Cauchemar: Rosa MysticaOut 16th May on Temple of Mystery Records Supplementing the hedonistic bounce of Witchfinder General with a much needed sobriety, add a dash of folk pageantry, and some raw creativity as far as riffing is concerned, and you have an approximation of the 'Rosa Mystica' formula. This is one of those albums that... Continue Reading →

Thrash is a fascinating intersection for studying various ideologies within metal. Aesthetically and thematically it was still closely wedded to heavy metal. The emphasis on speed, energy, living life with consistent intensity, the lyrical and musical fixation on maintaining a constant state of emergency, all had clear antecedents within NWOBHM and German speed metal. Thrash... Continue Reading →

Katharos: Of Lineages Long ForgottenOut 13th May on Willowtip Records I suppose one could love ‘Anthems to Welkin at Dusk’ to the point where creating a carbon copy of the album seems like the only logical response to life. To be fair to Katharos though, context is not a myth, and the Emperor classic is... Continue Reading →

The further listening series It’s 2001, and my dad asks me if I have heard of a rock band called Killing Joke. "No, why?" I say. "Their singer was just being interviewed on Radio Four", he responds, "apparently he is a classically trained conductor, and a couple of years ago he produced a series of... Continue Reading →

Tyrannus: UnslayableOut 2nd April, self-released Following on from the promising ‘It Taketh’ EP released last year, Scotland’s Tyrannus expand their quest to marry riffcraft with atmosphere on their debut full length ‘Unslayable’. This is essentially one elongated piece of high concept, Lovecraftian inspired extreme metal. Riffs bounce seamlessly from technical death metal to oppressively fluid... Continue Reading →

Desecresy: Unveil in the AbyssOut 19th April on Xtreem Music Desecresy’s discography is a joy to look at on Metal Archives. Seven albums and zero EPs, splits, demos, compilations, live recordings, or other gumph. Not to slag off the 99.99% of artists out there who by choice or circumstance have not restricted themselves to the... Continue Reading →

Written by DB Weiss with the help of Tom Morello, ‘Metal Lords’ is Hollywood's latest attempt to make sense of the minefield of shibboleths and obscure symbology that is metaldom. After the bang up job Weiss did on the finale to ‘Game of Thrones’ I remember thinking “man, I hope this guy applies his talent... Continue Reading →

#46 - Classical Music (Anton Bruckner): This episode mainly focuses on the profound music of Anton Bruckner. Guests include professor, conductor, and timpanist John Godoy (Lux Musicae), and composer and organist Sébastien Letocart who is one of the few to have “completed” the finale to Bruckner’s 9th symphony. I highly recommend for you to check... Continue Reading →

Mosaic: HeimatspukOut 22nd April on Eisenwald From the heart of Germany (Thuringia to be precise) comes the latest album from Mosaic, entitled ‘Heimatspuk’, an impressively original work of eerie black metal, steeped in regional folklore and the weighty legacy of Goethe. The lyrics may be laden with high concept baggage – referencing Thuringian poetry and... Continue Reading →

Tome of the Unreplenished: EarthboundOut 8th April on Avant Garde Music and Xenoglossy Productions Hailing from Cyprus, and featuring members from the epic Greek metal juggernaut Macabre Omen, comes the second LP from Tome of the Unreplenished, entitled ‘Earthbound’. Broadly speaking, we are very much on the same epic, cinematic, and richly melodic black metal... Continue Reading →