Category: Album Review

  • Morgul Blade – Heavy Metal Wraiths

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    Thomas
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    Philadelphia’s Morgul Blade has quickly made a name for themselves after the release of 2021’s ‘Fell Sorcery Abounds’. The Tolkien-inspired band brings a mix of traditional heavy metal and black metal. This sounds like a mad combination, but it works wonders. This sophomore album ‘Heavy Metal Wraiths’ brings us 10 tracks totaling just shy of…

  • Battlecreek – Maze of the Mind

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    Thomas
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    The German Battlecreek have been around since 2004. Having already released ‘Wake the Plague’ in 2011 and ‘Hate Injection’ in 2015. For their 20th anniversary, they are releasing ‘Maze of the Mind’, and for the first time in their career, it’s released on a label instead of independently. The album is divided into 12 tracks…

  • Extinct – Incitement of Violence

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    Thomas
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    Extinct is a German thrash metal band from Kiel, at the coast of the Baltic sea.The band was originally formed in 2003, although none of those members are till part of the band. Vocalist and bassist Helge Hentrop joined in 2004 and is now the oldest member. They brought out their first album, ‘Pain Palace’…

  • Sabotage – Pishach

    Sabotage – Pishach

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    Thomas
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    Sabotage (on multiple streaming services billed as ‘Sabotage India’ is a thrash metal 5-piece from Bassein, about 60km north of Mumbai, India. They released an EP, ‘The Order of Genocide’ in 2019 and now follow this up with their first full length entitled ‘Pishach’, which apparently is a flesh eating demon in Indian mythology. The…

  • Griffon – De Republica

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    Thomas
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    Griffon is a Parisian band which was started back in 2012. With ‘De Republica’ they are on their third album. Lyrically, De Republica is somewhat chauvinistic, choosing to cover historic French events. They are labeled as being black metal, but there’s a heavy dose of death metal involved as well. Stylicstically they remind me of…

  • Esodic – De Facto De Jure

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    Thomas
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    Esodic is a thrash metal threepiece based out of Los Angeles, but was originally formed in Jordan. The band consists of Jordan-born drummer Zed Amarin, together with Americans Kevin McCombs on bass and vocals, and Michael Nolasco on guitar and vocals. They’ve previously released a split with Generichrist and an EP entitled ‘Mirrors of Disgrace’…

  • Cobrakill – Serpent’s Kiss

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    Thomas
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    Cobrakill is a German fievepiece that was formed in 2020. They released their first album ‘Cobratör’ in 2022 and are now following it up with Serpent’s Kiss. The album consists of 12 songs for a total runtime of 47 minutes. From the cover art to stage names as Toby Ventura and Tommy Guns, their styling…

  • Night Slasher – Night Slasher

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    Thomas
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    The Lithuanian Night Slasher is a a new kid on the block, having formed (as Night Slasher) in 2023. Previously, the foursome was known as Alcotopia and released one album, ‘It Hits the Spot’ in 2019. Night Slasher is a speed/thrash metal band with some (proto) black metal influences in their sound. From the first…

  • Slower – Slower

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    Thomas
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    Well, from the name of both the band and album, we don’t need to expect any high octane thrash metal here…although we do get a bit of just that. Slower is a project by Fu Manchu guitarist Bob Balch who, after teaching a guitar lesson to a student wanting to learn Slayer’s South of Heaven,…

  • Boarhammer – II: Chemognosis – A Shortcut to Mushrooms

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    Boarhammer is a two-piece outfit out of Germany, consisting of Wodwoz on guitar and vocals, and The Vessel on bass, drums and vocals. They brought out an EP ‘I: Cutting Wood for Magickal Purposes’ back in 2021 and with this release their first full length. They bring their take on first wave black metal. Think…

  • Messiah – Christus Hypercubus

    Messiah – Christus Hypercubus

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    The Swiss Messiah has been going at it since 1984, and have somehow managed to stay off my radar untill now. After a split in 1994, the band got back together in 2018 and released ‘Fracmont’ in 2020. Since then, vocalist Andy Kaina passed away from a heart attack and the band decided to record…

  • Surgical Strike – 24/7 Hate

    Surgical Strike – 24/7 Hate

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    Thomas
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    The German Surgical Strike have an interesting history. They released 2 demo’s in the 90’s and then the band went silent until the release of their EP ‘V-II-XII’ in 2016, followed by the first album ‘Part of a Sick World’ in 2020. With ’24/7 Hate’ the band presents a 44 minute long whirlwind of thrash…

  • Toxikull – Under The Southern Light

    Toxikull – Under The Southern Light

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    Thomas
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    When you’d ask me about Portuguese metal acts, I would struggle to even name a handful of bands. However, I love exploring music and came across Toxikull. The band is located around the capital Lisbon and started back in 2016 with their first album ‘Black Sheep’. With ‘Under The Southern Light’, they are already on…

  • Mourning Dawn – The Foam Of Despair

    Mourning Dawn – The Foam Of Despair

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    The Parisian band Mourning Dawn are a new band to me, but in actually they’ve been around for over 20 years. Starting off as a one-man band, they became a fully fledged band in 2005. With ‘The Foam Of Despair’, their 6th album, Mourning Dawn bridge the gap between black metal and doom metal. The…

  • A/ORATOS – ECCLESIA GNOSTICA

    A/ORATOS – ECCLESIA GNOSTICA

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    Thomas
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    A/Oratos is a Parisian band founded in 2016 by Wilhelm. He provides the concept, lyrics and guitar playing for this melodic black metal band. After their self-published EP ‘Epignosis’, this ‘Ecclesia Gnostica’ is their first full-length album. The central theme here is Gnosticism, a religion that dates from the first centuries AD and focused mainly…

  • Hulder – Verses In Oath

    Hulder – Verses In Oath

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    Thomas
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    US based black metal act Hulder is a solo project by Belgium-born Marlies Beeuwsaert. The first demo was released in 2018 and in 2021, the first full-length album entitled ‘Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry’ was released via Iron Bonehead Productions. Since then, Hulder has enjoyed a formidable rise in popularity, especially in the United…

  • Morbid Saint – Swallowed By Hell

    Morbid Saint – Swallowed By Hell

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    Thomas
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    The American Morbid Saint is known and loved for their cult death / thrash album ‘Spectrum Of Death’, released in 1990. After this they released a few more demos, but the band finally broke up in 1994, when the genre lost almost all popularity. In 2010, a number of members decided to revive the band…

  • Vemod – The Deepening

    Vemod – The Deepening

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    Thomas
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    The Norwegian Vemod is a band that was founded in 2000 but only occasionally releases new material. After a few demos, they released their only album, ‘Venter På Stormene’, in 2012, which I enjoyed very much. Fortunately, the Norwegians have now awakened from their deep hibernation and bring us forty-eight minutes of their own mix…