Reviews written by: Colin McNamara

Reviews

Vayron - Demo 2022

<p>Very little is known about Vayron save that they are from France and the members are from the likes of the groups such as Silure and Unanswered. A 4 piece rooted in the more late 90s Death Metal style, “Demo 2022” is a very quick but engaging work. It’s a mix of Immolation meets Deicide especially when hearing a track like ‘Dirty,’ which has the...

24/05/2023

Maniae - Vestiges

<p>France’s Maniae’s future might be a little unclear with the departure of their bassist this year, but at least since their inception in 2022 they grant listeners a little something to get excited about for 2023. Fusing black and death metal for a short EP of mid paced but furious music, one can hear a mix of older Dark Funeral meets newer Bloodb...

16/05/2023

Black Rabbit - Hypnosomnia

<p>Black Rabbit are a Death Thrash band that formed back in 2014 but have been pretty quiet up until 2020 when they unleashed their first EP. Now 3 years later they hit hard with their 12 track debut full of music that is full of aggression and groove. Listeners might be happy to know that this five piece from the Netherlands do not take the conven...

15/05/2023

Overlord - Fake Salvation

<p>Groove stomping its way out of Petershagen, Germany, 2 man band Overlord present their version of death metal with their debut “Fake Salvation.” It as actually a pretty decent load of songs that are similar in structure, but feature plenty of melody and groove that these 2 could easily become the Satyricon duo of death metal. Each track is rathe...

02/05/2023

Astral Sleep - We Are Already Living In The End Of Times

<p>Finland’s Astral Sleep has gone through quite the sound changes in the last few years. Originally a Death Doom band with a thick, almost Funeral Doom sounding sound with the lo fi production but also having gothic and psychedelic tinges. Over time, especially with the psychedelic touches, they got more prominent and more present, and now with th...

26/04/2023

Exul - Path To The Unknown

<p>Poland’s Exul have been around since 2011, but the time it has taken to get things really going has taken quite a while. Active for a short bit then taking a break before becoming active again, 2023 is finally seeing a full length debut after a few demos, so the title “Path To The Unknown” is very fitting because listeners/ fans, and even the ba...

25/04/2023

Hackberry - Breathing Space

<p>Hackberry are pretty unknown, but those that do know they are a five piece from the Netherlands that perform all instrumental prog/psychedelic rock or metal, depending on the track they are hearing. The music here is definitely not by any means aggressive or abrasive, like a Post Metal trip or overly dramatic and keyboard soaked like that of sol...

24/04/2023

Litost - Pathos

<p>Litost hail from Spain, and “Pathos” is their 2nd full length album right along the lines of their debut, “Ethos.” Following a similar approach with a few more surprises, one should not take this black metal releases lightly or think it is going to be a raw ‘kvlt’ affair (like Judas Iscariot) or an overly dramatized black metal symphony (like th...

19/04/2023

Ars Notoria - Chronicles

<p>“Chronicles” is the debut full length from French solo Death Metal band Ars Notoria. Headed by Antoine Grasser since 2017 who has been part of other acts like Beyond the Void, which was formed more recently, listeners are going to get a bit more of technical side of what they’ve heard from Grasser in the past and compared to other projects he ha...

18/04/2023

Astarium / Fire Messiah - Split

<p>Here we have 2 black metal bands but very different sounds. The first is Astarium from Russia, headed since 2005 solely by Sin. Sin creates a more symphonic atmospheric black metal similar to a mix of very early Cradle of Filth mixed with early Satyricon. Expect a very wintery feel with the croaked vocals, buzz saw guitars, and landscape of lush...

16/02/2023

Epidemic Scorn - Destrumanity

<p>Face stomping death metal is what one gets when hearing the 6th album from Germany’s Epidemic Scorn, “Destrumanity.” A mix of mid paced to slow death metal similar to that of Kataklysm meets early Insomnium. There is a lot of melody involved among the heaviness such as on the track ‘The Day After Tomorrow.’ Then there are the more straightforwar...

15/02/2023

Wendigo - Темный Ритуал

<p>Wendigo is a rather interesting band as there is almost no information out there on them. A mix of what one could call thrash sludge, the music is all over the place with anywhere from a country western feel to it mid paced thrash with progressive elements. Almost all in Russian there is a bit of a language barrier but every track seems pretty d...

13/02/2023