Stygian Crown – Funeral for a King (2024) – Review

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Stygian Crown‘s 2020 self-titled album led to a lot of head-scratching over at the RMR Review Desk. A debut full of rough ‘n’ dirty metal, stomping riffs, harsh blast beats, and the singer’s almighty roar. All the ingredients were there, with established veterans of pain and tribulation hard at work. Proto doom in action, like. And yet, this – thing often felt like a square peg in a round hole.

So, here we are more or less four years later and the band’s ready to unchain their sophomore album Funeral For a King. An interment worthy of a … [...] Click to raid more!

Video: Let Us Begin, sez The Neptune Power Federation!

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Well, holy moly. These age-old rock tunes never cease to excite us, now, don’t they? The deliciously musty smell of ’70s and ’80s Hard Rock assaulting our ears. Those recordings hitting early metal without really going there – yet. The high-pitched wails, and fast-moving rock ‘n’ roll on goddam steroids. Or was it LSD? We’ll never quite know.

So, here the Australian outfit The Neptune Power Federation appeared on our radar ready to pervert our youth with some unsuitable children’s books. On a video, no less. Let Us Begin boasts a lusty fast-moving Hard Rock piece that reeks of good … [...] Click to raid more!

Fer de Lance – The Hyperborean (2022) – Review

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What on earth is a Hyperborean? I had to look that up, can’t know everything, right? In short, it is a Northerner, a dude from the frozen tundras plagued by wind and ice. But before all Finns and Inuits start their lucky dance, just hold on for a minute. In Greek mythology, it’s all about those folks living in a place of perpetual sunshine beyond the reach of the God of the North Wind. There, take that, ye metal folks. I like that one better, some sort of Garden of Eden 3.0, complete with pickled herring and potent clear … [...] Click to raid more!

Apostle of Solitude – Until The Darkness Goes (2021) – Review

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The RMR crew here wasn’t all that impressed with the doom soundscape over the last few years. Lighthouses like Pallbearer or – again – Khemmis lost their bite somewhat. To the point that their latest releases found themselves in that dreaded oubliette and not on the RMR review pipe where they should be.

There have been old-style doomsters like Pale Divine that got in our good graces more or less. Whereas others clearly did not. Yet, in 2021, we enjoyed a few pretty pristine sadboi offerings that really shook us to the core, we sobbed so hard. But still, … [...] Click to raid more!