The promo describes The Cimmerian as a doom/thrash band, and given Peat regards regard those two genres as going in two opposite directions, he was really curious to see just how exactly that would work. Is this genre fusion or just another midlife crisis?
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Fellowship – The Skies Above Eternity Review
Fellowship’s The Saberlight Chronicles carried the flag high for those hoping to sing and gallop not with challenge but with a smile. And though I’m not typically one to fall for such gallivanting, their underlying talents give me hope in a way that their music does not. But with The Skies Above Eternity boasting both a trimmed runtime and darker narrative promise, can it turn my worm to weenie in its glory?
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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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Ploughshare – Second Wound Review
Albums sometimes communicate things to Scuttlegoat before he has even heard them. Sometimes this is done via the promo blurb telling him to be wary. Other times, a combination of album cover, album and track titles will tell him what to expect. While more casual metal listeners often sneer about anything that pushes beyond the 5 minute mark, to Scuttlegoat colossal song lengths might also communicate to seasoned metal listeners like himself that the album at hand is advanced listening or at least making an attempt at being a more profound, distinguished work.
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Iotunn – Kinship Review
Access All Worlds, Iotunn’s first full-length release, took the Gator’s top spot back in 2021. While in hindsight, he may choose different these days, Aldará’s vocals are in part the anchor that makes Access All Worlds remarkable to the Gator, as the music leaves a lot of room for him to insert melodrama and meaning to the often grand sounding riffs. But will Kinship remain in kissing favor with our favorite reptilian?
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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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Vile Humanity – Disqualified as a Human Review
Deathgrind is a genre that has a lot of sonic variation, despite what someone unfamiliar with it may expect. Vile Species drink from Repulsion’s well, with audible guitars and a focus on fast, nasty riffs with just the right amount of thrash and black metal influence. Will their album live up to the striking cover art and title?
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Typhonian – The Gate of the Veiled Beyond Review
I haven’t heard bands worshiping Unleashed, specifically Across the Open Sea era before, so that was a nice surprise upon pressing play and listening to the first proper track after the intro. However, this is not a short album, and while the music is largely serviceable, not everything works.
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Leprous – Melodies of Atonement Review
For the better part of a decade, Leprous have become something of a parody of themselves. Increasingly pop-leaning and focusing on Einar Solberg’s voice, the band started to leave behind their once progressive writing somewhere between 2015’s The Congregation and 2017’s Malina. But when Melodies of Atonement arrives with an album cover and preview tracks that carry shades of their early work… well the road to atonement is loOOoooOOoooOooong.
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Crypts of the Unknown: Capilla Ardiente – The Siege
