HOUSE OF LORDSSaints And Sinners Frontiers (2022)Rating: 9/10 Formed way back in 1987 by former Angel keyboard player Gregg Giuffria, House Of Lords has become a wondrously melodious heavy rock outfit that has warmed my ears for decades. Saints And Sinners is the 13th release from this incredible American band which now boasts a line-up […]
MORTUOUSUpon Desolation Extremely Rotten Productions / Carbonized (2022)Rating: 8.5/10 The rich vein of death metal releases continues with the second full-length from San Jose, California-based outfit Mortuous who entertained us four years ago with the excellent Through Wilderness debut. As expected, this Upon Desolation is another hefty release boasting various tempos but all delivered like […]
BEHEMOTHOpvs Contra Natvram Nuclear Blast (2022)Rating: 7/10 Opvs Contra Natvram is the 12th dramatic instalment from one of metal’s “love them or hate them” acts. Yes, I adored the early 90s when Poland’s Behemoth existed within that second wave black metal hovel where everything felt archaic, primitive, thorny and obscure. Of course, bands progress and […]
DARKWATER Issue Official Fan-Made Lyric Video For ‘Light Of Dawn’ Track September 13th, 2022 Borås, Sweden-based melodic progressive metal group Darkwater have released an official fan-made video for the track ‘Light Of Dawn’. Created by Sherry L. Grandy, the clip can be viewed below. The band commented: “We are extremely happy to share this video […]
TORRHENThe Adversary Self-released (2022)Rating: 7.5/10 Strangely, when the opening percussive thud and steely axe work snaked its way into my ears, I was suddenly transported back to the halcyon days of Euro metal such was the almost unintentional doomy soundscapes on offer. Sadly, the disappointment really hit home when the vocals of Fabián Rueda hit; […]
THE VINTAGE CARAVAN Premiere ‘Hell’ Music Video September 12th, 2022 Álftanes, Iceland-based rock band The Vintage Caravan have filmed a music video for the track ‘Hell’. Directed and edited by Gottskálk Daði Bernhöft Reynisson at RKK I RVK, the clip can be viewed below. Speaking about the song, frontman Óskar Logi Ágústsson said: “‘Hell’ is […]
SARCOPHAGUMConduits To The Underworld EP Nuclear Winter (2022)Rating: 8/10 Arguably boasting some of the darkest, deepest vocals within the genre, this Sydney, Australia-based hellish concoction is the side-project of members from the equally obscure Golgothan Remains. Combining black and death metal aesthetics, Conduits To The Underworld is one of the year’s finest extreme metal releases; […]
CRYPTIC DISSOLUTIONMorbific Reminiscences In Physical Forms Dismal Fate (2022)Rating: 7/10 Although it sounds like the drummer is bashing on cardboard boxes, the debut offering from this Moscow band is one seriously heavy affair. It’s a shame then that it runs for just over 20 minutes. This is solid, murky death metal led by a really […]
BLOODBATHSurvival Of The Sickest Napalm (2022)Rating: 8/10 Returning with their campiest cover art to date, death metal monsters Bloodbath unleashes album number six. Nick Holmes (Paradise Lost) is once again growling orders over those meaty, ear-shredding riffs across 11 tracks and 45 minutes of chunky, ferocious extremity. Imagine dashes of Cannibal Corpse fused with the […]
OZZY OSBOURNEPatient Number 9 Epic (2022)Rating: 6.5/10 To criticise an Ozzy Osbourne album feels a bit like having a row with your dad, a person you’ve grown up with and have so much respect for. I also don’t want to throw the sympathy vote out to who is arguably heavy metal’s most famous son, so […]
