Category: Reviews

  • Ruins: Cauldron

    Originally released in 2008 in their homeland, Australian-based Ruins’ Cauldron is a solid cut of minimalist black metal that comes off as being fairly accessible.

  • Echoes Of Eternity: As Shadows Burn

    California gothic /progressive metal outfit Echoes of Eternity return with nine new tracks on their second full length album As Shadows Burn.

  • Wodensthrone: Loss

    Despite only releasing a number of splits, the debut album from Wodensthrone is incredibly lush, haunting and in some ways, quite ‘delicate’ for what is considered ‘true’ pagan black metal.

  • Thornafire: Vorex Deconstrucción

    Hailing from Santiago, Chile, Thornafire have offered up a slab of death metal that has some very impressive moments but that mostly comes off as being fairly monotonous.

  • Church Of Misery: Houses of the Unholy

    If you’ve heard the previous two Church Of Misery albums and quite enjoyed them, then you won’t be disappointed with their latest and third full length release. Houses of the Unholy follows the same formula as 2001’s Master of Brutality and 2004’s Second Coming: bluesy lead riffing over heavily distorted rumbling bass accompanied by an…

  • Chaos Synopsis: Kvlt Of Dementia

    Chaos Synopsis is a Brazilian based thrash/death metal band that has recently released their first full length album. They play a highly intensive, brutal, aggressive and fast style of metal that is very similar to early Slayer.

  • Vanmakt: Ad Luciferi Regnum

    With the rise of the blackened death metal sound, this record is a pleasant surprise. These Swedes make it evident that their creativity as a whole was expressed with much ease.

  • Black Anvil: Time Insults The Mind

    Like Goatwhore, like Crucifist, Black Anvil is not so much preoccupied with the thin-sounding Scandinavian aspect of black metal (although we are privy to the odd melodic movement reminiscent of Dissection) as they are completely obsessed with the mid-1980s first wave of Bathory, Possessed, and early Celtic Frost, the kind of primitive, immediate, old school…

  • Trouble: Psalm 9/The Skull (reissues)

    Sadly, most of Trouble’s albums are long out of print, which makes Escapi’s decision to reissue the first two in expanded, remastered formats that much sweeter. Released individually in slipcase, two-disc versions, both 1984’s Psalm 9 and the following year’s The Skull have been digitally remastered, and are much louder and clearer than the original…

  • Glittertind: Landkjenning

    Glittertind is essentially a two-man band, which makes tracks such as the rollicking “Longships and Mead” interesting. The song reminds me of something The Pogues or our Canadian counterpart, Sprit of the West, might release – a blend of traditional Norwegian folk melodies with the addition of electric guitars, a slightly sped-up tempo and punk…