British Metal

As Lions – Selfish Age Review

By Huck N Roll on January 18, 2017 in 2017, Better Noise Records, British Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 37 comments

“Heredity can be a blessing and a curse. Unless you’re George Clooney, you will be endlessly compared to that elderly, more famous relative of yours no matter how different you proclaim to be. Often, lineage will be the curiosity factor that garners early attention, but even more often it will be a stumbling block to legitimacy. Take Lauren Harris, for example, daughter of Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris. She’s been trying for over a decade to make a go of it, with little luck. Another “Child of Maiden,” Austin Dickinson, is bravely trying to carve his own path, first with unmemorable metalcore act Rise to Remain and now with As Lions.” How far is that apple gonna roll?

The King is Blind – Our Father [Things You Might Have Missed 2016]

By Ferrous Beuller on December 18, 2016 in 2016, British Metal, Cacophonous Records, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Things You Might Have Missed 2016, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 21 comments

“Apart from a few staples and hidden gems, most of the music I absorb tends to originate from America or Central Europe, so as a British native, I make sure to actively keep an ear to the ground for new and unheard greatness emanating from my own fair isle. Enter: The King is Blind.” God save the Queen and all that.

Kroh – Altars [Things You Might Have Missed 2016]

By GardensTale on December 14, 2016 in 2016, British Metal, Devizes Records, Doom Metal, Reviews, Stoner Metal, Things You Might Have Missed 2016, Doom Metal, Stoner Metal, 34 comments

“With acts like King Goat, Darkher and Khemmis snatching Album of the Month, I’d say this has been a good year for doom metal. Good thing, then, that this is also the year I found out how great this genre is, having mostly ignored it under the false assumption that all of it was paced like a 9-hour funeral.” Newbie re-education is an everyday struggle at AMG.

Crippled Black Phoenix – Bronze Review

By Huck N Roll on November 6, 2016 in 2016, British Metal, Post-metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Stoner Rock, Swedish Metal, Progressive Metal, Stoner Metal, 56 comments

“In honor of our esteemed Dr. A.N. Grier’s misplaced love for baseball (and the fact that the season has finally come to a merciful conclusion), I present a baseball analogy for Crippled Black Phoenix. CBP are like big-league sluggers: most of the time they strike out, but every few games they wallop one into the second deck of left field.” Swiiiiing, batter.

Anaal Nathrakh – The Whole of the Law Review

By Grymm on October 27, 2016 in 2016, Black Metal, English Metal, Grind, Industrial Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Black Metal, Industrial Metal, 57 comments

“If there are any bands out there that I can safely claim to have a major allegiance to, it would certainly be England’s Anaal Nathrakh. Maybe it’s because their magic blend of black metal, industrialized noise, grindcore, and even some power metal elements strike a nerve like few other bands do. Or perhaps it’s because, whenever you hear people talk ill about really any type of metal (kill your mother, rape your dog, etc.), chances are the music that Anaal Nathrakh spawns are the exact sounds these people actively imagine in their heads.” Lock up your mothers, lock up your dogs.

40 Watt Sun – Wider than the Sky Review

By Grymm on October 26, 2016 in 2016, British Metal, Doom Metal, Not Metal, Radiance Records, Reviews, Rock, Doom Metal, Not Metal, 25 comments

The world became a much darker place in 2009 when UK doom upstarts Warning disbanded after only two albums. When word got out that guitarist and vocalist Patrick Walker would form a new project called 40 Watt Sun with fellow Warning bandmate Christian Leitch, doomsters the world over panted with anticipation. What many people hoped would be a continuation of the morose path constructed by Warning’s farewell album, 2006’s criminally underrated Watching from a Distance, instead were met with softer, but no less intense, waters with The Inside Room. Five years and several label woes later, the band returns with their self-released second album, Wider than the Sky.” Watch the skies (from a distance).

Hryre – From Mortality to Infinity Review

By Grymm on September 29, 2016 in 2016, Black Metal, Code666 Records, English Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Folk Metal, 20 comments

“When John Haughm dissolved Agalloch earlier this year it left a giant gaping hole.. Their natural, organic take on black metal was a vibrant breath of fresh air in the often stagnant realm of black metal. In the wake of the band’s demise, bands from across the world are tossing their home-grown influences in hopes of achieving the same level of influence.” Umm… Hryre… you have a lot to live up to.” Nature is back and it wants to touch you.

Yer Metal is Olde: Iron Maiden – Somewhere in Time

By Grymm on August 25, 2016 in English Metal, Heavy Metal, Yer Metal Is Olde, Heavy Metal, 88 comments

“A month ago, I wrote about my first-ever experience that opened the doorway to the wonderful world of metal music. Many of you wrote back about your first exposure. Today, I get the pleasure of inaugurating the album it came from into our hallowed Yer Metal is Olde! halls. I am, of course, talking about Somewhere in Time, the oft-maligned sixth full-length from Metal Gods Iron Maiden.” Timeless.

Darkher – Realms Review

By Grymm on August 12, 2016 in 2016, Doom Metal, English Metal, Prophecy Productions, Reviews, Doom Metal, 40 comments

“When you think about the month of August, what does your mind conjure up? Afternoon swims in your background pool? Grilling your favorite killed prey on the barbecue with an ice-cold beer clutched in one hand? Unbearably hot heat waves? Whatever it is, I’m sure you are not thinking of one-person doom metal projects.” Yet that’s all Grymm thinks about! The man is a one-man one-man-band reviewing machine!

The Bendal Interlude – Reign of the Unblinking Eye Review

By Grymm on March 31, 2016 in 2016, Black Bow Records, Doom Metal, English Metal, Groove Metal, Reviews, Sludge, Doom Metal, Groove Metal, Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal, 12 comments

“Reign of the Unblinking Eye, the debut full-length from British groovers The Bendal Interlude, couldn’t have come at a better time in my life. Between the stress of watching (and partaking in) the complete clusterfuck that is the American Presidential election where, as a general whole, the candidates proceed to make asses out of themselves.” Everybody sucks 2016.