Second Circle: Sur Austra and Wolfhorde ..read more

I have a long history of not listening to a band when the surrounding hype is inescapable. This was the case with Eternal Storm’s first release Come The Tide, an album that received universal praise upon its release back in 2019 and one I clearly didn’t listen to, despite the fact that on paper it would be something I would enjoy. Now, almost five years later, I can no longer avoid my own curiosity and decided to dive into A Giant Bound to Fall. Before starting the review properly I wasn’t sure what to expect with this record when I first decided to listen to it. All I knew about the band was ..read more

Earlier this year, Insomnium released Anno 1696, an album that dealt with the horrors of plague, hunger, and the loss of life. Now, almost at the end of the year, the band follows that with Songs of the Dusk, a collection of three tracks that act as an addendum to the story set in Anno 1696. As someone who appreciates Insomnium’s storytelling and music, I was all in for another campfire story a la Argent Moon. Some context: this EP consists of tracks that were originally part of the limited-edition CD release of Anno 1696. However, Insomnium decided to release these on their own as they felt ..read more

We’re already coming close to the halfway point for 2023 and since I’ve had too much going on to actively seek out new music recently, I figure it’s time to highlight albums that have made some degree of impact on me over the past few months. Aside from one or two exceptions I don’t expect many of the albums here will join Enslaved and Dødheimsgard on my AOTY list; nevertheless, they deserve a shoutout, even if the wheel isn’t being reinvented. I’ve made sure to select albums that haven’t been featured on the site yet (aside from popping up in our weekly playlist or mentioned on the AOTM podc ..read more

I am not shy of being vocal on and around this site about not liking melodic death metal. This, however, is not entirely the truth, and is an oversimplification of my larger feelings on the topic. You see, I do love a lot of melodic death metal…just next to nothing that the genre is putting out in recent years. Give me a little Jester Race or Slaughter of the Soul though, and I am very much in my happy place. The classic sound of melodic death metal’s early incarnations have so much soul and life in them compared to the kinds of overly dour, riffless fare modern melodeath bands seem content t ..read more

This month I’ve returned with more mead and an even more thematically appropriate album for this ancient drink, so let’s dive in with Kromheim’s Journey to Divinity and Groennfell’s Varangian. — The Tunes: Kromheim – Journey to Divinity Given the immense popularity of Amon Amarth it may seem futile to make Viking-themed melodeath, but Kromheim manage to successfully incorporate several different death metal styles with their debut full-length Journey to Divinity. Gothenburg-style riffing and soaring leads form the core of Kromheim’s sound, but as the band state they aim to bring more “deat ..read more

If anyone would‘ve hinted at Obsequiae and Inexorum combining forces in a new band, Majesties brand of 90s loving meloswedeath would not have been the first assumption. Yet, here we are on the eve of Vast Reaches Unclaimed and it’s an absolute beast of an album full of everything fans loved about that timeframe in melodic death metal. It’s almost as if these guys wrote the next chapter of the genre and the past twenty five years never happened. Buke recently sat down with Matthew Kirkwold (bass), Carl Skildum (guitars), and Tanner Anderson (guitars, vocals, drums) to get the lowdown on this n ..read more