uk

Reviews Archive

Ravenmoon Sanctuary – Winter Desolation of Death (Darker Than Black Records)

With so many damn bands period, regardless of genre, it’s so easy to not become acquainted with many really solid ones like this newer Polish band that carries the torch of powerful bands that are so through simple production, grim atmospheres haunted by neoclassical decorations, and a thin film sound cast by a single buzzing

Read More…

Halvag – Halvag (Darker Than Black Records)

Fuck!!!! Unlike the incredible Ravenmoon Sanctuary and Blodtru this one is not even available yet and it’s tied with RS for absolute MUST have purchasing. I also scoured the Internet; well okay… only a little bit, and all that I found was that Halvag is a U.S. based black metal band. For reviewing this is

Read More…

The Vein – Scouring the Wreckage of Time (Shadow Kingdom Records)

For me this album was an absolute surprise for several reasons: the first of which being a death metal record released by Shadow Kingdom?  Of course there’s plenty of doom influence present on the album, especially the iconic lead guitar tones of Altar of Oblivion’s axeman Martin Mendelssohn, but even still it’s an unusual style

Read More…

Unspeakable Axe Records Feature

As a sub-label of Dark Descent, Unspeakable Axe Records has made their debut with two releases sure to leave an imprint on the underground metal community. First up is Austin, TX’s Birth A.D. with their debut ‘I Blame You’, a collection of 18 fast and furious thrash masterpieces from the hey-day of 1980′s crossover. Totally

Read More…

Jex Thoth – Blood Moon Rise (I Hate Records)

Surely Jex Thoth is a familiar name to many of you reading this, especially to those diehard doom heads, but whether you’ve been exposed to her seductive voice delivering deep poetic and introspective lyrics is more important than the recognition of the brand name. Originally named Totem this band has been actively ,for 8 years

Read More…

Wartime – Solar Messiah

Bulgarian death maniacs Wartime return with their sophomore full-length, ‘Solar Messiah’. Slamming powerful riffs and rhythms from the start, Wartime make it clear they are pulling no punches with this release. Down-tuned groove is the order of the hour on ‘The Deepest Fear’, creating a monstrous rhythm section for lead singer Ivan to belt his

Read More…

Blinded by Faith – Chernobyl Survivor

This Canadian quartet’s newest offering has been sitting on my desk for a bit too long. Something about required more than a single listen for me to really get a solid appreciation for it. Perhaps the cover art is a little too ‘CG’ or Blinded by Faith’s logo is much too legible to seem credible.

Read More…

Csejthe – Reminiscence (Eisenwald Tonschmiede)

Over the last 4 years or so the Quebecois Metal Noir turnout of incredible black metal bands has kept me mail ordering, digging around to grab all that I can on any format, and it all pretty much started with my introduction to Forteresse and this band here with their Transcendance EP. Since then it’s

Read More…

Woe – Withdrawal

Woe has given us a short but incredibly powerful discography with their three albums. Driven by emotion and laden with harmonies, Woe are often referred to as part of this rather peculiar movement called “post” black metal, which I do not really care for and don’t grasp by my own choice. Post as in the

Read More…

Vit – The Dry Season

“The Midwest is such a tabula rasa.” – Richard Powers, author As a nearly lifelong Indiana resident (save for a couple of glorious, highly caffeinated years in Seattle), I’ve definitely become acquainted with the ugly side of the middle region of the country. I mean, sure…many of the stories thrown around bear at least a

Read More…