We’ve got Wormwitches, we’ve got Void Witches, we’ve got Season of the Witches and albums coming out on Witches Brew Records, in addition to new albums by Mountaineer, Dream Evil, Respire, Kaonashi, Category 7, Assemble the Chariots, Ghost and more—all in this week's Release Day Roundup ..read more

My war against lists continues. To be honest with you, it was unintentional - I just sat down to start preparing for our usual Top 25 Albums So Far list and I didn't want to do it. As time goes on, this happens to me more and more with lists; I just don't get the appeal. Now, there are forces within Heavy Blog (it's not that sinister) who still like lists and push me to do them. I always concede the big end of year list (yes, if I had my way, that would be gone as well) because it's such a massive deal for a lot of people but for this one, I called a bit of an executive decision and got rid o ..read more

Februus – Surveillance Orgy (progressive death metal)* This is some good progressive death metal. It’s also kind of weird, but not too weird. It’s got that kind of “cavernous” brutality that’s usually associated with 20 Buck Spin going on, but not all the time, kind of like Tomb Mold if they weren’t so bright and spacey now. It's also all apparently the work of one guy, so that's pretty impressive. I’m not sure whether I’ll remember it all that much after this week, but it’ll do for now. *Turns out this is a re-release. Still good tho. Surveillance Orgy by FEBRUUS Atavistia – Inane Ducam (sym ..read more

It's been a while since I've premiered something from the excellent Small Stone Recordings but it's not for lack of listening; I always have one ear to the ground for this label, to check when their excellent roster produces something that also grabs my attention. This has now happened with Shun's Dismantle, an album that deftly swims in the waters between grunge, stoner, and doom. Now, you know I'm not the world's biggest fan of grunge but here, the influences (mainly on the vocals but not only) work incredibly well. They blend with the heavier riffs to create a sort of dreaminess that's ver ..read more

Top Pick Speed – Only One Mode (hardcore) Sppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddddd! If you don’t know the name by now, you will once this Sydney hardcore crew are through with you. Not only because they never miss a chance to announce themselves acroos each of the ten tracks that make up debut long(ish)-player Only One Mode, but also because its probably the best old-school hardcore album you or I have heard in some time. At just under twenty-five-minutes Only One Mode is short and too the point, and Speed waste no time letting you know what they're all about. There's plenty of harcore posturing on ..read more

Editor's note: what is about to follow over the next few weeks/months, is a retrospective on one of metal's most influential bands of all time, Opeth. We commissioned it from one of our favorite writers in metal journalism and writing today and good friend of the blog, Langdon Hickman. We gave them zero direction, instead preferring to set free their unique, perceptive, and passionate style as very few publications have before. What resulted is part album review, part memoir, and part philosophical text on why music matters. We love it to bits; we hope you do too. This is the last interjectio ..read more

I’ve been going to shows ever since I was sixteen (that’s twenty years now, give or take, for those of you counting, waiting for my demise). My interest in these shows has waxed and waned over the years but, even when my interest is at an all time low like it has been recently, I still find myself going to them. I also suspect that there are plenty more people like me, who go to shows even though they don’t necessarily fully enjoy the experience. And yet, going to concerts is still incredibly popular. It might seem kind of silly to ask the question but why is that exactly? Have you ever stopp ..read more

Top Picks Orden Ogan – The Order Of Fear (thrashy/melodic power metal) They might have been in a bit of a creative rut of late, but make no mistake about it: Orden Ogan are still the best power metal band out there not named Blind Guardian. Admittedly, they've largely attained that position by sounding as much like Blind Guardian as humanly possible, without actually being Blind Guardian themselves, but no other bands have come even close and when it comes to their post-2006 output, Orden Ogan take the cake hands down. That's an almost twenty-year reign under their belt, if I may mix in anoth ..read more

Here we are again, friends. Another month chock full of standout releases across a smorgasbord of genres, and another column celebrating the diverse tastes of this delightful internet community. This column is already a beast, so I’ll just say enjoy!  -Bridget Hughes Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard And Soft (alt pop) When announcing her highly anticipated third full-length, international pop icon Billie Eilish made it clear she was not interested in playing the singles game when it came to the album launch and release cycle. “This is an album-ass album,” Eilish said, encouraging fans to lis ..read more

Hello! This edition of Doomsday is short but very sweet, with two killer albums from the prog, stoner, and doom spaces. As Summer kicks in, an interesting phenomenon is happening, at least on my end - I find myself both craving "colder", more abrasive music and the more cloying, fuzzy sounds of doom and stoner. It all depends on how Summer is hitting me - am I feeling overwhelmed by the humidity and heat or freed from the onus of the previous cold? If the former is true, I try to find shelter in music, blasting the A/C and diving into some black metal. But if the latter is true, and interesti ..read more