The RMR crew just survived the latest attack from the masters of the weird. A record so out of the box that the Review Desk struggled with its overwrought alternative and strangely proggy airs. But such free-wheeling records (almost) always get the better of us. They are – want it or not – an essential part of the fabric holding our freaky and often strangely vulnerable metal music together. And that makes us always return to that particular well of spooky offerings and lost souls. And this time, the ornamental album cover first captured our attention. A rich and … [...] Click to raid mor ..read more

By Loki’s dead acolytes, there’s a ton of bands called Funeral, somewhat alive or truly dead, in this world of metal. Who would have thought that, right? After all, you can sport a reasonably gruesome name without having to call your act Putrescent Guts Devourer or such. So, for the record, Gospel of Bones here is brought to you by Funeral from Norway. An outfit active since 1991 that came back from six feet under in 2021. And they are – supposedly – true specialists of funeralistic doom ‘n’ gloom in all its ominously glowing glory. The RMR crew … [...] Click to raid more! The post Fune ..read more

The RMR crew was a bit reticent to entertain the idea of yet another Doom Metal piece on RMR’s roster this year. After all, our daily lives seem to be inundated by bigly yet terrifying news and ominous warnings. All about the end(s) of the world in a variety of foreboding paintings and dark musings. And truly so, every disaster-loving fearmonger out there kinda describes a new one. But what can we say? A new Marche Funèbre piece needs some serious attention. So, in we jump into this miasma of tears and wistful woe and get going. Signs of the … [...] Click to raid more! The post Marche Fun ..read more

I just came back from Germany. The terrible grime and grit of their major cities, their loveless artificial nature, the social injustice on stark display, and the unkempt even neglected swathes of real estate nobody cares about had an impact on yours truly. Metropolitan behemoths that were bombed to smithereens many a decade ago and rebuilt in but a few years. All that sent a message to me, and it wasn’t one of encouragement. It made me angry. A rage that Torsten Hirsch, the mastermind behind Agrypnie,1 seems to share. Because, he’s hailing from exactly one of … [...] Click to raid more ..read more

A few weeks ago, I suffered through a shiny mainstream object that everybody was salivating about. And in that process, I started to yearn for some trve underground sound. Rough-hewn rock and metal that scratches down my back like Freddy’s terrible claw. Blood drawn from riffs on steroids and burnt by lava-hot rock ‘n’ roll. That kind of thing. And I think we just found one of those. At first, the visage on Evil Remains‘ cover art stopped us in our tracks. Angst, desperation, and a strange unholy hunger limited our visual range. Fight or flight became the question … [...] Click to raid mo ..read more

The purple squad is on the prowl again. Sludgy, fuzzy, stonerized slow marching metal that will engulf you with a syrupy, sticky flow. And we had them on RMR already. Pieces from Mammuthus or Purple Dawn come to mind. And they all have something in common: Their album art is all colored in purple. A calling card, if you will. And if you’ll remember, so was Black Sabbath’s fare, the moment they were in their downturned doomy phase. Need an example? Try Master of Reality of 1971. Yeah, that particularly colored paving of the road is that old. Ancient, in … [...] Click to raid more! The post ..read more

Since Out of the Garden artfully garnished the RMR zine’s early days, Crypt Sermon has been a fixture at the RMR office tower. And for cause. The undeniable doom-laden quality of The Ruins of Fading Light yet again delivered one cool sophomore album in 2019. But since then, nada. So, finally, the Philadelphians are back with a vengeance after some 5 years of wait. And the band survived this pretty much unscathed with only two new guys induced into their halls of fame over time. If anything, The Stygian Rose is a slick one. The style still is undeniably Crypt … [...] Click to raid more! Th ..read more

Lost in Memories, Lost in Grief. For a moment, the RMR crew was afraid that Rise to the Sky had awoken yet again with another round of endless noisy sorrow. Catalán is famous for bolstering his croaky doom with such headlines after all. But fear naught, we’re dealing with Ian Arkley‘s My Silent Wake. A band that has been as versatile as it has become consistent on this zine. Doom ‘n’ gloom is their daily tear-drenched bread, true. But the records RMR covered to date were never really cut from the same cloth. Let’s face it, Gothic … [...] Click to raid more! The post My Silent Wake – Lost ..read more

Woe, what did I just read? My Dying Bride are – allegedly – canceling all of their 2024 tour dates. And I daresay, the RMR crew much enjoyed the Maryland Death Fest’s enigmatic choice words for the band. By the time of writing this blurb, nobody really knows what the matter may be. And oddly, they did that just before their newest piece A Mortal Binding was up for release. It would at least make some sense if this were their 13th record. That honor, however, was bestowed on the 2015 piece Feel The Misery which found some enthusiastic … [...] Click to raid more! The post My Dying Bride – A ..read more

Woe, what did I just read? My Dying Bride are – allegedly – canceling all of their 2024 tour dates. And I daresay, the RMR crew much enjoyed the Maryland Death Fest’s enigmatic choice words for the band. By the time of writing this blurb, nobody really knows what the matter may be. And oddly, they did that just before their newest piece A Mortal Binding was up for release. It would at least make some sense if this were their 13th record. That honor, however, was bestowed on the 2015 piece Feel The Misery which found some enthusiastic … [...] Click to raid more! The post My Dying Bride – A ..read more