Frantic, high-energy, fast-paced death metal from the time where thrash was giving way to a whole new underground, including stuff like this. The band are firing on all cylinders, but are also playing fast and loose, driven by their intense energy and speed, rather than a coherent, laser-focussed tightness. But that’s OK, this is a death metal from 1988, where precisely this kind of thing is encouraged to flourish. Rabid, rabid stuff – oh, and…

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Peak Daggerfall-core. Honestly, the “dungeon synth” elements here are to die for, and whilst I do appreciate the longform beauty of Summoning’s black metal compositions, I do sometimes find my mind wandering. The album on repeat listens however, truly reveals itself. One is rewarded for repeat listens, as the epic reveals its secrets for you with each passing journey. It’s easy to consider Summoning overrated, but it’s also easy to see why so many hold…

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All Skrewed Up is Skrewdriver’s debut album, before the band was resurrected as a white power group. It’s an interesting document, an early entry in the scene, and also, to be honest, a pretty enjoyable if not a little typical escapade in British punk. 12 songs in 26 minutes is fine with me. Interestingly enough, their debut has the best sound and musical performance of any of their records that I’ve heard so far. When…

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Sextrash built off the er, sex thrash of their previous record with a far more brutal and heavier offering. Funeral Serenade, despite its name and year of release making you perhaps think that this was some cataclysmic, slow doom metal record, is actually a savage assault of the sense that has its roots in what I suppose is a mix of both black and death metal, more so the latter as the second wave hadn’t…

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Gorgeously weaved black metal with a deep, repetitive ambient feel. Think along the lines of Drudkh or Burzum but also wholly unique in its own way. This is the second in a series of EPs that are well worth checking out.

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North of the River Thames is album I have come to address here several times, but often fail to find the words to describe it. One should except dub reggae, of course, but there is an extra-low quality to the bass that really works well here. On the other hand, there are some repetitive natures to the melodica and / or keyboard lines which act less like a leitmotif and feel more like you are…

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Quite possibly this is one of the greatest dub albums of all time. Quite possibly there is also the fact that I am heavily biased, as it was the first album in this style that I ever heard. I am surely one of many who first heard this album when playing GTA III on the PS2. The horror theme plays right into my sensibilities, but its easy to forget all of that, just throw this…

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Spookier than a granite coffin filled with hallucinogenic toads, Spheres Like Death is a well-produced, crystal clear slice of sinister black metal. There is some excellent riffery afoot here, more unusual or explorative than a lot of stuff, but not too angular, weird or dissonant, which makes for some interesting compositions. The snare cuts through the mix like rifle rounds. Cool compilation! Impressive stuff!

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I remember reading that Kirk Hammett lost his iPhone which contained all the riffs for Hardwired in demo form. I can’t imagine how devastating that would be. However, in a hilarious twist, Hardwired Mk2 is a completely unnecessary double album. Someone really needs to learn how to tell these people to “just stop”. Every album since 1990 has been overly long, there has been no quality control, and goooooood lord some of the songs are…

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I’m all for raw black metal, but some of the other Revenant Marquis records are so impenetrable it is nigh on impossible to get any real enjoyment out of them. Anti Universal Compassion on the other hand, stands out from the other subterranean offerings from this mysterious project to offer something far more enjoyable and unique. Yes, the record is buried in a thousand layers of dust and cobwebs, emerging from some forgotten basement like…

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There’s something about Kanonenfieber that I can’t quite put my finger on. The songs are – at the surface level – enjoyable and engaging, but as soon as you try and scratch further, to dig deeper and form a more meaningful connection with the music on the record, there is something that is blocking this from happening. It seems that the band’s black / death metal is only skin deep, and after you scrape away…

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Mysterious, plodding black metal with a ponderous mix of synths and guitars. Vocals aren’t the greatest thing in the world but the rest of the composition plays back nicely. I prefer the longer songs, such as “Frozen Emotions in the Naked Northwind”, but even here at this early genesis of the production it’s easy to see why Nargaroth is laughed at and not taken all that seriously, there is a very goofy edge to things,…

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Absolutely deplorable shit in every sense of the word. I would write more about this, but none of it would be productive or positive. The world would be a better place without this EP in it.

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The Horna material is tight as hell, and the riffs and drums are savage, at the cost perhaps of their whole session being a little one dimensional. Still, fucking good stuff. Pure are a new discovery for me, and their sound is far more obscure than Horna; there is a weird pan to proceedings, the bass rumbling beneath everything like a separate entity. All in all, really impressed with the songs on offer and would…

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Goatmoon stuff is fucking exemplary, whereas Azazel leaves a little bit to be desired. Some of the meatier tracks are great, but there’s a lot of fucking about in the name of “atmosphere” that well, only works when it works. It doesn’t work here. Goatmoon stuff also has a much higher quality production whilst still being raw and cold.

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A great album, filled mostly with irresistible soulful tunes, that don’t always hit the mark but when they do, be they acoustic pieces or more fuller big band works, really cannot be beaten. Unfortunately, for my personal tastes this only really lands for about half of the album – so please take that into account when you see the rating of this one. Extra points can be given for the frankly gorgeous production. It feels…

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Otep’s seemingly nonsensical ramblings have not aged well, but at least on Sevas Tra the musical section has enough chops to sustain a full record and act a baseline for her to run free. Outside of “Battle Ready” (which I heard on a promo CD back in’t day) and the tbh pretty fucking good “Blood Pig”, I’ve always considered this album to be an inescapable mire of self-loathing set to a hideous meandering backdrop of…

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Sounding more like a darkly gothic take on Death’s Scream Bloody Gore than anything off of Panzer Division Marduk, the origins of one of black metal’s most enduring and well-loved bands is an interesting one. Their genesis does not seem entirely planted in the sister genre of death metal waiting to flip over to black (unlike say, Darkthrone’s Soulside Journey), but Dark Endless streamlines the melting pot of various “extreme” genres of the late 80s…

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Oh great, a lassie being dicked down by a wolf. Not something I’d expect to see outside of red on black war metal album sleeves but here we are. Fortunately, the contents of this EP are nowhere near as cringe as the record sleeve. Blasting it’s way through a fairly lo-fi and raw production job (in comparison to the other Destroyer 666 records I’ve heard, at least), this is something that is no doubt helped…

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I am unable to climb upon the hype train (operated by wolves no less) for this album. I’ve had pretty bad experiences with later Destroyer 666, and whilst this debut is far, far better, with very good, rabid, angry songwriting juxtaposed with moody atmospheric passages and a guitar player whose maturity holds together these almost punk-orientated songs filled with sneering and savage vocals. Despite all of this, something about this is failing to get me…

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Diocletian are a band that could possibly be considered the thinking man’s war metal. Warm, dense production enraptures Doom Cult, with its fast yet sludgy riff compositions and untriggered, organic drums fighting away against the tide of unstoppable riffs. The vocals seem like an afterthought; primitive howls and screams across the top of the swirling cauldron of chaos. Great shit, in all fairness.

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A solid effort, with some great songwriting, and not to mention some excellent balanced production (not too raw / not too polished), but unfortunately fails to hit the heights of greatness achieved recently on Schwarze Bande. Nevertheless, the JFN-led current incarnation of Absurd is one to keep an eye on for sure.

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A glorious composition of darkness and wonder. Samael’s black metal by this point was taking on anything but a typical form, with coherent and excellent production (but not too squeaky clean, no no!) and an excellent balance with the band’s influences from outside of the genre. You can feel the industrial / goth influence on this thing, especially in the drums and some of the keyboard arrangements. Don’t go in expecting this to sound like…

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An exciting and vibrant EP filled with savage black metal. The drum production is perhaps polarising, what with the kick drums dominating the mix, but the riffs on this thing are… sweet merciful gutfucked Jesus corpse, they are phenomenally outstanding. Sharp as a blade of ice, they cut through the mix (as do the shrieking / gargly vokills) and lead these icy cold compositions in all of their majestic glory. A truly excellent black metal…

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Messy, amateur and with rough production, this album can be perhaps be excused of all three “sins” due to it being released when the band was so young (and perhaps even in prison at this point? I’m not an Absurd historian by any stretch). There are moments of genius and flashes of greatness but for the most part the experience is marred by the above issues.

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You can’t argue that ICP doesn’t put the effort in. If you’re a fan of their ongoing saga then truly you must be quid’s in (as us Brits say) because they don’t half give you enough to keep you going! Yum Yum’s Lure is an EP that is longer than most metal band’s albums, full of tracks prefacing the coming of the first female Joker’s Card, Yum Yum Bedlam. The trouble is, despite having its…

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Supposedly the last gig the band did with Ray Gillen before his release from the band. This adds up because during the between-song banter he says that they are going to take a break after this show and work on a new album, which could only have been The Eternal Idol. Unfortunately, we all know what happened to Ray Gillen and the lassies he was fucking whilst touring the world. HIV ain’t no joke. Regarding…

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If the production doesn’t cook your head… if the unnecessary length of these songs doesn’t fry your brain… then there are some good songs in here, somewhere. You just have to find them.

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Great songs, great riffs and insaaaane vocals unfortunately completely buried under an assault of overcompressed, modern drum production. Akhlys called, they want their insufferable wall of noise back. No, seriously though, these songs sound like they would be absolutely fucking fantastic with a more nuanced and organic production. Maybe the answer would be to watch this band live instead. Great (and even wholly present) potential, thwarted by unnecessary production trickery.

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Ah, Load, truly you were the death knell for Metallica, right? The warning signs were there with the self-titled, but the songwriting remained strong enough that most did not notice. On Load, the transition to whiskey-drankin yeehaw RAWK had finally completed, and if Load was the death of Metallica then ReLoad was the final nail in the coffin that buried them forever afterwards. But I like Load. This is entirely because it was one of…

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Even from the start, if evidenced by Haunted, there wasn’t much chance of Six Feet Under ever achieving the heights of greatness that Cannibal Corpse had. Barnes’ new project was on a much more “meat and potatoes” level (that’s really saying something when comparing against Cannibal lol), delivered perhaps one of the most cut-and-dry metal performances I’ve ever heard. From the production, to the utilitarian riffing, to Barnes’ very own trademark growls, Haunted beats you…

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Entirely serviceable and well produced black metal that unfortunately fails to light a fire for me, despite the number of people with torches on the cover. I feel like Ragnarok really came into its own as a project with its sophomore record. Don’t let the goofy ass cover image fool you, this is worth checking out if you’ve not heard it, but there’s far better black metal out there.

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For those who found the Caretaker through the “Everywhere at the end of time” series, they will no doubt find An Empty Bliss Beyond This World an excellent companion piece; coming several years before Caretaker’s magnum opus, and consisting of similar elements both thematically and sonically, yet feeling more concise (although barely lol) and less demanding than its gigantic big brother, An Empty Bliss can almost be considered an enjoyed listening experience. Imagine that, would…

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Not sure what I expected in regards to returning to the very first album of Midnight Configuration: as if heading back to the debut would give me some sort of explanation for the crazy Cookie Monster on smack vocals, the cheesy beats or the token “female backing vocals”. Alas, I was very much mistaken, and I am just as perplexed by this record as I was its follow up. Truly, one of the most bizarre…

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I can’t speak for the original live album / EP but the “compilation version” of Demone’s Love For Sale is a test of patience. The recording quality isn’t so bad but the songs are bland and grating on the nerves, which is a real shame.

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This soundtrack recording is a bit of a novelty when approaching Tangerine Dream chronologically, because Sorcerer is far closer to a “traditional” album than anything they had done before. Short, isolated pieces of work make up the runtime instead of the longer, sprawling tracks, and it feels like a more active approach was taken to instrumentation; more anxious and suspenseful use of melodies and electronic noises sometimes create an almost hellish and frightening listening landscape….

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Gooooooooood fuuuuuuckkkiiing griiiieeeeef this has to be one of, if not the worst thing, that I have heard all year. It’s mere existence beggars belief. Imagine Mortiis’ Smell Of Rain, but strip out most of the guitars, make the songs repetitive and annoying (inb4 “its danceable!”) and give THE WORST POSSIBLE vocal performance you can imagine over the top of it. Honestly, I’m not sure what the vibe here is, but Jesus fucking Christ those…

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2.5 stars for rudimentary ability to play and construct basic rock songs, which, honestly, the production kinda saves. The bass pops through the mix nicely and in a strange reoccurrence with RAC bands, the drumming is surprisingly tight. It’s just a shame that the vocalist sounds like as if Danzig’s neck got so fat that he was permanently swollen up like a bullfrog. Not great.

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The guitars on this thing seem set on scraping out the contents on the inside of my skull one layer at a time. Fuck, this shit is harsh. One could even say minimalist, even. But, as with a lot of stuff in this vein, this obscure gem can put you into a hypnotised state of bliss that is unique to a good raw black metal record. My French is useless enough that I can’t even…

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The first thing you’ll no doubt notice about Rotting, at least if coming at the works of Sarcofago chronologically, is that the band really seem to have gotten their shit together musically by this point. This is mostly explained with the presence of a new drummer, but generally the whole band sound far more on point than they did on INRI (not that INRI was bad, not at all). Rotting is thrash at its core…

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I hope it is not too cringeworthy to suggest that this is a beautiful piece of black metal. In fact, it’s one of the best pieces of work that I’ve ever heard in the genre. Now, I guess this is subjective, but it’s the perfect mix of rawness and obscure production, with enough balance in the warmth of the sound to ensure all elements are present and accounted for. The songs on Blut & Krieg…

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A fucking magical collection of songs, which may or may not come from different sessions (perhaps the fidelity of the files I have are not great, I could be wrong on this front). In Flames Of Purification (potential yikes on that title) is a raw yet entirely coherent and incredibly well written piece of black metal. You’d never think this came out in 2002, it sounds ageless, timeless (or at the least from the early…

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Lives up to the copious carnage proposed by the sleeve art. At six minutes you’d best be paying attention to this shit otherwise it’s gonna sail you by. Expect guitars reminisce of brutal death metal, with the most excellent expected staple of pots and pans drumming, as well as vocals that sound like some sort of demented toilet monster. Fabulous.

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Often heralded as one of the best / most terrifying pieces of industrial / noise music that can be found, Leichenschrei is a dark and twist trip through a seemingly endless patchwork quilt of disturbing samples, clanking noise and dense atmospheric intensity. Personally, I don’t find this all that terrifying or disturbing, but it’s incredibly well made and an absolute pleasure to listen to. The freeform tracks unfold expertly, drawing you in to their thick,…

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Very surprised to see the year of release on this thing, it feels older than time and from an early (and better) era of power electronics / death industrail. Expect cold, wailing atmospheric drones and noises, part introspective and part absolutely terrifying; an analogue, rough and ready journey through an electronic hell. Great stuff.

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Brutal, bludgeoning, primordial Finnish death metal of pedigree from the very early year of 1989. I know that the formative years of death metal were far earlier than this, but not so much for this particular blend of crushing death. The Cranial Torment demo presents 20 minutes of incredibly solid work, for your listening displeasure.

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Raw, unforgiving, brutally Finnish (lol) black and or death, of course in dusty and disgusting demo form. Don’t expect the world (and deffo you should expect it to kind of sound like shit) and Sanctus Satanas will reward you in spades filled with black, diseased metal.

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Very enjoyable and very well made raw black metal buried beneath layers of time and dust. However, unfortunately, nothing seems to “stick” with me after multiple repeat listens. If you like lo-fi wampyryc blvck mvtvl then you may do well to check this out, but I failed to develop a connection with it. This is not a sleight against the composers / performers!

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Trepanation is the debut full-length album of industrial / nu-metal act American Head Charge. They were another one of those bands to quickly “forget” their original debut as soon as they got signed, and a considerable number of these tracks ended up in re-recorded form on the Rick Rubin produced The War Of Art. It’s easy to perhaps fall into the trap over wondering which is better, this or the major label debut that followed?…

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Grimblood are a difficult listen: with distortion bordering more into noise territory than black metal, making out what the hell is actually going on – if anything – is nigh on impossible. Thanks then, to Calling Of Phasmic Presence, who save this split. Their super lo-fi dirge of monotonous black metal and atmospheric conjurations feels almost like the sweetest, most intricatley composed jazz piece next to the distorted mire of Grimblood.

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Let me preface this review of this legendary split by saying that this is not the best material on offer from either of these bands. Why then, do I still suggest you check it out? Well, When it comes to the original run of LDOH in particular, I feel that the many styles / sounds that they went through had such an important impact on the various offshoots / approaches to goregrind that we still…

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Love or hate J-Dawg, he’s 100% right about one thing: Haemorrhage are one of the greatest goregrind bands of all time. This shit fucking slaaaaaays, brah brah (or is that “flays”?). 3 traxxx of stunning medical sickness for you to ram down your gullet. At first it doesn’t even sound like Rompeprop are even trying but some decent grooves and riffs do emerge, as well as that legendary pitchshifter vocal attack. What a beauty! I…

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A cool compilation that I used to own, rendered entirely fucking pointless by the fact that the band reformed a few years after it dropped. Another downside is that disc 1 just took a few songs from each album, if I recall.

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Forgive me if I’m way off here but at the time this release kinda felt like there was some sort of “passing of the torch” ceremony, what with Rompeprop winding down and GP looking like one of the up and coming heavyweights in the groovy goregrind scene. CBT haven’t done anything in years, TDEBN are very hit and miss, so the genre needed a new face. I don’t think that all quite went to plan…

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Smooth, well-produced, effortless violence from legendary hardcore/pv-tinged grindcore maniacs Phobia. 22 Random Acts Of Violence has enough mosh riffs and blasting drums facing off against each other to create what are no doubt the most incendiary of pits. The band have rather nicely contained all said carnage here onto one little CD for you to enjoy at home, and for that we can only thank them for their efforts. Yeah I dunno what the fuck…

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Compilation CD of both EPs which I’ve already reviewed so pointless publishing this review to RYM. Comes with a shitty bonus live track as an extra fuck you.

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First of all, this EP comes on an awful lot like the later Angels Save Us, but the differences are there for the eagle-eared grindcore consumer. Also, what in the actual fuck is that artwork?

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This is crackers. The call and response opening of “B-A-T-H-T-U-B… Shitter!” was not something that I knew I needed to hear in my lifetime, but I feel like my entire existence on this earth is richer and more meaningful for having heard it. On top of that you’ve got a fairly long 7” EP, chock full of bonkers grindcore, with prominent bass, weird angular guitars, and gruesome vocal attacks. Tidy!

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Lures you in with fake promises of the band’s very prominent death metal influences / roots, but very quickly devolves into boring ass plodders and big hit singles. “Gehenna” has to be a career low for this band, up to this point. On top of all of these different vibes you’ve still got vestiges of nu metal groove like a second rate 2000s+ Sepultura, and fucking DJ cutting. Nobody needs fucking DJ cutting. Get that…

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I genuinely believe that Calderum is some of the best black metal that I have ever heard. With perhaps the exception of the closing track here, which is just a moody outro piece in the dungeon synth style, Lord Cramridor is stuffed to the gills with raw, organic-sounding black metal, full to the brim with melodies, hypnotic riffs, moody synths and incredible drumming. Honestly, this is fucking fantastic.

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LOL the cover image to this one gets me all the time. Back in the “mincegore” boom of the late 2010s, I was always on the hunt for more shit like Hyperemesis and Haggus, and Weedeous Mincer’s Brain Devoured By Mincegore was always a fun listen. Asburd, of course – but fun nonetheless. If you’d rather your goregrind to be about the sticky icky rather than someone’s head exploded across a freeway, then look no…

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A cool, fun listen, especially for those who are a fan of Igor Cavalera’s drumming. We get the thrash of olde here but with a bigger, more modern production, which doesn’t always work, but for the purposes of appreciated said drums you’re absolutely laughing! Complaints about the overuse of reverb on the vocals are not without merit, but as someone who listens to a ton of black/war metal I’m totally OK with the reverb vocals….

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I must have been living under a frigging rock to get to July 2024 without having heard this masterpiece of messy primitive black metal. In my head it’s like Impaled Nazarene meets Beherit (and no, not on a live split LP lol), with scuzzy electronics from gory video games like Doom used to intersperse the tracks of sonic metal carnage. This shit is unholy as fuck, heavy as fuck, and the production is oddly crystal…

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An ear-raping but also somewhat endearing early effort from Graveland. This particular demo is considered a classic because… reasons? I guess it’s cool to hear Graveland in its infancy but there’s some shaky shit here, specifically in the drumming department. One for the true black metal cultists only, I’d say.

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Bursting forth like the Impaler himself setting upon your village to uhh, slay your men and uhh, impregnate your women, this two track EP wasted no time in cutting to the fucking chase. Considering the songs are 10/12 minuters, there is no better “quick fix” in regards to the meandering, hypnotic, repetitive works of Darken’s Graveland. If you don’t mind the fact that this is once again recycled material (Graveland are like the Agathocles of…

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I’ve yet to hear a bad Drudkh release but the band loses me a bit on this one. There seems to be an abundance of proggy elements at the forefront of the compositions, whilst the hypnotic wall-of-guitar approach takes something of a little side step. The best example of this is the excellent bass work in “Далекий крик журавлів (Distant Cries of Cranes)”. It’s not a complaint per se, and it’s all excellently played, but…

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I don’t even know how to put this shit into words, which isn’t great for someone who spends so much of their time listening to and briefly reviewing music. But I guess Drudkh has a whole “if you know, you know” thing going on: once it clicks, it clicks. Truly, this is beautiful, hypnotising black metal. I’ve only heard it a handful of times and I am already completely in love with it.

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I initially didn’t like Hour Of Ragnarok. I found the overall sound to be a bit weirdly “modern” for Graveland, but over the last few weeks it has really grown on me. Until I became familiar with the individual songs, I could have sworn to you that this thing loops over. This is because of the no doubt intentional over-usage of a certain violin / cello style keyboard patch file (I don’t think it’s a…

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I genuinely do not understand the hype around Akhlys. This is some overproduced, overcompressed, lost in the reeds kinda shit. What does Akhlys actually sound like? Because their music has been massaged so much by this smothering blanket of a production job I still feel like I have no idea. This album sounds like it’s been generated by AI. Dreadful shit.

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I’m sure there’s a decent set of Hate Forest tracks here but they are buried beneath a super modern, slick, overcompressed production job. Don’t get me wrong, the drums sound fantastic, but that’s about it. This thing would be much better if it was just allowed to breathe.

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I’ve had this CD for like 17 years now so I should probably review it. The Cunt Grinder stuff takes a while to get off the ground, taking Gut-inspired procrastination tactics (ie Atmosphere lol) but we’re all secretly hoping they’ll just get to the point. When they do, intros and samples aside, this is some chunky, riff-heavy stuff. Offensive and abrasive, but with a well-rounded and sharp production, there is genuine heft to their material…

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An interesting (re)creation. For this EP the band have chucked an extra 2 letters into the title, and rerecorded their older songs in a thrasher style, rather than a death metal one. For the most part, to be honest, this works better than I would have thought. The songs have more “go” in them, probably helped by an increase in speed as well as a slightly clearer production. However, unfortunately, the vocals aren’t as good…

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No frills early daze death metal (in the days where thrash became death) not too dissimilar from others at the time. The most interesting thing here is how heavy this is for 1986. It almost sounds as if the guys in Autopsy listened to too much Slayer before recording any songs.

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It’s hard to see why this thing gets such a pasting. Yes, it’s not Altars Of Madness, but it’s a well made, well composed slice of lightning fast death metal. The album loses its way towards the end, descending into a series of pointless and distracting tracks, but the core “metal” songs are absolutely fantastic. Tucker sounds rabid as hell and Pete “the Feet” is a machine on the drums. Riffs. For. Days!

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Wasn’t feeling this one. It’s like a shittier vaporwave version of Daft Punk. I mean, it’s probably great if you’ve had a few too many expensive cocktails and you wanna dance, but otherwise it’s a no from me, dawg.

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Magical dungeon synth. Yes, there are parts of this where it feels like Mortiis should be seeking legal advice but those moments are confined to the first two tracks alone. As Dragon Citadel Elegies sprawls, as does the pool of sounds from which it draws from, creating a dark and forboding atmosphere. Despite this, track 2, “Inn at the Borderland” is an absolute bop.

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Wow, imagine being able to make stoner / doom / prog / jam style music and to NOT make it boring as shit! Come on in Robot God, sit down, you can stay a while.

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I don’t usually like brutal or technical death all that much. It can become a brute force attack of cardboard cutout drum triggers with a side serving of riff salad. But not Guttural Secrete. This shit is fucking outstanding. Punishing is probably the best way to describe it, but an enjoyable and satisfying listen for those on the hunt for new levels of savage barbarity. The production job is fucking glowing, which doesn’t always work…

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Stronger than most albums in this “era” of his career but goddamn this thing is longer than War & Peace. Despite this, it definitely feels like Esham got back on track here, with the spirit of the wicked shit coursing through this long set of songs. There’s a bite to proceedings, an edge to the lyrics, and an extra stomp to the beat.

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A solid early effort from the excellent Dark Fury. Not their strongest, and the tone / production is fairly “middle of the road” which gives everything this kind of drab air to it. Despite this, there are some great riffs and tracks in general. The atmosphere is so thick you can cut it with a knife.

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Black metal can be frosty as hell but fuck me this production is beyond brittle. Despite this ear-scraping setup, the Wolfnacht debut sets the tone for the rest of the project’s trajectory – as in, there was zero fucking about from the beginning. This shit is ridiculously good. The compositions are fantastic, the drumming is great, the synths add the perfect layer of atmosphere. THIS is fucking great black metal.

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Purgatory would be a decent later-career Esham offering, if it was not for the dreeeeeaaaaadful metal tracks pulling this thing down. Honestly, they truly, completely, totally, suck ass. Otherwise, this thing is pretty good. Some interesting ideas and vibes. Lead single “Bro” was an interesting choice, as it’s easily one of the weaker tracks on the album. The majority of the “Circle Of…” tracks having interesting concepts (unless they are metal tracks lol). But yeah….

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Good heavens (below), this album has some fucking diiiiisssgguuuuuusssting riffs. It’s not often you’d pull a “stank face” when listening to black metal (and in this case for once it’s not because of Dagon’s browsing history), but there are so many moments here that are just too downright satisfying. Absolutely savage stuff!

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Crikey, before I can even think about getting around to review Purgatory (I’m slow, I know), Esham The Unholy drops another slice of wicked shit for us. The man is clearly on a roll, between the recent solo drops as well as the 3HM records that came out recently. I’m glad to see him back on the game! You probably shouldn’t expect the world from the man this far into his career, but this is…

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I’ve got nothing really special to say about this one. I don’t think funeral doom is for me.

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Pure fucking head crushing death metal! I’ll level with you, I expected Cannibal’s records to get worse as they went along, but fuck, this record is up there with their best shit. Gore Obsessed? More like Riff Obsessed, brah brah. Production is par for the course but the soundstage is huge and the balance of instruments is fantastic. Alex Webster’s bass clanks away maniacally underneath the razor wire riffage. Straight banger after banger after banger….

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Solid early demo from everyone’s favourite Norwegian (now) dads. Even at this primal point in time, the band were cooking up their own super interesting brand of death metal, and the complex drumming is of particular highlight.

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Frankly, a pointless release in every sense of the word, despite the lovely new artwork. Pretty sure this was available as a bootleg for many years. Truly, it should have stayed as such. I feel like I’m at a house party and some dork has put Crypt Of The Wizard on the stereo and the only effect it’s had is causing all the twats in the room to shout at each other a little louder….

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Von’s name is legendary. I remember a friend gave me some Von stuff on CDr many, many years ago but I couldn’t get into it. Over the last 15 years or so however I’ve come to appreciate the looser / noiser end of black metal, and in the timeline of such releases, the early Von demos are essential listening. I don’t think they are all that great; as in, stuff that came a little later…

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AGx stuff is more lo-fi than you’re average lo-fi stuff but fuck if early 90s AGx doesn’t blow your fucking sandals off – proper muffled, treble-heavy blow to the face. Like a brick is a sock. But there’s like, bits of fuckin glass in the fibers of the sock. If you like barely audible, grimy tape recordings, look no further! Blood has a clearer production but instead draws you down into bogs of heaviness and…

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Maggot-infested, swarming gore from Czechia with an insane pedigree (in the form of members of Malignant Tumour and the excellent Pathologist). Expect blasting drums, sinister riffs, watery vocals, oh and lots of cool cover songs such as Regurtitate’s “Vulva Fermentation” or Carcass’ “Oxidised Razor Masticator”. Either way, solid fucking production reigns supreme, allowing the sick display to be fully consumed in all of its glory.

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Nowhere near as confused or as eclectic as I went into it expecting it to be. Destroyer Of Worlds is yet another strange u-turn in the meandering back-and-forth river-like discography of Bathory. There are some hold overs that sound like they are from the Blood On Ice sessions here, such as “Lake Of Fire” (although I do appreciate there was like a five year gap between albums), but for the most part Destroyer Of Worlds…

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An interesting return to something of a form from the later-career era of Bathory. I’m not scholar of Quothorn’s works so I have no idea why he’s whiplash u-turned back into fucking viking / norse stuff again after two albums of balls-to-the-wall blasting thrash, but here we are. My main complaint, at least initially, with Blood On Ice is that the production feels permenantly distant and far away, like I’m listening to a 192kbps mp3…

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There is something about this injection of raw bestial energy (I suppose not bestial as in, proto-war metal, bestial as in, deeply perverse sexual energy) that is just what the corpse-paint wearing doctor ordered this morning. Expect necrotic production but with a fat low end, something that is always a treat in the more tinnitus-inducing mires of underground black metal. Composition-wise, I find the tracks compiled here to be very excited, and far better than…

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Fucking stupid as fuck but good clean fun for the whole family. Originality? Purleease. Brain slam nonsense is what you’re getting, and you’re gonna be fucking pleased about it!

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You gotta hand it to these guys, they have some of the most ridiculous and absurd vocals ever. Easily one of my favourite pitchshifter vocal performances of all time, regardless of which album. Because We Care (lol) is like a bigger budget version of Keep On Smiling, which is not quite as bogged down as the later more “death metal” focussed stuff. Because We Care still retains plenty of that trademark early daze silliness to…

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Beautifully crafted, mournful yet crushingly heavy doom metal in that imitable UK style that seemed to proliferate in the early 90s. Comparisons to early Anathema and early My Dying Bride are perhaps a bit lazy on my part, but Gothic has a gorgeous lineup of monolithic songs that hold up well against the other greats of the time. Production is clear, heavy and crisp. Brilliant!

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That bass crept out the damn speaker and slapped me in the whole face. Darkness and evil, brah brah, pure roughness and toughness.

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Death Penalty sounds like it came from a decade earlier than its actual release date. Witchfinder General bolt from the gate with “Invisible Hate”, which for my money is the best track on this gorgeous sounding analogue romp through doomy traditional metal. The ending one-two punch of “Burn A Sinner” and “RIP” leave a great impression, and the short run time only encourages me to spin this again. Brilliant feel good metal of olde!

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Far more dusty, forgotten and ancient than the main Thorns record, this earlier release is a fantastic example of the Norwegian wave of black metal. Snorre’s riffs are incredible; mesmeric and transfixing, not unlike early Burzum material. Odd how these two who were linked by one of the more infamous events of black metal history are also peas in a pod when it comes to six string dexterity.

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