If you’re into psychedelic stoner metal and bands with names that sound like they moonlight at medieval jousts, The Ghost of Badon Hill by Sergeant Thunderhoof is for you. With a title as riveting as a wargaming brony, this album promises trippy vibes, and no curveballs about its genre.
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Thyrathen – Lakonic Review
“Thyrathen hail from Larissa, the birth place of Achilles, but have elected to honour a different group of the bloody-minded and bloody-handed with their second album, Lakonic. Laconia was home of the Spartans for those who don’t know, and as such, the name suggested I could expect some suitably belligerent, stripped back black metal.” If this is the case, Pete’s ears will rejoice, never to rumble in boredom again… if…
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Gaerea – Coma Review
At this point, Gaerea have become a band with expectations. And yet, somehow, Coma is my first Gaerea album, my first listen to what this Portuguese black metal powerhouse and their cathartic take on the genre has to offer.
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Eldingar – Lysistrata Review
When Peat see names and album art that suggests a band has an interest in old European history, Peat — after a sad necessity of background checking — takes a look. And when a band, like Eldingar do on their second album Lysistrata, says they’re drawing on black metal, folk, and melodeath, he hits play. You can bait a Peat with melodeath, but can you make him purr?
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Ephialtes – Melas Oneiros Review
Most of us started something new during the Covid pandemic. Polish scene veteran Quazarre (Devilish Impressions, Asgaard, Crionics) started another band and called it Ephialtes after the Ancient Greek word for nightmare. He then doubled down on it by calling the debut album Melas Oneiros, which means black dream, or nightmare. It’s not everyday someone is so considerate as to make their thematic inspirations so clear.
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Lowen – Do Not Go To War With The Demons of Mazandaran Review
Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran is one of the most metal album titles you’ll see this year. Dire warnings, demonology, striking statements? This is the good stuff! Why not start the Halloween festivities early this year with some HaLowen. 😉
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Kalandra – A Frame of Mind Review
What is metal? Is it about heaviness? An ethos? Similarity to other metal bands? On A Frame of Mind, Kalandra produce something alienated and questioning, something balanced between heavy and frail.
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Blighted Eye – Agony’s Bespoke Review
One of the joys of reviewing is forcing yourself to distill how you truly feel about a piece of art. The more complicated your initial feelings, the more fun the review is. As such, I should note the first words I spoke about Blighted Eye’s full length debut, Agony’s Bespoke, were that it was “all foreplay no climax”. So, did it eventually hit the right note for Peat?
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Wraithfyre – Of Fell Peaks and Haunted Chasms Review
One look at the giant purple tower on the cover of Wraithfyre’s Of Fell Peaks and Haunted Chasms was enough to let Peat know that this had to be frostbitten 90s melodic black metal and it had to be solid – an icy touch enough to peak your interest too, perhaps.
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Crypts of the Unknown: Bound and Gagged – Fornicate the Gutted
