Velarium, special shade by Ashen Sun!

Ashen Sun - Velarium - Album Cover

Does anybody remember Johnny Hagel? You know, the bassist who kept popping up here and there on this zine. Most notably on records sponsored by an ancient incarnation of Tiamat and – yes – more recent Sorcerer, too. But since then, he seemed to have taken a deep dive. Like them anal nuclear subs that disappear into nowhere.

Thus, the RMR crew was mighty surprised to see him emerging astride a Gothic Rock gig called Ashen Sun. One that wallows darkly in echoes of dystopian melancholy, electronica-driven Darkwave without the bodices, and soft-spoken messages of fire and … [...] Click to raid more!

Locus Noir – Shadow Sun (2026) – Review

Locus Noir - Shadow Sun - Album Cover

2026 seems to turn into an interesting year in rock ‘n’ metal. And it may well be the out-of-the-box section of our musical universe that will take on some weight this time. And in truth, sometimes one needs a hefty counterweight to the endless supply of beastly metal that the underground ceaselessly regurgitates.

So, why not some gothically tainted rock (and metal) that seems to reach us straight from the past? Melancholy writ large on yet another canvas of the dead and dying, with a whiff of that graveyard smell. Shadowy greetings from a sun weeping tears, but not of … [...] Click to raid more!

Dusk – Bunker (2026) – Review

Dusk - Bunker - Album Cover

Blackened, disjointed, and unsettingly smelly items already graced our review pipe in the past, no doubt. Need an example? It was only last year, to be precise. Magnadur was the act’s name, and they hit rock bottom with us not once, but twice in 2025. An anal avalanche of Synthwave-imbued pseudo metal shards to crush yer opponents. Or something. You really need to let that one sink in for a while. Utter self-destruction, because of – well – an inability to harness one’s own psychedelic ideas and turn them into something coherent.

And that’s all the more frustrating because the … [...] Click to raid more!

Ponte Del Diavolo – De Venom Natura (2026) – Review

Ponte Del Diavolo - De Venom Natura - Album Cover

Ponte Del Diavolo, or devil’s bridge in English. You got a bunch of them across Northern Italy and neighboring Switzerland. There is one in Cividale del Friuli in the North-East. The one Corte Di Lunas famously rocked about. The Ponte della Maddalena in Borgo a Mozzano, Tuscany, is another famous one. But let’s turn to the one just outside Turin. Located in Lanzo Torinese, a few clicks away from the city, this is the one that might have inspired the band’s name. A mystery of a construction, apparently built by the devil himself for the price of one soul.1[...] Click to raid more!