Reviews

Breaking the Catatonic State

Crouch

In sum, the album has an air of confidence about it, as if the trio doesn’t give a fuck whether you like it or not. It’s dirty…no, filthy even, with a soul that has turned black. The album won’t only move you on an emotional level, but also a physical level. It’s raw, cold, and primal.

Natura Semper Praevalet

Staghelm

This was a thoughtfully composed album that had layers of mystery buried within its aggressive presenting front. There is beauty, wonder, and a sense of things being larger and more expansive than what they seem. Take a ride with STAGHELM though the three song journey, and you may just uncover some things about yourself that you didn’t know.

Like Crushed Violets and Linen

Luminesce

Pink? A pink album cover? Isn't pink... for girls??/?

Paper Crowns

The Pat Catalano Project

Every once in a while a band comes out of nowhere and completely blows you away exactly like in the case of THE PAT CATALANO PROJECT, but now, thanks to METAL TEMPLE, the world will soon know.

Verfallsschemen

Aether

“A lamenting monolith of ashes and despair” is too soft of a phrase to describe the torturous pit that the album with throw you into head first, and there is no bottom. You will fall screaming, not just for minutes or hours, but for eternity. There is no light, no hope, no absolution, and no chance for rescue.

Arbor

Wazzara

This was an excellent album, combining the best of what Doom, Black Metal, and Blackgaze have to offer you. The vocalist was outstanding, and she could switch from deep anger to calm sooths with ease, leading the journey of the album over smooth paths in the woods, to jagged peaks in the mountains, and even to golden lands that lie beyond what the eye can see.

Drawn Into Descent

Onrust

This was a dreadfully excellent album in every sense of that word. The picture it painted was one of complete loneliness and emptiness. Picture a world where you never meet another human, and you live in an icy cold, snow covered world where the winds keep the temperature at -50 year round. Now picture this as not only somewhere you have to live now, but for eternity. That’s the kind of desolation that the album covers.

Two The Max!

To The Max!

To The Max! is a Heavy Rock band formed in Verona Italy, bringing together musicians […]

Per Amor Nymphae

Marlugubre

Overall, what I loved most about the album was how deeply I could feel the aggression rumbling in my stomach, and how brightly I could sense moments of beauty and hope. The two opposing styles shattered into one another, detonating a bomb of emotion together that could be seen and felt for miles away. It was more like poetic prose than a simple listening experience.

Hiraeth

Abstracted

“Hiraeth” is beautiful, well balanced, but also with enough unsuspecting turns and breaks that every time you listen you can’t help but discover and/or hear something that you hadn’t noticed before. That to me makes a record a diamond in the rough, as you just don’t have a clue when the explorations will be complete.

Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye

Angus McSix

There is no escaping the fact that ANGUS McSIX is using all the cliches that the Power Metal and Heavy Metal have produced in the last fifty years and formed them into songs that are as much Happy Metal as they are Power Metal.

Poison Rat

Iron Bones

IRON BONES feel that they play Heavy Speed Roll, and that is also the way that the music is constructed. Simple, as straight as an arrow whilst taking no prisoners along the way. What that does is give “Poison Rat” very much a Punk attitude.

Ziggurat

New Mexican Doom Cult

NEW MEXICAN DOOM CULT “Ziggurat." Buy it, ascend it, join it—whatever turns you on, but do yourself a favor and give it spin.

Universal Heat Death

Indica Blues

“Universal Heat Death” plays into that dark Psych Doom tradition that we have all come to know and love but also makes some relevant observations about today’s socio-political state.

Memorial

Olhava

Rather than a traditional album, this was a journey to the far reaches of the universe and back again. I feel as though the album transported me into a wormhole where it just gave me glimpse of what is up there, and even a fleeting look is overwhelming. The album cover captures its essence very well. It’s a warm, cozy cabin nestled in deep, dark, and imposing trees that no one could ever find.

Embers of a Dying World

Mystfall

Did you know that Graham crackers were invented to help combat self-pleasure? After listening to this album, there's an empty box of them on my desk. Hope it works!

Icemelter

Frozen Land

“Icemelter“ delivers traditional Power Metal with a good mixture of fast and mid-tempo tracks, tight and powerful guitar riffs, catchy and sing-along melodies

Hush

Tardigrade Inferno

“Hush” is a melting point of different genres and vibes, including progressive Metal, Groove Metal, but there are also a few Punk and Alt-Metal vibes present

Temple Balls

Temple Balls are an energetic Hard Rock band from Finland.Their first album “Traded Dreams” was […]

Monument In Time

Beyond The Pale

The album review you're about to read is a compilation of all their earlier releases. It therefore is quite fitting that it has taken the name of the EP, as all five original songs are featured on this rendition of “Monument In Time”.

Overspace & Supertime

Cryptic Shift

I have no choice but to be amazed, enthralled and totally enamoured with what CRYPTIC SHIFT is presenting me with on “Overspace & Supertime”. To me this all sounds absolutely superb, has all the elements that make me crave to hear more of CRYPTIC SHIFT; excitement, surprise, attraction and superb musicianship.

1994

Final Coil

I’m slightly embarrassed that I don’t know much about this band, but it does make me an objective reviewer. Although only four songs long, it does take me back to the 90’s music scene, which I largely tried to forget about, besides a few notable names. I can hear those notable names on the album, and it’s a sentimental and nostalgic way to pay tribute. There is also a lot of energy flowing from their music.

Midnight

Toward The Throne

For homework, go read Dune or some other popular space novel with this playing in the background, and write a five-paragraph essay on your thoughts.

Spectral Realm of Union

Degraved

OSDM? NSDM? BDSM? Whatever era of death metal you're a fan of, Degraved will tickle your fancy.

Cannibal Galaxy

Osmium Gate

This was a decent album, but just not diverse enough for me. It has plenty of weight and presence, but no big shifts or punches of melody. I also don’t hear the vast emptiness that they talk about. Indeed, the constant hum of double bass moves to the forefront of their music and takes over. Through eight songs, it becomes a burden for me.

Metempsychosis

Graveborn

Take a close look at the album cover for clues of what you might find musically. Deep shades of purple and blue swirls chase each other’s tails high in the canopy while a single person watches. It’s like magic in many ways. Their musicianship…is stellar, and they are able to breathe new life into the genre by taking bold steps on both sides of the aisle. It will leave you drained by the end, utterly spent.

The Carrion Waltz

Dimwind

As you might imagine, this is a highly personal album, and some people say a cancer diagnosis invokes the same feelings as the five stages of grieving. The music reflects these various stages well. Much of the album was dark, mired in shadows, and reflective of some very dark times in life. In that regard, it was interesting to listen to, and I found myself absorbed in the movements. It’s something anyone who has had a health scare can relate to, and which of us haven’t?

Hubris

Golgotha

When you have been able to survive as long as GOLGATHA (the sacred site located immediately outside the ancient walls of Jerusalem where Jesus Christ was crucified) have, you didn’t get there without the support of your fans. So, 30+ years into the journey, you don’t want to do a 180 and then your fans begin to question you. They took the safer route, and I understand why, but this was a predictable sound for me. It was good, but could have been better.

Annihilated Existence

Sypsis

I am enamoured with the results of what i have been hearing while I have been listening to “Annihilated Existence” time and time again, and have no qualms into proclaiming this to be a treasured album.

Ad Infinitum

Hyshtral

In the 30 plus minutes that HYSHTRAL needs to get through “Ad Infinitum”, you will be thrown all over the place emotionally. One thing is for sure, the band definitely starts with their best song, as “Cell In Hell” is simply put a corker of a tune.

För evigt

Motljus

This album was a scene of devastation, destruction, regret, and anger. But it was also a scene of serenity and peace, the latter two are just harder to find. Like any mind puzzle, if you are able to block out some of the thick never-ending aggression, you will discover the beauty within. It just makes you work harder to find the soft core.

Echoes Of The Hunt

Fox Paradox

When I picture a pizza, I envision a couple of different toppings and a nice, consistent dough. Hopefully, this LP is like a pizza: a couple of different toppings (genres), but a consistent underlying theme (dough). I'm very hungry, if you couldn't tell.

Askdrömmar

Frozen Ocean

Black Metal has grown in leaps and bounds over the past decade, and there isn’t one thing that fans haven’t embraced lately. Synths? Why not. Gothic and Progressive leanings? Sure, throw them in also. The result is an uncommon but pleasing album that will shake up everything you thought you knew about Black Metal.

Winterkronieken

Melancholie

After a second listen, I came to appreciate the album more. The lengthy songs can be intimidating to a listener whose attention span might not be long enough, but I kept finding subtle nuances on the album. These nuances suggest a grand storyteller, and musician. I have to say I enjoyed the outright melodies more than the aggressive blueprint of Black Metal, but there is a great balance on the album between the two.

What Remains When Hope Has Failed

Nemorous

If you take a look at the unassuming cover for the album, it might not tempt you to open it up and listen to it. But, as the saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover. In considering the album title, when optimism, belief, or the expectation that things will get better is gone… what’s left of us? I prefer the defiant interpretation over the bleak one, where your will to live is hardened and you drag yourself off of the floor and fight back. If we have no fight left, what is there to live for? These questions you can ponder while you take in the album’s beauty and starkness.

Encompassing Nothingness

Tjaktjadálvve

This album will steal your hope, harden your soul, and leave you feeling nothing by the end. That’s the album title, “Encompassing Nothingness.” As the cold winds fade at the end, so does your sense of self, and you melt into the earth to become one with the void.

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Reviews

Breaking the Catatonic State

Crouch

Natura Semper Praevalet

Staghelm

Like Crushed Violets and Linen

Luminesce

Paper Crowns

The Pat Catalano Project

Verfallsschemen

Aether

Arbor

Wazzara

Drawn Into Descent

Onrust

Two The Max!

To The Max!

Per Amor Nymphae

Marlugubre

Hiraeth

Abstracted

Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye

Angus McSix

Poison Rat

Iron Bones

Ziggurat

New Mexican Doom Cult

Universal Heat Death

Indica Blues

Memorial

Olhava

Embers of a Dying World

Mystfall

Icemelter

Frozen Land

Hush

Tardigrade Inferno

Temple Balls

Temple Balls

Monument In Time

Beyond The Pale

Overspace & Supertime

Cryptic Shift

1994

Final Coil

Midnight

Toward The Throne

Spectral Realm of Union

Degraved

Cannibal Galaxy

Osmium Gate

Metempsychosis

Graveborn

The Carrion Waltz

Dimwind

Hubris

Golgotha

Annihilated Existence

Sypsis

Ad Infinitum

Hyshtral

För evigt

Motljus

Echoes Of The Hunt

Fox Paradox

Askdrömmar

Frozen Ocean

Winterkronieken

Melancholie

What Remains When Hope Has Failed

Nemorous

Encompassing Nothingness

Tjaktjadálvve

Latest Reviews

Nibelungentreue