CRUZConfines de la Cordura Nuclear Winter (2022)Rating: 8/10 A melancholic piano leads us into the darkness of what is the second full-length instalment from Spanish death / thrash act Cruz. This quintet hasn’t been all too active since forming in 2013, but damn do they make up for it once ‘Als Peus De La Creu’ […]
WOOD WITCHEyes Of Darkness Self-released (2022)Rating: 7.5/10 Even though we’ve heard such occult-driven drivel time and time again, Virginia Beach clan Wood Witch is more than happy to lumber from the forest, with black candles in hands and cloaks dragging, and set up its altar for midnight rendezvous. Yep, this is archaic doom metal wrapped […]
JADED HEART Issue Lyric Video For Title Track To New Album ‘Heart Attack’ September 26th, 2022 Duisburg, Germany-based hard rock band Jaded Heart have released an official lyric video for the title track to 15th full-length studio album Heart Attack, which can be viewed below. Jaded Heart issue 15th full-length studio album Heart Attack on […]
BLACK GRAILVIIII EP Iron Bonehead Productions (2022)Rating: 8/10 Strap yourself in for a dark ride into the pitch black abyss of Chilean gloom. Black Grail are a Santiago-based band formed back in 2005 and have slowly crept up from the depths of the citadel and into our nightmares with what is most certainly their best […]
RAZORCycle Of Contempt Relapse (2022)Rating: 8.5/10 So here it is, one of the most long awaited returns in metal, alongside Vio-lence, only this time it’s Razor. The last time this classic Canadian thrash act recorded an album was in 1997 (Decibels), but that was a period when the metal genre was in a rather confused […]
SPELLBOOKDeadly Charms Cruz Del Sur Music (2022)Rating: 8/10 Channelling Black Sabbath and Deep Purple in equal measure, American clan SpellBook eases its second misty heap of nostalgic heavy rock into our eye-line and ear-shot and I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. Yes, there’s something fluid, vintage and cosy about this opus as […]
RAZOR Release Ninth Studio Album ‘Cycle Of Contempt’ September 23rd, 2022 Canadian thrash metal band Razor issued ninth full-length studio album Cycle Of Contempt on September 23rd, 2022 through Relapse Records. The outing can be streamed in its entirety via YouTube below. “I tried to write songs that everybody could listen to and say, ‘Yeah, […]
LIVE BURIALCurse Of The Forlorn Transcending Obscurity (2022)Rating: 8/10 Vocally, I’ve always dug the dehydrated rasps of Live Burial frontman Jamie Brown and I think it’s fair to say that this Newcastle, England-based band have been somewhat overlooked over the years when it comes to UK death metal. Now the scene is fully on the […]
VENOM INC.There’s Only Black Nuclear Blast (2022)Rating: 7/10 It’s vitally important that when reviewing albums that one doesn’t compare the music to the original band which the members originally spawned from, in this case Venom. Venom Inc. is very much a separate entity and one which has existed for seven years. Of course, many will […]
SKELATORBlood Empire EP Gates Of Hell (2022)Rating: 6.5/10 Musically, this bunch of 80s heavy / speed metal throwbacks has always appealed to me. Their early demos – Taste My Demon Seed (2000), Behold… (2001) and Give Me Metal Or Give Me Death (2003) – were fiery racers with their wild axe work and driving percussion. […]
