Band: Ch’ahom Release: Knots of Abhorrence Genre: Death Metal Country: Germany Release Date: 3rd of November, 2023 Released via Sentient Ruin Artwork  Alexander Kavtea As can be seen by the time several of my 2023 reviews were finished, I often tend to be a little late to the game. However, apart from the fact that I also consistently take a little longer to fulfil my plans, I also tend to be late when it comes to finding out about bands from my closer surroundings. A few years ago, I reviewed the debut offering by US Death Metal outfit Tzompantli that transported a sta ..read more

Bands: Necrophobic Release: In The Twilight Grey Genre: Melodic Black/Death Metal Country: Sweden Release Date: 15th of March, 2024 Released via Century Media Records The tenth release of Swedish powerhouse Necrophobic is a difficult beast to review. Seriously. If you are a fan of the band you already know what you are getting. And you can also expect nothing but the highest quality of these guys. Establishing themselves in the swedish melodic black metal scene with their classic debut The Nocturnal Silence in 1993, they quickly became one of the household names of the genre wi ..read more

Bands: Knocked Loose, Deafheaven, Headbussa Date: 26th of February, 2024 Location: Live Music Hall, Cologne Promoter: Prime Entertainment, Live Nation Germany Photos: Thomas Transcended What a way to start off a week: a bruising Hardcore sandwich with Post-Black Metal beauty in the centre. Knocked Loose guesting at the Live Music Hall in Cologne and taking Deafheaven and Headbussa with them.  Headbussa @ Live Music Hall, Cologne Headbussa opened that evening with their Paris-blend of metallic Hardcore. From the get-go the band delivered grooving, positive Hardcore. Wh ..read more

Band: Hulder Release: Verses in Oath Genre: Black Metal Country: USA Release Date: 9th of February, 2024 Released via 20 Buck Spin Diversity has long been a foreign concept, especially in metal community. In a genre that is characterized by conservative ideas, it is difficult to fight your way to the top of the scene. As early as 2021, the black metal project Hulder managed to generate a lot of attention with their debut Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry. On February 9th, the long-awaited follow-up, Verses in Oath, will finally be released via 20 Buck Spin. The rough ..read more

Band: No Sun Rises Release: Harmisod Genre: Black Metal, Post-Black Metal Country: Germany Release Date: 15th of September, 2023 Released via Alerta Antifascista Records Golden Coffin Records Artwork Nimmermehr Artworks When continuously diving deeper into the realms that open up while digging into the music of the underground, it gets more and more interesting to see how exactly you end up having first encountered a band that you eventually fall for. When we planned to write a larger article for the Culthe Fest 2023, I looked up quite a few bands and I’d be lying if I said ..read more

Band: Terra Builder Release: Solar Temple Genre: Death Metal, Grindcore, Black Metal Country: Germany (Münster) Release Date: 29th of September, 2023 Released via Transcending Obscurity Records I think by now, it is no longer a secret that my side project Lower Rhine Underground gets me fully involved with the NRW underground scene. While continuously looking for new music from this federal state, I’ve been consistently finding a lot of great new artists. Every now and then, though, some even larger gems flash up in the middle of the huge supply this musical scene delivers. Of ..read more

Band: Underdark Release: Managed Decline Genre: Post-Black Metal Country: England Release Date: 24th of November, 2023 Released via Church Road Records Everybody loves a good story. That doesn’t need to be a happy one, but it has to be a compelling one. Happy go lucky makes you feel good, but it is the tragedy that moves you. If the tragedy is based upon a real story it hits you even more in the guts. I wanted to explore the long term effects of Thatcherite neoliberalism and the slow-burning disaster they’ve caused for people here. Each generation has to make do with less, and ..read more

Bands: Wayfarer Release: American Gothic Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal Country: USA Release Date: 27 th of October, 2023 Released via Century Media Records Wayfarer from Colorado, USA are back with their fifth album American Gothic after their latest release A Romance With Violence. With that record the band started to finally branch out to a wider audience, which ultimately is well deserved given the fact that Wayfarer found their mojo on the 2020 outing, displaying an exciting genre mix. Infusing the tried and true post black metal formula with interesting textures of blue g ..read more

Bands: Rană Release: Richtfeuer Genre: Crust, Black Metal Country: Germany (Hannover) Release Date: 16th of June, 2023 Released via Breath Sun Bone Blood Cover Artwork: Skullcult Hello, this is late-to-the-game Roman, coming back with yet another review that arrives pretty damn late. This still remains quite a difficult state, since it is not very easy to write a review about an album that has been discussed widely already. In fact, this is way more difficult when taking into consideration what we are going to talk about in this review. This album has received a massive amou ..read more

Bands: Ranz Release: Wanderweg Genre: Black Metal Country: Germany (Bonn) Release Date: 6th of October, 2023 Released via Urinstein Kollektiv Cover Artwork Florian Mauer A few weeks ago I was very keen to enrich the quality releases on the Lower Rhine Underground channel with the latest EP ?????????? by Bonn-based Black Metal combo ????. Fortunately, this release was added to the channel shortly thereafter! Now, I am absolutely stoked to announce that we will be premiering ????‘ upcoming EP ????????? that is going to be released on the 6th of October! If you were mesmerized b ..read more