| 1914 The Blind Leading the Blind | 2.5 |
| Aeternam Moongod | 3.0 |
| Aeternam Al Qassam | 3.5 |
| Amanda Woodward La Decadence de la Decadence | 4.0 |
| Amon Amarth Wrath of the Norsemen | 4.0 |
| Amorphis Queen of Time | 3.5 |
| Anomalie Visions | 3.5 |
| Interesting blend of black metal and atmospheric/post rock. 1 or 2 songs feel rather bland, but most of the album is quite good. |
| Arch/Matheos Winter Ethereal | 2.5 |
| Architects All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us | 4.0 |
| Archspire Relentless Mutation | 4.5 |
| Arkona (RUS) Khram | 4.5 |
It's been a while since I've listened to Arkona, but their last album surprised me in a
good way. To me it sounds like melodic black metal which the female vocals make the
overall sound hauntingly beautiful. It is far too long and after the 40th minute it
starts to sound tedious and repetitive, which is a shame as it had the making of a very
good album. Will still listen to the first half of the album though.
Later edit: It started to grow on me with every listen. I still consider the second part
of the album weaker than the first, but overall it is quite the album. |
| Arkona (RUS) Goi, Rode, Goi! | 4.5 |
| I can't believe I haven't gave this a full listen until now. Mesmerizing performance by the vocalist accompanied by solid riffs. This one sets the bar up high as far as pagan/folk metal is concerned. |
| Arkona (RUS) Vo Slavu Velikim! | 4.0 |
| Arkona (RUS) Ot Serdtsa K Nebu | 3.0 |
| Arkona (RUS) Slovo | 4.0 |
| Atlantean Kodex The Course of Empire | 4.0 |
| Avatar Schlacht | 3.0 |
| Azarath Blasphemers' Maledictions | 3.0 |
| Baton Rouge Fragments D'eux Memes | 3.5 |
| Pure awesomeness groovy record...aside from the last 10 minutes where they decided to just record noise to fill the album. |
| Batushka Litourgiya | 4.5 |
| Batushka Panihida | 2.5 |
| Batushka Hospodi | 3.0 |
| Batushka Raskol | 3.0 |
| Be'lakor Stone's Reach | 5.0 |
| Behemoth Satanica | 4.0 |
| Behemoth Evangelica Heretica | 4.5 |
| Belphegor Pestapokalypse VI | 4.0 |
| Black Crown Initiate Selves We Cannot Forgive | 3.0 |
| Bleeding Utopia Where the Light Comes to Die | 4.0 |
| Blood Incantation Hidden History of the Human Race | 3.0 |
| Bucovina Sub Stele | 4.0 |
| Caladan Brood Echoes Of Battle | 4.0 |
| Captain Cleanoff Symphonies of Slackness | 3.5 |
| Carach Angren Where the Corpses Sink Forever | 4.5 |
| Carach Angren This Is No Fairytale | 3.0 |
| Cattle Decapitation Monolith of Inhumanity | 3.5 |
| Cavalera Conspiracy Inflikted | 3.5 |
| Cavalera Conspiracy Blunt Force Trauma | 2.5 |
| Max is a master of fast aggressive type of metal, but when he adds a bit of melodicity to his tunes...magic happens. Songs like Blunt Force Trauma and Killing Inside are the only ones that are standing out for me, all the others are just Cavalera-esque general tunes...not bad, but just not good for repeated listening. |
| Cavalera Conspiracy Pandemonium | 2.5 |
| Cavalera Conspiracy Psychosis | 3.5 |
| Chapel of Disease ...And as We Have Seen the Storm | 4.5 |
| Listened to the album expecting a pure death album and got something...extra. The vocals might be death(ish) but the music definitely has a heavy metal influence and since the band is German, we could guess a couple of bands that could have influenced them. Anyway the album gives away a certain good, optimistic feeling that is quite unique for a death metal effort. I would be very interested in hearing them live. After listening this album for more than a month, I'm still coming back to it...it's hauntingly beautiful, so I had to up the rating as it's near perfection for me. |
| Chapel of Disease The Mysterious Ways of Repetitive Art | 2.5 |
| Chapel of Disease Echoes of Light | 3.5 |
| Chthe'ilist Le Dernier Crépuscule | 3.5 |
| Cloudkicker Unending | 4.0 |
| Cradle of Filth Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness of Decay | 3.0 |
| Better than previous efforts overall, but honestly I can only pick 2 really good songs: Heartbreak and Seance and You Will Know the Lion by His Claw. Really pumped though about their next release, if they can keep their band members for the years to come.r |
| Cradle of Filth Existence Is Futile | 4.0 |
| Daitro/Sed Non Satiata Split | 4.0 |
| Dark Tranquillity Where Death Is Most Alive | 4.5 |
| Dark Tranquillity Fiction | 4.0 |
| Dawn of Solace Waves | 2.5 |
| Death Angel The Evil Divide | 3.5 |
| Degial Predator Reign | 3.5 |
| Pure blackened death metal with no hint of other influences (not to me at least). Obviously the guys are talented, but would have loved some sort of experimentation from the classic formula. They just don't bring anything new to the table to give this a higher rating. |
| Demolition Hammer Epidemic of Violence | 4.0 |
| DevilDriver The Fury of Our Maker's Hand | 3.0 |
| Disillusion Back to Times of Splendor | 2.5 |
| I honestly don't understand where the hype was and still is for this album. It's not dreadful, but nowhere near perfection. |
| Disturbed Ten Thousand Fists | 4.5 |
| Dvne Asheran | 4.0 |
| It says doom/stoner metal on the label, but I can hear some heavy/thrash and even some melo death influences in the songs. All of these though make one hell of a good debut album. |
| Dying Fetus Destroy the Opposition | 4.0 |
| Elder (USA-MA) Reflections of a Floating World | 4.0 |
| Electric Wizard Dopethrone | 3.0 |
| Elvenking Reader of the Runes – Divination | 3.5 |
| Elvenking The Winter Wake | 3.5 |
| Emigrate Silent So Long | 3.0 |
| Ensiferum Ensiferum | 4.5 |
| Ensiferum Iron | 4.0 |
| Ensiferum Victory Songs | 3.0 |
| Ensiferum From Afar | 3.0 |
| Ensiferum Two Paths | 2.5 |
| Enter Shikari Take to the Skies | 3.5 |
| Entheos (CAN) Ototeman | 3.0 |
I've listened to their 2017 (Le Zahir) effort before listening to this one and it's good
that I did it this way.
It was good to hear how they evolved, but this is nowhere near their latest album. If on
Le Zahir I can hear some awesome riffs, here well I can only hear those agonising vocals.
But this is black metal vocals in the end so I guess the genre fans will appreciate...I
cannot.
I'll stick by their 2017 album and look forward for their next one. If they continue to
evolve at this great rate...we're in for a treat. |
| Entheos (CAN) Le Zahir | 4.0 |
Definitely not my cup of tea but still I gave it an excellent score as the album still
somehow appealed to me.Awesome slow start, that somehow seemed like the silence before
the storm, or as 'silence calls the storm' as Quo Vadis use to sing, and then the carnage
begins.
The music is quite enthralling and the guys are seriously talented and inspired, but it's
just the voice that kills me. I would have appreciated the voice more if he could have
changed his tone from time to time, but it's just a constant agonising tone. There was a
slight change in tone during L'Orpheline that lasted for a couple of seconds, but it was
enough to confirm that they can use this kind of diversity in their music (my opinion). I
certainly would have appreciated more of it.
The end though...what a finish! Most bands usually choose a cover, or a slow instrumental
song, or something different from the other songs on their album. Not Entheos. No, they
provided an aggressive, but yet melodic song that makes you earn for more. I am pretty
sure Entheos and the psychedelic genre fans will definitely not be disappointed with this
effort from the Canadian band as it did quite an impression on me even though I'm a
novice in the psychedelic music world. |
| Epica Consign to Oblivion | 4.0 |
| Equilibrium Erdentempel | 3.5 |
| Eternal Champion The Armor of Ire | 3.0 |
| Good, but could have been much better. The review here on sputnikmusic nails it when it specifies that the riffs basically die when the vocals begin. Sing A Last Song Of Valdese is probably a good example of the potential they have. |
| Eths Soma | 4.0 |
| Falls of Rauros The Light That Dwells in Rotten Wood | 4.5 |
| Great blend of black metal voice with uplifting folk and post rock music. Very interesting sound that I reckon sets them apart (in a good way) from the other bands in the atmospheric black metal genre. |
| Fen Winter | 2.5 |
| There have been a boom in atmospheric black metal as of late but that doesn't mean that everything that appears in this genre in good. Fen's last effort is good and every song gives you hope that is going to be great, but every single one fails to achieve greatness. The fact that it ticks at almost 2 hours doesn't help as well. Couldn't listen all the way to the end... |
| Firelink The Inveterate Fire | 3.5 |
| Frosthelm Pyrrhic | 3.5 |
| Fvneral Fvkk Carnal Confessions | 3.5 |
| Garden of Shadows Oracle Moon | 4.5 |
| Unbelievable melodic death metal. Strong and melodic at the same time without clean vocals. Hard to believe they disbanded after this one, and only ever recorded 2 albums. This is a gem. |
| Givre Le Pressoir Mystique | 4.0 |
| God Dethroned Bloody Blasphemy | 4.0 |
| Gorod Leading Vision | 3.5 |
| Groza Unified In Void | 4.0 |
| Mgla like? Yes, so what? Awesome black metal with a touch of melodicity. |
| Gygax High Fantasy | 4.0 |
| Haggard Eppur si muove | 4.0 |
| Hideous Divinity Adveniens | 3.5 |
| Hideous Divinity Obeisance Rising | 3.0 |
| Hideous Divinity Cobra Verde | 3.5 |
| HIM Razorblade Romance | 4.0 |
| Horrendous Idol | 3.5 |
| I Am The Trireme Nomenclature | 3.5 |
An interesting release from a young band. The album is labelled under the blackened death
metal tag but I can definitely feel a post metal vibe and hear a melo death influence
with a hint of gothic in between. The vocals are black(ish) with some clean/hardcore
attempts every now and then.
The sound isn't too bad considering this is the band's second album release. I'm
certainly liking the rhythm, but the lyrics and vocals are not up to par with the music.
Overall though a solid release, which is definitely worth multiple listenings. |
| Illyria The Carpathian Summit | 4.0 |
| In Chasms Deep As the Wicked Burn Below | 4.0 |
| Excellent blend of black metal and core done in a unique way. |
| In Chasms Deep Symphony Of Horror | 4.0 |
| Insomnium Above the Weeping World | 3.0 |
| Iwrestledabearonce It's All Happening | 4.5 |
| Jeff Rosenstock WORRY. | 4.0 |
| Jinjer King of Everything | 3.0 |
| Joliette Luz Devora | 3.5 |
| Karnivool Themata | 3.0 |
| Karnivool Sound Awake | 3.5 |
| King Woman Celestial Blues | 4.0 |
| Kreator Violent Revolution | 3.5 |
| Kreator Gods of Violence | 4.0 |
| Lacuna Coil Black Anima | 3.5 |
| Lacuna Coil In a Reverie | 4.0 |
| Lahmia Into The Abyss | 3.0 |
| A good melo-death album with lots of room for improvement. Considering this is also the debut album for Lahmia, it certainly promises good things for the future of the band. |
| Leviathan Scar Sighted | 2.0 |
| Lorna Shore ...And I Return to Nothingness | 4.5 |
| Lost Soul Immerse in Infinity | 3.5 |
| Lunar Shadow Far from Light | 4.5 |
I've listened black atmospheric metal for a while, wanted a change of pace and found this
gem of an album. I'm not a big fan of heavy metal, but this is something different. Lunar
Shadow uses heavy metal as a base and fuses a bit of power, a bit of melodic and some
extreme metal (here and there) to make one fascinating album.
Now considering the fact that this is a debut album and the guys are very young...makes
this album stand out even more in my eyes.
If these guys continue to evolve...wow...fun times ahead! |
| Lunar Shadow The Smokeless Fires | 4.0 |
Initially disappointed with the album as a follow up to 'Far from Light' but man did it grew
on me.
It took me a while to get used to the new vocal but now I can say that it is an absolute
gem in heavy metal territory.
It won't be regarded so now, but down the years I think this will be regarded as a game
changer. |
| Malokarpatan Nordkarpatenland | 3.5 |
| Interesting fusion of black with thrash metal with a bit of folk thrown in the mix. It has a very classic sound reminiscing of the old heavy metal bands. I'm very picky about black and thrash band, but this one ticks a lot of boxes for me. |
| Mastodon Emperor of Sand | 4.0 |
| Mastodon Once More 'Round the Sun | 4.0 |
| Mgla Exercises in Futility | 4.5 |
| Mgla Age of Excuse | 3.5 |
| Misery Index Heirs to Thievery | 3.0 |
| Misery Index The Killing Gods | 3.5 |
| Mors Principium Est Liberation = Termination | 3.0 |
| Mors Principium Est The Unborn | 4.0 |
| Mors Principium Est ...And Death Said Live | 3.5 |
| My Dying Bride Turn Loose the Swans | 2.5 |
| Ne Obliviscaris Portal of I | 4.0 |
| Necrophobic Dawn of the Damned | 3.5 |
| Necrot Mortal | 3.5 |
| Oceans Ate Alaska Hikari | 3.0 |
| Oh, Sleeper Children of Fire | 3.5 |
| Once Human Evolution | 2.5 |
| Paara Riitti | 3.5 |
| Palehorse/Palerider Burial Songs | 3.5 |
| I can't keep up with the metal sub-genres, but I can recognise some form of post-rock in this album blended with I don't know what. Sounds good though and that's the important thing. Starts strong and fades slowly as minutes go by unfortunately, but I have the feeling that this will grow on me. |
| Phlebotomized Deformation of Humanity | 3.5 |
| A great metal gem. I need to listen to their old records now... |
| Poison the Well The Opposite of December | 4.0 |
| Purulent Necrosis Cadaverized Humanity | 2.0 |
| Quo Vadis Defiant Indoctrination | 5.0 |
| Quo Vadis Defiant Imagination | 5.0 |
| Rimfrost Expedition: Darkness | 3.5 |
| Rolo Tomassi Grievances | 4.0 |
| Rolo Tomassi Hysterics | 3.0 |
| Rolo Tomassi Cosmology | 2.5 |
| Rorcal Heliogabalus | 2.5 |
| Rotting Christ Theogonia | 4.0 |
| Half of the album is pure delight, while the other is up to standard but nothing special. Still most bands would kill to have such a feat. |
| Rotting Christ Sleep of the Angels | 3.5 |
| Rotting Christ Their Greatest Spells | 4.5 |
Everything you need from Rotting Christ. Gets you going through work, or life in general.
After 1 hour of listening (the whole mix is 2.5 hours) I had to raise the rating. The mix
to rule all mixes. |
| Rotting Christ Aealo | 4.0 |
| Rotting Christ The Heretics | 3.5 |
| Samael Eternal | 3.0 |
I have to agree with a previous comment, that this is a great record to listen while
working or driving. It won't distract you, but it won't bore you as well. The only song I
really like is The Cross, where the guitar sound takes main stage for once and actually
shines (that attempt of doing a solo was really good, just too short). It would have been
interesting to hear similar guitar sound a bit more often throughout the record. |
| Samael Reign Of Light | 2.0 |
| A weaker record than their previous release, Eternal, as the band delved deeper into the electronic/industrial sound. It's even frustrating to listen to it as a background music while doing anything. |
| Samael Solar Soul | 2.5 |
| Samael Above | 3.0 |
| A nice blend of industrial and black metal done in Samael style. |
| Samael Lux Mundi | 3.0 |
| Savage Master Myth, Magic and Steel | 2.5 |
| Septicflesh Communion | 4.0 |
| Sepultura Quadra | 3.5 |
| Sermon Birth Of The Marvellous | 3.5 |
| Seventh Wonder Mercy Falls | 3.5 |
| Shade of Hatred Reflection on Ruin | 3.0 |
| Shokran Exodus | 4.0 |
| Silver Talon Becoming A Demon | 3.0 |
| Singularity (USA-AZ) Place of Chains | 3.5 |
| Slice the Cake Odyssey to the West | 3.5 |
| Slugdge Esoteric Malacology | 4.5 |
| Sodom In War and Pieces | 4.0 |
| Soen Lykaia | 4.5 |
| Soen Tellurian | 3.0 |
| Soen Lotus | 3.5 |
| Soen used a much heavier sound in their latest album which is a welcoming addition. Overall it's a good album, but it doesn't break any ground. |
| Soilwork The Living Infinite | 4.0 |
| Soulfly Ritual | 3.5 |
| Soulfly Dark Ages | 3.5 |
| Sumerlands Sumerlands | 3.5 |
| Many compared this band with Eternal Champion and Lunar Shadow. They definitely have better riffs and much better cohesion between music and vocals than Eternal Champion, but Lunar do things even better. Nonetheless, a good nostalgic musical experience. |
| System of a Down Hypnotize | 4.0 |
| Telepathy Tempest | 4.0 |
| I don't think they bring anything new to the post rock genre, but still they manage to sound incredibly good. Very interested to hear their follow-up. |
| The Armed Only Love | 2.0 |
| The Drowning The Radiant Dark | 2.5 |
| The Great Old Ones Cosmicism | 3.0 |
| The Haunted Made Me Do It | 3.5 |
| The Ocean Heliocentric | 4.0 |
| Initially rated this album lower, but it grew on me. This one is good as background music while doing work, but you really need to take some free time with some noise cancelling headphones and dig into it...then you will start to appreciate it. Firmament, The Origin of Species and The Origin of God are mind blowing songs. |
| The Ocean Precambrian | 4.0 |
| A fascinating blend of post rock with hardcore vocals and some other minor influences. The song 'Rhyacian' is something...something special... |
| The Ocean Fluxion | 3.0 |
| The Ocean Anthropocentric | 3.5 |
| The Ocean Pelagial | 3.5 |
| The Ocean Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic | 4.5 |
| Permian: The Great Dying might just be the best piece of music you'll ever hear... |
| The Ruins of Beverast Rain Upon the Impure | 2.0 |
| The Ruins of Beverast Exuvia | 2.5 |
| Thy Catafalque Naiv | 4.0 |
| Thy Catafalque Rengeteg | 4.5 |
| Thy Catafalque Alföld | 4.5 |
| Trees of Eternity Hour of the Nightingale | 4.0 |
| Tribulation The Children of the Night | 3.5 |
| Tribulation The Horror | 3.5 |
| Turilli / Lione Rhapsody Zero Gravity (Rebirth and Evolution) | 3.0 |
| Tyr Eric The Red | 3.0 |
| Tyr By the Light of the Northern Star | 3.0 |
| Tyr Hel | 4.0 |
| Uada Devoid of Light | 4.0 |
| Very good melodic black metal. Mgla-ish with an American accent. Originally rated at 3.5, but had to increase it the albums gets better with every listen. |
| Uada Cult of a Dying Sun | 2.5 |
| Ulcerate Stare Into Death and Be Still | 4.0 |
| Ulcerate Everything Is Fire | 4.0 |
| Unto Others Mana | 4.5 |
| Unto Others Strength | 3.5 |
| Vader Tibi et Igni | 4.0 |
| Vananidr Road North | 3.5 |
| Found this album while searching for Fredrik's (Amon Amarth's former drummer) latest efforts. Pleasantly surprised by this - black metal infused with a good amount melodicity (death-ish at times) and a surprisingly good album production. While not a big fan of black metal, this has definitely peaked my interest. |
| Varathron Patriarchs of Evil | 4.0 |
| Wondrous effort! Atmospheric, melodic, aggressive! Who wouldn't like to put on an album like this after 30 years of playing? |
| Visions Of Atlantis Trinity | 3.0 |
| Warfect Spectre of Devastation | 4.0 |
| White Ward Futility Report | 3.5 |
| Wilderun Veil of Imagination | 3.0 |
| Wind Rose Wardens of the West Wind | 3.0 |
| Wind Rose Stonehymn | 2.5 |
| Xoth Interdimensional Invocations | 4.0 |
| Crossover between thrash, black and heavy done right. |
