Abbath: Dread ReaverOut 25th March on Season of Mist Many treasures were lost upon Demonaz’s untimely tendonitis induced departure from Immortal. Gone were the intricate layers of high speed guitar work found on ‘Pure Holocaust’, out was the reckless abrasion of ‘Battles in the North’. All spoke of music too heady and self-involved for a... Continue Reading →

Father Befouled: Crowned in VeneficumOut 25th March on Everlasting Spew Records I wanted to set myself a challenge when reviewing ‘Crowned in Veneficum’, the fifth LP from American death metallers Father Befouled. How long can you go without mentioned the “I” word? Turns out not very long. Much like Emyn Muil or Caladan Brood are... Continue Reading →

It’s fair to say that those of a metal persuasion are sometimes a little blinkered when it comes to the history of post war musical evolution, a little prone to selective thinking as to those gold standard releases and musicians. It’s often forgotten that a parallel evolution took place just over the border in People’s... Continue Reading →

#44 Paul Ledney pt. III - Paul Ledney returns for more conversation. We chat about why Profanatica dropped from Steel Fest in Finland, his views on Satanism, compositional aspects of Profanatica's sound, his view on Morbid Angel, etc. Shelley returns after recovering from the 'rona.

Mortify: Fragments at the Edge of SorrowOut 25th March on Chaos Records Death metal is a genre stretched to breaking point. OSDM may finally be showing signs of decline now that even the likes of Blood Incantation are looking to other cultural archetypes to strip and sell for parts. But recent counter measures tailored toward... Continue Reading →

Saqraruna: Under the Light of MountainsOut 18th March on Super Sargasso For anyone paying attention, South America is playing an increasingly important role in the future of extreme metal. Despite the continent's history with metal extending back many decades, only a handful of household names have experienced reputational cut through on a level comparable with... Continue Reading →

#43 The Psychology of Metal - Much conjecture but more informed than the running sparse opinions on this subject. Shelley from Hate Meditations and Metalegion Magazine joins with Raphael from Hessian Firm, who is a current student of psychology. We delve beyond the catharsis of metal, which is what most outsiders of metal think the... Continue Reading →

The Further Listening series “On January the 13th 1969, King Crimson was born, in the basement of the Fulham Palace café, on the Fulham Palace Road, in London…it was a Monday”. And on the 10th of October 1969 King Crimson released their debut album ‘In the Court of the Crimson King’…it was a Friday. It... Continue Reading →

Pestilength: Basom GryphosOut 7th March on Nuclear Winter/Sentient Ruin/Goat Throne Stop your grinnin’ and drop your linen, we have a death/doom band that doesn’t sound exactly like Incantation, I’m so happy I could cry. ‘Basom Gryphos’ is the second LP from the Spanish entity known as Pestilength, and whilst not the most obviously ground-breaking exercise... Continue Reading →

Inner Missing: Dead LanguageOut 25th February on Inverse Records Quoted from Inner Missing's Facebook page on the day of release: "Dead Language is here. Today is the worst time possible to release an album, but the date was planned long ago and we simply cannot change it, that's the way the world goes on now.... Continue Reading →