British Metal

Catafalque – Dybbuk Review

By Dear Hollow on October 25, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Industrial Metal, Noise, 13 comments

“Good drone swallows you. Drone is not meant to invoke movement or adrenaline, but to evoke a mood or place. It sweeps away like the tides, not with rhythmic intensity but with mammoth weight, and dwells with you. A dybbuk is a Jewish mythological creature that sits on your chest while you sleep, and at its best this album attaches to you like a parasite. Wailing and gnashing of teeth echo across the fray, visceral and ritualistic, and as haunting as it is devastating. The place Catafalque takes you to is not the foot of great mountains or grey cityscapes, but a shadowy place that is as possessed as it is otherworldly.” Honing the droning.

Yer Metal Is Olde: My Dying Bride – Turn Loose the Swans

By Grymm on October 22, 2023 in Yer Metal Is Olde, 40 comments

“1993 marked a brave time in the realm of heavy metal. It wasn’t unheard of to see a band do a massive about-face musically, in fact, it was oftentimes celebrated not only for the bravery of the act but also because said act blazed new trails for other bands to follow. When many death metal acts like Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse were pushing the envelopes in terms of speed, a select group of bands like Cathedral, Paradise Lost, and Halifax, West Yorkshire sextet My Dying Bride were going the opposite route by slowing things down to a crawl.” Olde swans and dead brides.

Cult Burial – Reverie of the Malignant Review

By Thus Spoke on October 19, 2023 in Reviews, 8 comments

“You might not be aware of them, but Cult Burial generated a bit of a ripple in the metal underground with their self-titled debut back in 2020. Garnering top scores from whosoever covered it, the album’s blend of black, death, and doom did possess a certain je ne sais quoi in its moody but somewhat raw approach. It was not covered here, however, and as you know, thou shalt hath no other blogs. So it falls to me, and follow-up Reverie of the Malignant, to determine the mettle of these UK upstarts. Is the music worth the noise?” Cultic buzz.

Svalbard – The Weight of the Mask Review

By Dear Hollow on October 16, 2023 in Reviews, Emo, Post-Hardcore, Post-Metal, 28 comments

“Hardcore is all about the message, and Bristol’s Svalbard lays its message with all the fury its members can muster. Largely considered controversial, awkward to some and powerful to others, the four-piece forgoes poetry for passion in some of the rawest and most in-your-face lyrical attacks.” Hard on the outside, soft on the inside.

TesseracT – War of Being Review

By Thus Spoke on September 18, 2023 in Reviews, Djent, 64 comments

“There’s promoting an album, and then there’s the campaign surrounding War of Being. Aside from the usual—social media updates, music videos, etc.—there is a literal game associated with this album that you can download for a fiver on Steam and that was created solely based on its sci-fi odyssey concept. Lead singer Daniel Tompkins is also lead director and designer of the eponymous game, alongside a host of developers, and is apparently a huge gaming nerd himself. Kudos I guess, for combining two things he’s passionate about. Bassist Amos Williams is writing a novel about it too. But a game or a novel—however good can’t compensate for flaws in the music.” Core wars.

Outergods – A Kingdom Built Upon the Wreckage of Heaven Review

By Dear Hollow on September 11, 2023 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, 13 comments

“Outergods is a quintet from Nottingham, founded by guitarist and jack-of-all-trades Nathe Sinfield and vocalist Sam Strachan, two singles in 2021 heralding the release of debut A Kingdom Built Upon the Wreckage of Heaven. It offers a vicious blend of black metal, death metal, and grindcore, with the rot of dissonance and ambiance aching in its bones.” Outer in the cold.

Creak – Depth Perception Review

By Thus Spoke on August 20, 2023 in Reviews, Metalcore, 18 comments

“I cut my teeth on metalcore. During these tender teen years, I witnessed its growing djentification and I liked most of what I heard (sorry). I did, however, bemoan the inevitable slide towards radio rock of my former favorites such as Bring Me The Horizon and Architects. In fact, my loss of these bands from rotation was a significant impetus for my branching out into more extreme flavors of metal. But even though I’ve largely left it behind, I’ve got a soft spot for metalcore that arises most often during a workout, driven by a desire to recreate my first feelings of exhilaration in the emotional melodicism and angst. Creak stood out, not only as an opportunity to indulge.” Nostalgia creeps and creaks.

Fen – Monuments to Absence Review

By Cherd on July 17, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, 66 comments

“Most 70-minute albums don’t justify their own existence. In the past, UK band Fen have both succeeded and failed at that task. Doom_Et_Al fanboi’d all over hour-long The Dead Light while elegant Lady of the Night Madam X found the 75-minute Winter entirely too much Fen. The atmoblack outfit now return with the 68-minute Monuments to Absence.” Everlong?

The River – A Hollow Full of Hope Review

By Cherd on June 30, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, 35 comments

“The United Kingdom’s The River call their style of music “pastoral post-doom.” Pastoral; synonymous with idyllic. In landscape painting it means a pleasing mix of open vistas, farmland, rolling hills, maybe some lazily grazing livestock. There’s a point when “doom” becomes a misnomer. The River indeed inhabits this tenuous space.” Doom in quiet places.

Forged in Black – Lightning in the Ashes Review

By Holdeneye on June 26, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, 13 comments

“Early on in my reviewing career, I had the honor of covering Descent of the Serpent, the sophomore record from British metal sub-genre benders Forged in Black. I was enamored by the interesting songwriting on display on that record, and I was equally impressed by the incredibly diverse vocal performance by singer Chris Storozynski. This combo of songcraft and vocals reminded me at times of classic metal bands like Candlemass, Judas Priest, and Metallica, but at other times, the album veered into modern groove metal territory. It was an eclectic mixture for sure, but it felt like taking a walk down my own personal metal memory lane. Even way back then, I knew that I would be anxiously awaiting the album’s follow-up.” Genre hoarding.