"No matter how far today's bands push the envelope, no matter how weird or experimental or innovative modern music becomes, there will always be bands who look around and simply say: "Fuck that, give me Celtic Frost." Australia's Tyrannic is one such band. The trio's founding member, vocalist, and drummer R. has readily admitted that Tom G. Warrior's brainchild is his biggest influence, though the band's music isn't just another carbon copy of Morbid Tales. For the past decade, Tyrannic has been gaining attention for their strange combination of black and doom metal." The post Tyrannic ..read more

"What kind of an album title is UnnDerr? A weird one to be sure and maybe not the best for marketing purposes. The oddballs in Danish doom/sludge/prog project Alkymist may not care about such trivial capitalistic concerns as they attempt to refine and retool their heady blend of genres. Back in the Age of the Great Plague, we reviewed their sophomore outing Sanctuary and the dearly sabbaticaled Akerblogger had many good things to say about their balance of extremity and progressive wanderings. 2024 finds them back with a more streamlined approach accentuating the brutality while stepping back ..read more

"Since their inception in 2016, New York's Witnesses have been a fluid entity. A constantly shifting lineup, held together by sole permanent member and mastermind Greg Schwan, where a small collection of artists lend their voices and instrumental talents to the equally shifting sounds of each album—ambient, post-metal, and doom." Does each shift vary in quality? Come, be witnesses to Witnesses Joy. The post Witnesses – Joy Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy ..read more

"Genre distributions from country to country are fascinating to me. You could devote entire studies to why certain sounds develop and proliferate more in one country (or part thereof) than another. Iceland is predominantly known for post-metal, black metal, and post-black metal, with varying degrees of folk. What it isn't known for is doom metal, which might come as a surprise given the cold, isolation, and endless winter nights. Morpholith aims to break through the permafrost with their debut Dystopian Distributions of Mass Produced Narcotics." Dread in the snow. The post Morpholith – Dystopi ..read more

"The only thing more metal than the glimmer of bloodied blade in the setting sun is the barbaric howl that reverberates afterward as a determination of victory. Early in heavy metal's history, that kind of bravado embodied by the epic escapades of Iron Maiden, marching jams of Manilla Road, or the regressive rambunctiousness of Manowar separated that true spirit from burgeoning radio-friendly sounds in similarly incepted acts. In the modern day, the epic tag has carried on through the spirit of traditional heavy and doom-leaning acts—the Aceruses and Stygian Crowns of this world, amo ..read more

"Black Aleph is a sonic experiment devoted to ritual. Debut Apsides, blends drone metal with folk instruments and post-metal's metamorphic crescendos. Yet, its value lies deeper, with a ritualistic heart pulsing beneath Middle Eastern modal traditions, guiding the movements into a divine, otherworldly experience. Make no mistake—Apsides will crush you, but as much in its serenity as its dense riffs. The weight it conjures suggests punishment rather than delivering it, resulting in something haunting, unique, yet full of untapped potential." But like, is that all good? The post Black Aleph – Ap ..read more

"The nameless souls of the black metal band KrvL (pronounced "Kravaal") are said to roam Belgium's Kravaal forest. As a nameless one, too, I felt a peripheral connection to the group, which formed in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. With its 2022 self-released debut Kravaal, KrvL presented its sonic vision to the world. A decent dose of black metal with post and doom leanings, Kravaal caught the attention of start-up Italian label These Hands Melt, who signed the mysterious Belgians in 2024. Steeled now to release its sophomore effort Donkere Paden, KrvL seeks to enter the light from, as th ..read more

"Once again, as in their fifth full-length, Ataraxie channels an existential crisis. Le Déclin isn’t just a soundtrack of its inspirations or a meditation on devastation; it’s something deeper. Its miasmic movements and stark artwork evoke Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, where a knight’s chess game with Death symbolizes a struggle during the Black Plague. Le Déclin extends its predecessor’s bleak commentary on global issues like selfishness, dehumanization, and climate crisis, reveling in the human torment beneath it all." Get in losers, we're going to mourn mankind's decline! The post Atar ..read more

"It's a tricky business being the only remaining original member of a band more than thirty years after its creation. I don't know how many members you have to replace before you're in Ship of Theseus Paradox territory, but surely Anders Eek is there with his long-running Norwegian doom outfit Funeral. I suppose it's one thing if the last remaining OG is the vocalist, since the human voice, unfairly or not, will always be the default through-line. It almost doesn't matter what the music is doing, if the voice is familiar, it's easy to say "See? It's the same band." But Anders Eek is not the vo ..read more

"Swallow the Sun have been on a slow, steady arc of evolution since their early days of crushing doom-death. Over the years their overall sound lightened and expanded, adding more Goth rock elements along the way.  2019s When a Shadow is Forced into the Light moved away from brute heaviness toward glumly melodic, introspective soundscapes, and 2021s Moonflowers continued that drift while painting with a gray-forward palette. For Shining the band wanted to push further into new territories and brought in 2-time Grammy nominee producer Dan Lancaster, known for his work with acts like Blink ..read more