In pontificating on that foggy area between thrash and death metal, 'missing the wood for the trees' occasionally comes to mind. Who is death metal, and who is thrash? Sadus? Master? Thanatos? Possessed? Why does it matter? Well, as with so many debates that appear nonsensical to outsiders, it matters to us because as metalheads... Continue Reading →

Pointing out an artist’s influences is often treated as an act of aggression. Far from dropping a neutral comment on origins, some take it to be a damning indictment that a band dared wink at their routes. Obviously, the debate needs to extend a little further; well done, you have identified that no art is... Continue Reading →

Vacivus: Annihilism (2019) ‘Annihilism’ is the second LP from Sunderland’s Vacivus, and sees them expand their trade in death and doom to newly oppressive heights. This brand of chaotic yet chasmic death metal has been gaining traction in recent years. Largely informed by (although not entirely derivative of) Incantation. Grave Miasma, Malthusian, Symptom, Lantern, and... Continue Reading →

The 2010s were undoubtably a time of upheaval, what follows can only be a new age of quarrel. What better way to play in the new decade than listening to extreme metal devoid of hope or playfulness? I maintain that despite the many layers of darkness found in death metal and black metal throughout the... Continue Reading →

Blood Incantation: Hidden History of the Human Race This one has been making waves since its release, so I guess an HM treatment of it was inevitable at some point. Are Blood Incantation the true heirs to the death metal throne, or just re-treading the mysterious paths of Luc Lemay at the turn of the... Continue Reading →

There are many injustices in metal. Popularity is no metric for quality, nor is critical acclaim; after all a vast chunk of ‘critics’ are clueless hacks with scant insight into the music they are tasked with dissecting, paid for by whatever shallow music mags are still feasting off the music as a monetised commodity. But... Continue Reading →

Karyn Crisis' Gospel of the Witches: Covenant (2019) Gospel of the Witches is an interesting little project headed by Karyn Crisis, formerly of Crisis fame. Interesting because it’s a kind of goth/alt-metal outfit that’s not shit; quite the opposite in fact. Debut LP ‘Salem's Wounds’ (2015) – which featured session performances from death metal royalty... Continue Reading →

Havohej: Table of Uncreation (2019) Paul Ledney finally returns with a new Havohej LP ten years after the ground-breaking ‘Kembatinan Premaster’ (2009). And if that album laid the groundwork for how the inevitable marriage of noise and black metal might actually work, then 'Table of Uncreation' moves us just a little further along this road.... Continue Reading →

Some call it war metal, but it’s really just a particularly aggressive strain of black metal that looks to speed and intensity before atmosphere. I guess its origins lie in the likes of Blasphemy, who fused the back-to-basics punk of early black metal with grindcore. But a particularly militaristic strain evolved with the likes of... Continue Reading →

Funereal Presence: Achatius The second offering from Funereal Presence swung off the vine onto my desk the other day: 'Achatius', released early this year. It is truly one of the more unique releases that I have come across in recent years. It revels in a primitivism of decades gone by, namely the older school of... Continue Reading →