Australian Metal

The Eternal – Waiting for the Endless Dawn Review

By Steel Druhm on August 13, 2018 in 2018, Australian Metal, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, Inverse Records, Reviews, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, 44 comments

“Long time readers of Angry Metal Guy Blogworks and Important Opinion Emporium, Ltd., know I have a soft spot for sadboy melancholic doom. This led me to heap praise on Swallow the Sun’s mammothly meandering, overblown triple album suite, Songs of the North back in 2013. In the fullness of time, I downgraded the original score on my Contrite Metal Guy confessional, and hard lessons were learned: Some albums are simply too long-winded to work as well as they should. Now comes Australian act, The Eternal and their sixth album, Waiting for the Endless Dawn.” Why the long album?

Mongrel’s Cross – Psalter of the Royal Dragon Court Review

By Mark Z. on August 9, 2018 in 2018, Australian Metal, Black Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Thrash Metal, 111 comments

“We’ve all been there. We’ve all strived to transcend weakness, to beat back the forces of oppression, to rip the fucking heart from the proverbial lion. Deströyer 666 use the motif of a wolf to convey this sense of power; fellow Australians Mongrel’s Cross use a dragon. Their 2012 debut The Sins of Aquarius was rife with such smoldering imagery, taking the Australian black thrash tapestry and soaking it in the grandiose swagger of Bathory’s Blood Fire Death. The result was both a personal favorite and one of the style’s most potent albums in recent years.” Dragons, Bathory and battles, oh my!

Southern Empire – Civilisation Review

By GardensTale on August 1, 2018 in 2018, Australian Metal, Giant Electric Pea, Progressive Rock, Reviews, Progressive Rock, 145 comments

“Let’s be real here: are bands truly progressive when the longest song between them is but a measly fifteen minutes? Adelaide’s Southern Empire say “Not so!” as they drop the massive platter that is Civilisation. The four-track album clocks in at a mind-numbing seventy minutes! Can they justify the enormous time investment required to fully appreciate a record of such hefty girth?” An album with big bones.

Runespell – Order of Vengeance Review

By Lokasenna on July 14, 2018 in 2018, Australian Metal, Black Metal, Iron Bonehead Productions, Reviews, Black Metal, 35 comments

“Like most of my peers, I try to spread out my metal listening; variety being the spice of life and all that. Despite this, however, I frequently find myself short on new black metal. Instead, I return to old standbys; kvlt, traditional and the bravely exotic. Unfortunately, the promo sump is rarely a good way to fix this problem, as so few black metal bands are interested in innovating. This is particularly true at the offices of our friends at Iron Bonehead, an established where ingenuity isn’t welcome. Still, Australian studio-project Runespell’s sophomore release—Order of Vengeance—is at least less baffling than the last Australian black metal act I covered, pulling firmly from the Norwegian second wave with smatterings of other scenes and styles to keep things from growing stale.” Leftover Norway.

Skyborne Reveries – Winter Lights Review

By Master of Muppets on June 15, 2018 in 2018, Australian Metal, Black Metal, Epic Metal, Naturmacht Productions, Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 88 comments

“It’s not exactly a secret that I enjoy of deep atmospheric black metal just as much as the next guy deems to be unhealthy, though even I don’t know where my own obsession with the sounds ov misanthropy came from. Maybe it was Maine, maybe it was Northern winter nights. Maybe it was you people, maybe it was me and my staunch opposition to joy that lead me here; whatever the case, it sure felt right to pluck Skyborne Reveries’ Winter Lights from the promo bin after a bit of… unpleasantness.” Muppet and the winter moon.

Nocturnal Graves – Titan Review

By Mark Z. on May 26, 2018 in 2018, Australian Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Season of Mist Underground Activists, Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Thrash Metal, 64 comments

This post has been removed because it promoted Nazi or Nazi-adjacent metal bands or musicians. We apologize.

Depravity – Evil Upheaval Review

By Ferrous Beuller on May 11, 2018 in 2018, Australian Metal, Death Metal, Reviews, Transcending Obscurity, Death Metal, 86 comments

“Death metal, in all of its fevered furor, tests us with many of life’s most potent questions. Spanning such pleas as ‘why, David Vincent, why?’ to simply ‘why did Chuck never change his surname to Skulldiner?’ Whatever the line of inquiry, we can all agree that one question remains more pressing than all others combined. What happens when the Cannibal Corpse itself is cannibalized, its putrid properties mingled and made stock for only the most sadistic of stews? Such death-ception demands to be acknowledged and Australia’s very own Depravity have the answer — debut, Evil Upheaval.” Meat n’ greet.

Vahrzaw – Husk Review

By Mark Z. on May 1, 2018 in 2018, Australian Metal, Black Metal, Blood Harvest Records, Death Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 15 comments

“Being jaded sucks. What once brought you joy now feels like eating soggy bread, and life itself begins to feel like one big 2.5/5.0. Australian trio Vahrzaw seem well aware of this feeling. In their promo blurb for third full-length Husk, the group claims they ‘have really had enough of the bullshit associated with producing albums, and even EPs. Thus, Husk will likely be the band’s final recording.’ Having never made an album myself, I don’t know of what ‘bullshit’ they speak, but I do know it’s probably easy to be frustrated when you’ve been playing blasty, blackened death metal since 1992 and still barely have over a thousand likes on Facebook.” Blasty blackened death wins few popularity contests.

Vomitor – Pestilent Death Review

By Mark Z. on April 25, 2018 in 2018, Australian Metal, Death Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 55 comments

“What’s that? You’re tired of the progressive melodoom or whatever foofoo bullshit we’re giving Record o’ the Month to these days? Of course, you are. You want something heavier. Faster. Rawer. Something that feels like eating stale Chinese food out of a back alley garbage can while a stray cat gives birth in the background. We’ve all been there, and the solution is simple: Vomitor.” Vomitor, repeat as needed.

Mournful Congregation – The Incubus of Karma Review

By Grymm on March 21, 2018 in 2018, Australian Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Osmose Productions, Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Funeral Doom, 91 comments

“Let’s get the rotting pink elephant carcass out of the way right now; funeral doom is not for the faint of heart nor the shortest of attention spans. That last part needs to be addressed by yours truly, as there has been both some healthy debate and misconception about my dislike of long songs. That couldn’t be further from the truth, as it’s not the length of the tune that drives me into a fit of boredom, but whether or not the song truly goes somewhere of note, or if the journey to that destination is worth it in the end. Australia’s Mournful Congregation are the litmus test by which I judge that criteria by, with songs teeming with morose melodies, densely-layered guitar harmonies, and Yngwie-esque sweep arpeggios, the band… whoa up, sweep arpeggios? IN FUNERAL DOOM?!” How can more be mournful??