Listen, I’ll make this short because frankly listening to Hate Manifesto‘s ΑΠΟΣΤΑΤΗΣ (‘Apostate’) gives me a headache, and I want to get this review knocked out ASAP. As much as I love being enveloped by swathes of orchestral and symphonic elements in my metal, sometimes a good no-frills, solid kick in the teeth gets me […]

When your promotional materials boldy claim that your album is the ‘Best Swedish death metal of 2023”,  you’ve got some balls on you, that’s for sure. But you certainly got my attention. The thing is…… the claim might be right. Even with some hefty competition from the likes of Wretched Fate, Iron Flesh, Angerot, Coffin […]

As I stated in my review of Drama Noir‘s Night Fall Upon the Asylum review earlier this week, there are two symphonic black metal releases vying for my attention right now. And while the aptly named Drama Noir delivered a solid, bombastic symphonic black metal album, in the vein of Dimmu Borgir and such, Swedens […]

So two solid classic-sounding symphonic black metal albums have got my attention this summer. First the debut of Sweden’s Avdagata, The Faceless One, and Nightfall Upon the Asylum, the third album from Greece’s Drama Noir. While slightly different approaches, Drama Noir, bad moniker aside, is a solid, pure, mid-era (the classic three-word albums) Dimmu Borgir-and […]

When I first heard rumors of Texas’s Creeping Death a few years ago, I stupidly assumed they were just a Metallica tribute band and disregarded them. Then as I heard more and more, and they got signed to a ‘big’ label, I assumed they were simply yet another Bolt Thrower worship band, as is the […]

There’s a couple of reasons I checked out the debut from British newcomers Ageless Summoning. 1) it’s on Dark Descent Records. ’nuff said. 2), the promo material dropped Steve Tucker-era Morbid Angel and Immolation as influences, and certainly when the opening lurch of “Usurper of the Void” and its otherworldy  Trey Azagthoth solo cemented that […]

Sweden’s Ironmaster is a supergroup featuring a trio of dudes who are ir have been in such bands as Carnal Forge, Facebreaker, Scar Symmetry Dark Funeral and Incapacity. And while Black Lion Records is usually known for their more melodic or symphonic black metal offerings, Ironmaster delivers a savage assault of blistering no frills blackened/death […]

Fathomage is a one-man, Australian, self-confessed Orthodox Christian who goes by the name of ‘Akul’. But don’t let the orthodox Christian thing put you off, as his music isn’t preachy ‘white metal’ at all but rather a Summoning (he has dabbled in Tolkien themes for prior album Minas Morgul – The Nazgûl Awaken) inspired take […]

The 2022 self-titled debut EP from Italy’s Dead Chasm, was a solid affair of churning, miasmal Dark Descent-styled death metal that hinted at something pretty damn good for the band’s future, and here we are with the band’s full-length debut. And while it continues from the sound of the EP, it’s not quite the jump […]

Sometimes I need a break from my symphonic addiction and shake things up a bit and get back to basics. Go back to my roots so to speak…how about some relentless, blasting blackened death metal from South Carolina??? Fuck yes. And Olkoth ( a deity from the Cthtulu mythos) with current and ex-members from various […]

So this spring/summer the always reliable FDA records unleashed a couple of lethal debut albums from female-fronted death metal bands. One, was the debut of Itlay’s Dead Chasm, whose solid EP I covered here, and the other from Turkey’s Abolish, who was of interest to me as they feature Lucy Ferra on vocals, who impressed […]

Starting as a standard brutal death metal/slam band, Germany’s started adding some keyboards around 2019’s Inferis, but it was for 2021’s excellent A Hill to Die Upon, where they went full-on symphonic deathcore, and on the heels of Lorna Shore‘s genre igniting Immortal, comparisons to Lorna Shore were inevitable…. and warranted. However, they also had […]

Indonesia Vallendusk is one of my favorite atmospheric black metal bands, so when I heard that Numeron was from also Indonesia, played the same style of black metal, AND have a concept album based on Norse mythology, I had to check it out. And while not quite as good as Vallendusk, they are still really […]

So at 2023s midpoint a few bands and their respective debuts are arguably vying for the year’s best Swedish death metal release (with Iron Flesh Church of the Dead, Angerot and Wretched Fate certainly in the conversation for non debuts). One, Come, Sweet Death’s, hacking, slashing Dismember homage, Imperishable. And two, the debut from Swtizerland’s […]

OK, there is a lot to get to here; Pronostic is a Canadian progressive/melodic technical death metal project that hasn’t released anything since 2015s , An Atomic Decision, and before that their 2012 debut Deviated Inner Spectrum. The project is the brainchild of both guitarists/vocalists Alexandre Lauzon and Charles Pilotte, both relative unknowns in the […]

From 2004 to 2017 Wintersun, the bloated,much-maligned, crowd-funded (begged) project of Jari Mäenpää has produced 3 albums and has released nothing since  2017s The Forest Seasons, other than a few compilations and single. (despite seemingly asking for money eery few months) Since 2017, Canada’s Atavistia has released 3 quality albums including 2020s excellent The Winter […]

I haven’t been super excited about death/doom metal and its subgenres, for a while now, heck I completely missed the Shape of Despair album from last year, and they were one of my absolute faves in the genre back in the day. Heck, the new Insomnium, barely registered with me. But in 2020, Colorado’s Fires […]

Caedeous is an ‘extreme, symphonic black metal’ band hailing from Lison, Portugal, and due to my addiction to anything symphonic as well as my general love of symphonic black metal, I had to check out their fourth album. And not being familiar with the band I was a bit taken aback. Instead of the usual […]

Italy’s Graveworm has been around since the mid/late 90s, plying their form of gothic/ melodic black/death metal, and by all accounts have been a pretty respectable act over their career. They found themselves on Nuclear Blast Records with 200s Engraved in Black when the label was saturated with the likes of Agathodaimon, Godgory, Sculpture, Crematory […]

Belgium’s When Plagues Collide released a damn solid debut album of symphonic/blackened deathcore back in 2019, Tutor of the Dying, before the genre really took off. And honestly, it probably should have got more attention but then Lorna Shore happened, Mental Cruelty happened, Worm Shepherd happened, and Shadow of Intent happened. And then 1,234 other […]

Ya know, I had completely forgotten about this North Carolina duo. This is surprising considering I rather enjoyed the debut from a few years ago, and the fact my enthusiasm, some would even say fanboyish obsession with any sort of metal with symphonic/orchestral elements. Throw in another couple of my weaknesses- history/mythological tales and modern, […]

Dystertol is a veteran Austrian melodic death band with 2 albums under their belt since 2014, but as is often the case in this vast realm of metal, they are a new act to me. Classifying them is difficult, as while they are certainly a melodic death metal band in the vein of say newer […]

German Christian death metal band Sacrificium has been around since the 90s, released their debut album in 2002, and have released 2 albums since then, with 2013s Prey for Your Gods being their last offering. And I say this because up until Oblivion, I had no idea these guys even existed- even in the Christian […]

One look at the Realms of Chaos/War Master Era Bolt Thrower-inspired logo from the multinational (mostly Germany, Iceland, USA) act, Extermination Order, and you know exactly what you are getting with the 5 songs on the war themed EP, The Siege of Ascalon. Throw in the fact that 2/3 of the German contingent of Extermination Order […]

Germany’s environmental warriors, Downfall of Gaia has been one of my reliable go-tos’s when it comes to modern post-black metal, appearing on my year-end list a couple of times since 2012s Suffocating in a Swarm of Cranes). But when I saw the cover for album number 6, I got major Deafheaven vibes and hoped the […]