Cemican – U k ‘u’ uk’ankil Mayakaaj (2025) – Review

Cemican - U_k’u’uk’ankil_Mayakaaj - Album Cover

The Mexicans of Cemican1 are a weird bunch. They deliver a mix of harsh Death Metal and contemporary interpretations of long-gone South American (or Mayan) folk. Ritualistic meditations of the kind we usually hear from Northern Europe.

It appears that the Yucatan is the band’s preferred playground. An area, yours truly here knows pretty well. Extensive travels through dark jungles fondly remembered and a gazillion stoneheaps duly visited. But I digress, this would be fodder for a travel blog, not this zine. Back to Cemican, ’tis a band with a strange addiction to Mayan ideology, worldview, mysticism, and … [...] Click to raid more!

Aversed – Erasure of Color (2025) – Review

Aversed - Erasure of Color - Album Cover

Aversed did it. Who would have thought that? The airtime is down to a benign 40 minutes from 57 minutes on Impermanent. Also, methinks that there’s much less Arch Enemy baked into Erasure of Color compared to what was before. And these are good pointers toward a successful sophomore piece of an up-and-coming Extreme Metal band. Or is it really? Harsh musings and melodic exploits.


Right from the start, the change in vocal style is truly remarkable. It looks like Haydee Irizarry and her Gluz-leaning1 antics left the building in 2021, and one Sarah Hartman moved into her … [...] Click to raid more!

Hazzerd – The 3rd Dimension (2025) – Review

Hazzerd - The 3rd Dimension - Album Cover

Whenever I ask one of my non-metalhead friends to fire up some metal, they hit one of Metallica‘s tracks. Damn. But who are we kidding? Ever since the Grammies forgot to do research and just handed prizes to the loudest American band with the worst and yellowest album covers, Thrash Metal got undue credit and false fame. Battle medals these folks didn’t quite deserve in the first place. But whatever the merit may be, this kind of promotion undoubtedly assisted the furious success of this genre over the decades.

So, here’s Hazzerd. A relatively young band having seen … [...] Click to raid more!

Newsflash: Varmia sends us a Prolog!

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Varmia - Prolog - Album Cover

Well, by the broken bells of hell. Total darkness trickles down South from the Northern frozen landscape. RMR barely starts the year, and the Polish band Varmia hits us with their newest slightly pagan-esque EP Prolog. Time will tell if ’23 will again turn out to be a malevolent year like the last one. But this band launches us to a good start.

First and foremost, Prolog hits you with a strange mix of the lost dregs of (very) early Enslaved, Bathory on a sunny day, and the unhinged rage of early Myrkur. This goes together with a … [...] Click to raid more!