BLOODRITUALDo You Believe Bitter Melody (2024)Rating: 8/10 When I first saw the cover art of this album I expected a traditional metal opus or something “stoner” fuelled, but lo and behold this is a crossover thrash album although some of the riffs are slow and heavy. The band behind it hails from Greensboro, North Carolina […]

ROTTEN CAVERN Profound (2024) Spain has just coughed up this formidable death / doom duo who go by the names E (vocals) and P (all instruments). Profound is Rotten Cavern’s debut offering and features a trio of tracks sandwiched between an intro (‘Gates’) and an outro (‘Denouement’). ‘Grim Ritual’, ‘Black Procession’ and ‘Corpse’ traipse with […]

EXULTPrimeval Darkness EP Dark Recollections Productions (2024)Rating: 7/10 Unholier than Satan’s testicles, Exult is another gruesome Chilean act treading the death doom boards. Primeval Darkness is a wholesome EP in that it serves up everything you’d want from a composite of this ilk; bulbous sludge riffs, dank thumping percussion and grisly vocals. Opening song ‘Damnation […]

DESECRATOR OF ICHORApex Nocturnus Self-released (2024)Rating: 7/10 Just look at that front cover, it screams “bestial war noise” or something to that effect. Daubed in dark red and black design, Apex Nocturnus is a grim blast of thick, cloying air ridden with toxic particles that act as barbed vapours in the lungs. This is the […]

RIDERS OF ROHANWith Hope Or Without… EP Crypt Of The Wizard (2024)Rating: 8/10 Like extras from some J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy, Gothenburg, Sweden-based hard rockers Riders Of Rohan return to the shire with more The Lord Of The Rings obsessed tales. To an extent the band has remained in that hard rock style where one moment […]

WRØNGAcid Burns EP Self-released (2024)Rating: 7/10 Here is a release that reminds me of one of those early 90s extreme metal bands that cleverly fused together grinding death metal and ashen, industrial flair while remaining bleak and suffocating but with a hardcore sludge stance. Acid Burns is an EP that’s been constructed on choking fumes, […]

CADAVERIC MUTATION Demo ’24 (2024) This demo may only be around four minutes long but it’s one of the sickest things I’ve heard for a long time. The vocals are some of the swampiest examples of rotten ejaculate you will hear; squalid rank burps from some primordial soup. This is Brazilian death metal from the […]

SLAUGHTERROREndless Lust For Gore EP Noble Demon (2024)Rating: 6/10 Considering the quality of the Finnish death metal scene this four-song debut EP from Helsinki’s Slaughterror – consisting of Okko Solanterä (vocals), Saku Moilanen (guitar) and Juuso Turkki (bass) – is rather bog standard. Endless Lust For Gore has a strong late 1990s / early 2000s […]

TRAVELERPrequel To Madness No Remorse (2024)Rating: 7/10 Back with a cosmically crap album cover, the Calgary, Canada-formed metallers Traveler return with their third full-length studio album to attempt to enchant my eardrums. They succeed, partly, because it’s a rather airy opus boasting crystal clear baritone vocals and a sound that’s tighter than the lycra I […]

MORTA SKULDCreation Undone Peaceville (2024)Rating: 7.5/10 Since 1990 Wisconsin, Milwaukee-based death metallers Morta Skuld has entertained but never moved out of the genres second division. Even with those early demos and 1993’s debut album Dying Remains, the guys never quite hit my sweet spot. Even so, I’ve remained loyal to the band and believe that […]