In a word: absolutely.

When this trilogy first commenced back in 2025, and I covered A Dark Poem Part I: the Shores of Melancholia, I had no idea of the direction that these guys would go (and why would I? I’m just along for the journey). The follow-up to that album was an even more brooding dip into the psychological depths of grief and loss. A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis had a much doomier and more solemn tone to its six tracks. “Loneliness Untold, Loneliness Unfold” being my favorite track off that, while it was “The Slave that you Are” from Part I that captured my attention the most.

But now I sit here with the brand-spanking-new stuff. The coup de grace if I may be so bold. The whole thing is magnificent, from the artwork to the stellar production; I feel almost sad that it’s ending.

So how is A Dark Poem Part III: the Messiah Complex compared to its predecessors? It builds up on subtle keys; the drums come in, and the bass walks right on up and starts rolling along. “Unconditional Artificial Chemistry” gets under your skin with that catchy, Arcturus-ish-sounding title, and the song itself lives somewhere between Opeth’s Black Water Park and Arcturus’ Sham Mirrors. It moves with its own powerful currents, ripping at your heartstrings as it goes on its way.

“The Messiah Complex” is next, the crushing title track with the epic lyric “It’s a sign”, King Herod replied “A massacre’s needed in order to withhold the throne. Oh, my Bethlehem, I will reign in blood until my enemies are slain”. This is the heaviest song on A Dark Poem Part III: The Messiah Complex, fitting the overall resonating theme of overcoming the depths of human suffering and the resolution to continue after all is said and done.

This is a Prog album, first and foremost. Yes, it has it’s heaviness that compliment a Metal aspect, but for as much as there is a hint of say, Opeth. There’s also a King Crimson-esque quality that is unmistakable; “Common Enemies” is quite possibly the best song in the whole trilogy. It is dynamic and breathtaking; the way Green Carnation put the song together is masterful in it’s scope. The solo will give you chills down to your soul.

But there is a trick up the sleeve of A Dark Poem Part III: Theitssiah Complex, and that is the final track “A Dark Poem – Orchestral Suite”. This is sixteen minutes of command performance. It moves like currents within it’s own tide. A spellbinding movement that captivates and caresses your mind.

The band brought in guest performer Ingrid Oitsn flute for “Broken Souls, Common Enemies” and the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and Opera Choir on “A Dark Poem – Orchestral Suite”. If I were to rank the trilogy in order of best to least, then it would run Part III, Part I, and then Part II. This is the most fun I have had reviewing a trilogy. Maybe Green Carnation could be talked into a box set of the whole thing. Maybe?

At any rate, this album needs to be in your collection. Listen to it on its own or as part of the overall architecture of the three combined albums. For fans of Opeth, King Crimson and Mozart. Submit yourself to the sorrow, get it now.

“Trait d’Union” has an excellent opening sequence with an Atheist Unquestionable Presence influence on the sound and texture. The instrumentation is superb, with terrific bass lines. Andrea Feltrin has a great set of pipes that will have you thinking of Martin van Drunen. Powerful and enunciated well. The 2.15 section gets right into a blast beat, as the song had been galloping previously. Killer guitar solos and some deep spoken word moments are throughout the song. The rhythm section is on fire!

“Vision” is up next, and once again that bass guitar sound is tremendous, with its techy and proggy plucking away. Jean Claude Rossignol does a tremendous job. Spoken word vocals enter around the two-minute mark, and there is a little bit of a duet, as the growly vocals seem to answer the spoken word moments. Creative. Impressive signature time changes, and any fan of Pestilence/Gorguts/Death/Atheist in the 1991 time period is going to salivate at this album. And if you do not have the debut, you are going to want that pronto! This song is very complex but also very catchy.

“Synaptic Cortex Dissection” starts things off slower as the song has a great crunchy guitar riff, with phenomenal vocals. Thinking I am going to see Martin van Drunen did the vocals on this, I mean, close your eyes and listen to this, to see what I mean. Some stupendous drum work, prior to the 90-second mark, is going to have you thinking of Neal Peart from Rush. Feltrin’s drum work is some of the best I have heard in years. This may be the best drum work, thus far, on any 2026 release. The song gallops along, and the moment at 3.36, with the guitar harmonies and rhythm section, is godly.

“Mirage” closes the album with some extraordinary musicianship, and the double pounding blast at the minute mark will have you headbanging furiously. The song settles into a slower death/thrash gallop with some Cynic madness and guitar soloing. This is mainly an instrumental; however, the whispered vocals throughout the song are mesmerizing. Some growls enter into the picture, as the song fades with classical instrumentation to close this album out.

Reminiscence may be the best walk down memory lane of all those bands I mentioned, in recent memory. Miscreance injects a fire and spirit into this technical wizardry of death metal. Sure, the thrash elements are present, but this is death metal through and through. The musicianship is top-notch and not something I would expect from a band this young. The album cover captures the music, with the swirling and layered moments throughout this album. Just like the album cover, the music is a work of art. What an amazing band.

Last year’s A Dark Poem Part 1: The Shores of Melancholia was, in itself, an emotional roller-coaster, and on A Dark Poem Part 2: Sanguis, they take that somber pace and crank the depression to eleven.

From the get-go, we’re dropped into a relationship that’s falling or has already fallen apart. Anger and emotional distress take hold with “Sanguis (Blood Ties)” and the music perfectly matches. Punching the sky with some killer Hammond organ cranked out of its comfort zone. The opening lyrics “A house not a home, a heart made of stone… I survived you” fucking hell, that’s quite a statement, and it sets the tone quickly and succinctly. This is not a happy album.

A Dark Poem Part 2: Sanguis is a shorter album than Part 1. Clocking in at 37:14, it’s about ten minutes shorter. That’s not a bad thing, I’m just mentioning it in passing. I do think that the shorter run time lets the album stay focused and more to the point. So there’s that.

“Loneliness Untold, Loneliness Unfold” is depressing as fuck. Like, I’ve been in some shitty relationships, but the one happening within the barriers of A Dark Poem Part 2: Sanguis is imploding like the Titan submarine. The music is slow-burning and malicious, the lyrics drip with vitriol and resentment. A heartbreaking track if there ever was one.

“Sweet to the Point of Bitter” has an Arcturus vibe to it, interspersed with some epic Enslaved harmonies. The slow build at the 4:16 mark takes the song in a whole different direction; it takes on a life of its own. There’s not much in the way of blasting on this release like the last album. These are more restrained, more precise, and, dare I say, more brutal in terms of message.

“I am Time” gets up to some Enslaved-style melodies; it’s uplifting and gets the job done. “Fire in Ice” literally almost brought me to tears, and I’m not even ashamed about it. This is such a somber yet forceful attack. The music touches the soul in ways that few albums are able to hold a candle to. It’s a revelation of life after unbearable trauma. The worst break-up in musical history is played out with this killer track.

“Lunar Tale” is such a beautiful song. It’s a track about closures and regrets. The music is like a warm, comforting blanket. Unless some band puts out an album with nothing but people crying, it might be as impactful as A Dark Poem Part 2: Sanguis. Around 4:00 minutes in, the harmonies take your breath away.

Sporting a glorious production that makes you feel like you’re in the studio with the band, Green Carnation has achieved a masterpiece in the world of Metal, an incredibly emotional album that stays with you even after it has ended.

At the end of the day, Green Carnation has fully surpassed their previous albums in every way, shape, and form. This review has taken longer to write than I expected. Although I love this album, it’s so emotionally heavy-handed that it brought back memories for me that weren’t pleasant to think about. This is a DEPRESSING album. But maybe that’s what they were intending all along, and if so, they have most definitely succeeded because A Dark Poem Part 2: Sanguis is probably the most depressing album I’ve heard in a long time. Like, even DSBM is more uplifting than this… It’s where Green Carnation excel, though, and that’s why you need this album. We live in an apathetic society these days, maybe music such as this will remind us that we all share the same place when it comes to matters of the heart.

So yeah, this album sticks with you. I can still hear those riffs in my head while I sit here writing this. I’m not even sure of a ‘for fans of’ section because this is in a league of its own as far as I’m concerned. It doesn’t sound like anything I’ve heard before (at least that I can remember). My advice is that you go out and get this album post haste. Long live love!

Instead of symphonic metal, we have post-black metal with a variety of elements. If you’re into Cult of Luna, specifically Mariner, the album with Julie Christmas, then you’re close, but it’s not that simple. Take, for instance, “I, the Deceit,” which features Sakis Tolis of Rotting Christ. Vocalist Dimitra Kalavrezou starts the track with almost quiet whispers before Sakis’ vocals take over. In that moment, the song also gets heavier with the drum performance of Christian Eggers standing out, only to get quiet when Dimitra’s vocals take back over, and Sakis is relegated to the background. It’s a moody number, which transitions effortlessly from warmth to suffocation.

I skipped far ahead, getting the Rotting Christ comparison out of the way first. As far as openers go, though, one can’t do much better than “Die Auslӧschung.” It begins slowly with haunting vocals in nearly a whisper until slightly after the one-minute mark, when it stops, then the blasting takes over, pulling from the Hellenic Black Metal school. Save for a few moments of chaos, the song is slow moving but sets you up for what’s to come.

As you may know from previously reading other reviews of mine, I enjoy highlighting the different sounds and sub-genres bands employ. Along these lines is “A Lullaby for the Descent.” It’s relatively quiet for the first two minutes before exploding. The duality of the vocal approach with the blackened rasps in the background help paint the picture behind the clean main vocals. A tremolo-picked riff, along with the hard-hitting drums catapult this track into a perfectly balanced joy. Shit. I shouldn’t say that in a review of a black metal adjacent album. Forget I said anything. I was never here.

Damn, you caught me, so I might as well mention “Maladie de l’Esprit,” as it ends the album. It’s a solemn beginning with what I swear is a mandolin.

This album is a pleasant, early 2026 surprise. Its mood changes from violent to stoic, to dreadful, occasionally hopeful, and endlessly introspective. This is the sort of post-black metal that used to heavily populate my conscience. I’m not the same person I was when that was the case as this form has become stale. There are, of course, exceptions, and the new Unverkalt is one of the,m quite worthy of your time.

Eight songs in 42 minutes, “Hun” opens the album, and at under three minutes, it is the shortest song on the album. Starting with some soft guitar work, the music bursts forward at the one-minute mark. Keep those headphones lower than normal at this point. The cold guitar riffing is blistering, and it is played with emotive tendencies. You can play brutal cold music, but still have it played with emotion. Meshuggah comes to mind re: that aspect of cold and calculated songs still played with emotion.

Bizarrekult’s black metal never truly gets into blast beat territory, but this song hammers home the metal and never lets up until “Blikket hennes” is next, but that does not really happen right away. The song starts with a super-fast part, then slows down with some bass guitar thumping and black metal vocal screaming. These slower moments allow the listener to catch their breath. Then the speed returns until the two-minute moment with the atmospheric slowdown, and I really dig the double bass moments, as they cut through the ambience. This is where those Celtic Frost moments enter. Think the sounds of Monotheist, with those cold moments, that conjure up emotions. This moment does that quite excellently. I am glad these moments stay the course for quite some time, allowing a guitar solo to come right in, along with the goth-like spoken vocal moments. Terrific and a little folksy as well. I love this song.

“Drøm” has a mesmerizing opening guitar riff and drum pattern. Oft-kilter, yet it works. This pounding technique slows down, then speeds up again. It is quite hypnotic, almost a little like a metronome. The black metal riffage is excellent and catchy. It can be hard to do with black metal, but Bizarrekult are unafraid to stick with a catchy riff, and this allows that riff to become more memorable. More pained vocals return on the slower section as the drums slow down and allow more atmosphere. Spoken word vocals are whispered as if being cast from a soft billow of fog. It is evident that the band has worked quite hard to increase the emotion and atmosphere on their third album.

“Tomhet” ends the song. Remember how the album opened? Well, this is how the end song begins. Soft and quiet guitars before the raging black metal comes bursting through our eardrums at the one-minute mark. Excellent mid-paced double bass drum action and vocals to make your ears bleed. The song further slows with ambience and spoken word vocals. This moment comes across as bluesy with the drums, and all is played as if you were in a lounge club. Soft, emotionally crafted, and yes the raging black metal returns, for a slight moment. The song further slows down, ending in atmospherics.

Alt som finnes is Bizarrekult’s most expansive release to date. From the increased atmospherics to the ambience and spoken word vocal tones, there is beauty in their harshness. The harsher black metal moments are expertly crafted and mixed in with all the other moments, continuing to make the band stand out from the heap of black metal bands that keep getting vomited forth, day in and day out.

The production is crisp, clean, and sounds great. The album cover looks to have some jawa’s on there, from Star Wars, conjuring their next prank. Bizarrekult continues to get better and better – excellent album!

I never covered the original here, as I covered it for a different webzine at the time, but it made my year-end list for 2010, and still stands as my favorite Rotting Christ album, even with four albums released since then. They found that perfect balance between the hellenic, epic orchestration and burly but melodic black metal that they were starting to deliver a few albums earlier with the likes of Thegonia and Santos Diavalos.

But on Aealo, it all came together for a truly classic album (in my humble opiono of course), and now it’s been redone from the ground up, and like Sigh’s effort, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword. Production was never an issue in 2010, and on the original, and the additional horns, choirs, and keys were, back then, still pretty fucking lush and epic.

So how do they sound now? Well, it’s even bigger, brasher, and even more epic as Themis and Sakis, tuned everything up to 11, especially the hellenic, ethnic elements that were already pretty heavily featured. Right out of the gate, the title track (which had one of my favorite song openings ever) still has some downright fucking rousing female choirs, now with a few more layers and key changes.

Chunky second track “Eon Aenaos” also has a little more heft and girth, along with various degrees of background layers and synths, which just give the song a whole lot more depth. And that’s sort of how the whole album feels; there’s definitely more going on, certainly when you listen with headphones, and the overall sound is definitely clearer and more polished. But the original had a little more primal, raw energy.

“Δαίμονων βρωσης”, as it did 16 years ago, blends the more melodic, but moody riffage of A Dead Poem or Triarchy of The Lost Lovers, with some dramatic bombast, and now that bombast is just clearer and much more present. Other standout tracks from the original album are still of course standouts, such as the stern militant stomp of “Noctis Era”, now with more chants and choirs, the jaunty duo of “Dub-saĝ-ta-ke” as well as “Fire, Death and Fear”, and fierce closer “Santa Muerte”. All still killer tracks, just with a little more gloss and oomph.

The guest appearances from the original (Primordial’s Alan Nemtheanga on “Thou Art Lord”, Diamanda Galás on the cover of her “Orders from the Dead”)  reappear long with the new sound and artwork, which makes this at least worth a listen if you enjoyed the original.

Such is my dilemma with Hooded Menace and their 7^th full-length Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration. While it’s not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, it doesn’t sound like Hooded Menace.

I went back to Fulfill the Curse and Never Cross the Dead (from 2008 and 2010 respectively). There was a grimier feeling to their music, the guitars sizzle like bacon on a griddle and the production just has more punch on the low end. I’m no producer but… It’s something I noticed.

Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration starts off with the suitably haunting “Twilight Passages” and quickly shifts gears to the Death Thrash of “Pale Masquerade,” and it’s a good song, raging when it feels like it and heavy, chugging bits when they’re called for. But it feels by the numbers in a way; but let me finish.

“Portrait Without a Face” and “Daughters of Lingering Pain” have a distinct 80s vibe, especially in the chorus bits where I picked up some Mercyful Fate and Iron Maiden harmonies that perked my ears up very quickly. I feel the need to reiterate that this is not a bad album! It’s… different. But it’s not horrible in an “I’m never listening to that shit again” sense if you get my meaning.

“Lugubrious Dance” is next, and again, this is a brutal track, and it solidifies the fact that Hooded Menace brings the riffs in dripping, bloody baskets. There’s more 80s vibes in this track as well, and they do a great job of switching tempos from deathly gloom to upbeat speed. It’s got a bit of a Candlemass feeling to it, but just the surface of Candlemass.

Hooded Menace is great with cover songs “Sorrows of the Moon” (Celtic Frost) from Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed is particularly notable, and like their contemporaries in VHS who famously covered Bryan Adam’s “Everything I Do (I do it for You)” and Limahl’s “Neverending Story” both from their album Quest for the Mighty Riff. Not to be outdone Hooded Menace pulls out a cover of one of my favorite Duran Duran songs, “Save a Prayer.” It’s a great cover, straight up my favorite track on this release. Don’t you judge me either.

Final track “Into Haunted Oblivion” is a quick thrasher, and it actually sounds like the guitar tone from their early albums, this buzz saw roar that’s satisfying as fuck. This is a crushing track and my second favorite track on Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration.

At the end of the day, this is a good Hooded Menace album. There was some controversy amongst the rest of the staff about it, and I decided that I was going to be fair with it. I’m already a fan, this album isn’t going to change it. So I recommend this for the fans. If you’re looking to “get into” Hooded Menace, go back and listen to Fulfill the Curse and work your way forward, but start with Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration, you’ll see what I mean. Pick this up now!

And now, 17 years later, the band is revisiting the local tale and legend that spawned the debut (The White Lady from Schinveld), and introducing some new twists in the way of the new ghastly antagonist from the same legend called ‘Kariba’.

The 4 songs and 1 intro deliver everything you’ve come to expect from Carach Angren‘s masterful tale telling, wrapped in symphonic, theatrical, symphonic black metal, with all manner of spooky synths and over the top voices playing their parts; I’m pretty sure they got a Michael Caine impersonator to narrate the intro “A Malevolent Force Stirs”.

3 of the songs (“Draw Blood”, “The Resurrection of Kariba”, “Venomous”) are excellent, in line with the band’s better works like Death Came Through a Phantom Ship , Where Corpses Sink Forever or Franckensteina Strataemontanus. Especially closer “Venomous 1666” with its killer violin lines and soaring orchestration at 2:45, it might be one of the best songs of the band’s discography.

That said, “Ik kom uit het graf” is a little clunkier, choppier, more industrial and less epic, reminding me of the This is No Fairy Tale album, their worst effort in my humble opinion.

While only 20 minutes, the EP bodes well for a forthcoming album, as Carach Angren looks to show the world they are still one of the genre’s top dogs.

Since then, they’ve released five amazing albums filled with Black Metal venom. Each one surpasses the other in terms of raw emotion and unrelenting brutality. This follow-up to 2021’s Noktvrn is a lot more in your face than that album. Innern is a magic carpet ride into the dark corners of humanity.

Hitting straight away with “Marter” you can feel the emotions in the guitar work and in the vocals; there’s a sense of isolation even while the drums blast with extreme precision.

Six tracks in forty-three minutes and twelve seconds is achieved by turning each song into an epic. “Xibalba” takes the cake with an over-ten-minute runtime. It’s a captivating showcase of how much Der Weg Einer Freiheit has grown in the five years since their previous full-length.

Bolstered by a production that gives Innern a bombastic delivery, each instrument is mixed perfectly to a sharpened point. Which brings me to “Eos” the single from Innern. The deceptively mellow introduction is absolutely mesmerizing, echoing the slow-burning style that Emperor and Dimmu Borgir had back around Stormblast and In the Nightside Eclipse, respectively; this is haunting Black Metal played with German precision.

“Fragment” is another slow-burning pounder until the four-minute mark, where the song mutates into this shredding Black Metal monster with rich blasting over the triumphant riffs that propel the track forward. But it’s the final track, “Forlorn” that shows just how diverse Der Weg Einer Freiheit can be. This is a monumental, beautiful song; it slaps between raging Black Metal and mid-paced brutality as easily as changing guitar strings. It’s unrelenting and powerful, doomy and psychotic.

There are bands who constantly remind me of what I love about Black Metal, and Der Weg Einer Freiheit is one of those bands. With blistering weapons, they have laid waste to the churches across the world, and Innern is the shells that have metered out the destruction.

Pick this beast up, you fans of Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, and Wolves in the Throne Room know who you are. You won’t be disappointed.

As I was listening to A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia, I started to wonder why I never listened to Green Carnation before… this album is amazing. I don’t want to be premature (I mean, the year is almost over, yeah, no shit) but this might be AOTY material. I can feel confident in saying that; now anyway. That may change over the course of the rest of the year. But for now… this is the shit.

Keeping in mind that I listened to this record on continuous repeat, the songs washed over me like a rain storm lashing a verdant forest into a frenzy. Opening with the power of Black fucking Sabbath is “As Silence Took You” the lyrics carry significant emotion, and at the mid-track point, this fat assed riff just comes stomping in like it owns the place, with the rising keys behind it all… Jesus fucking Christ, this is how you open an album.

But that’s not it, that’s only seven minutes and eleven seconds of this 42:43-minute-long epic. There’s the huge Amorphis vibe throughout “In Your Paradise” and it’s just a jaw-dropping Nordic rock anthem; big and beautiful like a massive troll swinging trees at random shit.

So much great production went into A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia. Recorded at DUB Studios in Norway, this is epic in every sense of the word. “Me My Enemy” starts off deceptively mellow, sort of Opeth-ish, but then the chorus kicks in and it’s hitting you right in the feels. This is awesome. Pure bloody awesomeness.

“The Slave That You Are” is by far my favorite track on this crazy beast. It features Grutle Kjellson (Enslaved) on guest vocals, and it rips headlong into the blasting right away. Slowing down briefly before it erupts again into a flurry of blasts.

“The Shores of Melancholia” is another epic, ships on the horizon of a churning sea type of song. Soaring, triumphant; reaching the blackest heavens and beyond. It’s followed by the closing track “Too Close to the Flame” has this troll-sized chorus that makes me think of Einherjer and Enslaved, I fucking swear, Season of Mist is a label on fire lately, pumping out some killer releases this year.

It ends, and then you hit play again or just have it on repeat like this guy. A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia is a wonderful album experience. I highly recommend this for you lovers of Enslaved, Einherjer, and early Ulver (think Bergtatt and Nattens madrigal – Aatte hymne til ulven I manden era). A magical album of Norwegian power. So what are you waiting for? Go get it!

I’m not kidding. This is a somber, instrumental powerhouse; this haunting as fuck album echoes through corridors of time and dust.

Taking cues from Wardruna, Heilung, and (to my ears) Ulver, they weave their way through these thirteen tracks beginning with “Niwe Mōna” a tone setter, the drums pounding out a steady heartbeat for its short minute and some change run.

Setting the mood in epic fashion is where Sowulo shines. The songs don’t overstay their welcome; they keep things interesting throughout, showcasing different instruments: Carnyx, Nyckelharpa, Celtic Harp, Shaman drums, Blow horns, Irish Bouzouki, Taglharpa, Lyre, Viola… and some killer throat singing to boot.

This is their fifth album, meaning that I have four to go back and listen to… I’d better get started; I need to finish this review first, though (starts scribbling furiously).

“Seolfren Sicol” is track number two, and it’s here that I start hearing some Ulver sneak into the mix. The unsettling background melodies bring images of pitch-black nights lit with ceremonial fires to keep the darkness at bay. This continues through “Āsteorfan” the current single from the album; it’s a dark, brooding track that brings the Wardruna vibes right front and center.

“Sōl ond Māni” has more of a Heilung feeling that is awe-inspiring. Sowulo don’t skimp on the gravitas. “Full Mōna” reminds me of Enigma (their 1990 album in particular), and this feeling continues through “Miċele Steorran” and resounds with “Mōnaþblōd”, easily my favorite song on Niht, its beat is infectious and had me dancing around like an idiot.

The atmosphere of Niht is another reason why I’m enamored with it. It draws you in further with tracks like “Nihtēagan” another Ulver vibe track circa Themes from William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, “Carnyx” a song written specifically for the instrument, apparently, “Eald Mōna” and “Swefnian” bring more of the Ulver feels circa Kveldssanger; which is still my favorite album from them.

“Heolstor Sċeadu” has this martial pacing that really brings the house down. It’s a powerful track that sets up the finale that is “Genihtian”. The torches have been extinguished, and the smoke is still hanging over the ritual area, and Sowulo has delivered a fifth album to be absolutely proud of.

At the end of the night, this is some of the most epic Pagan Folk Metal that I have heard in a bit. If you like Wardruna, Ulver and Heilung then you need to hear Sowulo, it comes highly recommended!

Alcázares is the third album from this French death metal act. Their 2010 debut La iglesia del odio I cannot find anywhere. Regardless of that fact this band sounds nothing like a band from France. All the songs are sung in Spanish and there are flamenco and other Spanish musical influences and references all tightly wrapped up in a style not too dissimilar from brutal death metal vets, Nile. There are even some Brujeria influences here and there, so this is a win win in my book. BTW, the Spanish word of the band name, Impureza, translates to Impurity, as the band ventures into religious themes in their lyrics as well.

With 11 songs in 49 minutes let’s see what on earth Lionel Cano Muñoz Guitars, (electric, acoustic), Guilhem Auge Drums, Florian Saillard Bass (fretless) and Esteban Martin on Vocals are slinging at us now. Opening up with the flamenco lead acoustic “Verdiales” this is beautiful. I used to take guitar many years ago and my brother was/is still plays the guitar and he used to listen to shit like this all the time as well as Paganini and I always loved these sounds. After this minute long intro, then right into the rousing bullfighting musical sounds that is “Bajo las tizonas de Toledo”. This is like spaghetti western Nile almost. The intro to this song, sounded as if this was going to be Brujeria. The minute timestamp has a killer gallop and then right into a killer groove with terrific guitar harmonies then BOOM!!!!!!! Right into a Behemoth/Nile blast affair. Marvelous. The song slows down with the flamenco Spanish inspired sounds erupting then right into the blasts with pinch harmonics. The vocals are dual layered at times, and do have a bit of the harshness like Juan Brujo (RIP) had with Brujeria, which I loved so damn much. As soon as I heard this song I got their second album immediately. And that is amazing, however this bests it.

“Pestilencia” starts with the flamenco moments and trumpeting. Excellent acoustic strumming and it sounds as if the guitar is being strummed without a pick. So bonus!! The song erupts with a Behemoth influence with the mid-paced heaviness then blasting and galloping moments are extraordinary. Very, very tight. The hopping parts with the spoken word vocal parts really transports you to Spain and Conquistador battles. These vocal elements over the faster parts work excellently and these vocals make up a large amount of the song. Some of the blasting is just breath taking and the snare drum sound is a thing of beauty. The fretless bass guitar strumming is stellar as are the guitar harmonies on this sucker. This must be in their live set at once.

“La orden del yelmo negro”, which is about a hymn of a ceremonial war spoken of legend, has a terrific opening snare drum pop before the rest of the music ignites and although I have mentioned the above influences this is still really original with the guitar work, vocals, flamenco, all intertwined then right into the powerful guttural vocals which make this mesmerizing to listen to with the spoken word style Spanish vocals then right into the throaty gutturals. Never boring and always keeps you on your feet.

The rest of Alcázares plays out the same as the other songs, with each song introducing all the elements which make this band so special. The production is excellent, crisp and all vocals and instruments are clearly audible. Impureza is one helluva impressive band that while death metal is the core of their music to simply pigeon hole them in this category, is a disservice to what they truly offer. One of the best albums for 2025 without question!

Not only have they released an even stronger follow-up with An Insatiable Violence, but while there were sprinklings of this on the previous album, this release takes us back to the Mike DiSalvo-vocal fronted band from the extraordinary 1998 Whisper Supremacy and 2000 And Then You’ll Beg releases.  Mike and I go back to his Infestation years, and I always felt his vocals with Cryptopsy were beyond ferocious.  Suffice it to say.

The start of “…And Then It Passes” off And Then You’ll Beg, with the spoken part:  “You hear that?  That is the sound of inevitability”, then right into the ferocity blasting, may be one of the most intense moments in death metal history.  So let’s skip right to track 7, where Mike has some guest vocals on “Embrace the Nihility”.  The song erupts with an unrelenting blast, and vocalist Matt McGachy harnesses Mike’s delivery in many ways from those albums throughout the album, as well as the music taking us back to that time period.  High velocity blasting and Flo prove time and time again why he is untouchable behind the kit.  Around the two-minute mark, there is a delightful groove section taking us back to Whisper Supremacy with its almost hardcore-ish groove, and this part is insanely heavy and most of all violent.  The tight gravity blasting moments of Flo are insane, and Christian Donaldson’s guitar tone has a severe bite to it, and Olivier Pinard is thumping on the bass guitar.  Mike lending his talents to this song is a bonus!

I want to take a pause of silence to give respect to Martin Lacroix (RIP), who was the vocalist for Cryptopsy for a very short time and appeared on None So Live.  He passed away last year, and the band used his artwork for this album cover – that is sooooo awesome.  If we are to rewind to the beginning of this album, the band could not have picked a stronger song to open with “The Nimis Adoriation”. Starting with ferocious blasts that will rip your head off and kick it down the street, this song has moments of groove, blasting, and the plucking bass guitar is heard in all its glory – something Cryptopsy has always used to great effect, and after the groove, back into the monster heavy blasting.  At the 2.15 moment, we are treated to melody and some harmonies with a cool guitar solo, then back into the double pounding ferocious heavy beat and some killer drum rolls, then seamlessly into gravity blasting.  Matt’s vocals are the best he’s done on any Cryptopsy album – soo killer.

“Until There’s Nothing Left” was the first single released for the album, and this is not radio-friendly folks.  Beginning with monster blasting then a variety of tempo shifts, this song has unbridled chaos all over it.  The double bass is triggered, that’s how drums are produced nowadays, but folks Flo can hit those.  I’ve seen him up close drumming and was on the side of the stage in Canada near his kit in 1994 and let me just say – mind blowing. Super great guitar solo towards the end of the song that traverses into more blasting madness.

If you had been missing the Cryptopsy sound from 1998-200, this album will bring you back to that era.  And also incorporate the band’s first 2 classic albums Blasphemy Made Flesh and None So Vile, since those influences and sounds are also time stamped on this sucker.  The production is great as is the mix.  Clear, precise, and the drums do not drown out the other dudes when those blasts happen.  There are tons of time changes and quite honestly, in terms of sheer ferocity, there is nothing remotely close in 2025 that is touching this as of me writing this review.  An Insatiable Violence is the most perfect name for this album – beyond devastating!

I wasn’t expecting what I got from Children of Eve. I was expecting some Vampire Doom outfit. I was wrong as wrong can be, however, because like I said before, Nightfall is Melodic Death Metal through and through. Plus, they’ve been around forever… I never heard them until now. However, they have been spreading their disease since 1991. Where the fuck was I? Oh yeah, graduating from high school… Anyway, I’m late to the party, but whatever. Let’s go!

“I Hate” bursts out of the gate on a flurry of double bass blasting, razor-sharp riffs guide the track through the slow bits around the 2:21 mark, when the solo kicks in with some sick soloing. It’s an unrelenting opening track and is followed by the decidedly slower “The Cannibal.” It’s slower, yet no less brutal, and there’s some killer female vocals hidden amidst the roaring from vocalist Efthimis Karadimas. I get a nice taste of early Amorphis with that track.

“Lurking” is a ass kicking thrasher, sporting a powerful mid section, it’s a blistering track and an early favorite. There are many huge moments on Children of Eve. The weird electronics at the beginning of “Inside My Head” had me thinking that it was going to be a cover of the Cure’s “The Caterpillar” but it isn’t (fortunately). “Seeking Revenge” bursts in like nobody’s business, bringing some great scattershot riffing, brutal Thrash erupts while the maelstrom spins at top speed.

Each track on Children of Eve is a spike to the face. Equally beautiful and savage riffs intertwined for maximum punishment, and “For the Expelled Ones” is a great example of this melding. I fucking love this track so much. It reminds me of Night in Gales, Toward the Twilight, and Thunderbeast albums. It’s just bludgeoning and gorgeous at the same time.

“The Traders Of Anathema” hits those Amorphis Tales From The Thousand Lakes vibes, while also throwing in a good helping of Paradise Lost as well, circa Draconian Times, especially in the chorus. It only elevates Children of Eve to taller heights, adding more depth to the mayhem swirling around.

With a running time of 43:22 Children of Eve doesn’t overstay its welcome. Nightfall is a force of nature, and they play like they are. “With Outlandish Desire to Disobey” is yet another melodic and insanely fun track. For a record that is about suffering and how we process grief, this is an exciting album. It’s rounded out with “The Makhaira of the Deceiver” and “Christian Svengali” the former track strides on pulsing double bass, picking up an impressive galloping rhythm and some critical strike blasting. The chorus is absolutely hypnotic, and the 3:13 point gets atmospheric as hell, and it’s intertwined with some more tasty riffs. The latter track has these bombastic choral bits in the midsection, and those moments are fist in the sky ones. Large and in charge riffs make Children of Eve Nightfall’s eleventh full-length a revelation to experience. Crystal clear production adds to this circle pit inducing Melodic Death Metal beast.

So if you like any of the bands I mentioned above, you’ll love Nightfall’s latest achievement Children of Eve. Go get it!

And as I said in my review of As In Gardens, there is a danger of a post-reunion second album not quite living up to expectations as the glow and excitement of the initial reunion wears off a little. However, …And Oceans alleviated any concern with an equally excellent second post-reunion album, even if very slight visages of their later cyber/industrial efforts and Havoc Unit iteration showed up.

And here they are again, two years later, with post-reunion album number three, and this one is a little challenging for me. Especially as someone who reveres the band’s first two purely symphonic, if quirky black metal efforts and was a little lukewarm on the style that crept in on A.M.G.O.D and was fully realized on Cypher and then fully embraced in Havoc Unit. (Personally, Thyrane’s Hypnotic is the gold standard for that era of black metal bands going ‘cyber/industrial’) .

You see, The Regeneration Itinerary is a dichotomy of sorts for me; on one hand its by far the most savage, blistering thing they have released under the …And Oceans moniker, but at the same time, even more cyber/industrial elements (programming, electronica, etc) are creeping back into the bands sound as it did with A.M.G.O.D, and I get the feeling this is that same sort of transitional album for the bands second (third if you include Havoc Unit?) act.

That’s not to say this is all beeps, whirs and dance beats (but yes- there are some), because there is some downright brilliant and nasty riffs here, and once again with Swallow the Sun‘s Juho Räihä twiddling the knobs, the guitars are absolutely razor fucking sharp. I mean opener “Inertiae”, is absolutely savage before the techno/programming starts mid song. And is sort of the pattern for the whole album; some really good, slicing modern symphonic (ish) black metal, and more programming.

Second song “Förnyelse i Tre Akter” follows with more blistering opening riffage, that could even be death metal in its savagery (even with a death growl), and then “Chromium Lungs, Bronze Optics” is one of my favorite songs on the album as it has more traditional symphonic black metal synths, some of the album’s more melodic riffs and some lovely female vocals.

“The Form and the Formless” again follows the killer riff/cyber moment mantra, as does the 7-minute, wonderously melodic  “Prophetical Mercury Implement” before the album’s shortest track, “The Fire in Which We Burn”, a direct, no-nonsense blaster.

“The Ways of Sulphur” has that catchy, cyber metal Thyrane-ish bounce and gait before ” I Am Coin, I Am Two” delivers the album’s most classic, first two-album-sounding songs. As the album wraps up with “Towards the Absence of Light” and more solemn “The Terminal Filter”, it’s clear …And Oceans have got this reunion thing nailed, more so than many other bands, many of whom didn’t even make it to three reunion efforts.

There are two bonus songs (“Copper Blood, Titanium Scars”, “The Discord Static”) on the limited edition CD, but when they roll around, I’m kinda ready to move on to something else, even if more cyber-ish “The Discord Static” is kinda fun.

Ultimately, while I do really enjoy the album, I feel that The Regeneration Itinerary, even with some truly impressive riffs and production, is a tiny step back from the other 2 reunion albums, as the cyber elements start increasing, as they did with the band’s first go around- will it come full circle? Reunion album #4 will no doubt tell us, but as it stands this three album run is pretty damn impressive.

Being a big deal means you can surround yourself with some of the most brutal musicians on Earth. Take a gander at everyone who plays on Changeling: Tom Fountainhead (ex-Obscura, Amogh Symphony, Belphegor, Defeated Sanity) – Fretted & fretless electric & acoustic guitars, oud, keyboards, composition and arrangements, Mike Heller (Fear Factory, Malignancy, Raven) – Drums, Arran McSporran (Vipassi, Virvum) – Fretless bass and Morean (Alkaloid, Dark Fortress) – Lead vocals & lyrics. And not just that but there’s a fucking orchestra to go along with it: Bill Hudson (Trans-siberian Orchestra, Doro, I am Morbid) – Guest guitar solo, Jason Gobel (ex-Cynic, ex-Monstrosity)- Guest guitar solo, Andy Laroque (ex-Death, King Diamond) – Guest guitar solo, Yatziv Caspi (ex-Orphaned Land) – Tabla, hangdrum, dabouka, riq & shakers, Ally Storch (Subway To Sally)- Violins, viola & cello, James Dorton (The Faceless, NeObliviscaris, Black Crown Initate) – Spoken words, Alexander Kerski (Vianova)- Backing & harmony vocals, Matthias Alexander Preisinger – Piano and glockenspiel, violins & viola,

*takes deep breath….*

……Martin Matiasovic – Horns & Wagnerian Tube, Jan Ferdinand – Vibraphone & marimba, Chris Rützel – Flutes, Ivar Ludvig Nitzler – Cello, Shiho Murano – Tuba, Juliane Erding – Wagnerian tube & horn, Eduard Cortez – Wagnerian tube & horn, Tillmann Schulz – Wagnerian tube & horn, Ava Bonam – Female vocals, Moran Magal – Piano, Cydney McQuillan-Grace, Lauren Gill, Shannon Bedford, Sara Robalo; Tenor and Bari – Ben Francis, John Schaffer, Alice Williams, Cyd McQuillan-Grace; Alto – Lauren Gill, Sara Robalo; Tenor and Bass – James Schouten & John Schaffer – Choir vocals, Krassimir Jossifov – Trumpet, Brandt Attema – Trombones & bass trombones, Kristian Petkov – Bassoon, Stefan Prost – Church organ, Seonghyeon Park – Clarinet, Arnfried Falk – Oboe, Rouven Haliti – Upright bass and finally; Dalai Cellai – Cello. LOOK AT THAT! Talent for days! How does it all sound together? HUGE!

From the first track “Introject” with its vicious riffing and battering blast beats Changeling grabs you and beats you senseless (not really, if that was the case, you’d pass out and miss the rest). So, “Instant Results” is next,t and it hits the ground running with a huge presence. Some big ass Obscura sweep picking and this absolutely sublime solo at the halfway point, gets a striding Cattle Decapitation vibe at the 3:46 mark and rides this twitchy guitar coaster to the end.

“Falling in Circles” has this otherworldly vibe to it with a very Alkaloid feeling. But then there’s the relentless “World? What World?” Soaring clean vocals against the equally soaring guitars. Check out what happens at the 4:20 mark and have your mind blown. It gets a bit Fear Factory-ish near the end with a fucking choir. Magnificent!

There’s the lull of “Metanoia Interlude” before the tectonic shifting of “Changeling” where things go fantastically crazy with World Music at the 4:00 minute mark; the song is easily my favorite on Changeling. “Abyss” comes in light at first and then starts dragging its knuckles across the floor to the 3:20 tempo changes when it slows down even more, to this beautiful solo, it roars and crawls it’s way to the end of the track. “Cathexis Interlude” is another lull in the brutality before my second favorite track comes marching in. Beginning with a deceptive, cold-blooded intensity and then then the drums come in along with biting guitars and “Abdication” hits you right in the giblets. It’s a magnificent song that gets super Jazzy at the 4:44 before Morean’s powerful roar brings you back to reality.

Reality is the 16:51 epic “Anathema” a Death Jazz workout if there ever was one. There’s so much going on that if you blink, you’ll miss it. Staccato riffing that aids the vocals being unleashed. It’s fucking massive all the way through even hitting a bit of a Pink Floyd-ish harmony.

You need this album. This is the album that Obscura should have made with A Sonication, but they didn’t; A Sonication isn’t a bad album by any stretch, but Changeling is just better. As soon as “Anathema” ends on a triumphant note, just let it play over and over. Get close to it and see it’s brutal beauty.

Let’s see, if you loved recent Obscura, Retromophosis, Replacire, and Alkaloid albums, and everything else Tech-Death, then you’ll eat this album up and allow it to have a symbiotic relationship with you. You won’t be disappointed.

This California based band plays a pretty damn brutal form of black metal, with death metal influences.  There are times I want to listen to something more ethereal and or atmospheric melodic when it comes to black metal, such as label mates Saor.  Then there are times when I want my black metal to be utterly face ripping with brutality to tombstone-piledrive me through the Earth’s magma.  This band falls into the latter.  Just look at this creepy ass album cover.  The music matches this cover.  Once I saw the cover, I was like ‘This is not gonna be atmospheric’.  I buckled myself in for this 9 song punishing debut album.

“Unfathomable” is a brief yet effective intro.  A slow, creepy, very well-formatted intro before “Keeper of the Spectral Legion” bursts forward and with the guttural powerful vox and the riffing, there are death metal influences throughout but not enough to categorize this as blackened death metal.  Right before the minute marker, the raspier black metal vox comes in with a scorching blast beat over the black metal guitar melodies.  This part is fast, and when I mean fast, I am glad I buckled myself in, that is how ferocious this blast is.  Mid-paced riffing comes on in with the vocals reminding me of Goatwhore, those higher black metal rasps, yet not super high where it’s grating.  The galloping moment after the drum roll at the 2.50 mark is excellent.

“Erosion” has some awesome galloping at the start then at the 47-second mark, the drummer, Lord Marco (Sleep Terror, Six Feet Under, Waking the Cadaver, Anomalous, ex-The Faceless, Ex-Brain Drill, etc), delivers a gravity blast that is cosmic gravity-defying.  It’s so damn fast. Now is some of his set triggered etc…yes….But I gotta see this cat drum like this live.  Regardless, this is one of the fastest black metal blasting albums I have heard in many, many years.  Face-ripping brutality.

“Crypt” is a brief one-minute interlude.  Honestly, it does not detract or add anything.  Just being honest, kinda find it pointless, but it comes right before “The Ethereal Mist” (Feat. Vilhelm of Grima).  So I am thinking that interlude is there for a reason the more I think about it.  Turn your headsets DOWN, NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This song erupts out of the starting gates with one of those gravity black metal cosmic terror space orbital blasts.  It’s so fast it will rip people’s limbs off from 1000 miles away.  Some deeper vocals come in, then the black metal vocals take more center stage.  This song has some excellent guitar riffs and those black metal riffs are mixed in nicely; however on some of this relentless blasting the riffing gets a tad drowned out.  I would have dropped the level of the blast ever so slightly during the mix process.  It’s not like this throughout.  It’s when that high-velocity gravity blasting takes over it can overtake the instruments.

“Dread” is a great album closer.  Brutal, however some excellent guitar harmonies, with some melody as well.  The riffs over the blasts are very creative and I notice and feel a fair amount of emoting with how the riffs are constructed.  The song ends so abruptly and then that’s it, end of the album.

Wrath of Logarius are ferocious and yes…. A scary black metal band.  Crown of Mortis has a lot going for it as an excellent debut album.  I like bands that push the envelope and can be dangerous.  Other than some mix issues, with the gravity blasts drowning some parts out, this album will punish you and choke slam you again and again and again.  I love this debut, made me do my highest max weight on flat bench at the gym recently!!

San Francisco’s Nite emerged right smack dab in the middle of that pandemic abyss in 2020, and for a new band trying to make it’s mark on the world of Heavy Metal in the middle of such weird times, I certainly came away hugely impressed with their debut album Darkness Silence Mirror Flame, a simultaneously catchy and raw throwback of a record that culled equally from the traditional sounds of Judas Priest and Diamond Head, as it did from the epic, blackened soul of Bathory. It was as confident and self-assured a debut as I can remember, and certainly set the stage for what was sure to be an impressive career moving forward, proven by a pretty quick step up from the smaller (but no less great) Creator-Destructor Records, to the big boys at the legendary Season of Mist for their sophomore follow-up, Voices of the Kronian Moon – an ambitious concept album that was also written during the grips of the covid pandemic. Truthfully, while I still do dig that record and at the time saw it as a step forward for the band, over time I kept finding myself going back to their debut far more often than I did Voices. Something about the more raw, potent energy of Darkness… just held a tighter grip on me.

I bring all of this up because a funny thing happened after releasing those two albums: Nite got on the road, in front of way more crowds, and started learning something about how those records translated to a live setting – started figuring out what really worked and what really didn’t in that kind of setting. And I’m delighted to say that those lessons were put to extremely good use, because the energy that seemed to maybe go a bit missing on their last record? It’s back. In a big way. Cult of the Serpent Sun, put simply, fuckin rules.

From the jump on the album’s title track, there is a noticeable sense of increased urgency and confidence that practically oozes off the opening guitar lick, and what follows is truly a standout moment of the band’s career to date. The deep, chanting “OOFs” drip with malice, and even lead man Van Labrakis, whose vocals I felt were maybe a bit too one-dimensional on their previous effort, carry more assertive tone this time around. He hasn’t exactly transformed into a vocal virtuoso here, but there’s an extra depth to his growling rasp that does a much better job of grabbing your attention and making sure you know he means business this time around. Everything just feels like there’s more bite – even the fantastic riffing and solo work, which have been the band’s strongest qualities to this point, are taken to new heights, helped by a fantastic mix that sees every individual performance by the band coming through crystal clear and with real purpose.

Follow-up “Skull” proves the band’s goal of making sure these songs will carry over beautifully into a live setting, is no joke. The tight, focused, even at times (dare I say) simple delivery makes for an incredibly fun track that’s so easy to latch on to and enjoy just for the quality of the musicianship on display alone. The chugging main riff, the brilliantly harmonized guitars of the pre-chorus, and the absolute doozy of a guitar solo here – none of them are going to blow you away with insane technicality, but each will put a devilish grin on your face as you bask in their unquestionable glory. If the opening track was a new benchmark for the band, “Skull” simply takes it up a peg and sets the tone that Nite are not fucking around here, proven AGAIN immediately on “Crow (Fear the Night),” which harkens back to their fantastic debut, but just sharpens every edge just a little bit more. And you can’t can’t help but get caught up in this sing-along chorus, making for an epic, anthemic track assured to become a fan-favorite at every gig.

But it’s not all aggression on Cult of the Serpent Sun, either. “The Mystic,” perhaps appropriately, is a haunting affair – opting instead to create a dreadful atmosphere, lead by some cleaver vocal manipulation that truly does make Labrakis sound every bit some creepy, mysterious mystic hidden away in some dripping cave. It gives me goosebumps in the best way, proving the band is still more than willing to continue expanding their sound and go in some interesting new directions. The same can be said with “Tarmut,” which blends in a little more of the band’s Heavy Metal aggression, but still delivers a diverse, layered effort that showcases the band versatility without sacrificing the band’s signature tone. Also, the bluesy, evocative solo here is just phenomenal, brimming with real emotion and heart that you can’t help but get kinda swept away with.

But at the end of the day, it’s the anthems that are the real showstoppers here. The energetic, almost upbeat dual guitar attack of the mighty-as-fuck “The Last Blade” owes as much to the likes of Thin Lizzy and Molly Hatchet as it does to the best of Judas Priest and Saxon, making for a real throwback classic that, somehow, again marks yet another high point in the band’s career (and a new personal favorite). That whole feeling of being in a sweet-as-hell wizard and dragon-painted van, blasting down the highway that I felt on the first album? It’s back in spades, and that’s even before getting into the absolute glory that is “Carry On,” packed with soaring, epic riffs and driving drums that make you want to stamp down even harder on the accelerator and throw every bit of caution to the wind. I needed these tracks in my life. I needed this album.

What I’m getting at though all of this, if you couldn’t already tell, is that Cult of the Serpent Sun is every bit the celebration of all things heavy metal promised on the band’s first album, but delivered with the kind of gusto and confidence of a band who firmly knows who they are and what they’re about, and we should all be grateful just to be here to hear it all come together. This album is an absolute triumph, and unquestionably positions Nite as one of the premiere flag wavers of the new Heavy Metal scene. Join the cult and enjoy the all the fruit that it bears.

If you don’t know the history of Rotting Christ, go read a book. Seriously, there’s an official book written about them. I’ll wait. Okay, so smarminess aside Rotting Christ have been a consistent bunch and have carved a gorge in the realm of Gothic Black Metal.

35 Years of Evil Existence… Live in Lycabettus is one of those live album that puts you in the fucking crowd (take note Amorphis) this is how you damn well do it. When the opening of “666” roars from the speakers the assembled throng roar back in adulation; and you’re in it, you’re fucking there.

This is a history lesson in longevity. Consistency is the name of the game as I said, and these guys are on fire throughout the 25 songs presented here. Plus, new(er) tracks from Pro Xristoy which I covered in these hallowed pages upon its release.

They plow through their back catalog “P’Unchaw Kachun- Tuta Kachun”, “Kata Ton Demona Eaytoy” and “Apage Satana” are brought out early on and they sound crystal fucking clear. There’s even banter with the crowd in between the songs!

Rotting Christ are masters of their craft, and that’s why releasing a twenty-five-track retrospective live album is perfectly fine. Pro Xristoy is a monster album, and “Like Father, Like Son” squeezes in between “Aealo” and “King of a Stellar War.”

The track listing is astounding, a literal spoil of riches from Black Metal royalty: “The Sign of Evil Existence”, “Fgmenth Thy Gift”, “Societas Satanas”, “Forest of N’gai”, “Sorrowful Farewell”, “Among Two Storms,” and “After Dark I Feel.” Just to name a bucket full plus my personal favorites, “In Yumen Xibalba” and “Nemecic.”

I’ve raved in the past about great live albums. Great, meaning crowd interaction, the actual sound of people being there is what makes you a part of that crowd. 35 Years of Evil Existence… Live in Lycabettus is a grand collection of Rotting Christ and their Black Flame that burns at the heart of their craft. Stellar production as would be expected from a show of this magnitude.

You know what to do, pick it up and mosh wherever you are!

It’s no secret that the rainforest is essential for us to live. It’s been referred to as the lungs of the Earth for very good reasons; but due to humans and our greed and hubris-centered minds, the rainforests are being obliterated at breakneck speed.

Raising awareness for anything isn’t easy these days, but thanks to determined folks like the members of Savage Lands, the word is being shared on festival stages across Europe: leave the rainforest alone!

Founded by Sylvain Demercastel and his buddy from Megadeth, Dirk Verbeuren in 2022. Savage Lands and the help of their music, the 501 © (3) non-profit has preserved 100,000 square feet of forest in high-risk areas along the Costa Rican coastline.

My favorite Heavy Metal album to raise awareness for anything is of course, Stars, the 1986 album from the  HearN’Aid project. The amount of talent contained in that album (it featured Dio among others) made it an attention grabber, to say the least. Savage Lands Army of the Trees is the best to way to raise awareness for the Costa Rican coastline.

How’s the music? “Black Rock Heart (feat Kai Uwe Faust, Chloe Trujillo)” is a pile driving force of nature, Black Metal vocals over a striding beat reminiscent of 90s mid-paced Black Metal. Army of the Trees is chock full of incredible names in the realm of Extreme Metal. The core band: Poun – Vocals, Sylvain Demercastel – Guitars, Etienne Treton – Bass and Florian Pons – Drums with “special member” Dirk Verbeuren (Drums on “Black Rock Heart”, “The Last Howl” and “Out of Breath). Oh yeah, there’s guests out the wazoo: Kai Uwe Faust – Vocals (Black Rock Heart), Chloe Trujillo – Vocals (“Black Rock Heart”, “Out of Breath”), Alissa White-Gluz – Vocals (“Ruling Queen”), Kenneth Andrews – Guitar (“Ruling Queen”), Andreas Kisser – Guitar (“The Last Howl”), John Tardy – Vocals (“The Last Howl”), Maria Franz – Vocals (“No Remedy”) and finally Lord Of The Lost – Vocals, Guitars (“Out of Breath”).

Army of Trees also features Steeven Corsini (Loco Muerte), Auré Jäger (Akiavel), David & Viber (Sidilarsen), Niko Jones (Tagada Jones), Julien Truchan (Benighted), Stéphane Buriez (Loudblast, Sinsaenum), Nils Courbaron (Bloodorn, Sirenia, DDC) and Aurelien Ouzoulias (The Beat Factory, Mörglbl).

Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Adair Daufembach at Daufembach Studio in Los Angeles, the sound is massive which adds to the hammering home of their message. “Ruling Queen” (featuring Alissa White-Gluz,and  Kenny Andrews) has an Alice in Chains feeling to it which takes the song to a sublime level that will catch your attention right away. It’s moments like that that make me enjoy this album even more after multiple listens and I mean multiple… all day. Needless to say it’s already one of my favorite releases this year.

“The Last Howl” (featuring John Tardy, Andreas Kisser) is hands down my favorite song on Army of the Trees. Tardy’s vocals are fucking vicious, this guy has only gotten better with age and combined with the legendary Sepultura guitarist make it a brutal gut punch that reaches in and rips your spine out, like a pissed off (insert deadly Costa Rican animal here).

“No Remedy” (featuring Maria Franz) and “Out of Breath” (featuring Lord Of The Lost, Chloe Trujillo) are center pieces. The former is a bit more of the Alice in Chains vibe while the latter is a fucking beat down, Chloe Trujillo has a voice that could soothe any savage beast and she’s on fire here.

“Better Man” has a nice chug to it and it sets up “Never Be Up” a sort of poppy (not the artist) Motorhead feeling, if you can believe that. It admittedly isn’t my favorite song, but that’s just me and it doesn’t take away from loving the rest of the album.

The title track has a significant Halestorm feel around the growling vocals. It’s one of those uplifting ones that make you feel all-powerful and the insane solo pushes it along. For some reason, I think about the Ents from Lord of the Rings… can’t really understand why that would be.

“Visions of Life” and “Addicted” are the final hits you get from Savage Lands Army of the Trees. The former is a quick thrasher while the final track brings a very radio-friendly tune. It builds towards the crescendo and while it’s not my style I still enjoy the hell out of this track.

At the end of the day Army of the Trees is an enormous album. Despite the tracks that I guess I didn’t really get; but within the flow of the record they make perfect sense. I don’t really see the need in a for fans of section, I mean if you like the performers featured here then you’ll eat this up.

If you’d like to donate, you can do that here https://savagelands.org/donation/

This is a noble cause. Protecting the earth is paramount as it’s the only home we have. I commend Savage Lands for undertaking this fight.

Psalmus Mortis is 8 songs in 42 minutes and “Obscure Exordium” opens the album as a jazzy, proggy tech death metal instrumental.  It’s actually really well done and at under 2 minutes is the perfect burner to lead off with.  The instrumentation is stupid killer.

“Vanished” erupts right as the instrumental is ending.  Furious and fast, this album is like the successor of Incurso.  In terms of ferocity and production.  Some monster blasting, getting into gravity blast, ala Origin, territory.  High-velocity guitar harmonies alongside the ruthless blasting, are bludgeoning.  Plucky bass guitar notes all over the place with stop-and-start riff patterns…Unsure what else to say except Spawn of…I mean Retromorphosis and this debut Psalmus Mortis are incredible.

“Never to Awake” has incredible quick opening drum patterns before blasting right into hyperspeed.  This is fast and ferocious tech death metal.  Sure they may get a bit noodly, but first and foremost, this is brutal!!!  Check out the guitar harmonies at the 1.06 -they are beautiful, alongside Dennis’ signature ultra bellows.  The song slows down then blasts, then slows back down, with some keyboard action to create an excellent atmospheric element.  There are many elements of other expected influences such as Necrophagist and Obscura.  The bass guitar here within is some of the best plucky patterns I have heard on a tech death metal album in quite some time.  The rhythm section is on fire on this.  I would expect that since the majority of the band has played together for some time in the Spawn of Possession days.  The song ends in a dreamlike sequence and that is great – I needed to catch my breath.

“The Tree” is up next and starts off slower, so I am like, this is excellent, then BOOM!!!!!!!!!! Right into the manic blast beats.  Ferocious vocals and some dual-layered vocals action are piped in a bit louder.  The blast with the monster growl around the 1.48 part is truly brutal AF!!!  It really will ignite a fire under your arse!!

“Machine” is the obligatory long tech-death metal song!  At 9 minutes this song has it all.  A soft opening, transporting you into space, until the metal hits soon thereafter.  Very jumpy and sounding like First Fragment.  Halfway into the song, the spacelike, trance, blast with the harmonies, may make you zone out, with their ethereal madness.  Really creative guitar moments here.  This song blasts in so many directions and has a terrific blend of the atmospheric and tech brutality.

Retromorphosis sounds just like the last Spawn of Possession album, in many ways.  This production is dynamite and the musicianship is even better than the last SOP release.  There are a few moments that are definitely dizzying to the degree of wrapping your head around this mind-warping display of technical madness.  Right now with this album, and new albums from Obscura and Fleshbore these three albums are leading the tech death metal charge for 2025.  Psalmus Mortis is stunning!

The 12+ minute title track leads the charge, opening this terrific album, with a long blast beat which has other instruments alongside the bass, drums, and guitars.  There are the sounds of a cello and tin whistle over the blasting.  It’s a black metal orchestra to some effect until it slows down and Andy’s raspy vocals come in.  Slow, atmospheric, and brooding.  Those folk influences come through nicely with the Uilleann pipes, violin ,and viola.  Stunning sounds permeate as I am transported to a land lush with dew-scented meadows, a castle in the background, babbling brooks and it’s a beautiful soundscape.  Before you know it pianos make an entrance and around the 7.30 mark, the beautiful pipes enter bringing a calming Zen to some of the chaos that preceded this majestic moment.  Harsh vocals enter over the atmospheric landscape as the metal enters the picture.  The blasting returns with a variety of folk-like vocals and some beautiful female vocals as well.  At this moment I can say, up to this point, this may be the very best song Saor has ever crafted.  So emotive, yet beautiful and brutal too.

“Glen of Sorrow” is another 12-minute epic number, which begins quiet softly and without distortion.  Obviously, with only 5 songs in an hour’s worth of time, these moments will carry on for a long time.  The band was not in any rush, to get to the metal.  These moments build and build and build until they are ready to explode.  Eventually, the blasting erupts with those hauntingly beautiful female vocals, harsher vocals and a variety of instrumentation.  Around the 6.30 part, there are string instruments interwoven with all the pagan and folk influences until those harsher moments enter the picture.  The song gets into a mid-paced groove and it is quite snappy.  The tune traverses to an instrumental for the remaining duration.  The tin whistle is used to excellent effect during this section and I’m like how can they play that tin whistle for that long?  They must have gone to band camp to learn how to do that!

At over 14 minutes “Rebirth” closes this album out and turn down your headsets to begin with.  A scorching blast beat erupts and the song never lets up.  The tin whistle is used all over this one, folks, so get yer popcorn ready!   The orchestration comes in ten fold and you feel like you’re at an opera.  At the six-minute section, the isolated orchestration moments signal the Holy Shit moment with the monstrous blasting and harsh vocals coming at you full force.  The song tempo gets into a more traditional galloping pace before the blasting once again is ignited and the song is breathtaking.  Aria styled vocals come towards the end and the song eventually trails off making this one helluva an album closer.

Amidst the Ruins is a mind-boggling album from Saor.  Their finest hour to date, and mind-boggling because I have not heard an extreme metal album, so brilliantly constructed, like this, in years.  From the production, and plethora of vocal and music sounds to the pacing and variety of influences, this is an immersive experience.  Look outside on a rainy day, as the rain droplets cascade down the window.  Look at the bleak overcast sky and if this album is being played, especially on your headsets, it will conjure up a variety of emotions from within.  This album took me on a journey, I’ll level with you.   Stunning release!!

But the challenge is, can you follow up on such an album? Once that glow and fan excitement of a reunited legend fades, can you keep it up? We have yet to see with Naglfar as they have yet to follow up Cerecloth, but … And Oceans did OK, with the second reunification album As In Gardens, So In Tombs.  So how does Mörk Gryning fare with their second album after reuniting?

Well, pretty damn good, but not quite as truly stunning as Hinsides vrede.

As Hinsides vrede before it, with “Fältherren”, Fasornas Tid comes out of the gate strong with perfect 90s styled melodic black metal pulling from the above bands and of course Dissection with “The Seer” “Tornet”, “Before The Crows Have Their Feast”, arguably the album standout with the subtle but well-done synths on the chorus and some clean vocals arise here and there, but they are sparing and fit in decently.

That said, like its predecessor, the album’s back end tails off a bit, with two slower mid-album songs in “Savage Messiah”, and “An Ancient Ancestor Of The Autumn Moon” that drag the ferocious momentum down a bit. I’m all for some slower, songs to break up the pace, but two in a row really bring things down a bit. The mid-paced rollick of “Black Angel” instrumental acoustic interlude “Barren Paths” doesn’t help.

The final trio of “The Serpent’s Kiss”, particularly vicious “Det Svarta”, and “Age Of Fire”, bring back some of the energy from the album’s early stages, ending things on a solid note, as “Black Spirit” did on the prior album.

And while the album has some great riffs, nothing comes close to “A Glimpse of the Sky” from Hinsides Vrede, which was arguably one of my favorite songs in the genre from the last few years.  But Fasornas Tid is still a great 2nd album after the reunion and shows that Hinsides Vrede wasn’t just a one hit reunion.

This showed up right on the heels of the awesome new Trelldom and so my mind was in just the right frame to want to jam this. From the cover art I thought I was going into a Midsummer soundtrack sort of thing… how wrong I turned out to be.

“Piros kocsi, fekete éj” caught me off guard, I thought it was going to be a nice, breezy introduction to chaos track… I was wrong! It strides, it rumbles like earthshaking thunder. But it moves through you and makes you want to dance around while head banging, a powerful opener in any case and it prepares your ears for what they’re about to experience.

There are moments where I experienced complete joy while listening to XII: A gyönyörü álmok ezután jönnek. The scathing Black Metal, Dimmu Borgir-ish assault of “Mindenevö”; it’s deceptive at first and it just explodes in bombastic, volcanic fashion. It’s followed by “vasgyar” a tidy little devil of a Black Thrash track that goes total Behemoth for the first half of the song, but around 4:36 there’s psychedelic head fucking going on, it’s heavy as a sonofabitch  and it’s another reason why I love this album.

There’s tracks like “Világnak világa” that rage like nobody’s business, huge Hungarian vocals and at the 3:55 point it becomes a semi-industrialized punch. With a flurry of sick keys and an isolated guitar, it’s just a great track among many.

There’s “Nyárfa, nyírfa”, and the hypnotic “Lydiához”,  which shows the range of traditional influences, it’s a beautiful, heavy centerpiece to the record. It’s followed by my absolute favorite track of the year “Vakond” is the most fun I’ve had with a song since Arkona’s “Yarilo”, it’s trippy; yet heavy and it gets your tail feathers shaking. The way it builds towards the end with malicious intent is a real feeling of dread.

“Ködkiraly” is a literal Behemoth (in more ways than one) a huge 7:58 minute track that shifts tempos deftly, it ventures into Cranberries territory at the beginning and then blackening for the second half of the song, it’s so good, and is another reason why XII: A gyönyörü álmok ezután jönnek is more than just a mere Folk Metal album it transcends that label with the melody alone, the way the songs are structured is just magnificent. This is shaping up to be an AOTY runner-up as far as far as originality.

I’m not kidding. This is a rock-solid album, the closing track is also the title track and it brings this fantastic creation to a close with glorious orchestral mixed with the heavy guitars and drums. “Aláhullás” is one of those tracks that’s just biting. It rocks with a Fear Factory vibe circa Demanufacture.

This album hits right in the giblets, and it’s one that fans of Ensiferum, Dimmu Borgir, Arkona, Hawkwind, and Arcturus will surely enjoy, a must-have!

Incidentally, there’s a bonus track that needs to be mentioned called “Babylon”. It’s a straight banger, pounding drums, huge riffs and fun as all get out. But, you need this in your life, so… what are you waiting for?

The Sanguinary Impetus, released in 2020, was another impressive foray into all things bottom-heavy and brutal and that path continues with this sucker.  Mainman Lille Gruber on drums returns with his stable of Jacob Schmidt on bass and Josh Welshman on vocals.  They welcome in new guitarist Vaughn Stoffey, to the fold, and the band is now ½ German and the other members are from the United States.  Unsure how that will work out touring-wise.

Suffice it to say the band rips into “Amputationsdrang”, a pretty short song and I love the opening aggressive gallop which then gives way to monster blasting from Lille.  Tight, as usual, and the bottom-heaviness of the guitars remain unchanged even with the new guitarist.  That is also attributed to the fact that Lille knows guitar and plays it as well as being the primary guitarist on their last album.  The man knows how to write death metal, but meaningful death metal.  Lots of brutal gutturals and rippin’ blast beats with Jacob’s prominent and impressive bass guitar skills always on full display.

“The Odour of Sanctity” is next on the list and has more technical madness happening with some monster stop-and-start riffing and excellent drum patterns.  The rhythm section truly shines on this song with the signature Defeated Sanity brutality stamped all over this.  There is quite a monster groove at the end of the song.  This moment is excruciatingly heavy and the band will get the crowd moving quickly with this song.

Interspersed along the way are a few longer songs with “Condemned to Vascular Famine” being the longest at six minutes.  Starting with technical jazz-infused drums and bass guitar plucking this intro gives way to monster blasting and super heavy guitars with killer gutturals.  The slow-down groove at the 1.27 moment is hopping!!  It has a NYDM groove style to it.  Truly heavy.  The blast beats return with the amazing bass plucking over the blasts – very impressive and excellent drum patterns in the middle of the song, as the technical and stop-and-start moments have a bit of polyrhythm to them.  The instrumentation on display is some of the best the band has ever done.  The crazy blast beats return with the song ending on an atmospheric note, reminding me of something off Testimony of the Ancients from Pestilence.

“Heredity Violated” ends the album as it starts off mid-paced and it is pretty damn brutal.  More technical wizardry and creative guitar moments before the blast beats tear into you.  There are some slow-down groove moments and lots of tempo shifts with this ending song, tying up the album in a nice brutal bow for all of us.

Chronicles of Lunacy is a well-produced album being able to capture the Defeated Sanity bottom-heavy tone without it sounding like a mess.  I have heard similar style bands unable to achieve good mixes and the albums sounding like a sludge pile of crap, never the case with Defeated Sanity.  The band knows their style of brutal technical death metal to a T and chalk Chronicles of Lunacy to another bone-breaking release from veterans of the brutal scene.