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 …

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: 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 …

Album Review: Cell Press – Cages

Cell Press - CagesMarch 8th, 2024Noise Rock / Sludge Metal / MathcoreIndependently ReleasedMontreal, Quebec, Canada Describing the music of Montreal noise rock quartet Cell Press has been admittedly quite difficult ever since I was first exposed to them a year or two back. The group combines elements of noise rock, sludge metal, grindcore, and mathcore …

Demo Review: Mistress – Demo

Mistress - DemoFebruary 22nd, 2024Doom MetalIndependently ReleasedBoston, Massachusetts, USA Mistress is a brand new doom metal project featuring members of the hardcore-infused death metal outfit Fuming Mouth and High Command. I was intrigued to check this out since elements of doom metal are already incorporated into Fuming Mouth's music, so I was curious to hear …

EP Review: Clayman – Enter: Clayman!

"Open wide! Open wide! Open wide! Open wide!" Clayman - Enter: ClaymanMarch 29th, 2024Noise Rock / Experimental PunkGeomorph RecordsMontreal, Quebec, Canada Arisen from the fine-grained soil, Clayman has arrived to deliver unchained sonic terror to the masses from the depths of the Doom Room. This new trio featuring the rhythm bombast of Zilbatar, the electroshock …

Album Review: Omnivide – A Tale of Fire

"Tearing my own flesh down to the bone, such pain to erase all I’ve ever known." Omnivide - A Tale of FireMarch 22nd, 2024Progressive / Technical / Symphonic Death MetalIndependently ReleasedMoncton, New Brunswick, Canada Moncton is perhaps an unlikely place to expect to hear the brand of music represented in the mainstream by such bands …