CASTLE RATInto The Realm King Volume (2024)Rating: 7/10 I recall as a naive 14 year old metalhead having crushes on numerous female musicians within the heavy metal genre. The main femme fatales which spring to mind all these years later are Lee Aaron and the twin sisters from Gypsy Queen, Pamela (R.I.P.) and Paula Mattioli. […]
NERVE AGENTGame Of Death EP Self-released (2024)Rating: 8/10 Game Of Death is the debut EP from Birmingham, England-based thrashers Nerve Agent, a new band on the block with a line-up of Dan W (vocals), Sam D and Sam T (guitars), Alfie C (bass) and Dan M (drums). There’s a strong crossover vibe to this violent […]
ATTACKERThe God Particle Cruz Del Sur Music (2024)Rating: 7.5/10 Drummer Mike Sabatini may be the only original member left of underrated New Jersey metal band Attacker but their thirty-three minute return to the fray still manages to sizzle in all the right places. Attacker released two superb cult records in the 80s – Battle At […]
NECROTLifeless Birth Tankcrimes (2024)Rating: 8/10 “Fuck, produce and then you die,” slurps Necrot’s vocal fiend Luca Indrio as once again we are thrown into the bowels of another full-length studio album from this Oakland, California-based act. You just can’t go wrong with this sort of sodden sound as the trio drags us through seven songs, […]
FATAL COLLAPSEFatal Collapse Cause Of Death (2024)Rating: 7/10 Embarking on their debut full-length journey is Hamburg, Germany-based foursome Fatal Collapse. The first few seconds of this outing sounds like an eerie intro that Slayer would churn up, but after that Fatal Collapse dabbles in a robust style of groove metal that’s far more contemporary than […]
VULTURESentinels Metal Blade (2024)Rating: 8/10 Swooping back with fiery talons, German speedsters Vulture deliver their fourth full-length studio album with an excellent cover design by Guatemalan artist Mario López. As expected this is another razor-sharp release that mixes the dynamic steel of vintage Accept with the haste of Exciter. Vulture’s brand of speed metal is […]
INSECURITYTales From The Dreamworld EP Nube Negra Prods (2024)Rating: 7/10 If you need a dose of crunchy, crisp maddening old school thrash metal then why not snap up the new EP from Santiago, Chile-based Insecurity. These guys have been snapping necks since 2016 and two years ago unleashed their debut full-length album Intruder Of Reality. […]
CEREBRAL DESOLATIONFilth EP Self-released (2024)Rating: 7/10 The title of this one says it all as Kentucky mob Cerebral Desolation drowns the listener in a soup of grinding, churning muck. Some of the riffs boast that gloomy Bolt Thrower ploughing sound while great slogs of dirty doom work in tandem with the guttural vocals. This is […]
SEVERE OVERBITESevere Overbite Self-released (2024)Rating: 7/10 Have you seen the cover of this? It looks like an early to mid 80s Swedish throwback; all warriors, swords and icy mountains. Interestingly, the musicians behind this debut full-length record are Swedish duo Håkan Mårtensson (vocals) and Jonas Öhlund (guitar, bass and keyboards), but what really drew me […]
PECTORATwilight Knights Self-released (2024)Rating: 6/10 Why this is only the Danish band’s second full-length album since forming in 2011 we will never know, but the wonderfully decorated Twilight Knights is a welcome addition to any collection. Since 2020 Pectora has featured a “new” vocalist in Philip Butler, who replaces Kenneth Jacobsen who sang on the […]
