line up […]

Opus Mortis

Outlaw

The best part of the album for me was their raw energy and their commitment to their trade. They fired up the engine, ran them until they were dry, and kept running them until they crumbled. This is aggression at its finest.

Innern

Der Weg einer Freiheit

This album arrives like a blizzard at midnight—unforgiving, relentless, and in full control. The ferocity of Black Metal is here in full force. Beneath all the chaos, there are stretches of somber reflection that stop the storm in its tracks. These quieter passages create a tension that is just as heavy as the moments of unrestrained violence. It’s the sound of the world burning, followed by the silence of watching the embers die. This is Black Metal at its most precise, emotional, and devastatingly alive.

De Nemesis Omnes et Omnia

Antiversum

For me, the album takes place during a period of time when man tries to claim what belongs to nature. Since it’s a cold slab of land way up North, man thinks it will be an easy claim. But nature always wins. She fights back subtly, but hard, with a variety of weapons at her disposal. Over time, she not only beats back man, but murders man and covers it up, returning the order as it was established, and waiting patiently for the next group of adventurers.

Light the Devil’s Fire

Revelator

Overall, this was a solid listening experience for me. Although the band isn’t trying to reinvent the genres, and some of the riffs you have heard before, they present them with an unbridled energy and belief in their craft.

As I Wait For Death

Behind Bars

What BEHIND BARS brings to the turntable is over 17 minutes of very enjoyable music that does fit in the Groovy Thrash Hardcore Metal category, so Metalheads as well as Hardcore fans will be able to go crazy when they listen to BEHIND BARS.

The Devil's Masquerade

Helstar

The music on “The Devil's Masquerade” also is just about the best that I have heard from HELSTAR in a long time. This is pure class.

Perpetual Violence Machine

Hydra Vein

The songs on “Perpetual Violence Machine” will have you participating for as far as your brain, but most of all your body, allows you. It has that kind of magnetism that makes what HYDRA VEIN plays sound and feel almost addictive, but most of all that good that you are wondering why they stopped at making just an EP.

Fiber Tormentum

Matt Miller

The songs on “Fiber Tormentum” are rather good, and make for very interesting listening sessions.

Death of Don Valley

Ivy Gardens

I heard many of the dark, heavy, and oppressive tones, but not many uplifting moments. That’s fine, because I like music that is dark and makes you have to wade in the muck to find its true meaning. What I discovered in the end is that this is dark music for dark music’s sake, and was also an enjoyable listening experience for me.

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Reviews

2.5 – Nighttime

Ars Onirica

Release Me

Blackwood

The Long Way Home

November

Neurogenesis

Phaeton

Lhotse

Brevine

Вечность

Gnot

Insoucient Metaphysical Granduer

Skjolden

A Funeral of Being

My Last Promise

Australopithecus

My Purest Heart For You

A Break of the Wide Valley

Basarabian Hills

As Ink In Water

Asira

Decay

Wretched

First Metastasis

Cancer Void

From Welkin To Tundra

GraveRipper

Upon Tall Thrones

Warcoe

The Bestiary

Castle Rat

Process of Elimination

Dead Heat

The Speed Of Metal

Warrant

Of Gods and Ancestors

Occult Kenji

Inclination

Vulnificus

Mysterium

Paradox

Echoes Of The Machine

Hatred's Rise

A Dying Light

Arson Charge

Hall of the Dead

Withered Land

Fragment Quatrieme (Metacosmos)

Thy Apokalypse

Songs Of Yesterday

Rust N' Rage

Wonderland

Crowne

Opus Mortis

Outlaw

Innern

Der Weg einer Freiheit

De Nemesis Omnes et Omnia

Antiversum

Light the Devil’s Fire

Revelator

As I Wait For Death

Behind Bars

The Devil's Masquerade

Helstar

Perpetual Violence Machine

Hydra Vein

Fiber Tormentum

Matt Miller

Death of Don Valley

Ivy Gardens

Latest Reviews

Crucible & Ruin

Howling Giant

Bio Decay