Manowar’s second record is a logical continuation of their first (even if the artwork is infinitely crummier). You can thank Into Glory Ride for such powerful gems as “Gloves Of Metal”, “Gates Of Valhalla” and the epic closing track, “March For Revenge”. Production is still a bit shite, but fuck if it just adds to the overall charm of this thing. It has such a glowing analogue warmth, it makes me want to go back…

Solid bit of skinhead/oi music from the 80s. Production is a bit muffled but its not too much of a hindrance to these otherwise energetic and engaging songs. These guys know how to write a catchy tune and how to drive it home.

Unfolds with much more subtly and nuance than one would expect from a band named Anal Blasphemy. There are some interesting ideas / motifs present throughout the runtime which are varying degrees of experimental but all sufficiently sound evil as fuck. The best track(s?) are the ones with t the female guest vocals – those are genuinely haunting and bordering on terrifying.

There’s like this wailing feedback effect that happens every time the sampling stops and the music kicks in, which totally overpowers the rest of the music. For as cool as this release looks, it’s purely unlistenable, even for goregrind / gorenoise.

Having only previously been familiar with the early Goatpenis demo era I was therefore totally unprepared for the sound of the latter day releases such as Biochemterrorism. This album fuckin’ rules. It’s war metal / bestial black (whatever) and of course comes with all of the carnage that those genres promise, but also has this innate catchiness to the songs that a lot of artists in that world can’t seem to achieve. Production is a…

Messy yet incredibly enjoyable black metal with a rough and ready production. This does genuinely sound like a war machine that’s seen its fair share of battles, grinding on to the next confrontation.

Heard all (most?) of these Insect Warfare tracks before but that’s absolutely fucking fine with me. Holy shit this band were the fucking goddamn shit. Dobber is an absolute ANIMAL. Super happy to have caught these guys live twice. This shit is seriously, seriously fucking good grindcore. Carcass Grinder appears in my collection several times by proxy of being on splits with bands that I love. They are a fucking great band in their own…

Cool little EP from Doom in the Corrupt Fucking System era. I prefer this to the album even, as it’s short, sharp and hits you right in the fucking face. “Financial Coup” is as good as any classic-era shit. Fucking outstanding.

Intense shit, but would you expect any less? It feels like the bass strings are gonna come out of the stereo and strangle me. Shit is on fire. This thing does not stop. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore that’s for sure.

This is probably one of the coolest Lymphatic Phlegm things that I’ve come across. This gorgeous transparent red 7” (like blood, innit) features 11 tracks (yes!) from Limpy Flem on one side. It is a compilation of sorts; all their shortest songs together in one place. However, the songs here that have already appeared elsewhere are completely re recorded for this split. The other tracks are unreleased ones. Fucking cool as shit, brah brah. I…

The flexi is a flimsy piece of shit that has slipped or skipped on every record player I’ve ever had (I probably need to weight it down) but damn this cover fucking rules. Super fucking dense and heavy sound from Godflesh, as you can imagine, and the drum machine is really great here. Wish they’d used this sound a little more.

Side A of the 7” version has “Saved”, which if you’ve heard The Burning World then you are no doubt already in love with. Side B has “No Cruel Angel” which to be honest I don’t think I’ve ever heard before. It’s very morose and beautiful at the same time, as was a lot of the stuff released around this time. Jarboe does very little here, a few backing vocals here or there but that’s…

Where Cockgun Blast (lol) ends and the ever-prolific RxAxPxEx begins is beyond my comprehension. This 7”, spinning at 45rpm should feel like it should be over in a flash but due to the earscraping noise it feels like it’s going on and on and on arrrgghhhhh! Pretty fucking brutal for noise, though.

Black metal side project from Mick Kenney of Anaal Nathrakh (which featured his brother on vocals and some other vocalist who I’m not entirely sure about). Good mix of styles. Not too much industrial influence like the more punishing parts of Anaal. Frost has, if you’d forgive me, more cold riffs. I’ve had this 7” for years and I keep forgetting about it.

Hey, if you like unlistenable slop with some super right wing themes then roll on up otherwise do not bother with this one.

Beautiful synth or keyboard work lulls you into a false sense of security before a barrage of – at first – seemingly disorganised sound hits you in the face. Wotanorden, despite the clanking cacophony that first meets your ears during the striking of the opening bars of the first song proper, actually rather genuinely have their shit together. The drummer sounds like he’s fallen out of a slam band and has brought his Lars Ulrich…

“Mom, I want a new Graveland CD!” “No, son, we have Graveland at home.” Graveland at home: Undeniably wonky, especially in the drumming department, but if anything this oddly adds to the atmosphere. The production is also fairly terrible. As you can imagine from my opening remarks, Feel the Anger of the Wind (please resist the temptation to make fart jokes) is far from perfect, but those who are inclined to find enjoyment in long…

Somewhat underwhelming entry from Electric Wizard, at least in regards to the great heights that this project can achieve. The Reverend Bizarre side however, is a masterpiece (or it is until it starts to drag on for far too long). Before we get to several minutes of pointless noise and effects over the top of the track, we have a fucking incredible cover of the Beherit classic, “The Gate Of Nanna”. I’m not sure how…

An interesting entry into the Candlemass discography. Chapter XI is noticeably different from the series of Messiah-led albums that preceded it. Yes, even outside of that evolving sound, Chapter XI is a huge leap forwards (or perhaps sideways) into a more “modern” sound, at least for the time. I’m reminded of some of the more straight forward efforts of Tony Martin’s Sabbath days, such as Cross Purposes. I’m not sure if this has held up…

Another seriously fucking killer early release from Fukpig. The vocals are a lot different than the later stuff, and the guitar has more of a Misery Index / early Brutal Truth kind of feel rather than a HM2 pedal in a beehive sound that came later. Also the drums here are spot on. Ticketyboo, you could say.

The name and the art tells me that this is leftovers or additional tracks from the Bastard sessions. Whether or not that’s true, the songs are a little rougher around the edges both in production and also in delivery. Still, there’s a handful of fucking great tunes here.

Bastards is the 4th album from UK crust/grind project Fukpig (5th if you count 3 and The World Is Weakening as individual records). The first noticeable thing about Bastards is that the production is fucking huuuuuuge. As for the tunes, the rabid, hate-filled bile is still in full effect, but there’s more crust here than grind, with those elements pared right back. It still kicks hard as fuck, though.

I’m going for it – I’m gonna give Now, Diabolical a 4. This is probably because of nostalgia reasons, I can clearly see that. Objectively, it is easy to see why long-term fans of the band do not enjoy this one. But, for me, this is where I came in to Satyricon’s world, at least in terms of full-length albums. I remember this coming out, and I saw them on this tour. So I guess…

Super low effort, not very interesting, very one dimensional. Truly uninspired.

My initial thoughts after returning to this record 14 years later was that it had not aged well. However, I firmly believe this is due to the production, rather than the songs. By the time the middle instrumental part of “The Madness and the Damage Done” had rolled around, I remembered entirely why I fell so much in love with this record in the first place. I’m not sure if the mix of jazz and…

The fucking samples on this thing lmao – they really lower the tone. Musically, this shit goes hard as fuck. The riffs are sinister as hell. The production is great and the drums sound fantastic. The fills and interesting variations around the blasts send these songs from good to great, but the whacky sampling pulls things back down a little. A strange one. Also, NS as fuck, if that wasn’t obvious.

As I said about the follow up to this album, Aktion T4 has the good when it comes to raw, uncompromising black metal. Super fucking evil as fuck riffing is the main ingredient, with savage vocals over the top. The whole vibe is a bit edgy, but musically the project heavily delivers on the goods.

Really fucking great raw guitar playing and harsh, rabid vocals that had me hooked even if the drum machine had me scratching my head. These drum patterns just do not fit black metal, but after a while, it all started to click into place and I really enjoyed this weird, off-kilter approach. Super cool off the beaten track kinda shit. I am all about it.

Initial reaction was not great, but I sat with this for a while and it really started to grow on me. The mix of acoustic folk and black metal is stranger than it reads on paper. There is something endearing about the tracks, especially the closing title track, which has a really nice vocal melody. Leave your production expectations at the door, however.

I don’t think it would be unfair to say that David Tibet is a bit up his own arse. Respectfully, Current 93 meanders rather spectacularily through many styles and phases over the years. I Have A Special Plan For This World is far from anything you’d get on Thunder Perfect Mind or Dog’s Blood Rising. Instead, it is a 20 minute ramble over some ambient sound effects. I mean, if you’re into that, then fine….

It is rather commendable actually how straight-forward and one-dimensional the music of Ildjarn is. Truly, there is a singular focus here that is not present in most other black metal, even that which is precise and calculated. However, precise and calculated are not words that I would use to describe Ildjarn. At first, Ildjarn’s music can appear repetitive and annoying, and I suppose yes, it is rather repetitive and annoying, but there is also a…

Der Tod und die landsknechte (forgive me if I have fucked that up, German is not my strong point) is the project of former Absurd vocalist “Wolf”. On the fact of his inclusion alone, before you get to instrumentation (although that too contributes), it is easy to compare Der Tod… to Absurd, particularly the 2000s era in which Wolf was main vocalist. This album contains the same bouncy yet morose folk-like riffs that Absurd proliferated…

Really cool and interesting hardcore / punk with a big undercurrent in the “oi” style (without really falling into that genre at all). Highlight of this thing are the riffs, which are pretty powerful. The drumming is fantastic and the vocals are gruff and in your face. A fucking solid 20 minutes.

Fucking excellent, super under-rated black metal. Reminds me of a mix of the first Peste Noire record, War 88 and Deathspell Omega, if I could be so bold. The songs on Všehorovnost je porážkou převyšujících managed to be both cold and clinical as well as produced with a warmth and a balance that makes this intense and uncompromising black metal record almost a pleasure to listen to. Highly recommended.

This shit fucking slaps, if I can be permitted to use a term that the kids are “down” with, Granted, it sounds like complete shit, but in the same endearing way that a lot of black metal or grindcore sounds like complete shit. Feel like I’m sat in some grotty shit heap of a house; people are dancing; I’m 8 cans into some horrible cider; someone, somewhere has smoked some crack and the place fucking…

Hummingbird Of Death (such a brilliant name) absolutely do not fuck around. This record is a stunning example of how to perform lightning fast grind/powerviolence with a DECENT production and still blow people’s fucking heads off. Yes, there are moments of sludgy, head-nodding riffery, but for the most part this is complete sonic destruction at break-neck speeds. Totally fucking awesome.

As many have noted before me, the legendary status of such a composition makes it rather difficult to talk about. Each name in the running order – a mere footnote in the playlist here, is instead a whole epoch of extreme metal history (yes, even the not-so-well-known ones towards the back). I would recommend this compilation to anyone who is new to underground metal and grindcore; the glory days of Earache are truly difficult to…

Nordland II continues where Nordland I left off, but my interest is not as high for this one. Perhaps it would have been different in “real time”, with a year or whatever between the two albums, but back-to-back these two feel like one bloated, overly-long record. It is also an unfortunate reality that many of the least interesting songs are placed here on Nordland II. Don’t get me wrong, I need to speak plainly in…

Nordland is something of a return to form after a series of what many perceive to be rather wishy-washy albums. I’ve enjoyed all of the various detours in the Bathory catalog, but have to admit that Destroyer Of Worlds was one of the weakest. It is with great relief then, that it’s follow-up, Nordland, starts off incredibly strong. Unfortunately, the record is somewhat top-heavy, with my interest waning as the record goes on. The first…

Entirely enjoyable yet also somewhat unremarkable EP from the controversial Graveland. I think some of these tracks are on Creed Of Iron (they sound familiar at least, but it is easy for me to confuse the various and multiple versions of Graveland songs / eras / album rerecordings and what have you). Production is probably “down the middle” as far as Graveland goes; not too disgusting yet also not too polished.

Not a patch on Longbow III. Raw as fuck, and with an interest concept in the crossover of themes from both oi and black metal, but not really all that great in execution.

Not much going on here. Not awful but absolutely zero flare or individuality.

Both bands are a variation on the same theme here. Thankfully, that theme is uncompromising trashcan-beating gorenoise concocted of thunder claps of nonsensical guitar blurs and intestine vomiting vokills. Play it for your gran.

A set of very interesting songs led by a prominant synthesizer which dominates the mix and the songwriting in general. Unfortunately, the record is let down by fairly underwhelming whispered vocals (think post-prison Varg but twenty times worse) which really detract from the overall atmosphere. I’m sure there’s plenty of people out there who like it, but personally I think this would have been better with fully clean vocals throughout (of which there are some)…

Fucking excellent black metal. Production is pretty shite, but not to the detriment of the record. The atmosphere conjured here is one that I hear many people talking about, perhaps overzealously, in regard to NSBM: triumphant. Blood Of Patriots is just that; an excellent balance of mystic, obscure black metal and “triumphant” melodies. Really good shit.

Now this is fukken thrash metal! Hyper speed, hyper energy, hyper intensity! Tracks like “Mother’s Day” and “Funky Noise” are basically just straight up grindcore, but the intensity doesn’t really let up for the whole record, even in the more sensibly-paced numbers. Production is nice and clear; bass is fantastic and super prominent without dominating the mix; the riffs are balanced well and the drums are hard-hitting as hell. Too many good tracks to mention…

Some decent morose riffs and some good vocals on top. Rigid drum machine programming makes there bare structure of the song very plain to see sometimes, but what it loses in atmosphere due to the drum machine it gains back with the excellent synthesizer work, which reminds me of Rob Lord’s work on Discworld II, of all things…

Fukken dirty ass HM2 blackened punk that sounds like it was recorded in Fritzl’s basement. I would highly recommend it to everyone, from my neighbour to my gran.

Imagine my suprise after realising I had gotten all the way to 2024 without writing about Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope. Sometimes, I take for granted how easy it is to write about new music where there is no attachment to it other than the experiences you have with listening to it that first couple of times. With something like Frozen Corpse, a formative grindcore album for me which I have heard hundreds of times,…

In the past Necro has mixed metal with rap and it has been uhhh, not so great. For some reason, on Death Rap, this combination seems to work rather well. There’s some respectable names cropping here. That said, I massively prefer the more straight up “hip hop” orientated tracks; the sound just lends itself to the depravity of Necro’s rhymes so much better than some random metal riffs. All in all, Death Rap is a…

Some great riffs and some excellent drumming, but for the most part Marasmus unfortunately fails to ignite any real excitement during the entire listen. It isn’t a bad album by any stretch of the imagination; but I’m not sure if it is the production or perhaps it is because the dreaded 00s Nasum-inspired deathgrind bubble burst long ago.

Heavy shit, savage shit. There’s a perfect production on this; the balance between raw and well made. It really helps the loaded powerviolence hit home. The whole EP is loaded with this infectious energy that just makes you want to move. Great 7″.

Vocals kill this one dead, fam. Expect similar excellent yet dirty keyboard from BSOD; the same that you would find in Grausamkeit or BB. Trouble is, man here be croaking over this thing like friggin’ Gnar Kill’s “Mustard Man”. Sounds like pure shit, I won’t lie.

Would it perhaps be too overblown to say that this is lo fi art at its finest? (No, I’m not just saying that because she has her baps out on the cover). Expect shaky, wobbly, messy keyboard and synthesizer pieces, augmented by flurries of barely audible programmed drums and screams buried in enough dust, wow and flutter to almost make them redundant. Folelse Dod truly is a record that is greater than the sum of…

For its place as a early 90s classic, Non Serviam has a very dry, almost artificial sound to it. It isn’t loaded with friggin’ VSTs of course, but it does have a bizarre robotic feel to it. Production aside, this is a fantastic set of songs. I love how when both guitars are going they just melt together into one entity, especially when the synthesizers kick in to complement them. Cutting a track or two…

Raw, punk-influenced black metal from Canada. To War is played with a looseness that no doubt will turn some people off, but if the messier / noisier end of the stick is your bag when it comes to hellish black metal then look no further than this disgusting 4 track demo / EP.

Beautiful, mesmerizing, magical – these are some of the words that I would use to describe the music on Darken Wood’s II. I know that dungeon synth is hardly the Superbowl of underground music, but I would say that this is a very underrated project lurking in the shadows. For the quality of the compositions here, Darken Wood definitely deserves more exposure.

Disc 1 is a “best of” collection so is pretty redundant to anyone even remotely familiar with Godflesh. The goodness lies with Disc 2, which is an odds and ends collection of other random shit. There’s some absolute gems here however, like “Love Is A Dog From Hell”, which is arguably one of the best Godflesh tracks ever. There’s also some club remixes from the 90s singles (which have aged better than I remember) as…

I see a lot of butthurt reviews for this thing, as if all these fucking Converge hipsters have never heard a grindcore / hardcore / powerviolence split before and are mad that the whole thing only lasts a few minutes lol get the fuck out of here with that shit. Converge bring the energy with “Runaway” – the production is massive and the drums sound fantastic. Dropdead sound as new and as fresh as ever….

Interesting set of covers from Warsore, of varying quality. Starts off awesome and devolves into live shit by the end (but still OK). Soil Of Ignorance stuff is incredibly well produced. Super vicious grind with precise stop/start bits that really get the blood going. Hard hitting shit that makes you wanna get up and mosh (but not too much, or you’ll make the needle skip).

Honky Reduction era (so bare bones Hull and Randall) ANb hits like a steel girder to the side of the head. You ain’t getting up from this one, homie. 7 tracks in 4 minutes: classic ANb in top form (and the sample here is amazing, I use it IRL too often tbh). Gob are an interesting one. They have the energy of “looser” powerviolence outfits like Spazz or Man Is The Bastard but there’s another…

This is a small EP that came after Utopia Banished and has the same death metal influence yet raw and loose production. Super intense, super overwhelming, super fucking heavy. This one can slip through the cracks very easily, but the tracks are well worth your time, especially as two are exclusive to this release.

Think, heavy, disgusting Carcass worship mixed with that old school Agathocles-style mincecore stomp. Yeah, it’s like Reek and Razor Sharp Daggers in a blender, but Malignant Tumour have their own vibe and their own super brutal and sick take on the goregrind genre, that I would consider their demos, whilst not the most original, as super important to the gestation of the genre.

Starting a grindcore comp with a band of the “slow and heavy” variety is a bold move. Irritate come across like the slower, chunkier moments of 90s Agathocles material (which may or may not be a coincidence since the two bands have split with each other). Murder Company sound like a death metal band on crack cocaine. There’s a fathomless heaviness to proceedings, helped along nicely by the overpowering drumming and low guitar tuning, not…

A stunning document of absolute chaos, both musically and in reality. This semi-official (I guess) debut from this seminal but messy project is one that every fan of war metal / raw death metal should check out. The sound is not the greatest but the guitar tone is fucking fantastic. Features Pete Helmkamp on bass and vocals, who some of you may know from the early Revenge records.

Not sure what to say about this one. It really does need to be heard to be believed. Expected fractured collages of sound and introspective atmospheres.

A strange mix of tracks from Combat 84. Comes across more like earlier Discharge than it does anything more Oi-related. Couple that with half of this being live tracks, and it’s hard to not feel underwhelmed by the first C84 “full length”. Once you’ve gotten over that, what’s here is actually pretty good.

Short, sharp shock! Songs about capital punishment and Barry Prudom (like, what?) make this short 3-track a bit more of an eyebrow raiser more than anything, but damn this shit hits hard. Combat 84 had this knack of bringing such ferocity to quick, catchy songs. Good shit.

Great collection of tunes on one short EP, which hits the mark with both the energy as well as the catchiness of the songs. Production is nice and clear. The drums really pack a punch. Every song is a banger but “Skinhead” and “Violence” are the standout songs IMO.

I’ve been trying to let this one take its time to grow on me before I make any decisions around whether I like it or not, but Call The Devil has failed to make a significant impression on me. This started with the chosen singles, which are dreadful (truly they are), but you can’t judge an entire album by its singles. To Mushroomhead’s credit there is a lot of different vibes and ideas here. This…

An interesting entry into the Wolf / Unhold years in that it is devoid of Unhold. This gives a slightly different vibe than usual but the overall RAC / punk / folk march that drives Absurd through all eras is still here. Drums are a little thin production-wise but the drummer himself is really great actually. The riffs are as good as usual and Wolf’s vocals are excellent as always.

Pointless release containing some of the better tracks that would later appear on Grabgesang, consigning this to fodder for collectors and completionists only, it would seem. Still sounds pretty fucking great, though.

Doesn’t reinvent the wheel but expands upon the “Goatmoon-worship” beginnings of the Moosegut project. Production is still thin and drastic, but the compositions are very very good indeed; drumming is excellent, and the layers of folk music and synths blur so well with the “core” of the black metal. Interesting and evocative, and more is revealed to you on repeat listens.

Einsatzgruppen is serviceable (pretty sure there’s another split knocking about that I heard recently that was a bit better than this). It’s a one speed / one gear kind of affair, which is OK I guess if you’re into what Einsatzgruppen is doing, otherwise this is gonna get old real fast. Sunchariot is useless, unfortunately. Trying to wring even the tiniest redeeming factor out of this session is impossible.

Short but sweet demo / single from this short-lived Dutch death metal outfit. We have the usual drab death metal production, but things still have a nice balance to them all the same. The drums and bass in particular sound fantastic, underneath the more typical (sorry) guitar and vocals. The final track, “The Prophecy” is the highlight here, IMO.

As other more articulate listeners have already pointed out, From The Deepening Gloom draws a lot from the Finnish Steel Storm school of thought; terrible production, punky drumming and some rather sprightly jigs consisting of bouncy riffs, catchy synths and a raspy yelped vocal style. This is far from a carbon copy however, and stands quite nicely on it’s own feet. There is an air of mystery to this record, which coupled with the more…

You must understand that this review is from someone going in blind to the world and legacy of The Fall. At the time of writing I know them as a revered and extremely prolific British band that are held in quite a high regard. I Am Kurious Oranj is indeed a kurious listen and first impressions remind me of early XTC or even Killing Joke in some ways, but my comparisons are mostly trite, I’m…

I’m probably going to catch some shit for this but Space Ritual has always been one of those albums that I *thought* I loved, rather than an album that I genuinely loved. I have slowly come to terms with that in recent months. There may be some correlation between me accepting this and the lack of cannabis in my life for nearly a decade. Is there a chance that there is a correlation between the…

One of the most uncompromisingly heavy things ever recorded. Truly, madly, unrelenting goregrind(noise) is the order of the day. Everything about it is just so absolutely perfect. I first heard this when I was 16 years old and I really struggled to find something in the grindcore world that could beat it for flat out, straight up extremity. Everyone should hear this at least once.

Beautiful production, if one could say such a thing about a Gwar record. On top of that, musically, Violence Has Arrived is something of a return to form after the fever dream that was We Kill Everything (don’t get me wrong, I enjoy that one too, but I do understand why folks might not like it). I remember when I was a little kid getting into metal, Violence Has Arrived was the latest Gwar record…

Weird, dissonant and oddly hollow, yet inventive and engaging black metal from the same mind that brought you the (excellent) Ynkleudherhenavogyon. It is probably a very lazy / amateur summary on my part, but if you mixed the most grimmest, underground black metal with, idk, fucking Neurosis or something, then you’d get something like this.

If you can take one look at that record sleeve and resist listening to this thing then you are a stronger man than me. The guys are wearing “corpsepaint” but this predates most Norwegain stuff, which is kinda cool. I’ve been coming back to this thing on and off for a while, and despite its unsatisifyingly short run time (it is a single after all, I guess), I am hooked on the messy, uncompromising nature…

Edgelord subject matter aside, this is actually a really fucking good slab of black metal. The production is dim and lousy yet also rather coherent and lends itself well to the kind of riffing that does well “semi” buried in a wall of noise. The drum machine is far from offensive and the vocals are fantastic. Songwriting is fairly inspired, with lots of twists and turns and a generally interesting composition. Well worth checking out.

As with all of these kinds of things, once you get deep into the mire of “underground” (as in, “bedroom”) goregrind and or pornogrind, things can get messy very quickly. Thankfully, this fate does not befall the Tribute to Gut compilation, which manages to maintain a pretty solid and consistent level of quality throughout it’s run time. Yes, there are some absolute fucking stinkers here – primarly the “electro” infused cheap digigrind shite that clogged…

Einsatzgruppen (sigh) has some promise to it. Think Vothana meets Signeur Volund (if I’ve spelt that wrong that I’m sorry but I cannot be fucking bothered to look it up) but they are mixed together by the same dude who does all of Lymphatic Phlegm’s studio albums. TLDR: some great stuff, buried in muck and shitty drum machines. I’m being harsh though, the material is pretty good. Shadowgate are well, just not that great. Some…

Interesting vibes and songwriting, ranging from folk to the slower, more “traditional” elements of “pagan black metal” stripped down to its very core. This is another project of Alexey from M8l8th, but the star of the show here is his wife Ekaterina, who’s vocals breathe life into these tracks. Not my usual type of thing, but a pensive and enjoyable listen all the same.

Great warm sound and a smooth analogue production overall (at least it sounds that way – the way it should!). Vocals remind me somewhat of wolves yapping away in the woods but the guitar riffs and drumming are more than enough to keep my attention throughout. A solid side-project from M8l8th’s Alexey. So far, I’m far preferring KoenigsGrab to any M8l8th release.

The AI cover art probably sums up the state of this thing more than the band ever intended it to: yes, it’s not so bad, but the longer you spend with it the more you realise that it’s just a generic pile of nothing that goes absolutely nowhere. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever heard, but it seems oddly stifled and confined, even with a fairly big modern production and soundstage that allows the…

Solid riffs in all fairness, above average for sure, but that’s it. Vocals are not great, and the stock drum sounds used in the programming drag this thing down massively.

I will always welcome the release of more archival Aphex Twin material. Between the themes in the art and the dulcet tones of the soundscape itself, this takes me right back to the days of Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2. The only trouble here is that it is so unbearably short that by the time you are into it, its all over. Repeat listens don’t really do it here, ambient stuff needs to be long…

Not at all like how I expected M8l8th to sound, not that this pointless piece of information has any bearing on whether others would enjoy them or not. The sound is oddly both a little thin as well as overcompressed, especially when compared to other MZ-affiliated artists such as My Skin is Multicam or Koenigsgrab, both of which excel when compared back-to-back with Reconquista. The art is dead cool, though.

An interesting mix of stuff. Anything djent-related usually is an instant turn-off for me but there is something about Multicam’s dissonant mix of super-downtuned chuggy riffs and electronic-led black metal. There is a lot of atmospheric work between the main “bulk” of the songs (being either in a black metal or djent style) which is also very nicely done and weaves the whole album together into a coherent whole.

ENT stuff is a roaring tide of aggression, which is exactly what you would expect, and the material is around the same kind of quality you get on the original Holocaust… record. Great shit. Filthkick are a variation on a theme. Leaning more towards the crust punk end of the spectrum, they kick you in the face (filthily, no doubt) with their rabid, grind-tinged punk attack. A venomous little split, and a classic of the…

I feel like the term “raw” is overused when describing black metal – if not by the metal world at large then absolutely just by me (haha), but “raw” is the perfect word to attach to Totenberg’s uncompromising assault. There is the smallest glimmer of melody present, but harshness – rawness! – drowns it out mostly. The playing is a little loose; that’s not to say sloppy, just that the carnage has a little swing…

Sinister, evil black metal with razor sharp, uncompromising riffage. Raw, but fully audible and dynamic production. Doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but doesn’t need to.

A clear yet balanced and organic production sets the stage for an excellent cache of songs, betraying of course (always!) the Finnish scene’s sensibility of melody underneath the racket. Drums, guitars etc. sound fantastic, and are very well played. Vocals are probably an acquired taste, if I’m honest, but it all works together nicely. Some more cleans like on the last track would go a long way to striking more of a balance. Good stuff,…

Any album with Akhenaten on the cover is immediately going to grab my attention, even if such a deep dive into ancient Egyptian history is fully expected from a band named Nile. On top of that, whilst Those Whom The Gods Detest is an improvement on the weak Ithyphallic, the production does a stellar job of homogenising what is can only decipher as an otherwise extremely excellent set of composed sounds. At first, it hits…

Excellent songwriting, slightly marred by middling production. You totally adjust to it all however, like going back and watching a 90s TV show that’s in standard def / aspect ratio. In fact, generally, Ashes Of Purification gets better and better as it goes on, with my least favourite songs being at the very start of the album. That being said, I don’t think I want to know whatever the fuck “Paedophilic Orgasmatron” is about, and…

A strange and perplexing effort, even for the weirdness associated with Mutiilation. Black Millennium has the odd distinction of getting less and less interesting as it goes on, being heavily front-loaded with such unholy invocations as “The Hanged Priest” and “The Eggs Of Melancholy”. Generally, the album has some very, how shall I say, unusual production choices, with a dense and bassy sound.

Very raw recording, it’s bizarre hearing just the first three albums and knowing that the rest of the stuff doesn’t exist yet (Seventh Star wasn’t even a twinkle in Iommi’s dilated pupil yet hahaha). Ozzy seems in a very good mood on this one, but it’s far from essential.