Doom_et_Al

Rifftera – Across the Acheron Review

Rifftera – Across the Acheron Review

“From a metal perspective, 2019 has been decidedly underwhelming so far. When the promo bin threw me a melo-death album by a band whose name sounds like an adolescent parody of iconic metal giants, I had little hope that things would improve. This sophomore effort by Finnish band Rifftera follows 2015’s Pitch Black; a self-produced smorgasbord of melodic death metal, thrash, power and prog, smashed together with the grace of a junkyard compactor, and then played with the dial at 11. It was fun, but it was a mess.” Have these Finnish melodeath-thrashers gotten their shit together?

Misotheist – Misotheist Review

Misotheist – Misotheist Review

“At its cold heart, black metal is supposed to be angry, dangerous, uncomfortable. And while the genre has broadened to include some generally more benign (and often very enjoyable) off-shoots of the originally evil vision, Misotheist, hailing from Trondheim in Norway, have arrived to remind us of how dark and malevolent black metal can be. The band, whose name means “Hatred of God,” combine the blasphemy of Batushka with the frozen hellscapes of Havukruunu, sprinkled with some dissonant elements of Deathspell Omega. Anonymous members playing evil music in black cloaks emphasize that the lush landscapes of some recent atmoblack albums are as absent as warmth on a Scandinavian midwinter day.” Miso thorny.

Hex A.D. – Netherworld Triumphant Review

Hex A.D. – Netherworld Triumphant Review

“It’s a great time to be a doom fan. It feels like the genre is going through a burst of creativity at the moment. Bands who are failing to keep up, however, can find themselves left by the wayside. Hex A.D. is a quartet hailing from Norway, and their first two albums, Even the Savage Will See Fair Play and The Last Nail in the Coffin Lid consisted of fairly run-o’-the-mill sludgy, stoner doom. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but there was little to distinguish them from many of their peers. Their latest effort would have to offer something tastier than their previous platters to distract me from the doom buffet of 2018.” Take all you want, but eat all you take.