EP Review: Occult Blood – The Room in the Ground

Occult Blood - The Room in the GroundAugust 18th, 2023Blackened Punk / Black MetalIndependently ReleasedEugene, Oregon, USA I first happened upon Occult Blood when I was listening to some other band that falls within the purview of blackened punk and blackened heavy metal. It may have been Darkthrone. It may have been Devil Master. I …

EP Review: Divine Bloodline – Kings of the Night

Divine Bloodline - Kings of the NightMarch 20th, 2024Folk Metal / Melodic Death MetalIndependently ReleasedMontreal, Quebec, Canada Montreal seems to be a never-ending font of awesome bands that just keep getting churned up out of the underground to deliver badass riffery unto the masses. Divine Bloodline is the latest offering that I've been privy to …

Album Review: Heavy Temple – Garden of Heathens

Heavy Temple - Garden of HeathensApril 12th, 2024Doom / Stoner MetalMagnetic Eye RecordsPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, USA I initially was made aware of Heavy Temple when the band Morgul Blade, one of my favourite newer metal acts of the past decade, posted about this band recently on their social media. Heavy Temple shares members with Morgul Blade, …

Album Review: Coffin Storm – Arcana Rising

"The spell you're under... refrain from leaving here at night..." Coffin Storm - Arcana RisingMarch 29th, 2024Traditional / Heavy / Doom MetalPeaceville RecordsKolbotn, Norway When I first heard that legendary Darkthrone founding member and Norwegian black metal scene alumnus Fenriz was joining forces with members of Aura Noir for a brand new project I was …

Demo Review: Hedonist – Sepulchral Lacerations

Hedonist - Sepulchral LacerationsJune 10th, 2022Death MetalNeon Taste RecordsVictoria, British Columbia, Canada This demo popped across my feed in the past few weeks as I was endlessly scrolling through social media and so I decided to check it out. I wasn't familiar with the band, nor their label, nor the British Columbian extreme metal scene …

Album Review: Castle Rat – Into the Realm

"Six hundred million upturned eyes, none will be saved from worm and fly." Castle Rat - Into the RealmApril 12th, 2024Doom MetalKing Volume RecordsBrooklyn, New York, USA After much ado, the long anticipated debut full length record from Brooklyn-based fantastical doom metal quintet Castle Rat has finally arrived. This band had garnered attention from me …

Album Review: Bog Monkey – Hollow

Bog Monkey - HollowMarch 3rd, 2023Sludge / Stoner Metal / Noise RockIndependently ReleasedAtlanta, Georgia, USA I first discovered Bog Monkey when a friend of mind recommended them on Twitter, and I was immediately drawn in by the name of the band and the album cover. Come on, look at that. Does that album cover not …

Album Review: Horndal – Head Hammer Man

Horndal - Head Hammer ManApril 5th, 2024Progressive Sludge MetalProsthetic RecordsStockholm, Sweden Head Hammer Man is the third full length record from Swedish heavy metal outfit Horndal. Before this year I had never heard of this band, and it was thanks to my friend and bandmate Tyler who showed them to me that this album has …

Album Review: Vulture – Sentinels

"Where there's a whip, there is a way, succumb to the rhythm of our drill." Vulture - SentinelsApril 12th, 2024Thrash MetalMetal Blade RecordsDortmund, Germany I was first made aware of Vulture last year when I discovered their record Dealin' Death on a YouTube channel dedicated to the new wave of old school thrash metal, and …

An Interview with Seum

Seum are a three piece sludge metal / doom metal band formed by three musicians who moved to Canada from France and are currently based out of Montreal, Quebec. Firstly, can you introduce yourselves and tell our readers who we’re talking to?Piotr: Hi Greg, thanks for having us in Where Strides the Behemoth. We are …