This is probably the post I have been most excited about since 2024 began. If you've been reading my writing for the last several years, you probably know that very few bands have captured my ear and my imagination like Azure. Their fantastical, expansive, and ambitious progressive rock and metal hasn't been far from my rotation ever since I heard the marvelous Redtail back in 2018. Since then, I have had the pleasure to cover the band again and again, as they pushed their art into new heights of flamboyant expression. And so, here we stand again, at the precipice of a new Azure album and let ..read more

We're trying something different this week to try and fix some of the issues we've been having with the Release Day Roundup posts not loading properly, which is probably because of the sheer number of embeds they contain. So this week most releases will be featured in the form of simple links, with only the more notable or outstanding releases getting the full embed treatment. This means you are now more beholden than ever to my (rather impeccable) taste, and you'll have to do a bit of digging/clicking to get your cool, underground, avant-garde fix. Then again, we also have some other ideas a ..read more

Out of all of the "geo-located" scenes in the world, the UK doom scene has to be one of the most underrated. There are some seriously excellent things going on there, with every year containing at least one or two fantastic albums made on those accursed/magical islands. This year's most exciting release from the space will surely be Lowen's sophomore album, Do Not Go To War With the Demons of Mazandaran. If you've forgotten, we pegged these guys as one of the bands to watch out for all the way back in 2018. A Crypt in the Stars, their debut, was good, full of potential and some rough edges. B ..read more

That's right; this is the third time we're premiering something from Lower Automation! And you know why? You guessed it - it's because they rule. Don't believe me? Just scroll on down to check out "Hookworm". It comes to us from the band's upcoming EP, Welcome to Your Deathbed, which drops May 20th. It's another dark, twisted, and noisy work from these mathcore weirdos, and continues their tradition of writing tight, convulsing music that paints a harsh but rich picture with its sound. Head on down below to check it out in full! Ah yes, this is definitely Lower Automation. The track starts o ..read more

Editor's note: last year, Devin Townsend's Infinity turned 25. In celebration, InsideOut Music released a wonderfully remastered version of the album. Seeing the milestone, I knew I had to reach out to frequent Heavy Blog collaborator and friend, Dan Wieten, who is also the heart behind the excellent The Omega Experiment. Then, life intervened and I got busy, which is why we're only running this piece now. But who cares, right? Infinity is just that; timeless in its impact, one of progressive metal's greatest accomplishments. Please read on below for Dan's crucial and elucidating thoughts on ..read more

Anyone who follows the sprawling and prolific musical output of Full Of Hell will know this is a band who do whatever they want, whenever they want. Full lengths, splits, EP’s, collaborations, remixes, live albums, compilations, box sets of noise, you name it and Full Of Hell have done it…and they do it frequently.  Coagulated Bliss is their second release in under six months, following hot on the heels of When No Birds Sing, their rather excellent collaboration with the post-shoegaze group Nothing. While that collection of songs has an almost ethereal, dreamlike ..read more

As we barrel into May and the second half of 2024 looms larger on the horizon, it begins to feel less bold to declare albums as likely favorites for the year. After a week of listening to Sentiment Dissolve’s upcoming debut album, I can comfortably place The Orwellian Dream among my most anticipated releases of 2024.  Formed in 2021, Sentiment Dissolve unites members of Aepoch, Kavara, and Hell is Other People for a dystopian tour of the loud, the extreme, and the absurd. Smashing together brutal death metal, tech death, and progressive death metal, the Ontario-based quartet delivers a d ..read more

What once was Heavy Buys is now Heavy Blog Is Analog. Heavy Buys began as a catch-all review column for recent purchases relevant to the website, whether it be vinyl, CDs, cassettes, shirts, or even musical instruments. That was the idea at least, but when 99 out of 100 entries in this column are vinyl – many of them you can't even buy by the time we hit "Publish" – we decided to transition the column to reflect its current purpose: to talk about and review vinyl first and foremost, as well as other physical media as it comes up. As I type this intro, record store day has came and went on an ..read more

The urge to have this post just say "it's Beaten to Death what else do you need to know?" is immense. But in case you have been living under a proverbial rock or you just don't follow grindcore religiously (for some fucking reason), allow me to reintroduce you to what has become my specialty - premiering Beaten to Death tracks (this is the fifth time I have run something from them, not counting side projects). Beaten to Death take everything you think you know about grindcore and turn it on its head; with bright colors, off-kilter and often hilarious themes, and an absolute refusal to be pinn ..read more

Top Pick The Idoru – Undertow (proggish melodic hardcore) I'm sure one of the other writers will be along soon to tell you how good the new Inter Arma, Full of Hell and Glassing albums are (and they are all very good). I'm going to take this opportunity though to point out something a lot brighter and more uplifting, that might not have been on your radar already, as it certainly wasn't on mine. The Idoru are a Hungarian band who have apparently been around for the better part of two decades and were originally made up of members of previous Hungarian hardcore bands, although there was a heft ..read more