Eternal Fire – Architect of Decay Independent Release Date: 09/12/23  Running Time: 54:52 Review by Paul Hutchings 8/10 For a band formed in 2013, this debut album has taken some time to arrive. But Romanian Melodic Black Metallers Eternal Fire have guarded their time carefully, playing a series of gigs in Romania and Bucharest, supporting the likes of Carach Angren, Christ Agony and Dark Funeral. Having taken a four-year break to focus on “Architect of Decay”, they are now ready to unleash their majesty on the world.  Conceptually, it’s a complex tale of life, death, and resurrectio ..read more

DarkTower – Obedientia Electric Funeral Records Release Date: 06/11/2019 Running time: 41:38 Review by Victor Augusto 10/10 I often ask myself if it is possible that a band will offer anything new nowadays, after everything we know, and have heard, in Heavy Metal. Maybe I am being skeptical, but I don’t think we will ever hear innovation or something revolutionary inside music again. Despite that, I do believe it is possible to find ways to flee from “more of the same”. Following this path, I can mention Brazilian Melodic Black/Death Metal band DarkTower who have been conquering South America ..read more

EMQ’s With Inherently Lost Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with USA Melodic Black Metal band, Inherently Lost. Huge thanks to Joe, their Guitarist, for taking part.  What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?  Hi, I’m Joe and I’m the guitarist. We started as a band between 2017- 18. Had a couple member changes since then, but we have our solid line up now.  How did you come up with your band name?  Our vocalist Mark was inspired by a book he was reading about how there is something in people ..read more

Hellripper – Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags Peaceville Records Release Date: 17/02/23 Running Time: 41:07 Review by Rick Eaglestone 10/10 Sprawling with folklore infused fury, Scotland’s Hellripper return with their very highly anticipated third album “Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags”. There are just some albums, that when they are announced cause a warmth inside like the fires of hell and then they give you the first offering, album opener and blistering first “The Nuckelavee” represents the sound and vibe of the album perfectly and is based on the Orcadian tale of the eponymous creature ..read more

EMQ’s With Norrsköld Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Swedish Melodic Black/ Folk Metal band, Norrsköld. Huge thanks to guitarist Henrik Bodin-Sköld for taking part. What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band? Henrik Bodin-Sköld, guitarist and main songwriter in Norrsköld. Norrsköld started out pretty much as a studio project by me in 2013. The overall ambition of the music was to combine “the best of worlds” considering melodic metal and black metal. A large part of the inspiration for the song writing came ..read more

Spider God – Fly In The Trap Repose Records  Release Date: 11/11/22 Running Time: 40:30 Review by Rick Eaglestone 8/10 After an array of split releases, EP’s and even a pop covers album, the time has come for the arachnid Spider God to unveil their first full length album – “Fly In The Trap”. This is a concept album that explores the chilling mystery of Elisa Lam, the young Chinese-Canadian woman whose body was found submerged in the rooftop water tank of her L.A. hotel in 2013.  The album opens at a furious pace with opener and first single ‘The Fifty Second Murderer’ which is follo ..read more

EMQ’s with WORMWOOD Hi everyone! Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview with Stockholm, Sweden based Melodic Black Metal band Wormwood. Huge thanks to Vocalist ‘Nine’ for taking part. What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band? I go by the name ‘Nine’ and I am the main lyricist and vocalist in Wormwood. Not to go too in-depth about the history, I can tell you that we started out in 2014 with a different line-up and a different musical genre, but after a year we had found a pretty solid line-up and started to refine our sound. After our debut ..read more