Nazghor – Seventh Secular Crusade (2022) – Review

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Well, who ever said that Black Metal oughta sound like those old masters down to the monotonous vile rasp and underground sound from back in the ’90s? Right, nobody. Apart from some purists perhaps that may still populate the smelly underbelly of the mighty metal multiverse.

But I daresay, variety is sorely needed in this bloodied realm of undead things and unspeakable horrors. A genre that adores its traditions and doesn’t take well to change. Even if some veterans made laudable efforts to the contrary without leaving their sacred grounds of long-gone times.

But there’s more on offer. The Swedes … [...] Click to raid more!

Mist of Misery – Severance (2022) – Review

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By Loki and his millions of unholy minions. We’ve been down in the hellish pit and back a few times too many lately. So, our darkened souls yearn for some melodic mana to come along and soothe the pain inflicted by too much scorching metal in the 10th circle of hell.

So, along came a band we actually covered once before. Mist of Misery usurped our attention with that crisp yet melancholic EP Fields of Isolation some way back. A doomy mix that came with a few sudden outbursts of Black Metal, laden with atmospherics and a fair dose of … [...] Click to raid more!

Vorbid – A Swan by the Edge of Mandala (2022) – Review

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Who ever said there would not be enough prog in 2022? Ah, yes. RMR’s upper echelon made some ugly noises about that. But fear naught. The year already spawned pretty decent old prog fare, albeit a bit less than usual. And even Haken sent some signals that seem to point to new, exciting proggy objects heading our way. So, let’s not abandon hope, right?

In the meantime, though, we found some hybrids like Seyr. But also bands like Infanteria that may be closer to the mark for this here new record. The latter sport a thrash/prog tincture that we … [...] Click to raid more!

Slaughter the Giant – Depravity (2022) – Review

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If there’s a most unlikely metal genre to evolve further, it’s Death Metal. It’s often the same old traditional beat that will get those old metalheads all excited. Bands going full-speed melancholia DM do still appear to this day. And they’re welcome over here more often than not.1 But that section of the deathly ones already got a lot of coverage and there’s only so much we can report. So, where’s that wind of change, those new vibes that would excite us to no end?

Well, luckily, we got ourselves new bands that will take their art to a … [...] Click to raid more!