Heavy metal album reviews that go deep, with band history, song by song analysis, and more!
An incredible and defining progressive metal dystopian concept album! I love a great concept album. Add some dystopia and sci-fi, and I can be easily hooked. But much like writing a great novel, great concept albums don’t just happen, and I have listened to a handful released in 2026 that I really wanted to love […]
Voidchaser – Interstellar I – Album Review Read More »
Uplifting progressive metal that is powerful and insanely technical! Metal is excellent in conveying emotion and connecting to your soul. So often it explores the darker textures of life, both lyrically and musically, and prog does this as well as any subgenre. There is nothing like a crushing djent breakdown or eerie polymetric keyboard and
Primaluce – Way of Perfection – Album Review Read More »
Doomy atmospheric post black and neo folk collide in trance-like beauty and brutality! I posted yesterday that I have been listening to more post metal, and lo and behold, here is two days in a row of reviews representing the genre. I also mentioned how broad the genre can be, and case in point, this
De l’Abîme Naît l’Aube – Rituel: Initiation – Album Review Read More »
Moody and at times unsettling atmospheric post black metal! I am definitely listening to more post metal these days, and it never ceases to amaze me just how broad the genre can be. I guess this is true of any subgenre of metal, but even the bands I have reviewed in the genre this year
Nullingroots – Fourth Dimensional Dreamscape – Album Review Read More »
A great return after 13 years, hook-laden progressive rock/metal with great melodies and heft from Australia! I feel like there has been a theme the past couple of years, where a number of metal bands have exceptionally long breaks between releases. I have reviewed several already this year, including progressive metal band Textures releasing their
Karnivool – In Verses – Album Review Read More »
Fantastic symphonic metal debut from Sweden with hard rock sensibility! February was a good month for symphonic metal, with releases from both Flowerleaf and Epinikion impressive, the former becoming a personal obsession, even moreso after experiencing them live in mid March, and the latter an album I just get lost in. The debut full length
Shatterheart – Infernal Symphony – Album Review Read More »
Amazing theatrical and epic symphonic metal from The Netherlands! Dutch symphonic metal band Epinikion is a newer band on the scene, forming in 2020 and releasing their debut album, “Inquisition,” in 2022. The band started as the vision of two people, keyboardist Renate de Boer and guitarist Robert Tangerman, and the debut album was written
Epinikion – The Force of Nature – Album Review Read More »
Experimental progressive metal that is incredibly gorgeous and caustically edgy, with great melody and heft! Over the years I have become more drawn to prog, which like many genres (see my last review and discussion about post metal), is just not descriptive enough to tell you what you are getting. Germany’s The Hirsch Effekt is
The Hirsch Effekt – Der Brauch – Album Review Read More »
Phenomenal post metal that is melodic, atmospheric, and full of emotion! Post metal is such an interesting subgenre. Like many subgenres, the name alone isn’t always prescriptive enough to tell you what you are getting, and even this year I have reviewed multiple releases in this specific genre that sound quite distinct from each other.
Møl – Dreamcrush – Album Review Read More »
Super cool progressive metal exploring themes of dark and light amidst myriad textures of melody and aggression! Norway’s Course of Fate was a new band for me. They have been active since the early 2000’s, with a handful of demos and an EP in 2013, but they didn’t release their first full length until 2020.
Course of Fate – Behind the Eclipse – Album Review Read More »
