MERCILESS LAWGrimoire For The Ultimate Sinner EP Stormspell (2023)Rating: 8/10 I made a big mistake by listening to Solitary Sabred’s new album, Temple Of The Serpent, before this EP so naturally Merciless Law seems to pale considerably. But anyway, I still commend Los Ángeles, Chile-based multi-instrumentalist Pancho Ireland and his commitment to the metal way […]
TECHNOPHOBIAAnti-Human Terror EP Self-released (2023)Rating: 7/10 If you can put up with the generic shouty vocal blasts then I’m sure you’ll find great reward in this violent thrash EP. The band behind such a hostile outburst is Technophobia, a young quartet from Bydgoszcz in Poland. Anti-Human Terror is equipped with four short tracks with a […]
AMON AMARTH Launch Music Video For ‘Saxons And Vikings’ Feat. SAXON’s Biff Byford December 13th, 2023 Stockholm, Sweden-based melodic death metal band Amon Amarth have filmed a music video for the track ‘Saxons And Vikings’. Directed by Pavel Trebukhin and featuring guest vocals from Saxon frontman Biff Byford, the clip can be viewed below. Amon […]
NOORMother’s Guilty Pleasure Part One Self-titled (2023)Rating: 9/10 If ever there was a case of an album cover not matching the music within it’s this one – damn, even the band shots make them look more like a hardcore outfit. Secondly, Mother’s Guilty Pleasure Part One is not only the biggest surprise of 2023 but […]
OMINUMWar For Peace EP Self-released (2023)Rating: 6/10 Last year, Swedish thrashers Ominum released a sturdy debut full-length album with Monument; a solid thrash offering that sounded like Testament at their most aggressive. Those details are present again as the Gothenburg trio throws out three hefty tracks which bring plenty of bone-crunching riffs. You can slot […]
INCULTERMorbid Origin Edged Circle Productions (2023)Rating: 8.5/10 It’s nice to hear a thrash metal outing not riddled with yappy, generic screamo vocals. Instead, Fusa, Norway-based Inculter opts for a more straightforward savagery in the vocal blurts which give this record a confrontational old school feeling circa mid-to-late 80s, but, as evidenced on previous offerings, a […]
QUEENSRŸCHE Release AI-Generated Music Video For ‘Nocturnal Light’ Track December 7th, 2023 Washington-based heavy metal band Queensrÿche have released an AI-generated music video for the track ‘Nocturnal Light’. Directed by Above The Void, the clip can be viewed below. Queensrÿche issued 16th full-length studio album Digital Noise Alliance on October 7th, 2022 through Century Media […]
DEFENESTRATIONMortal Cremation EP Self-released (2023)Rating: 8/10 I’m surprised that there are a handful of bands under the Defenestration moniker, but in this instance we are dealing with a Canadian death metal posse. This is some really catchy stuff that revels in the murkiness of its own grim and slurry-ridden riffage. Bleak solos pierce the ever-rising […]
AGE OF STEELAge Of Steel EP Self-released (2023)Rating: 7.5/10 The cover art and band moniker suggested to me that this debut EP was going to be a standard, lo-fi metal outing… and I was right. But don’t let such simple designs put you off, because as I’ve said many times before traditional throwback metal still […]
ABYSSAL RIFTExtirpation Dirge Sentient Ruin Laboratories (2023)Rating: 9/10 Being the creation of multi-instrumentalist Matt Auxier (6th Circle and Ash Prison), who is joined here by Unyielding Love drummer David Mahoney, Columbus. Ohio-based Abyssal Rift is a bewildering death metal act that should come with a warning sign. This debut full-length release offers up six tracks […]
