With the explosive return of live music this year, it was nice to have a slightly smaller selection of albums to sift over, and the opportunity to see a few pandemic discoveries live. I rounded up some of the albums I enjoyed and present them to you as my annual recommendations....
Brand new Romanian/Swedish symphonic power metallers Crossing Eternity are gearing up to release their debut album “The Rising World” to the world June 15, 2018. “The Rising World” blends elements of modern metal with psychedelic soundscapes alluding to the innocence of the 70s’ rock music. The album contains thirteen epic...
Sadistik Forest is about to release their third album Morbid Majesties and it’s an unrelenting torrent of high octane, punch you in the throat death metal. It’s fast and heavy with wailing technical guitar solos and deep gutturals, everything that a death metal fan could want. Touches of classic death...
Even on a hot spring day the second full length Life Has Gone On Long Enough from Portland’s NONE can make you feel cold. Fuzzy distortion and depressive vocals lure you into the bleak world of misery and grief and swallow you. You can feel yourself being sucked into a...
MaterDea is one of the most known and recognizable metal bands in Italy coming out of the pagan and Celtic scene. It has been 2 years since their last release, a full length entitled “The Goddess’ Chants” and they are ready to indulge their listeners in a new fascinating and...
Majesty of Silence signs with Extreme Metal Music / Rockshots Records for the release of the new album “Zu Dunkel Für Das Licht“ Swiss black metal duo Majesty of Silence have just signed a worldwide deal with Extreme Metal Music / Rockshots Records for the release of their fourth album...
Et Moriemur (Latin for “And we will die”) is a doom band hailing from Prague, Czech Republic. Since conception in 2008, the group has produced four releases including the latest Epigrammata. Self-described as existentialist doom, this album gives nods to black and death metal accompanied by enchanting atmospheric melodies. If...
Maybe it’s just me, but Swedish death metal bands can almost be put at a disadvantage sometimes if they are constantly compared to the Swedish greats that came before them. It can be a daunting task to try and emulate these predecessors while creating a distinctive, original sound. Sweden’s Demonical...
The first thing to notice about Dark Archive’s Cultivate Our Blood in Aeon are the coherent harsh vocals. The argument could be raised that it’s not trve black metal with those kind of vocals, but that argument subsides as soon as the face fucking by blast beats begins. Even the...
Altars of Grief are masters of crafting absolutely beautiful blackened doom metal since 2013. The cornerstone of doom metal from the Canadian Prairies, Altars of Grief is preparing to release their second full-length Iris this year on Hypnotic Dirge Records. With lyrical themes of the well-known struggles of addiction...