Ruins of Beverast

Iotunn – Access All Worlds Review

Iotunn – Access All Worlds Review

“If any of you are fellow Dungeons & Dragons nerds, which of course you are because you listen to metal, you should be familiar with the concept of a natural 20. Well, lately I’ve been experimenting with literally randomizing what promos to pick, using a single line of code to spit out a number corresponding with a place in a list. This time, the code landed on an unassuming sounding debut by a band called Iotunn, marked as space rock. Imagine my surprise when fellow prog lover Huck N Roll informed me that instead I’d landed on a very promising chunk of Metal Blade backed cosmic progressive death metal with none other than Jón Aldará (Barren Earth, Hamferð) on vocals.” Significant access.

Saqra’s Cult – The 9th King Review

Saqra’s Cult – The 9th King Review

“The saqra of South American lore pesters, pranks, and provokes the lovely people residing in the former domain of the Inca Empire. Though unclear whether that tradition begat their codpiece affinity, Saqra’s Cult’s 2017 debut Forgotten Rites embraced that legacy surprisingly well for a bunch of Belgian black metallers glomming onto a different continent’s folk tales. Tribal black metal works about as well as [Insert Anything You Can Imagine, Really Here] black metal ever works—pretty damn well (if you can riff). But with The 9th King losing a lot of their overt South American influence, can Saqra’s Cult still put the can in Incan?” That pun stands alone.

Varmia – W Ciele Nie Review

Varmia – W Ciele Nie Review

“As the old (not so old?) adage says, scratch the car, but don’t total it. If dumping Ungfell’s TYMHM last year counts as a fender bender, then my whiffing on Varmia’s TYMHM altogether came damn close to causing a five-lane pile-up. Z Mar Twych crept straight outta Poland, riffing that mean blackness, that the country has become known for, while still having a folken good time. W Ciele Nie arrived little more than a year later, and I’m left wondering what the hell happened in the interim.” Poland happens.