| I Am the Trireme St. Vitus Dance | 3.5 |
| Progressive extreme metal that's a bit wank-y but not without some stellar moments. Errs on the side of black metal at times. |
| Jawcen Canto De Lejos | 3.5 |
| *shels Sea of the Dying Dhow | 4.0 |
| 0 (Null) Entity | 4.0 |
| 100 Gecs 1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues | 4.0 |
| 100 Gecs 1000 gecs | 5.0 |
| 1349 Liberation | 2.5 |
| 1349 Beyond the Apocalypse | 2.5 |
| 1349 The Infernal Pathway | 3.5 |
| 1349 Hellfire | 4.0 |
| 1349 Massive Cauldron of Chaos | 4.0 |
| 1914 The Blind Leading the Blind | 3.5 |
| 200 Stab Wounds Piles of Festering Decomposition | 4.0 |
| 200 Stab Wounds Slave to the Scalpel | 4.5 |
| This band embraces death metal's schlocky roots in the best way. |
| A Continent Named Coma Removal of Thorns | 3.5 |
| A Day To Remember You're Welcome | 1.0 |
| A Day To Remember And Their Name Was Treason | 3.5 |
| A Day To Remember For Those Who Have Heart | 3.5 |
| A Day To Remember Homesick | 4.5 |
| A Day To Remember What Separates Me from You | 4.5 |
| I don't know what it is; perhaps the way they integrated an all time low type pop punk sound (that didn't suck) and heavier sections with overall more personality (particularly because of vocalist jeremy mckinnon's INCREDIBLY improved screams) and definite shift from their previous metalcore styled breakdowns to straight hardcore breakdowns, but ehhh I'm listening to to album A LOOOOOOOOOOOT! Ahhh, i'm so gay for liking this. |
| A Day To Remember Common Courtesy | 4.5 |
| A Letter for Carmilla Lamentation | 3.0 |
| A Letter for Carmilla Coffin | 3.5 |
| I'm not completely sure how I feel about this album. It's frantic, hurried, and carries a decidedly gothic tone than most dungeon synth. There's something very unsettling and foreboding about Coffin, like the hair-raising sensation one might get walking down a dark, candlelight hallway with the feeling of something or someone trailing just behind. |
| A Lot Like Birds No Place | 3.5 |
| i kind of wish i didnt like these guys just so i could call them "a lot like turds" |
| A Lot Like Birds Conversation Piece | 4.0 |
| A Lot Like Birds DIVISI | 4.5 |
| A Pregnant Light Devotion Unlaced | 3.0 |
| A Pregnant Light continue to perfect their own unique sect of underground extremity cutely nicknamed "purple metal", which is essentially melodic hardcore with a tinge of metal. I'll give it to Damian, each release under the APL moniker maintains a very genuine feel, however Devotion Unlaced lacks the teeth of their previous material which is a bit of a let-down. Nonetheless, this is a fairly enjoyable release with a few ear-worms to keep you coming bac |
| A Pregnant Light Broken Play | 3.5 |
| A Pregnant Light I and I | 3.5 |
| A Pregnant Light You Cannot Pour From An Empty Vessel | 3.5 |
| A Pregnant Light Kiss Me Thru the Phone | 3.5 |
| A Pregnant Light Knots & Crosses | 3.5 |
| A Pregnant Light Beast About b/w Germanicus | 3.5 |
| A Pregnant Light The Feast of Clipped Wings | 4.0 |
| Raw and punked up black metal from Colloquial Sound Recordings that gets better with every listen. |
| A Pregnant Light Live to Tell | 4.0 |
| A Pregnant Light Stars Will Fall | 4.0 |
| A Pregnant Light Before I Came | 4.0 |
| A Pregnant Light All Saints' Day 2 | 4.0 |
| All Saints' Day 2 is yet another excellent merger of black metal, hardcore, and post-punk from A Pregnant Light aka Damian Master. Over the years he's created a very idiosyncratic sound for APL, but each release seems to further refine the formula, if only just a little. Very good. |
| A Pregnant Light Hysterectomy / Too Pure | 4.0 |
| A Skylit Drive Wires...and the Concept of Breathing | 4.0 |
| A Static Lullaby Rattlesnake! | 4.0 |
| A Thorn For Every Heart Things Aren't So Beautiful Now | 3.5 |
| slaps |
| A Wilhelm Scream Career Suicide | 4.5 |
| Aad Sleck Demonstration II | 3.0 |
| Aakon Keetreh Dans La Foret | 4.0 |
| Excellent dark ambient from the ex-Belketre frontman Lord Aakon Keetreh. A dark melancholic atmosphere supplemented by eerie chants, moody guitar and LLN style production. |
| A.M. Overcast A.M. Overcast | 4.0 |
| Abandon All Ships Abandon All Ships! | 2.5 |
| Much like contemporaries Attack Attack! and This Romantic Tragedy, Abandon All Ships! often fall victim to the pitfalls that oft make their fellow bands near unlistenable; repetitive breakdowns, a lack of originality and a sever lack of musicianship among many other things. Although this short EP does feature a few bright moments, most of your time spent listening to this will make you wish you weren't. |
| Abandon All Ships Geeving | 3.0 |
| Abbath Abbath | 2.0 |
| Abduction (UK) A Crown of Curses | 3.0 |
| Abhomine Larvae Offal Swine | 3.0 |
| Abhomine Proselyte Parasite Plague | 3.0 |
| Abhorrence (FIN) Vulgar Necrolatry | 3.5 |
| Abigail Williams In the Absence of Light | 2.5 |
| Abigail Williams Walk Beyond The Dark | 4.0 |
| Walk Beyond The Dark is very impressive. It?s an adventurous , atmospheric/quasi-symphonic black metal album that is equally as intricate as it is bombastic. There?s a subtle complexity throughout, with each nuance exuding a vibrancy even as they weave themselves into the album?s greater tapestry, culminating in a multilayered record with depth to add to its unbridled grandiosity. Abigail Williams should be proud of this one. |
| Ablaze My Sorrow If Emotions Still Burn | 2.0 |
| Abominable Putridity Parasitic Metamorphosis Manifestation | 3.5 |
| This isn't nearly as good as The Anomalies of Artificial Origin but it isn't a disappointment either; Angel is a serviceable replacement for Matti and the increase in more traditional death metal sections helps contrast and emphasize the slammier moments. Was it worth the 9 year wait? No, probably not, but it's good enough and tbh it's just nice to have AP around again. |
| Abominable Putridity The Anomalies of Artificial Origin | 4.0 |
| Okay so this is a lot better than I initially gave it credit for. |
| Absence of Dawn And the Sun is Fading... | 3.5 |
| When one is listening to Absence of Dawn's sole demo release, And The Sun Is Fading... a feeling of lost potential cannot help but to be had; while the band certainly portrays a fair amount of talent, whether it be in their harmonized guitar lines or the sporadically used keyboard embellishments, it always seems like they are capable of more. Perhaps better vocals and a cleaner production (the one heard is thin, stale and lifeless) could of made this a classic release. |
| Absidia (GER) Written In Minor Key | 3.5 |
| Abstracter Cinereous Incarnate | 3.0 |
| Absu Barathrum V.I.T.R.I.O.L. | 3.0 |
| Absum Purgatoire 2007-2009 | 3.5 |
| Absum/Odz Manouk Rotting Esophagus | 4.0 |
| Absurd Existence Anglewings | 3.0 |
| Playing melodic death/doom with a ton of gothic metal influences, Absurd Existence just comes off as a bit boring; sure, they can strike the occasional somber melody at times and are they the worst at what they do? Definitely not, but that still doesn't save Angelwings from being the first-class snooze of an album it is, devoid of anything worth note and full of things that have been done before and done better. |
| Absurd Existence Silence | 3.5 |
| Abuse. Abuse | 4.0 |
| Abyssal (UK) A Beacon In The Husk | 4.0 |
| Abyssal (UK) Antikatastaseis | 4.5 |
| Abyssal and Carcinoma Apanthropinization | 4.0 |
| Two UK black/death metal bands just tearing it the fuck up. This is a great release. |
| Abyssal Vacuum MMXVII | 3.0 |
| Abyssus Death Revival | 4.0 |
| Accidental Suicide Deceased | 4.5 |
Accidental Suicide was the purest distillation of filth to ever terrorize early 90's death/doom
fans. While Autopsy regaled subterranean citizens with sewage-soaked arias, Accidental Suicide
delved even further below, erecting Deceased, a monument of such putridity and rot that
stands to this day, dissuading the squeamish from experiencing its rancid visage. This is death
metal in its most raw form. |
| Acephalix Interminable Night | 3.5 |
| Acephalix Deathless Master | 4.0 |
| Acephalix Theothanatology | 4.0 |
| There are few who do crusty, filth-ridden death metal like Acephalix do. Each song here has a groove it settles into, and it remains an extremely headbangable effort throughout. This ain?t ?thinking man?s death metal? , it?s meathead crowdkill metal, and I am here for it. |
| Acherontas Faustian Ethos | 4.0 |
| Acheulean Forests The Enchantment | 3.5 |
| Acheulean Forests Of Faerie | 4.0 |
| Acousmatic Hate Acousmatic Hate | 3.5 |
| Act of Impalement Perdition Cult | 3.0 |
| Acualli Pact Of Possession | 3.5 |
| Acualli/The Haunting Presence Transform With Limitless Will | 3.5 |
| Ad Nauseam Imperative Imperceptible Impulse | 3.5 |
| Addaura Burning for the Ancient | 4.0 |
| Addaura's first full-length album is a more than worthy effort; Burning for the Ancient is a bit more "Wolves In The Throne Room" than the material on the band's 2010 demo, but the group also greatly explores (and expands on) some of the more distinguished moments present on their previous release, intelligently using the awesome range of new vocalist Ryan to lead the charge. Sometimes the songs do drag just a bit, but overall the band manages to keep the songs interesting throughout their average thirteen and a half minute runtimes. This isn't quite as good as I think Addaura are really capable of creating, but on its own merit Burning for the Ancient is still a very good release. |
| Addaura ...And The Lamps Expire | 4.0 |
| Coming three years after their full-length debut, ...And The Lamps Expire sees Addaura starting to shed their Cascadian black metal roots in favor of beginning to search for an identity of their own. This release is very much a transitory effort, but the two tracks here are still excellent. There is noticeable reduction of WIITR-worship, and bit more experimentation, especially in the song's arrangements. By breaking up the long(er)-winded black metal sections with minimal folk breaks, creates an excellent sense of dynamics, and though both "Amid the Tumult..." and "The Sun Shines To-day Also" are about ten minutes each, they certainly don't feel that long. Hopefully the band continues to explore their sound, because this could very much be the beginning of a great career. |
| Addaura A) siren city (Z | 4.0 |
| Addaura Addaura | 5.0 |
| Another band coming from the Cascadian black metal scene, Addaura's debut demo is a masterful exercise is slightly folk tinged black metal. Featuring the excellent shriek of female vocalist Chantal, amazing atmospheres and non-traditional black metal lyrical fare, this is a release that is not only worth your time but leaving you hungry for more. |
| Adele 30 | 1.5 |
| Adema Planets | 3.5 |
| Adema Kill the Headlights | 3.5 |
| Adema Insomniac's Dream | 3.5 |
| This is a 3.5 for "Immortal" alone. That song is a classic and could literally be put on an album with complete shit **cough** this **cough** and the record would still be a STRONG 3.5. |
| Adversarial All Idols Fall Before the Hammer | 3.5 |
| Adversarial/Antediluvian Initiated in Impiety as Mysteries | 3.0 |
| Adverso Descent | 3.5 |
| Adzalaan Into Vermilion Mirrors | 3.5 |
| Aeon Spoke Aeon Spoke | 4.0 |
| Aeon Spoke Above the Buried Cry | 4.0 |
| Aerosols 3rd 7" | 3.5 |
| Aethyrvorous Demo | 4.0 |
| Aevangelist Matricide in the Temple of Omega | 3.0 |
| Aeviterne Sireless | 3.5 |
| Afsky Ofte Jeg Drømmer Mig Død | 3.0 |
| Aftershock Through The Looking Glass | 4.0 |
| Absolutely bonkers to think this came out in 1999. These are the bones of what would become Killswitch Engage. It's more punk and less melodic/death metal, but you can hear Adam and Joel beginning to toy with the idea of fusing those genres together more thoroughly. Very cool release. |
| AG Form Commons | 4.0 |
| Against Me! White Crosses | 4.0 |
| Agalloch Marrow of the Spirit | 1.0 |
| Agalloch The Serpent and the Sphere | 2.0 |
| Agalloch Ashes Against the Grain | 3.0 |
| Agatus Dawn of Martyrdom | 3.5 |
| Much like the other bands in Hellenic black metal's first wave Agatus does not carry the rawness that was common in most 90's black metal; instead the band concentrates on a mid-tempo pace and elegant keyboard arrangements. Not as fierce as their Norwegian counterparts yet still a great album and worth checking out, especially if new to the genre. |
| Agnostic Front Victim in Pain | 2.0 |
| Agraceful The Great I Am | 3.5 |
| Agressor Neverending Destiny | 4.0 |
| Agriculture The Circle Chant | 4.0 |
| Aguynguerran Horde Of The Antichrist | 3.5 |
| Delving much further into the roots of black metal then their 2009 full-length, Hordes of the Antichrist is still an above average black metal demo |
| Aguynguerran Perverting the Nazarene Cult | 4.0 |
| Aguynguerran's first full-length is not one to be underestimated; combining black metal with elements of melodic death metal, Perverting the Nazarene Cult features awesome riffs, great solos and some surprisingly catchy moments. Great record for both hardcore and newer fans of the black metal. |
| Ahulabrum The Transitivity of Strangeness | 3.0 |
| The Transitivity of Strangeness isn't really an album you get on the first listen; a dark, murky production mixed with fast tremolo picked chords and strange (even for black metal) vocals, the first experience with this album may be enough for some. However, upon repeated listens one begins to strangely appreciate the how intense and fucked up the album really is. Musically nothing revolutionary, but an entertaining listen for those who truly enjoy raw black metal. |
| Airs A Left Turn At Happiness | 3.5 |
| Airs Adore | 3.5 |
| Discarding almost all traces of their 'blackgaze' past, Airs new shoegaze/indie rock direction actually makes them a band worth mention. Richly atmospheric, Airs dreamy soundscapes are absolutely beautiful, punctuated by at times intense drumming and soothing vocals. Some black metal elements remain but perfectly fit into the new aesthetic the band has created for themselves. Yeah, you want this. |
| Ajuna Prisoners of the Sun | 4.0 |
| Akasha Consuming The Soul | 4.0 |
| vampyric american black metal that takes cues from punk-era darkthrone, early bathory/venom, and the theatrics of cradle of filth |
| Akasha Canticles of the Sepulchral Deity | 5.0 |
| I really didn?t think anything would dethrone Sinmara so quickly as my favorite black metal so far this year, but the new Akasha seriously gives them a run for their money. I guess this is more aligned with my tastes in black metal nowadays - raw, punky, and melodic - but I think even without it catering my preferences this is an incredibly strong effort. |
| Akasha/Unrest Vibrations of Love and Hate | 3.5 |
| I haven't heard the Unrest side, but Akasha's brims with that same punk influenced black metal energy that occupied their full-length from earlier this year. |
| Akatharsia No Generation Without Corruption | 3.5 |
| Akatharsia Demo | 4.0 |
| Akitsa Credo | 3.5 |
| Another slice of raw and uncompromising Quebecois black metal from this Canadian duo. |
| Akrotheism Law of Seven Deaths | 3.0 |
| Aksumite Vinegar Perimeter | 2.5 |
| Aksumite Self Interference | 3.0 |
| Aksumite The Gleam of Wetted Lips | 3.5 |
| Aksumite Miserable Mentor | 3.5 |
| Aksumite Tormented By Blessings Abundant | 4.0 |
| Akth Ganaheth From the Cursed Glades | 3.5 |
| Akurazbrukk Demo II | 3.5 |
| Alcest Écailles De Lune | 3.0 |
| This is a low 3.5. Seriously Ecailles De Lune (Pt.1) is mostly the only song I ever listen too. And generally when I do, I'm only doing it for the last two minutes of the song. But holy fuck, it's pretty epic. But yeah, expecting rating drop to 2.5 in (near) future. |
| Alcest Les Voyages De L'Âme | 3.0 |
| Alcest Shelter | 3.0 |
| Alcest Kodama | 3.0 |
| Alcest Spiritual Instinct | 3.0 |
| Alda Alda | 3.0 |
| Alder Deep Chapter 2: Kobolds, Goblins, Cretins, Fiends | 3.0 |
| Alesana On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax | 3.5 |
| Alexisonfire Otherness | 1.5 |
| Alghol From the Caverns... | 3.5 |
| Alioth Channeling Unclean Spirits | 3.5 |
| Alkymist (CAN) Wreckage of the Raging World | 4.0 |
| All That Remains Overcome | 3.0 |
| All That Remains A War You Cannot Win | 3.0 |
| All That Remains This Darkened Heart | 3.5 |
| All That Remains Behind Silence and Solitude | 3.5 |
| All That Remains ...For We Are Many | 4.5 |
| Regaining their senses after the mediocre Overcome, on ...For We Are Many All That Remains not only thankfully reintroduces melodeath back into the fold, but metalcore producer extraordinaire Adam D. also makes the welcome return back as producer. Almost like the jump from This Darkened Heart to The Fall of Ideals, compared to Overcome the band has definitely made large strides of improvement; although still inferior to The Fall of Ideals, ...For We Are many is easily the band's next best effort and the true follow-up to their best album. Once again boosting a perfectly clear production, All That Remains once again seems alive; Labonte has discarded the overly processed, robotic vocal approach of the last album opting for a more organic effort that not only suits him, but the band better overall. "Some of the People, All of the Time" represents not only a great performance by him (where he shows great variety in his screamed vocals and comes up with a great chorus melody) but the rest of the band also once again seems lively. Bringing back a guitar style that more strongly follows The Fall of Ideals aesthetic, Herbert and Martin great some ridiculously heavy guitar lines as well as stirringly melodic ones. Herbert's trademark solo style is more intact here as well, with the solos in songs such as "Faithless" and "The Waiting One" easily holding up amongst his classic solos of old. Hopefully this is a trend that will follow ATR until their next album, where they may regain their titles as kings of modern metalcore. ...For We Are Many has gotten my hopes up, now lets hope they deliver. |
| All That Remains The Fall of Ideals | 5.0 |
| Alle Totmachen! Demo I | 3.0 |
| Alle Totmachen! Demo 2 | 3.0 |
| Alluring Alluring | 3.5 |
| Alruna Relieving the Altar | 3.5 |
| Altar Of Gore Demo | 3.5 |
| Altar Of Gore Obscure & Obscene Gods | 3.5 |
| Altar of Plagues Mammal | 2.0 |
| Altar of Plagues White Tomb | 4.0 |
| Altarage The Approaching Roar | 4.0 |
| Altars (AUS) Ascetic Reflection | 4.0 |
| Alter Bridge Fortress | 2.5 |
| Alter Bridge AB III | 3.0 |
| Alter Bridge One Day Remains | 3.5 |
| Alter Bridge Blackbird | 4.0 |
| Alvvays Alvvays | 4.0 |
| American Violate and Control | 3.5 |
| Amon Amarth Berserker | 1.0 |
| Amon Amarth Surtur Rising | 4.0 |
| Babyss - 5 Classic :Dark Tranquility - Skydancer/Of Chaos and Eternal Light, Dark Tranquility - The Gallery, Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, Keep of Kalessin - Kolossus,Ordo Draconis - Camera Obscura Pt. 1 ,Radiohead - OK Computer, Rhapsody of Fire - Symphony of Enchanted Lands, Septic Flesh - The Ophidian Wheel, Septic Flesh - Mystic Places Of Dawn, Septic Flesh - Esoptron, Septic Flesh - A Fallen Temple, Sonata Arctica - Winterheart's Guild, Sonata Arctica - Reckoning Night |
| An Autumn For Crippled Children Everything | 1.5 |
| An Autumn For Crippled Children As The Morning Dawns We Close Our Eyes | 3.5 |
| An Isolated Mind I'm Losing Myself | 4.0 |
| Atmospheric death metal has always felt like one of those more head cannon-y sub-genres. It's without clear-cut parameters to truly define what it is, and for that reason you have everything from Australian instrument-torturers Portal to Finnish filth-lords Desolate Shrine -two very different sounding projects- performing what could in essence be called atmospheric death metal. It's one of those "you know it when you hear it" types, where the finer details don't matter as much as the finished product. rThe reason I bring all of this up, is another project, the incomparably weird An Isolated Mind, seem to fall within this vague and nebulous extreme metal genre. Exuding a stifling sense of psychedelia and featuring a range of oddities - everything from jazzy saxophone interludes to moments of ambient claustrophobia - I'm Losing Myself does its name justice with its variation without ever becoming too overbearing or experimental for its own good. The balance struck between straightforward and atmospheric, dissonant and melody is incredibly well-executed, offering a multi-faceted approach that begs repeated listens. This is very fucking good, and highly recommended for fans of Cynic, Gorguts, Portal, and anything in-between. r |
| Anaal Nathrakh In the Constellation of the Black Widow | 3.0 |
| Anagnorisis Peripeteia | 3.5 |
| Haven't listened to these guys since Overton Trees, but on a first listen this is really great. The melodic parts are especially impressive and a bit unexpected as times, which for a black metal album is rare these days. I expect my rating to go up in time. |
| Anagnorisis Overton Trees | 4.5 |
| Anal Vomit Demonic Flagellations | 4.0 |
| It's fairly obvious that whoever rated this album 1 only did so based on the bands ridiculous name --yes while Anal Vomit is truly an awful name, the band plays black/death metal so well they deserve to get away with it. |
| Anathema Judgement | 4.5 |
| Ancalagon First Age : Entering Legenda | 2.5 |
| Ancestors (Black Metal) I | 3.5 |
| Ancestors (Black Metal) II | 3.5 |
| Ancestors (Black Metal) In Death | 3.5 |
| Ancestors (Black Metal) III | 4.0 |
| Anchor Recovery | 3.5 |
| Ancient Morass Bog Barrow | 3.5 |
| Ancient Morass / Rosicrucianism Ancient Morass / Rosicrucianism | 3.5 |
| Ancient Relic Demo | 3.5 |
| ANCST Ghosts of the Timeless Void | 3.5 |
| A seamless and energetic combination of black/death/crust that barrels forward so quickly you'll be gasping for air to keep up. |
| ANCST Celestial | 3.5 |
| Andavald Undir Skyggðarhaldi | 4.5 |
| This year for black metal is what last year was for death metal. There is not a day that goes by that I don?t discover something killer. In particular the Icelandic scene. I?ve waxed on about it a lot recently, but it just keeps delivering and at an inhuman pace. My latest discovery is the band Anvald. They definitely have elements of the Reykjavk sound, but instead of the usual blastbeat intensity they slow things down to a crawl, allowing their creepy, dissonant sounds to worm their way into your head and make camp. Highly recommended. |
| Andeis Servants of the Cold Night | 3.5 |
| Andres (USA-CA) Heroes, Villains, and all that Jazz | 3.5 |
| Angelcorpse Exterminate | 3.5 |
| Angelcorpse Hammer of Gods | 4.0 |
| After spending the better part of his youth in the legendary Order From Chaos, in 1995 Peter Helmkamp formed what would become his most recognized project and arguably one of the greatest blackened death metal bands of all time, Angelcorpse. With Helmkamp performing bass and vocals, guitarists Bill Taylor and Gene Palubicki and John Longstreth on drums, the group's first album Hammer of Gods was not the best this band would craft but set them on a path that would see them achieve great heights in years to come. Combining Morbid Angel's unorthodox guitar madness with black metal's unrelenting speed and Helmkamp's clever wordplay, Hammer of Gods put Angelcorpse on the map, securing a place in the annals of hell for this truly blaspheming band. |
| Angelcorpse The Inexorable | 5.0 |
| Anhedonist/Spectral Voice Abject Darkness/Ineffable Winds | 4.0 |
| Animal Collective Feels | 2.5 |
| Ironically, feels is about the only thing this album doesn't give me. |
| Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion | 2.5 |
| Antediluvian Revelations in Excrement | 3.5 |
| Antediluvian λόγος | 3.5 |
| Antediluvian Primeval Cyclical Catastrophism | 3.5 |
| Antediluvian Under Wing of Asael | 4.0 |
| Filthy blackened death metal from Canada; these guys combine the occult atmosphere of band's like Portal with some older school sensibilities to create a truly terrifying album with Under Wing of Asael. |
| Antediluvian Through the Cervix of Hawaah | 4.0 |
| I had the highest hopes for this album and needless to say, it fully delivered |
| Anthrax Return of the Killer A's | 3.0 |
| Anthrax Sound of White Noise | 3.0 |
| Anthrax Spreading the Disease | 3.5 |
| Anthrax Among the Living | 3.5 |
| Anthrax State of Euphoria | 3.5 |
| Anti Toxin Demo | 4.0 |
| Combining elements of punk, hardcore and thrash, Anti Toxin played fast and fun crossover that slays for days. |
| Anti Toxin The Tower | 4.0 |
| Anti-God Hand Wretch | 3.5 |
| Antichrist (Canada) Sacrament of Blood | 3.5 |
| Antiklesis Antiklesis | 4.0 |
| DsO and Ampere influenced screamo. If that doesn't pique your interest, nothing will. |
| Anubi Kai pilnaties akis uzmerks Mirtis | 3.5 |
| Aosoth III - Violence & Variation | 2.5 |
| Apocalypse Command Damnation Scythes of Invincible Abomination | 3.0 |
| Another project spawning from the infamous Angelcorpse legacy, Apocalypse Command is certainly a competent project but does little to expand upon or even improve upon their now slightly worn black/death style, ultimately making DSoIA an enjoyable but predictable listen. |
| Apocalypse Command Abyss Fiend of Darkness | 3.5 |
| Apoptygma Berzerk Welcome To Earth | 4.0 |
| Apostate (FIN) Flight of the Halycon | 3.5 |
| Appalachian Terror Unit Armageddon Won't Be Brought By Gods... | 3.5 |
| APS (FL) Acrimonious Spiritual Provocation | 3.5 |
| Aqualung Magnetic North | 4.0 |
| Arcana Coelestia Le Mirage de L’idéal | 5.0 |
| Arcane Cavern Sorcery of Chaos | 3.5 |
| Arcane Cavern really put the dungeon in dungeon synth. Adopting the pensive droning of dark ambient, Sorcery of Chaos drags out the torture, embellishing long drawn out notes more than than usual DS tinkering. |
| Arch Enemy The Root of All Evil | 2.0 |
| Arch Enemy Doomsday Machine | 2.5 |
| Arch Enemy Rise of the Tyrant | 2.5 |
| Arch Enemy Black Earth | 3.0 |
| Arch Enemy Wages of Sin | 3.5 |
| Arch Enemy War Eternal | 3.5 |
I never understood this irrational contempt aimed at this album; it's easily one of their best
since the Liiva era. It's breaks free from the rinse and repeat formula every album since Wages of
Sin was bound to and dips its toes in the chaos that made the first three AE albums classic. Sure,
there are a few standard tracks, but there's also a palpable energy and excitement that up to this
point, had long since been lost. |
| Arch Enemy Stigmata | 4.0 |
| Arch Enemy Anthems of Rebellion | 4.5 |
| Arch Enemy Burning Japan Live 1999 | 4.5 |
| Arch Enemy Burning Bridges | 5.0 |
| Archaic Malign Omnis Incursio Infernalis Adversarii | 3.5 |
| Archgoat The Light-Devouring Darkness | 3.5 |
| On a first listen this is good if not standard blackened death. As per usual the faster moments are a bit monotonous but the slower sections are groovy and great. |
| Archgoat The Luciferian Crown | 3.5 |
| Architects For Those That Wish to Exist | 2.0 |
| 2 bleghs / 5 |
| Archivist Triumvirate | 3.5 |
| Ares Kingdom Return to Dust | 3.5 |
| Death/thrash from former members of legendary blackened death band Order From Chaos - as expected it's not as good as the fellows past endeavors but it's still pretty good. |
| Arfsynd Arfsynd | 3.5 |
| Arghoslent Hornets of the Pogrom | 4.5 |
| Aria As If Forever Really Exists | 4.0 |
| Ariana Grande Dangerous Woman | 4.5 |
| Ariana Grande Sweetener | 4.5 |
| Ariana Grande Thank U, Next | 5.0 |
| Ariana Grande positions | 5.0 |
| positions is Ariana's most understated and least immediate release yet. The sparsity in arrangement feels like a natural progression from thank u, next and much like that album, positions pits Ari's surprising existential awareness against more common pop topics. This will take you a few listens, but it is ultimately one of her most rewarding records. |
| Arizmenda Beneath This Reality of Flesh | 4.0 |
| I've never had more mixed emotions about how to feel about an album. I want to love it so much because it's Arizmenda, and there are certainly some fantastic moments, but it seems like something is missing. |
| Arizmenda Despairs Depths Descended | 4.0 |
| Arizmenda Within the Vacuum of Infinity... | 5.0 |
| Arizmenda Without Circumference Nor Center | 5.0 |
| Stylistically very similar to Within the Vacuum of Infinity, Without Circumference Nor Center continues to follow Arizmenda in creating disturbingly dark atmospheric black metal. With the shortest song clocking in at a lengthy seven minutes, the highly engaging sonic beating the band delivers definitely justifies such long pieces; from the amount of riffs, to the tempo changes, to even the ever so subtle psychedelic influences, the band?s unwavering technique ensnares your attention, only releasing its grip in the albums dying moments. While structurally dissonance is the very foundation the album was built upon, it?s the melody that really separates Arzimenda from their peers with guitarist Juan Cabello imbuing fierce tremolo picked lines with haunting melodies and absolutely thriving during the albums cleaner sections.rHonestly, this is an album with an infinite amount of admirable qualities, but for the sake of this not turning into a full review and giving you the chance to read the other albums I have on the list I?ll just close with this statement: Without Circumference Nor Center is definitely a challenging listen, but you?ll find that if you give it the time it deserves, the feeling once finishing it is immensely gratifying and fulfilling hence why it deserves not only the accolades it has received here, but almost everywhere else on the internet.r |
| Arizmenda Stillbirth in the Temple of Venus | 5.0 |
| Arizmenda's third full-length is undoubtedly the Southern California's strongest collection of songs as of yet. While the previous two releases seemed to be the product of free-flowing jam sessions, the songwriting here proves to be decidedly deliberate, providing more consciously structured pieces. As a result, the songs while more streamlined, are also more memorable. The band hasn't abandoned their now signature brand of discordance, but this time around there is also palpable sense of melody embedded within the tracks. This easily could have been a misstep considering the raw nature of the band, but they incorporate this new element into their patented sound seamlessly, simultaneously staying true to their roots, while treading new ground. Overall, this is an excellent release and recommended for fans of raw, atmospheric black metal. |
| Arizmenda Spiders Lust in the Dungeon's Dust | 5.0 |
| Arkhtinn VI | 3.5 |
| Arkhtinn 最初の災害 | 4.0 |
| Arktika Symmetry | 3.5 |
| Arktika's second full-length is hit or miss - while some melodies really break through, there are times where this becomes a bit stale and lifeless. However, it is definitely more good than bad and the second half is inarguably solid. |
| Arma Angelus Where Sleeplessness is Rest From Nightmares | 3.5 |
| Armored Saint Symbol of Salvation | 3.5 |
| Arms Like Yours .Architect. | 3.5 |
| Army Of The Pharaohs Ritual Of Battle | 3.5 |
| Arnaut Pavle Arnaut Pavle (Demo) | 4.0 |
| Riffy riffy black metally goodnessy |
| Arnaut Pavle Arnaut Pavle | 4.0 |
| Arnor All Eyes to the Frontline | 3.5 |
| Ars Magna Umbrae Lunar Ascension | 3.5 |
| Arsis Visitant | 1.5 |
| Arthedain Infernal Cadence of the Desolate | 3.5 |
| Artifex Pereo Passengers | 3.5 |
| Artificial Brain Artificial Brain | 4.0 |
| ARTS Thousand Wounds Of War | 4.0 |
| As a remaster of the band?s eponymous 2005 demo, Thousand Wounds of War may sonically be the best sounding Arts? record, but the songwriting is a step back from the blackened punk ingenuity of Vault of Heaven. That being said, Thousand Wounds of War is still a great release with its stumbling black metal and punk writing having a bit of an inexperienced charm to it. Arts would go on to do better things, but this is a great start. |
| ARTS Graveside Summoning | 4.0 |
| Following a seemingly eternal seven year hibernation, Graveside Summoning is a continuation of Arts' highbrow raw black metal/punk machinations that ply the line between crudity and meticulousness. |
| ARTS Vault of Heaven | 5.0 |
| Modern raw black metal done right. Apocalyptic, misanthropic, this shit is about as true as it gets. |
| Aryan Rogue Reinrassig | 3.0 |
| As I Lay Dying Frail Words Collapse | 2.0 |
| As I Lay Dying Shadows Are Security | 3.0 |
| As I Lay Dying Awakened | 3.0 |
| As I Lay Dying Shaped by Fire | 3.0 |
| As I Lay Dying An Ocean Between Us | 4.0 |
| As I Lay Dying The Powerless Rise | 4.0 |
| Asagraum Dawn of Infinite Fire | 3.0 |
| Asagraum Potestas Magicum Diaboli | 3.5 |
| Ascended Dead Abhorrent Manifestation | 3.5 |
| Ascended Dead / Evil Priest Nexus of the Black Flame / Revealing My Obscurity | 4.0 |
| Ascension Under Ether | 3.0 |
| Aseitas False Peace | 4.0 |
| Ash Borer Tour Rehearsal Demo | 4.0 |
| Ash Borer 2009 Demo | 5.0 |
| Ash Borer Ash Borer | 5.0 |
| Ash Borer and Fell Voices Split | 4.5 |
| Ashdautas Shadow Plays of Grief and Pain | 3.5 |
| Ashdautas Where the Sun is Silent... | 4.0 |
| Ashen Chalice Ritual Under the Blackened Moon | 3.0 |
| Ashen Chalice Spells Of Eternal Sleep Guide Us Towards The Cask | 3.5 |
| Ashen Chalice Wounds of Obliterated Souls | 3.5 |
| Ashen Chalice Kada Postanemo Pepeo, Kada Prihvatimo Smrt | 3.5 |
| Ashen Chalice Gdje sva srca gore | 3.5 |
| Ashen Chalice/La Torture des ténèbres Ashen Chalice / La Torture des ténèbres | 3.5 |
| Asking Alexandria From Death to Destiny | 3.0 |
| Asking Alexandria The Black | 3.0 |
| Asking Alexandria Stand Up and Scream | 4.5 |
| Asmodee (FRA-Pays de la Loire) Aequilanx | 3.0 |
| Aspbergers/1984 Split | 3.5 |
| Aspergillum Aspergillum | 3.5 |
| Asphyx The Rack | 3.0 |
| Asphyx Deathhammer | 3.0 |
| Aspyhx's Deathhammer is a good album but it's also a slight disappointment considering the high caliber work of the bands past. |
| Asphyxia (IRL) Conflagration | 3.5 |
| Aspid Extravasation | 4.0 |
| Assault (JPN) Assault Demo | 3.5 |
| An amazing gem from the Japanese hardcore scene. Crossover influenced hardcore with an extra metal edge, Assault skillfully cross speedy hardcore with breakneck thrash influenced guitars and traditional Japanese style hardcore vocals. While this already makes for a great album, Assault don't stop there; adding elements of emo to the formula, the Assault demo carries a certain sense of melody and dynamics that is sure to captivate all who listen. |
| Assorted Heap Mindwaves | 4.0 |
| Mindwaves by Assorted Heap is quite the thrash album; beefing up their sound to incorporate more elements from the then newly found death metal scene, Assorted Heap played a form of highly technical death/thrash that really emphasized the latter. Great riffs, great drumming, songs like "Mindwaves" display the band at their heaviest while tracks like "Holy Ground" reveal the band's keen sense of melody, an often hidden element that does wonders when revealed. Overall, Mindwaves is an incredibly solid piece of extreme metal, a must have for all fans. |
| Assumption Hadean Tides | 4.0 |
| There's death/doom that is dark and cavernous like Incantation and then there's death/doom that is melancholic and wistful like early Anathema; Italy's Assumption plies the line between both of these sounds. The music is chasmal, but never enough to feel impenetrable and though there are smatterings of guitar harmonies, they don't commit fully to the romanticized death/doom of the Peaceville Three. Assumption exists somewhere in between, and are the better for it, bridging together two different iterations of the genre with the best elements of both. |
| Astronoid Astronoid | 2.5 |
| Asunojokei Island | 4.0 |
| At Dusk / Sacerdos At Dusk / Sacerdos | 4.0 |
| At the Gates At War with Reality | 3.0 |
| At the Gates To Drink from the Night Itself | 3.0 |
| At the Gates The Nightmare of Being | 3.5 |
| At the Gates The Red in the Sky Is Ours | 4.0 |
| At the Gates Slaughter of the Soul | 4.5 |
| At the Gates With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness | 4.5 |
| At the Gates Terminal Spirit Disease | 4.5 |
| Ataraxy Where All Hope Fades | 4.0 |
| Ataraxy The Last Mirror | 4.0 |
| Atrae Bilis Apexapien | 3.5 |
| Atreyu The Curse | 2.5 |
| Atreyu Congregation of the Damned | 2.5 |
| Atreyu Lead Sails Paper Anchor | 3.0 |
| Atreyu Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses | 3.5 |
| Atreyu Fractures in the Facade of your Porcelain Beauty | 3.5 |
| Atreyu Visions | 3.5 |
| Atreyu A Death-Grip on Yesterday | 3.5 |
| Atriarch Forever the End | 2.0 |
| this ish is zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz |
| Attack Attack! Attack Attack! | 3.0 |
| Attack Attack! This Means War | 3.0 |
| Attack Attack! Attack Attack! (Deluxe Reissue) | 3.5 |
| Attack Attack! Long Time, No Sea | 3.5 |
| Attack Attack! have always been a band that causes people to react in this weird, visceral way, but this is not as bad as most people would have you believe. At worst, it is average, modern metalcore with a propensity for decent pop hooks, and at best we are treated to songs that bridge breakdowns and big choruses to great effect. "Dear Wendy" rules. |
| Attack Attack! Someday Came Suddenly | 5.0 |
| Attrition (CANADA) Vengeance | 4.0 |
| Aucun Demo I | 4.0 |
| August Burns Red Constellations | 2.0 |
| August Burns Red Leveler | 2.0 |
| Auld Ridge Ascetic Invocation | 3.0 |
| AUM Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum | 3.5 |
| Aurum Nephilim Genus Ab Inferno | 3.5 |
| Auspicium Death Will Claim Us All | 2.0 |
| Auspicium Here Is No Heaven | 3.5 |
| Autokrator Hammer Of The Heretics | 4.0 |
| Automobile, Swift Enemy, Enemy | 3.0 |
| Autophagy Demo | 3.5 |
| Autopsy The Headless Ritual | 3.5 |
| In tribute to Sodom, the original OSDM band. |
| Avenged Sevenfold Sounding the Seventh Trumpet | 2.5 |
| Avenged Sevenfold Diamonds in the Rough | 3.0 |
| Avenged Sevenfold Nightmare | 3.5 |
| Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold | 4.0 |
| Avenged Sevenfold City of Evil | 4.5 |
| Avenged Sevenfold Waking the Fallen | 5.0 |
| Avenger Shadows of the Damned | 4.5 |
| Aves Aves | 4.0 |
| An instrumental post-rock/punk band with black metal influences, Aves first rarely delves deep into the latter genre, leaving way for wondrous jangly guitar riffs, feel good basslines and programmed drumming actually that doesn't take an ounce out of the record's overall enjoyability. There is some truly beautiful work to be had on this. |
| Avslut Deceptis | 3.0 |
| I've only got one meager listen in, but I would expect to like this more as time goes on. This very much draws on the more mystical and malevolent side of black metal. It also has a surprising amount of low-end, but it doesn't slow down or trip up their blackened leanings. Not bad. |
| Avulsed Eminence in Putresence | 3.5 |
| Avzhia The Key of Throne | 3.5 |
| Awenden Golden Hour | 4.0 |
| Axeman Arrive | 3.5 |
| Axis of Advance The List | 4.0 |
| Axis of Advance Obey | 4.0 |
| Axis of Advance Purify | 4.0 |
| Axis of Advance Strike | 5.0 |
| Axis of Despair Contempt for Man | 3.5 |
| Axis of Light By the Hands of the Consuming Fire | 4.0 |
| Combining epic, sweeping raw black metal with hardcore undertones, Axis of Light's debut album By The Hands of Consuming Fire is a very powerful 2012 release |
| Axis of Light Axis of Light | 4.5 |
Axis of Light are an incredibly consistent and reliable band. For 8 years now they have been
conjuring melodic yet warped raw black metal that is beautiful but often obscured by the lo-
fidelity of their production. Their first full-length doesn't change that formula much, but
refines it; the riffs are more triumphant, and the production while still grating and
appropriately "under" is a just a touch clearer. It lacks the pretenses of more cerebral, heady
black metal to focus on the basics and in the end succeeds in its efforts as a simplistic,
straightforward black metal banger. |
| Axis Of Light/Death Fortress Split | 3.5 |
| Aylwin The Arch Holder | 3.5 |
| Ayyur The Lunatic Creature | 3.5 |
| Azarath Saint Desecration | 3.0 |
| In 2011 Azarath released their best album, Blasphemers' Maledictions and set the bar incredibly high for future releases; a standard they have unfortunately yet to reach again. Follow-up In Extremis was a good albeit unimpressive record and Saint Desecration follows suit. There is nothing inherently wrong here, but it's nothing that hasn't been peddled ad nauseam by countless blackened death metal acts prior. New vocalist Skullripper does an admirable job picking up where Necrosodom left off and as result is easily the best thing about this record; his guttural incantations have power and presence. However unlike his predecessor, a strong vocal performance is where his meaningful contributions end. In the end though, he is the the most minor offender here, with the other members of the band - all of whom have been in the group for many years - unable to pick up the slack Necrosodom left in his wake. They have settled in a groove well below what we know they are capable of. At the end of the day, this is barely serviceable record performed by musicians who have done much better. |
| Azarath In Extremis | 3.5 |
| Azarath Diabolic Impious Evil | 4.5 |
| Chaotic and brutal Immolation inspired death metal from these amazing Polish blasphemers. |
| Azarath Blasphemers' Maledictions | 5.0 |
| After a few weeks of thorough and intense listening, Azarath's Blasphemer's Malediction has so far definitely has earned the top stop in my top albums of the year without a second thought or question. In a super aggressive blackened death metal style somewhat comparable to a band like Weapon, Azarath (who have been around since 1998) have really created a special album with Blasphemer's Malediction. With a certain emphasis definitely placed on the more deathy side of Azarath's playing, Blasphemer's Malediction is a goldmine of crushing headbang inducing riffery. There still is some pretty obvious black metal vibes though with a lot of melancholy-filled atmospheric chord formations and tremolo picked sections. Despite all positive aspects of the guitar's rhythm side, where guitarist BartBomiej "Bart" Szudek (ex-Cenotaph) really shines is in his lead playing; going for both intense shred licks ("Supreme Reign of Tiamat") and even some melodic, more atmospheric formations ("Under the Will of the Lord") his playing is both diverse, tasteful and a huge element to what makes this album enjoyable.rThe vocals (courtesy of also bassist/singer Necrosodom) are harsh and phglemy, taking a middle stance inbetween black metal's screeches and death metal's gutturals. Drummer Inferno (of Behemoth) is pretty incredible, pulling of some truly speedy and militant blast beats while also slowing it up nicely at times to complement the more atmospheric sections ("The Abjection"). Overall this album just fucking rapes faces and is highly recommended. |
| Azath Demo 2018 | 4.0 |
| Azelisassath Evil Manifestations Against Mankind | 3.5 |
| Azelisassath Past Times of Eternal Downfall | 3.5 |
| Azoic Gateways | 4.0 |
| Labyrinth like blackened death metal that takes cues from Ulcerate and Deathspell Omega. Frightening atmospheric and disappointingly underrated. |
| Azothyst Blood of Dead God | 4.0 |
Featuring members of Adversarial, Sortilegia, and Antediluvian, Azothyst is yet another excellent blackened
death metal export from Canada. Reveling in a dissonant splendor, the band offers an amalgam of off-kilter
riffage and odd, atmospheric chord phrases jettisoned forward by percussion that bounces back between typical
blasting and more punctuated tribal beats. The relative brevity of the release (it?s only 20 mins long) means
there?s no room for unnecessary fuckery, just riffs, riffs, and you guessed it, more riffs. 3.8/5.r |
| Azriel A Will Of Fire | 3.0 |
| slaps |
| Bacchus Bacchus | 4.0 |
| Backyard Mortuary Lure of the Occult | 5.0 |
| Another band in the OSDM revivalist movement, Backyard Mortuary play super thick death metal with hints of doom and blackened death metal. This shit is fucking stellar and my favorite death metal album this year. |
| Bad Dream Demonstration | 4.0 |
| Bad Meets Evil Hell: The Sequel | 4.0 |
| Although I'm not really much of a rap fan, Bad Meets Evil is an album that I'm attracted to a lot of the time because of it's sheer intensity; while "intensity" may see like a strange word to use, there is an aggression here that really transcends music and is I think the reason as to why I enjoy the album so much. |
| Bad Omens The Death of Peace of Mind | 4.0 |
| Bael Deathly Pale | 3.5 |
| Bagg Tussa баґґтусса | 3.0 |
| Balmog Vacvvm | 3.5 |
| Balrog [FRA] The Shadow and the Flame | 3.5 |
| Bane (Srb) Chaos, Darkness & Emptiness | 3.0 |
| Banished Deliver Me Unto Pain | 4.0 |
| The more I listen to this the more it grows on me - great old school styled death metal with flourishes of the classic New York slamming. Definitely a great and overlooked album and definitely something that grows on you. |
| Baphomet (NY) The Dead Shall Inherit | 4.0 |
| Baptists Baptists | 3.5 |
| Baptists Bushcraft | 3.5 |
| Baring Teeth Atrophy | 4.0 |
| A great combination of technical prowess and atmosphere. |
| Barus Drowned | 3.5 |
| Basalte Vertige | 4.0 |
| Basic Dungeon Tunnels & Treasures | 2.5 |
| Fitting squarely into video game soundtrack dungeon synth, the aim of Tunnels & Treasures is nostalgia, but it falls just short of the mark. |
| Basilisk A Joyless March Through The Cold-Lands | 2.5 |
| Basmu Black Sorcery From Within Arcane Caverns | 3.5 |
| Basmu VVitchblood | 3.5 |
| Basmu Infernal Circles of the Sabbat | 4.0 |
| Basmu Enshrined In Eternity | 4.0 |
| Bastard Priest Merciless Insane Death | 3.5 |
| Batilda January 2014 | 3.5 |
| Battlemaster Warthirsting & Winterbound | 4.0 |
| Blackened death metal with an emphasis on technical instrumentation, Battlemaster may come off as a bit cheesy at times, but at the end of the day these guys are a tight unit with some good songs. |
| Batushka Hospodi | 1.0 |
| Batushka Panihida | 3.5 |
| Batushka Litourgiya | 4.0 |
| Baume Les Années Décapitées | 3.5 |
| Be'lakor Of Breath and Bone | 2.0 |
| Bea5t Empathy Is a Gift | 4.0 |
| Beach Pneumatic Beach Pneumatic | 4.0 |
| Beats Antique Collide | 4.0 |
| yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. |
| Bedsore Hypnagogic Hallucinations | 3.5 |
| Bedsore / Mortal Incarnation Split | 4.5 |
| Before Their Eyes Untouchable | 1.0 |
| Before Their Eyes The Dawn of My Death | 2.0 |
| Before Their Eyes Before Their Eyes | 3.5 |
| Although not an overtly distinctive band, Before Their Eyes' first album is nonetheless a very enjoyable modern post-hardcore release; the vocals may be a bit iffy at times (mostly the screams) but overall the band can write a good hook and does have some pretty interesting guitar-work. Nothing too spectacular, Before Their Eyes is a fun listen and easily the band's best work. |
| Begrime Exemious Impending Funeral of Man | 4.0 |
| Behead Choose Your Death | 4.0 |
| Beheaded Perpetual Mockery | 4.0 |
| Although generally only labelled as "brutal death metal" Beheaded on Perpetual Mockery are actually so much more than then that; incorporating a whopping amount of technical prowess into what is more aggressive than average death metal, Beheaded succeeds in being both unrelentingly heavy and appropriately melodic. Definitely a great start to what would prove to be a fruitful career. |
| Beheat Gorum de Mentheurd Beheat Gorum de Mentheurd | 3.5 |
| Beheat Gorum de Mentheurd Portraits | 4.5 |
| Beheat Gorum de Mentheurd/Downward Beheat Gorum de Mentheurd vs. Downward | 3.5 |
| One experimental black metal artist meets a dungeon synth artist to create a surprisingly cohesive piece of music |
| Behemoth I Loved You at Your Darkest | 4.0 |
| I Loved You At Your Darkness sees Behemoth stripping their sound down to the bare essentials, creating their most atmospheric and melodic effort to date, as well as their most "black metal" album in 20 years. There is definitely something compelling about the more streamlined sound, but at times it feels TOO bare and some of the ideas are certainly ones anyone who has been listening to black metal for more than a day have heard before. That being said, this is still a very enjoyable record and I can see it growing with repeated listens. These back-to-basics records can usually go either way, but this one definitely falls in favor of Behemoth. |
| Behezael DEMO MMXX | 3.5 |
| Bekor Qilish Throes of Death From The Dreamed Nihilism | 3.5 |
| Belial Never Again | 3.0 |
| Belial 3 | 3.0 |
| Belketre Ambre Zuèrkl Vuorhdrévarvtre | 4.0 |
| Beltez Exiled, Punished...Rejected | 3.5 |
| Belus Apophina | 3.0 |
| Boring USBM that aims for density but only achieves aimlessness. |
| Benighted In Sodom Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night | 3.5 |
| Bent Spear Escalation | 3.5 |
| Benthik Zone Via Cosmicam ad Europam ab Gelid Inferis | 3.0 |
| Bergtatt Labyrinthine Subterranean Passages | 4.0 |
| Bergwacht/Seelenlandschaft Waldpfad | 3.0 |
| Bestial Warlust Vengeance War Til Death | 4.5 |
| Bestial Warlust Blood & Valour | 4.5 |
| Between the Buried and Me The Great Misdirect | 2.0 |
| Beyond Mortal Dreams Abomination of the Flames | 4.0 |
| Bhang Khang 2011 Demo | 4.0 |
| Bilmuri Wet Milk | 3.5 |
| Bilmuri Banana | 4.0 |
| Bilmuri Eggy Pocket | 4.5 |
| Birkabein Land der ewigen Nacht | 3.5 |
| The sole demo from members of Old Pagan and Grausamkeit, Land Der Ewigen Nacht is a low-fi atmospheric black metal gem. Packed with raw and hateful guitars mixed with majestic keyboard embellishments this demo will make you wish the project stayed together. |
| Birthplace Ameliorate | 4.0 |
| Black Beasts II | 3.5 |
| Black Breath Sentenced To Life | 4.0 |
| Dark and sinister hardcore with touches of Swedish death metal and crust. All around awesome |
| Black Cilice Transfixion of Spirits | 4.0 |
| Black Curse Endless Wound | 4.0 |
| Black Earth (ESP) Diagrams of a Hidden Order | 3.5 |
| Black Everest/Captain, Your Ship is Sinking Split | 4.0 |
| Black Freighter Graves And Monuments | 4.0 |
| Holy shit, how was this not heard before? Fucking AMAZING blackened sludge. Tons of great riffs, great vocals and most importantly great fucking songs, Graves and Monuments is a hidden gem of 2010 that definitely deserves an unearthing. |
| Black Kirin Nanking Massacre | 3.5 |
| Despite its penchant for attracting basement-dwelling purists who preach genre rigidity, extreme metal has always thrived on the invitation of varying cultural elements to expand and broaden it's borders. Melding melodic death metal with their homegrown Chinese operatic and folk influences, Black Kirin has created an album that is identifiably melodeath while also celebrating their colorful heritage. |
| Black Magick SS Kaleidoscope Dreams | 3.5 |
| Black Mass (UK) Of First and Last Things | 4.0 |
| Black Reaper (CHN) Celestial Descension | 3.0 |
| Dissection worship to the t(remolo). Some tracks extend to be a bit long, and when stretched too far you can start to see the cracks in their songwriting, but overall this is very competent. It's missing that undefinable aura that made Dissection a household name, yet it would still manage to scratch and satisfy someone with the Nodtveidt itch. |
| Black Spirit In a Vortex to the Infinite Night | 3.5 |
| Black Spirit Behind the Light That Fades | 3.5 |
| Black Swan (USA-NY) Evolution | 4.0 |
| Black Swan (USA-NY) Black Swan (In 8 Movements) | 5.0 |
| Easily the best ambient album from last year, Black Swan is a literal descent into hell; majestic, orchestrated themes may open this monolithic album but as each track passes, an anxious dissonance takes hold, it's grip getting ever tighter with each passing movement. No, Black Swan doesn't have a happy ending; as "Pt. VII"'s deceivingly joyous melodies fade into a noisy stupor, the claustrophobia of "Pt. VIII" drags us into the pit once again. Harrowing, immersible and all so impressive Black Swan is an extremely personal record that creates different experience for each listener, one that surely won't be forgotten anytime soon. |
| Black Swan (USA-NY) The Quiet Divide | 5.0 |
| Much thanks to sources who I will not name here, I have luckily gotten to listen to the follow-up of one of my favorite ambient album ever and let me tell you, I'm not disappointed in the least; following where the last years s/t left off, The Quiet Divide is the album that all of us Black Swan fans were waiting for. Like Black Swan (In 8 Movements), The Quiet Divide's first (and title-track) The Quiet Divide is an example of pure orchestral based ambient bliss, once again conjuring melodies and harmonies that will hit you at your core. A reminder that Black Swan isn't all just about beautiful atmospheric landscapes, tracks like "Chaos Reigns" and "The Bleeding Heats Alliance (Phase 3)" recall the cold, noise filled drones of the previous album with an even darker edge. Overall, The Quiet Divide proves to be an effort that is more than worthy to follow Black Swan's amazing debut; taking the formula of old and intensifying it tenfold, The Quiet Divide is an improved version of an already impressive formula that will sweep you off your feet. |
| Black Tide Light From Above | 3.5 |
| Unless you're Helloween and you've just released Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. 1, playing the bastard child of power metal and thrash, speed metal has never really been the "cool" thing to do. Kind of makes you wonder what the teenage comprised Black Tide were (or weren't) thinking when they recorded Light From Above, a below par, mainstream marketed, speed metal album with tons of hair metal influence to boot. "Warrior of Time" slays and quartet shows technical promise, (especially singer/guitarist Gabriel Garcia pre-puberty) but when it come to songwriting, it's obvious these Miami natives still have a lot of growing up to do. |
| Blackbraid Blackbraid I | 3.0 |
| Blackstar Barbed Wire Soul | 3.5 |
| Taking off from where Swansong left off, Barbed Wire Soul is a completely successful venture into "death'n'roll" . |
| Blasphemous Degradation Sulphuric Alchemy | 3.5 |
| Blasphemy Fallen Angel of Doom | 3.5 |
| Bleachers Strange Desire | 3.5 |
| Bleeding Through Declaration | 3.5 |
| Bleeding Through The Truth | 4.0 |
| Bleeding Through Dust to Ashes | 4.0 |
| Bleeding Through Love Will Kill All | 4.0 |
Am I crazy in thinking this may be one of Bleeding Through's best efforts? It's
been six year since their supposed-to-be finale The Great Fire, and ironically
enough if there was ever a fire burning, Love Will Kill All sees it at its
brightest. Symphonic elegance supplements brutal hardcore breakdowns, bloody screeches
lead into melodious choruses, and man, if some of Brandan's best one-liners are not on
this records. This isn't just an excellent return to form, it's one of Bleeding Through's
strongest efforts in general. |
| Blessthefall His Last Walk | 3.5 |
| blink-182 Cheshire Cat | 3.0 |
| blink-182 Buddha | 3.5 |
| blink-182 Nine | 3.5 |
| I want to hate Nine, but it's honestly very difficult; as an album that battles between rclassic blink-isms and the the post-Neighborhoods uber-pop they've pursuing since Tom's rdeparture and California was released in 2016, there are moments strewn throughout that rremind me why I love this band's back catalog, but possibly even more that just make me scratch rmy head. I suppose I will take that as a win however, not outright hating a new blink-182 in 2019. |
| blink-182 The Mark, Tom and Travis Show | 4.0 |
| blink-182 Neighborhoods | 4.0 |
| blink-182 Take Off Your Pants And Jacket | 4.5 |
| blink-182 Dude Ranch | 4.5 |
| blink-182 Enema Of The State | 4.5 |
| blink-182 Blink-182 | 5.0 |
| Blitzgeist Black Visions in the Moonlit Night | 3.0 |
| Blitzgeist Ritual Magic | 3.5 |
| Blizzard (AR) Hateful Hymns of an Endless Winter | 3.0 |
| Blood Chalice Sepulchral Chants of Self-Destruction | 3.5 |
| Blood Fortress Our Vvampyric Mother Bounded to the Earth | 4.0 |
| Blood Incantation Timewave Zero | 2.5 |
| Blood Incantation Starspawn | 4.5 |
| Well, this is really good. |
| Blood Revolt Indoctrine | 4.0 |
| Blood Spore Fungal Warfare Upon All Life | 3.5 |
| Bloodsoaked Necrovoid Demo I | 3.5 |
| Bloody Keep Cup of Blood in the Top of the Tower | 4.0 |
| Bloody Keep Bloody Horror | 4.0 |
| Bloody Keep Bloody Keep | 4.0 |
| Blue Hummingbird On The Left Bloodflower | 3.5 |
| One of the Black Twilight Circle's newest acquisitions, Blue Hummingbird onn the Left forsakes the often atmospheric playing of their fellow inductees, playing a rawer form of black metal with crust and thrash influences. With lyrical themes centered upon Mexican Nationalism and Huitzilopochtli War Culture, Blue Hummingbird on the Left is certainly a fun, quick listen to energetic raw black metal. Oh and did I mention the flute playing? |
| Blue Hummingbird On The Left Atl Tlachinolli | 3.5 |
| A great album, but still a bit disappointing. They overuse the echo effect on the vocals, making them feel more comical than warlike. Musically, they excel at crafting compelling black/death metal when compared to their peers, but it pales in comparison to their own earlier work. I know I'm being picky, and overall this is a solid effort, but I've come to expect more from Volahn and the BTC at this point. |
| Bluetile Lounge Lowercase | 4.5 |
| I must say my first experience with slowcore has been a pleasant one thanks to Bluetile Lounge; Lowercase easily deserves its title as a quintessential album for the genre. Slow, minimalistic compositions that still manage to carry a whopping amount of emotion, Lowercase is a phenomenal album that is recommended to anyone. |
| Bluetile Lounge Half-Cut | 4.5 |
| Blurr Thrower Les Avatars du Vide | 3.5 |
| Blut Aus Nord 777 - Sect(s) | 4.0 |
| The Paracletus of 2011. Don't get me wrong, this is in no way a carbon copy of DsO's last album; 777 is black metal at its most haunting, combining eerie atmospheres with labyrinths of dissonant riffage and somber melodies to create a nightmarish album of epic proportions. Unorthodox in about every way possible, 777 doesn't make sense at all, but it's the album's unpredictability along with its genius crafting that will make it one of the better black metal albums of this year. |
| Blut Aus Nord Hallucinogen | 4.0 |
| Blut Aus Nord Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses | 4.5 |
| More Lovecraftian than any other album ever described as such. Listening to this record feels like floating adrift in the ocean, mired in fog and surrounded by the sounds of leviathanic terrors hidden in the mist. |
| Body Void Ruins | 3.5 |
| Bog Body Through the Burial Bog | 3.5 |
| Bog Body Cryonic Crevasse Cult | 3.5 |
| Bolt Thrower Realm of Chaos | 3.5 |
| Bone Awl Magnetism of War [Demo] | 3.5 |
| Though far from their best material, Magnetism of War will always be significant for introducing the world to the Bone Awl and their primordial brew of black metal and punk. This demo is raw even for Bone Awl's standards but provides a solid foundation for what was to come. |
| Bone Awl Meaningless Leaning Mess | 4.0 |
| Bone Awl An Obelisk Marks the Line | 4.0 |
| Arriving a whole 13 years after their debut record, An Obelisk Marks the Line is the second full-length album from blackened punk pioneers Bone Awl, and a piece well worth the wait. While the enigmatic duo have steadily been releasing material of great quality in the form of EPs, splits, and demos throughout the years since Meaningless Leaning Mess there's an obvious uptick in the caliber music here, fitting for a collection of songs that now comprises their second full-length album. Of course, being Bone Awl, one shouldn't expect a giant stylistic shift away from the black metal and punk hybrid they've been peddling for the better part of twenty years now, but when it comes to this style of music, nobody does it better, a point that An Obelisk Marks the Line drives home time and time again throughout the span of its half an hour runtime. |
| Book Of Sand The Face Of The Deep | 1.5 |
| Book Of Sand Occult Anarchist Propaganda | 3.5 |
| Bookakee Ignominies | 3.5 |
| Melodic tech death with some very progressive elements and zany vocals |
| Borda's Rope Across the Black Deltaruin | 3.5 |
| Boreal The Battle of Vosad (2020) | 4.0 |
| Boreal Decay Paranoia Ensues Within the Dark Yukon Wilderness | 3.5 |
| Boreal Decay Dommagedda | 3.5 |
| Borknagar Epic | 3.5 |
| Born of Osiris The Discovery | 2.0 |
| Like a bad Meshuggah album with b-side Children of Bodom keyboard sections. |
| Bosse-de-Nage Further Still | 3.5 |
| Bosse-de-Nage All Fours | 4.0 |
| Botanist Ecosystem | 3.5 |
| Botanist VI: Flora | 4.0 |
| Bound Bible Demo II | 3.0 |
| Bound Bible is another Colloquial Sound Recordings project by Damian Masters. Like their previous effort, Demo 2 is very much standard USBM that doesn't really take any risks but is well executed. It's unlikely to compel you to keep coming back, but it's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, it just lacks, well, imagination. |
| Bovary Mes Racines dans le Désert | 3.0 |
| Boys of Fall Thank You and Goodbye | 4.0 |
| Brand of Sacrifice Interstice | 4.5 |
| Brand of Sacrifice God Hand | 4.5 |
| Brand of Sacrifice Lifeblood | 4.5 |
| Breaking Benjamin Ember | 3.0 |
| Everyone is sounding off on how each BB album sounds the same. Just like they sounded off on the rlast album. And the album before that. See? Coming up with original content is harder than you rthink! |
| Breaking Benjamin Aurora | 3.0 |
| Breaking Benjamin So Cold | 3.5 |
| Breaking Benjamin Dark Before Dawn | 3.5 |
| Breaking Benjamin Dear Agony | 4.5 |
| Breaking Benjamin Saturate | 5.0 |
| Breaking Benjamin We Are Not Alone | 5.0 |
| Breaking Benjamin Phobia | 5.0 |
| Brides Of Destruction Here Come The Brides | 4.5 |
| Bring Me the Horizon That's the Spirit | 2.5 |
| That is NOT the spirit, I am TheSpirit |
| Bring Me the Horizon Amo | 2.5 |
| most of the these sound-offs are worse than the album art tbqh |
| Bring Me the Horizon Suicide Season | 3.0 |
| Bring Me the Horizon Sempiternal | 3.0 |
| Bring Me the Horizon Post Human: Survival Horror | 3.0 |
| Bring Me the Horizon This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For | 3.5 |
| Bring Me the Horizon Count Your Blessings | 4.0 |
| Bring Me the Horizon There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It... | 4.0 |
| Broadway Kingdoms | 3.5 |
| Brutality Screams of Anguish | 4.0 |
| Brutally Deceased Satanic Corpse | 4.5 |
| Buckethead Needle In A Slunk Stack | 2.0 |
| Buckethead Island of Lost Minds | 2.5 |
| Buckethead Captain Eo's Voyage | 2.5 |
| Buckethead Enter the Chicken | 3.0 |
| Buckethead Somewhere Over the Slaughterhouse | 3.0 |
| Buckethead Kevin's Noodle House | 3.0 |
| Buckethead Cyborg Slunks | 3.0 |
| Buckethead Enter The Chicken (Reissue) | 3.0 |
| Buckethead Slaughterhouse on the Prairie | 3.0 |
| Buckethead Forensic Follies | 3.0 |
| Buckethead Bucketheadland | 3.5 |
| Buckethead Kaleidoscalp | 3.5 |
| Buckethead Bermuda Triangle | 3.5 |
| Buckethead Crime Slunk Scene | 3.5 |
| Buckethead Monsters & Robots | 3.5 |
| Buckethead Day of the Robot | 3.5 |
| Buckethead Funnel Weaver | 3.5 |
| Buckethead A Real Diamond In The Rough | 3.5 |
| Buckethead Albino Slug | 3.5 |
| Buckethead The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell | 4.0 |
| Buckethead Giant Robot | 4.0 |
| Buckethead Inbred Mountain | 4.0 |
| Buckethead The Elephant Man's Alarm Clock | 4.0 |
| Buckethead Pepper's Ghost | 4.0 |
| Buckethead Bucketheadland 2 | 4.0 |
| Buckethead Chicken Noodles | 4.0 |
| Buckethead Chicken Noodles II | 4.0 |
| Buckethead Decoding the Tomb of Bansheebot | 4.0 |
| Buckethead Population Override | 4.5 |
| Buckethead Colma | 4.5 |
| Buckethead Electric Tears | 4.5 |
| Buckethead The Dragons Of Eden | 4.5 |
| Buckethead Shadows Between The Sky | 4.5 |
| A definite comeback from his last two releases, Shadows Between The Sky sees Buckethead delve into his most melodic territory since Electric Tears. Great melodies, quality playing and song-writing that slays for days |
| Built on Secrets Reflections | 3.5 |
| Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze Offerings of Flesh and Gold | 4.0 |
| Bullet for My Valentine Scream Aim Fire | 2.0 |
| Bullet for My Valentine Fever | 2.0 |
| Bullet for My Valentine Hand of Blood | 3.0 |
| Bullet for My Valentine The Poison | 3.5 |
| Bullets And Octane In the Mouth of the Young | 4.0 |
| Bullets And Octane The Revelry | 4.0 |
| Bullets And Octane Bullets And Octane | 4.0 |
| Burden of a Day OneOneThousand | 3.5 |
| Burden of a Day Blessed Be Our Ever After | 4.0 |
| Burial Invocation Rituals of the Grotesque | 3.5 |
| Burial Invocation Abiogenesis | 4.5 |
This year has been a blockbuster year for death metal, and yet Burial Invocation sit on the top of
heap; gathering eclecticisms that span from death metal's ragged roots to the transcendental
technicality of today, Abiogenesis is the culmination of the underground's unwavering 35 year
obsession to out-extreme itself. |
| Burial Rites Crawling Christ | 3.5 |
| Burn Down Rome Devotion | 4.0 |
| Burn in Silence Angel Maker | 4.0 |
| Burning Apparition of the Master Demo | 3.5 |
| Burzum Thulêan Mysteries | 1.0 |
| Burzum Fallen | 1.5 |
| Burzum Filosofem | 3.0 |
| Burzum Umskiptar | 3.5 |
| This album is actually really good, I don't know what you are being faggots about. Varg still shows he has plenty of spark left and compared to other modern black metal, this album actually stands out quite a bit. A return to grace for black metal's most controversial figure. |
| Burzum Belus | 4.0 |
| Burzum Det Som Engang Var | 4.5 |
| Burzum Burzum/Aske | 4.5 |
| Burzum Hvis Lyset Tar Oss | 5.0 |
| Burzum Burzum | 5.0 |
| Byyrth Echoes From The Seven Blood Caves | 3.5 |
| Byzantine To Release Is to Resolve | 3.0 |
| Caarcrinolas The Egg | 3.0 |
| Cabal Midian | 3.5 |
| Like his original band, Killjoy's (RIP) post-Necrophagia project Cabal and their 1990 effort Midian was an amalgam of the then fledgling death metal genre and thrash's more established sound. Most of the music errs on the side of the latter, but you'd have to be deaf to miss the bits of tremolo guitar and guttural vocals that went on to define the former. |
| Cabal (DK) Mark Of Rot | 3.0 |
| Cabal may be a bit more atmospheric than their peers, but their dollar store menace can't cover up how bland the songwriting is. |
| Cadaver Dog Cadaver Dog | 3.5 |
| Cadaver Dog Dying Breed | 3.5 |
| Cadence Fox Metaphors for the Decline of Humanity | 4.0 |
| Caina Gentle Illness | 3.5 |
| Cake Pop Cake Pop 2 | 3.5 |
| Calques Civilizing | 3.5 |
| Can Bardd Nature Stays Silent | 3.0 |
| Cancerian Moon Human Transmutation | 3.0 |
| Coming from the house of Bone Awl, bands like Cancerian Moon are an overstocked brand in black metal, however there is something to be admired in their delivery; they beat the shit out of their instruments. Even if it is your usual melange of Darkthrone meets Circle Jerks, the energy really translates. |
| Candelabrum Portals | 4.0 |
| Cannibal Corpse Eaten Back to Life | 3.5 |
| Cannibal Corpse Violence Unimagined | 4.0 |
| Cannibal Corpse spent so long being death metal's resident whipping boys and yet here they are, 30-something years later, at the top of their game and one of the best modern -old school or new school- death metal acts going. Talk about the sound of perseverance. |
| Cantique Lepreux Paysages Polaires | 4.0 |
I find that the winds of icy and frostbitten black metal don't sting me like they used to; they've
been blowing so hard for so long that I've become acclimated to the chill and yet, Paysages
Polaires is cold enough to make my teeth chatter. Cantique Lepreux has found new ways to make
frigid temperatures exciting again and my body literally can't stop moving as a result. |
| Capharnaum Reality Only Fantasized | 4.0 |
| Capital Lights Rhythm N Moves | 3.5 |
| Capital Lights This Is An Outrage! | 4.0 |
| Capitis Damnare Black Stigmatized | 2.5 |
| Captain, We're Sinking The Animals Are Out | 4.0 |
| Cara Neir Part I / Part II | 3.5 |
| Cara Neir Perpetual Despair Is the Human Condition | 3.5 |
| Cara Neir Phase Out | 3.5 |
| Cara Neir Stagnant Perceptions | 4.0 |
| This album is awesome. If you disagree you are entitled but prepare for a shunning. |
| Cara Neir Portals to a Better, Dead World | 4.0 |
| Cara Neir The Overwatch | 4.0 |
Totally differing from the black metal/screamo of Portals to a Better, Dead World, Cara Neir's newest EP The
Overwatch, returns to the more succinct compositions of Sublimaton Therapy, all while continuing to expand
their already diverse sound. It's a mixture of all their influences, yet it still wears the unmistakeable Cara Neir
brand,
and it's easily one of their most enjoyable releases to date. Recommended. |
| Cara Neir Phantasmal | 4.0 |
| Cara Neir Sublimation Therapy | 4.5 |
| 2012 is the year of Cara Neir; after an awesome split with the blackened crust unit Ramlord, these crazy Texans return with an EP that is easily one of the best to come out in extreme metal each year. Although most of the tracks barely scrape past the one minute mark, it totally works in the band's favor. It's actually quite remarkable to see how they can do so much in such a short amount of time. So fucking good. |
| Cara Neir Part III / Part IV | 4.5 |
This band can do no wrong. Fitting of a title calling back to their first two albums (I/II),
III/IV is the ultimate culmination of their sonic history, a piece that honors their roots as well
as the diversity they?ve explored in their decade long career. |
| Cara Neir Pain Gel of Purification | 5.0 |
| Cara Neir's newest Pain Gel of Purification is an excursion away from the 8-bit tinkering of Phase Out and back to the grinding skronk of their first EP Sublimation Therapy. Like most other Cara Neir releases, Pain Gel... is an intermingling of different sounds and textures, this time around most notably grind and post-hardcore. |
| Cara Neir/Ramlord Split | 4.0 |
| I haven't listened to the Ramlord side of this yet but the Cara Neir side is fucking phenomenal. By far their most post-rock/screamo set of songs to date, it's amazing how well they can pull off black metal with all these difference nuances |
| Cara Neir/Wildspeaker Guilt and His Reflection | 4.0 |
| Musically, Guilt and His Reflection is one of the most interesting things I've heard all year. It defies categorization; Cara Neir is seamlessly avant-garde, metal, screamo, hardcore, and many other things. Wildspeaker is a bit more straightforward, but their blend of black metal/hardcore/post- is equally as compelling. The vocals on both sides are furious and vitriol-filled, with Chris' rasps and shouts feeling schizophrenic and harrowing (perfect for the split's concept) and Natalie's sounding like a more black metal influenced Jacob Bannon. There is a concept strewn across all the songs, revolving around cannibalism in a post-apocalyptic world, and the mental/physical effects it has on the story's main character. This shit is fucking tight. |
| Carcass Torn Arteries | 3.0 |
| Carcass Heartwork | 4.0 |
| Carcass Reek of Putrefaction | 4.0 |
| Carcass Surgical Steel | 4.0 |
| this is replacement text b/c apparently i can't change my rating and just my previous sound off, i need to replace it. |
| Carcass Swansong | 4.5 |
| Carcass Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious | 5.0 |
| Carcass Symphonies of Sickness | 5.0 |
| Cardi B Invasion of Privacy | 3.5 |
| Cardi B gets the cocktail of genuine and bombastic juusst right on her debut LP and the result is absolutely delicious. |
| Carly Rae Jepsen Emotion | 3.0 |
| Carpe Noctem Vitrun | 3.5 |
| Carrion of Torrent Inituum Calamitatis Regni | 4.0 |
| Carved Cross Demo I | 3.0 |
| Carved Cross Futile Reflections of a Failed Existence | 3.5 |
| Exceedingly raw black metal from Australia. Brings the kvlt. |
| Carved Cross Demo II | 3.5 |
| Carved Cross Embittered Amidst the Ashes | 3.5 |
| Carved Cross Demo III | 4.0 |
| Carved Cross Carved Cross | 4.0 |
| Carved Cross The Yawning Abyss of Perdition | 4.0 |
| Carved Cross Sapped of Strength, Left to Wither and Fade Away | 4.0 |
| Carved Cross Severance of Disparity in Absolute Acrimony | 4.0 |
This is perhaps is Carved Cross’ best record. The core tenants of their sound - minimalism, repetition, and
obscenely raw production- are intact, but there’s is more melody and atmosphere present than ever before.
These additions are obviously not exceedingly groundbreaking, but when working in tandem with the
idiosyncrasies Carved Cross have been peddling since their debut in 2012, elevates their particularly raw brand
of black metal rto the next level of quality. |
| Carved Cross Lamentations | 4.0 |
| Carved Cross/Malphas Split | 4.0 |
| Castillo Castillo | 2.0 |
| A quaint hybrid of dungeon synth and 8-bit that is fine, but doesn't really create much of an atmosphere to invest in. |
| Castle of Purity Castle of Purity | 3.5 |
| Castlefield The Mascot EP | 4.0 |
| Casualties of Cool Casualties of Cool | 5.0 |
| Cathedrals in the Night Demo I | 4.0 |
| Catholic Girls Distant | 4.0 |
| Caustic Vomit Festering Odes to Deformity | 3.5 |
| Cauteror They Fell | 4.0 |
| Caveman Cult Supremacia Primordial | 3.5 |
| Cavernus Non Omnis Moriar (demo) | 3.5 |
| Cease Upon the Capitol Untitled | 4.0 |
| Cedamus Song of the Forest | 4.0 |
| Celeste Animale(s) | 3.5 |
| Celestial Bodies Spit Forth From Chaos | 3.5 |
| Celestial Conjuration Demo I | 3.0 |
| Celestial Conjuration Demo II | 3.5 |
| Celestial Key Immortal Crown | 4.0 |
| Celestial Sanctuary Soul Diminished | 3.5 |
| Cemetary An Evil Shade of Grey | 3.5 |
| Cenotaphe Empyrée | 3.5 |
| Cenotaphe Monte Verità | 3.5 |
| Centinex Reborn Through Flames | 3.0 |
| Combining the old school brutality of their previous efforts with a newfound sense of melody, Centinex's Reborn Through Flames is not your best or most original slab of Swedish death metal, but it certainly remains to be an enjoyable listen for all those who enjoy melodeath with some added bite. |
| Cer Dialectic Enigma | 4.0 |
| Cerebral Rot Odious Descent Into Decay | 3.5 |
| Cerebral Rot Spewing Purulence | 3.5 |
| Cerebral Rot Excretion Of Mortality | 3.5 |
| Cerekloth In the Midst of Life We Are In Death | 3.5 |
| Cerekloth Pandemonium Prayers | 3.5 |
| Cetăți dacice din Munții Orăștiei The Seventh Obsidian Fortress Of Ancient Dacian Ni | 2.0 |
Though their existence fleeting, there's no denying the immeasurable influence Les Legions Noires
had on black metal; near thirty years later, and obscure internet denizens are still trying to
recreate the mysterious gothic black metal/ambient music that volatile French collective was known
to create. Most notably inspired by Lord Aakon Keetreh, Cet??i dacice din Mun?ii Or??tiei is a
French duo who conjure that same kind of old school horror movie soundtrack ambient, complete with
shards of dissonant guitar jangles and crackling vocals in the form of screeches and moans. Though
stylistically it would be near impossible to differentiate between this and the sonic filth LLN
produced, there was something special captured by LLN that's just not here. Imitation may be the
greatest form of flattery, but that doesn't mean it will be good. |
| Champagne Colored Cars Champagne Colored Cars EP | 3.5 |
| Chaos Echoes Mouvement | 3.5 |
| Chaos Moon Eschaton Mémoire | 4.0 |
| Chaotian Where Gods Excarnate | 4.0 |
| Chaotian Effigies of Obsolescence | 4.0 |
| Chapel of Disease ...And as We Have Seen the Storm | 4.0 |
| Chapel of Disease have managed to graft depth, dimension, and death metal together into a seamless package. I'm fucking here for it. |
| Charles Bronson Complete Discocrappy | 4.5 |
| Charnel Altar Charnel Altar (demo) | 3.5 |
| Charnel Oubliette I | 3.5 |
| Charts and Maps Dead Horse | 4.0 |
| Jazzy post-rock woooooooooooooooooooooooooo omg orgasm |
| Childish Gambino Because the Internet | 2.5 |
| Children of Bodom Blooddrunk | 1.5 |
| Children of Bodom Chaos Ridden Years - Stockholm Knockout | 3.5 |
| Children of Bodom Halo of Blood | 3.5 |
| Children of Bodom Tokyo Warhearts | 4.0 |
| Children of Bodom Are You Dead Yet? | 4.0 |
| Children of Bodom Hexed | 4.0 |
| Children of Bodom Hate Crew Deathroll | 4.5 |
| Children of Bodom Follow the Reaper | 5.0 |
| Children of Bodom Something Wild | 5.0 |
| Easily the most underrated Children of Bodom. It?s pretty clear -based on how eccentric it is musically and the more streamlined songwriting they would display on subsequent albums - that this is Bodom still gestating, but there is something so endearing about the youthful ambition it radiates, even if it does come across a bit unfocused at times; it?s all part of the charm. Potential just oozes throughout its seven tracks, an unspoken promise that would be fulfilled throughout their future records. It?s amalgam of death, black, heavy, and neo-classical metal(s) still feels fresh and exciting 23 years later, and in my humble this is one of the best debuts albums in extreme music history, ranking up there with Iron Maiden, Metallica, and any other ?classic? metal band. rTl:dr - this fucking slaps. |
| Children of Bodom Hatebreeder | 5.0 |
| Children of Bodom Trashed, Lost & Strungout | 5.0 |
| Chrome Waves Chrome Waves | 3.5 |
| Chronaexus Algedonic Awakening | 4.0 |
| Chthe'ilist Passage Into the Xexanotth | 3.5 |
| Chthe'ilist Le Dernier Crépuscule | 4.0 |
| Church of Disgust Weakest Is The Flesh | 4.0 |
| Church Whip Psychedelic Nightmare | 4.0 |
| CHVRCHES The Bones of What You Believe | 3.5 |
| Ciel Nordique II | 3.0 |
| Cinderella Night Songs | 4.0 |
| Cinsera Coryphée | 3.0 |
| CIORAN Bestiale Battito Divino | 3.5 |
| Circle of Despair Untitled | 3.5 |
| Circle of Ouroborus Kuuhun Kahlittu | 4.0 |
| Circle of Ouroborus Viimeinen Juoksu | 4.0 |
| Circle of Ouroborus Kiromantia | 4.0 |
| Circle of Ouroborus Armon Keitaalla | 4.5 |
| Circle of Ouroborus/Crooked Necks Ruins of Resurrection | 3.5 |
| Circle Takes the Square As the Roots Undo | 4.5 |
| Cirrhus 2008 Demo | 3.5 |
| Cirrhus Promo 2012 | 3.5 |
| Cirrhus Cirrhus | 4.0 |
| Cirrhus Unimpeachable Madness | 4.0 |
| Cirrhus Cirrhus LP | 4.5 |
| Cirrhus Identical Hallways | 4.5 |
| Recorded in 2011 but not seeing the light of day until 2017, Identical Hallways is a euphoric journey led by one of the United States' best black metal bands. The production is raw, but not enough to veil Cirrhus' black metal dirge. The music is sharp but melodic, and oddly nostalgic; it feels comforting in a way, which may be odds with black metal ethos, but Cirrhus have never been afraid to blur the lines. If you can get over the production (which in my opinion works wonderfully with the music), you won't be disappointed by giving this a listen. |
| Cirrhus/Eunuch Split | 3.5 |
| Cist The Frozen Casket | 3.5 |
| I don't think I would blame anyone who has mistaken Cist as a band lost in time; the first time I listened to this demo, I could have sworn it was released anywhere from 1988-1992. Turns out, I was only 30ish years off the mark. For anyone who loves the classic riff'n'gore of early Death and/or Pestilence, don't skip this. |
| City Hunter Deep Blood | 4.0 |
| Civilized Chopping Block | 3.5 |
| Another Youth Attack! banger. Hardcore is very formulaic, and the YA! brand even moreso, but there's little denying the power and aggression that seemingly each of their bands comes equipped with. |
| CKY An Answer Can Be Found | 2.5 |
| Clair Cassis Clair Cassis II | 3.5 |
| Clairvoyance Threshold of Nothingness | 4.0 |
| Clandestine Blaze City Of Slaughter | 3.5 |
| Clandestine Blaze Tranquility Of Death | 3.5 |
| Clandestine Blaze Fist of the Northern Destroyer | 4.0 |
| Clandestine Blaze Night Of The Unholy Flame | 4.0 |
| Clandestine Blaze Secrets of Laceration | 4.0 |
| Clandestine Blaze Falling Monuments | 4.5 |
| Along with Paracletus, Mikko Aspa has had his hands in two of 2010 best black metal albums. Cold, unrelenting yet containing enough melody to ensnare the attention of both black metal veterans and newcomers, Falling Monuments is not a black metal record that breaks any new ground but is just a black metal record that kicks copious amounts of ass. |
| Clikatat Ikatowi Orchestrated and Conducted By | 3.5 |
| Coast Coast | 4.0 |
| Coffin Rot Coffin Rot (demo) | 3.5 |
| Coffin Rot/Molder Coffin Rot/Molder | 3.5 |
| Coffinworm IV.I.VIII | 3.0 |
| Cogs and Sprockets The Black Friday EP | 3.5 |
| Eleven songs, four minutes, DO THE FUCKING MATH. Grinds your face in harder than I grind your mom every night of the week. |
| Coheed and Cambria Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind | 4.0 |
| I am not the biggest Coheed fan, so as an outsider I am enjoying this quite a bit. I'm also guilty of enjoying overtly poppy rock, so that could also explain it. Either way, I think the hooks are fabulous. |
| Coldworld Autumn | 3.5 |
| Overall this album is great, but it has the nasty tendency to drag. The more repetitive parts are an obvious weakness, and more plodding sections are tedious to sit through. However, when it all comes together (which is quite frequently) Autumn can be truly magnificent. |
| Colors Palindromes | 3.5 |
| Concilivm A Monument in Darkness | 4.0 |
| Conducting from the Grave When Legends Become Dust | 3.5 |
| Conjurer (UK) Mire | 3.5 |
| Conqueror War Cult Supremacy | 3.5 |
| Consolation Stahlplaat | 3.5 |
| Consumption Necrotic Lust | 4.0 |
| Converge Beautiful Ruin | 3.0 |
| 4 SONGS. 6 MINUTES. Now THAT'S H A R D C O R E |
| Converge Petitioning the Empty Sky | 4.0 |
| Converge Jane Doe | 4.0 |
| i bet half of you didn't even listen to this and rated 5 |
| Converge When Forever Comes Crashing | 4.0 |
| Converge No Heroes | 4.0 |
| Converge The Dusk in Us | 4.0 |
| Converge are about to put The D in Us |
| Converge You Fail Me | 4.5 |
| Converge All We Love We Leave Behind | 4.5 |
| Converge Axe to Fall | 5.0 |
| Convictions Hope for the Broken | 3.5 |
| Convulsing Grievous | 5.0 |
| One of the most dynamic death metal albums I?ve ever listened to. |
| Corey Taylor CMFT | 1.0 |
| As someone known for their boisterous personality, if there is one thing CMFT is lacking it's a voice; this sounds just like every other lead singer solo project ever. |
| Cornerwrithe I Am All Saints Defiled | 4.0 |
| Cornigr Relics of Inner War | 3.5 |
| Corpsessed Corpsessed | 3.0 |
| Corpsessed Abysmal Thresholds | 3.5 |
| Corpsessed Succumb to Rot | 4.0 |
| Corubo Ajuricaba | 4.0 |
| Before Volahn and the Black Twilight Circle, there was Corubo. Formed in Brazil during the late 90's, Corubo was one of the first acts to hail themselves as "Indigenous Black Metal", a descriptor that can be felt throughout every facet of their music. As their first full-length in 10 years, Ajuricaba is a glorious comeback that features everything you would expect of a band so entrenched in their culture; battle-worn howls, war-flute cries, and a paradigm-shifting "humid" take on the usual frigid black metal atmosphere. Recommended chaos. |
| Coscradh Nahanagan Stadial | 3.5 |
| Cosmic Church Täyttymys | 4.0 |
| Cosmic Church/Keres Lucifer Returns to Heaven | 4.0 |
| Cosmic Putrefaction At the Threshold of the Greatest Chasm | 4.0 |
| Cosmic Putrefaction is one of several solo projects of Italian multi-instrumentalist G.G., and though I have yet to hear those other works, Cosmic Putrefaction is good enough to the point where I think I'll need to investigate this backlog. What initially jolted my interest was the fact that Brendan Sloan of Convulsing -easily one of my favorite contemporary extreme metal acts- was providing the majority of the vocals for this album; however what keeps me coming back is the entire package. It's an album that certainly lives up to its name, exuding a certain celestial quality from it's off-kilter onslaught. In a lot of ways it reminds of me a modernized version of Blessed Are The Sick-era Morbid Angel, with a very Azagthothian feel to how G.G. pairs stuttered, thrashy riffage together with more conventional death metal fare. Brendan unsurprisingly delivers a performance on par with the work in his own band, with his guttural lows feral but also wielding a good deal of emotion. Overall this album is a successful experiment, one that I hope comes together again to give us more excellent death metal. |
| Cosmic Putrefaction The Horizons Towards Which Splendour Withers | 4.0 |
| Cosmic Putrefaction Crepuscular Dirge for the Blessed Ones | 4.0 |
| Cosmovore Into the Necrosphere | 3.5 |
| Coughs Secret Passage | 3.5 |
| Counterparts You're Not You Anymore | 4.0 |
| Counterparts A Eulogy for Those Still Here | 4.0 |
| overeager hypists vs. curmudgeon contrarians: the thread |
| Counterparts Nothing Left to Love | 4.5 |
| Cradle of Filth Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa | 1.5 |
| Cradle of Filth The Manticore and Other Horrors | 2.5 |
| Cradle of Filth Total Fucking Darkness [Demo] | 3.0 |
| Cradle of Filth From the Cradle to Enslave | 3.5 |
| Cradle of Filth Live Bait for the Dead | 3.5 |
| Cradle of Filth Bitter Suites to Succubi | 3.5 |
| Cradle of Filth Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder | 3.5 |
| Cradle of Filth Damnation and a Day | 4.0 |
| Cradle of Filth Lovecraft & Witch Hearts | 4.0 |
| Cradle of Filth Thornography | 4.0 |
| Cradle of Filth Nymphetamine | 4.5 |
| Cradle of Filth Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phalluste | 4.5 |
| Cradle of Filth Midian | 5.0 |
| I've always felt like Midian's status as black sheep of CoF's discography has been understated. Bringing back original guitarist Paul Allender along with his obsession with other forms of extremity, Midian is a masterpiece of a blackened death metal album, bathed in gothic glory, blood, and vampyric sensuality. Dusk and Cruelty were also inexcusably classic albums, but it was Midian that truly opened the doors of success for Cradle of Filth. |
| Cradle of Filth Dusk... and Her Embrace | 5.0 |
| Cradle of Filth The Principle of Evil Made Flesh | 5.0 |
| Cradle of Filth Cruelty and the Beast | 5.0 |
| Cradle of Filth Hammer of the Witches | 5.0 |
| Simultaneously overblown and tasteful, Hammer of the Witches is ACTUALLY Cradle of Filth's best album since Midian. No longer using their symphonics as a crutch for weak songwriting, the skill of new axe-slingers Richard Shaw and Marek 'Ashok' ?merda make this one of Cradle's most guitar dominated albums to date. Of course the band still has an affinity for grand orchestrations, but their incorporation is more thoughtfully done, accentuating the other instruments instead of suffocating them. As if these other factors weren't enough, Dani sounds at the top of his game here, his vocals seemingly revitalized by band's new blood. Even Cradle haters may have a tough time scoffing at this one. |
| Cradle of Filth Dusk and Her Embrace - The Original Sin | 5.0 |
| Cradle of Filth Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness of Decay | 5.0 |
Absolutely amazing album and the perfect continuation of the sound they introduced with Hammer. They brought
back some classic Filthisms without sounding stale and dated. And this could honestly be Dani's best album
vocally, he kills it. |
| Cradle of Filth Existence Is Futile | 5.0 |
| Craft Total Soul Rape | 3.5 |
| Craven Idol Ethereal Altars | 3.5 |
| Crawl/Leviathan CRAWL/LVTHN | 3.5 |
| Eerie black metal and a nice piece of work from Levithan in particular. |
| Crazy Lixx Loud Minority | 4.0 |
| Crebain Nachtkrieg | 3.5 |
| Nachtkrieg is a great release. Some cool riffs, great ideas and decent musicianship all guarantee that. Bearing that in mind why is it only great? It seems that sole member Ancalagon The Black (lol) cannot exactly decide which form of black metal to be. DSBM one song, old school the next, there is certain inconsistency that bogs down the quality of this demo. Oh and the vocals suck. |
| Credo Quia Absurdum Carmina Absurda | 3.5 |
| Creeping Death Wretched Illusions | 4.0 |
| Creepmime Shadows | 3.5 |
| Is it just me or does a lot of quality death metal come out of the Netherlands? Creepmime is yet another great Dutch act that on their first full-length, Shadows, combines murky old school death metal with lurching doom metal also throwing in some classic metal inspired melodies and some uber technical moments. |
| Crooked Life 22 | 4.0 |
| Crooked Necks Alright Is Exactly What It Isn't | 4.0 |
| This is an album I've been waiting a long time for - I've been a fan of this band since their days as Frail, and even though the majority of the bands black metal influence has been thrown to the wayside, they've definitely proven themselves here as a solid post-punk/shoegaze project. Glistening melodies coupled with jubilant bass-lines, Crooked Necks creates music that sticks with you, crafting melodies that will speak to your soul and raise spirits even in their darkest hours. The music is truly beautiful, and the raw production edge (one of the few black metal remnants the band contains) only adds to the amazing atmosphere. Like I said, I've been waiting a long time for this -- I'm glad I wasn't disappointed. |
| Crossfade Crossfade | 2.0 |
| Crowhurst III | 3.5 |
| Crowning Funeral Designs | 3.5 |
| Cruciamentum Paradise Envenomed | 3.5 |
| Cruciamentum Engulfed In Desolation | 4.0 |
| Haven't listened to this but If Hyperion says it's good you should pretty much know that it's going to kick copious amounts ass. |
| Cruciamentum Charnel Passages | 4.0 |
| Cruentare Ius cruentationis / Mazhar aether | 3.5 |
| Cruentus (ITA) In Myself | 4.0 |
| Crusty Old Toad Turn People Into Food | 3.5 |
| Cry of the Afflicted The Unveiling | 3.5 |
| Cryptic Hatred Nocturnal Sickness | 4.0 |
| Cryptic Shift Visitations from Enceladus | 4.0 |
| Cryptic Shift / Replicant / Inoculation / Astral Tomb Chasm of Aeons | 4.0 |
| Cryptivore Celestial Extinction | 3.5 |
| Cryptophobism Demo '98 | 4.0 |
| Cryptum Vile Emergence | 4.0 |
| Cryptworm Spewing Mephitic Putridity | 4.0 |
| Csejthe La Mort du Prince Noir | 3.0 |
| Csejthe L'Horreur De Čachtice | 3.5 |
| Culture Shock (CO) Culture Shock | 3.5 |
| Curta'n Wall Curta'n Wall | 3.5 |
| Curved Blade / Pâlemort At the Bottom of the Hourglass / Vision d’une ère | 3.5 |
| CW Productions Even Biology Is Revolting Despite ItsNaturalAppeal | 4.0 |
| CW Productions is a paragon of raw and punk-y USBM so it (almost) goes without saying that a compilation of new material from the entirety of its roster is ESSENTIAL. |
| Cynic Focus | 4.0 |
| Cynic Traced in Air | 4.0 |
| D.R.I. Dealing with It! | 4.0 |
| Dads American Radass (This Is Important) | 3.5 |
| Dafodil Pale Moonlight | 3.0 |
| Daft Punk Random Access Memories | 5.0 |
| Dagger Lust VT-XIX || Siege Bondage Adverse to the Godhea | 3.0 |
| Dagorath Evil Is the Spirit | 4.0 |
| Dai-ichi Dai-ichi | 3.5 |
| Dakhma (SUI) Hamkar Atonement | 4.0 |
| Damezumari No Hugging, No Learning | 3.5 |
| Damian Valles Bow Echoes | 4.0 |
| Dammerfarben Im Abendrot | 3.5 |
| Dammerfarben do the whole melodic/folk black metal thing right for the most part -- they never get overly cheesy with folk melodies and overall I'm a big fan of the clean interludes on this album. That being said the songs often feel as they never end and theRE is a lot of similarity between the songs "heavier" sections. |
| Dance Gavin Dance Afterburner | 3.0 |
I'm not sure what I expected from this, but I am happy with the end result. It's everything I want
from the band, with a few sonic twists and turns thrown in. I'm only on my 3rd listen, so it's
still all sinking in, but I'm enjoying this more immediately than I did ArSe, which took a bit
more time for me to really appreciate. I do think the next album will need to step out of the box
a bit more, but I'm fine with the half step forward here.
**mehhhhh (9/28/2020) |
| Dance Gavin Dance Jackpot Juicer | 3.0 |
| This is immediately better than Afterburner, which is nice. I'm seeing a lot of people compare to IG/MS-era of the band, and while I don't disagree, I'm not feeling the heart in this record like I could feel in those records. Tentative 3.3/5, will definitely need more listens. |
| Dance Gavin Dance Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean | 4.0 |
| Dance Gavin Dance Dance Gavin Dance | 4.0 |
| Dance Gavin Dance Downtown Battle Mountain | 5.0 |
| Dance Gavin Dance Happiness | 5.0 |
| Dance Gavin Dance Downtown Battle Mountain II | 5.0 |
| Dance Gavin Dance Acceptance Speech | 5.0 |
| sometimes, i stand in front of my mirror with nothing but a dgd shirt on, cup my nuts, squeeze them tight and try to sing just like tillian |
| Dance Gavin Dance Instant Gratification | 5.0 |
| Dance Gavin Dance Mothership | 5.0 |
| COCAINEEEEE CRINGE-FESTTTTTrAfter IG I was genuinely worried that Tilian-era wouldn't be able to top what's been their best album since Happiness, but it seems my fears have been allayed, because Mothership is easily not just one of their best of this iteration, but the one of the best in the band's discography. They've become more concise without sacrificing the technical chaos we've come to expect from them. Tilian is still probably their most polarizing vocalist, but he's never shined brighter than he does here. He can be soulful like Jonny, funky like Kurt, and poppy like nobody else has been before. Fucking great. |
| Dance Gavin Dance Artificial Selection | 5.0 |
| Dance Gavin Dance Acceptance Speech 2.0 | 5.0 |
| I really didn?t think a remix would make this album so much better.... I was wrong. |
| Dance Gavin Dance Downtown Battle Mountain II (Instrumental) | 5.0 |
| Dangers Messy, Isn't It? | 4.5 |
| Danny Worsnop Shades Of Blue | 3.5 |
| Very good, catchy, blues rock with some soul influences thrown in for good measure. Danny is an understandably divisive figure in modern rock, but his vocal talents seem irrefutable, especially after the display he puts on here. |
| Dark Doom Echoes | 3.5 |
| Dark Millennium Acid River | 3.5 |
| Dark New Day Twelve Year Silence | 3.0 |
| Dark Tranquillity The Gallery | 5.0 |
| Dark Watcher Hymns Of A Godless Land | 4.0 |
Black metal with a western twang is still a sub-genre that's finding its footing, but between
Wayfarer's excellent 2020 release A Romance with Violence and now Dark Watcher's superb
Hymns of a Godless Land, it finally feels like this niche is being fleshed out the way it
should be. What Dark Watcher does - perhaps even better than their contemporaries - is creating a
stirring cinematic feeling to their music that show ascribes to both the prairie gunslinger and
raw black metal components of their music. In theory, these two entities should be in competition
with each other, but thanks to the keen and studied ear of main composer/guitarist Hodag, it feels
like black metal should've started wearing spurs long ago. Though only 3 songs long, Hymns of a
Godless Land proves that Dark Watcher has all the makings of a western classic and I for one
am excited to see what these Stetson-wearing trailblazers will do next. |
| Dark Watcher Dark Watcher | 5.0 |
| Dark/Light Kill Some Time | 3.5 |
| Really fun pop-punk with a myriad of different influences stretching from the 60's to now |
| Darkest Hour Godless Prophets and the Migrant Flora | 3.0 |
| Even though the heaviness is a contrived effort after the mainstream inclinations of their last album, the new Darkest Hour is okay, even if it does sound like everything else Kurt Ballou produces. The melodic death metal influence is sorely missing though. |
| Darkest Hour So Sedated, so Secure | 3.5 |
| Darkest Hour Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation | 4.0 |
| Darkest Hour The Mark of the Judas | 4.0 |
| Darkest Hour So Sedated, So Secure (Re-Issue) | 4.0 |
| Darkest Hour Undoing Ruin | 4.5 |
| Darkest Hour Deliver Us | 5.0 |
| Darklord Symphony Satanikka | 3.5 |
| Coming from the Australian underground Darklord combines brutal and intense death metal with symphonic black metal, an unlikely mixture and proves to be quite successful thanks to the great execution of the band. Aside from the heavy use of symphonic elements (which actually doesn't come across as TOO cheesy) the also makes frequent use of neoclassical elements within their songs, especially in the guitar solos. Overall a good record if you don't mind lots of keyboards. |
| Darkseid The Three Mothers | 4.0 |
| Obscure death metal from France, Darkseid was a great little band that only put out The Three Mothers concept demo in 1996 before completely dropping off the face of the Earth. Pretty different from anything that was going on in the United States or any other country for that matter, Darkseid played a catchy yet heavy form of death metal with some interesting experimental tendencies. Unlike most other death metal, Darkseid's standard tuned guitar may have sacrificed them some of the sheer heaviness of their peers, but it certainly helped when it came to creating some of the unorthodox guitar lines the album is centered on. The gutturals are also pretty great, containing a nice hoarseness that helps the singer from being just another death metal vocalist. Overall a great, interesting listen. |
| Darkthrone Plaguewielder | 3.0 |
| Darkthrone F.O.A.D. | 3.0 |
| Darkthrone Dark Thrones and Black Flags | 3.0 |
| Darkthrone Eternal Hails | 3.0 |
| LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! |
| Darkthrone Sardonic Wrath | 3.5 |
| Darkthrone Total Death | 3.5 |
| Darkthrone Soulside Journey | 3.5 |
| Darkthrone Goatlord | 3.5 |
| Darkthrone Ravishing Grimness | 3.5 |
| Darkthrone Hate Them | 3.5 |
| Darkthrone Circle the Wagons | 3.5 |
| Darkthrone Old Star | 3.5 |
| Darkthrone The Cult Is Alive | 4.0 |
| Darkthrone A Blaze in the Northern Sky | 5.0 |
| Darkthrone Transilvanian Hunger | 5.0 |
| Darkthrone Under a Funeral Moon | 5.0 |
| Darkthrone Panzerfaust | 5.0 |
| Das Oath Das Oath | 4.0 |
| Das Plague Das Plague | 4.0 |
| Daughters Daughters | 4.5 |
| David Tagg Pentecost | 4.0 |
| Dawn Ray'd Behold Sedition Plainsong | 4.0 |
| Dawn Treader Post Mortem | 3.5 |
| Dayseeker Sleeptalk | 3.5 |
| Dayseeker Dark Sun | 3.5 |
| This is essentially Sleeptalk Pt.2, which y?know, is fine. These guys do uber-pop post-hardcore better than the majority of their contemporaries and this record just reaffirms that fact. |
| De Aphelium Sprungen Ur Lust | 3.5 |
| De Magia Veterum Naked Swords Into The Womb Of The Enemy | 4.0 |
| Dead by April Worlds Collide | 3.0 |
| Dead Moon Temple Ænigmasólvoid | 3.5 |
| Dead To A Dying World Elegy | 3.5 |
| Dead Void Volatile Forms | 4.0 |
| Deafheaven Infinite Granite | 3.0 |
| Deafheaven are literally queer-coded (nice haircuts) and have a disability (used to play black metal) and that's the majority of the reason why ya'll don't like them. |
| Deafheaven Ordinary Corrupt Human Love | 3.5 |
| ordrinarrycrorrruptrhumranlrove |
| Deafheaven Demo | 4.0 |
| Deafheaven Roads to Judah | 4.0 |
| Deafheaven New Bermuda | 4.0 |
| new ber muda |
| Deafheaven Sunbather | 5.0 |
| what if the album title is "sun bat her" and we are all wrong and stupid |
| Death Human | 4.0 |
| Death Angel Killing Season | 3.5 |
| Death Fortress Triumph Of The Undying | 4.0 |
| Death Fortress Reign of the Unending | 5.0 |
| Death From Above 1979 The Physical World | 4.0 |
| Deathless Marantha Nothing No One Never Everything | 3.0 |
| I honestly don't really know how to describe Deathless Marantha, other than monotone spoken word ramblings over pretty acoustic guitar playing. Damian Masters has a tendency to be a bit artsy, and here is no different. It verges on pretentiousness but the way he builds layer upon layer of melody on each other kind of distracts from the nonsensical bullshit that the lyrics comprise of.r |
| Deathspell Omega The Synarchy of Molten Bones | 3.5 |
| Deathspell Omega Paracletus | 4.0 |
| Deathspell Omega The Furnaces of Palingenesia | 4.0 |
| Please check out my right wing Deathspell Omega cover project Deathspell O-MAGA |
| Deathwomb Moonless Night Sacraments | 3.5 |
| Decapitated The Negation | 3.5 |
| Decapitated Winds of Creation | 4.0 |
| Decapitated Organic Hallucinosis | 4.0 |
| Decapitated Nihility | 4.0 |
| Deceased The Blueprint For Madness | 4.0 |
| Generally seen as a weaker album in Deceased's early discography, The Blueprint For Madness is very much the interim album between the band's two best known releases. However that in no way means The Blueprint for Madness doesn't contain quite a bit of excellent material itself; introducing the progressive elements the band would later capitalize on, here is where Deceased started showing their true ingenuity, fusing the raw direction of their past with more melodic qualities, such as tuneful solos and even some really awesome Maiden inspired harmonies. At the end of the day, The Blueprint For Madness is an underrated album within the Deceased catalog. |
| Deceased Surreal Overdose | 4.0 |
| Deceased Ghostly White | 4.0 |
| Deceased Fearless Undead Machines | 4.5 |
| The culmination of the changes started on The Blueprints for Madness, the sci-fi themed classic Fearless Undead Machines displays Deceased fully embracing their thrash and progressive influences, dropping all elements of death metal vocally and implementing a sound that many would call their best. Replacing aggression for dynamics, Fearless Undead Machine is nowhere near as angry as the band's earlier albums but with incorporation of more melody as well as their obviously heightened songwriting skills, Deceased more than make up for the largely diminished trait of old. An album to check out if you are looking for something other than your run of the mill standard death metal. |
| Deceased Luck of the Corpse | 4.5 |
| Before mostly abandoning death metal on subsequent releases, Deceased first album Luck of the Corpse is an early death/thrash classic. Capitalizing on King Fowley's excellent gutturals and creative drum patterns as well as the beefed up thrash inspired guitar riffs, Luck of the Corpse is truly a standout release within death metal's formative years. |
| Decrepitaph Profane Doctrines Unburied | 4.0 |
| Decubitus Codex Sinaiticus | 2.5 |
| Deep Mountains Deep Mountains | 3.0 |
| Well, this certainly was a huge disappointment. While it has some pretty cool moments this is overall nothing really that special. |
| Def Leppard Hysteria | 5.0 |
| Defaced Creation Serenity in Chaos | 4.0 |
| Swedish death metal with an extra technical edge to it making for a very successful album |
| Defacement Deviant | 3.5 |
| Defacement Defacement | 3.5 |
| Deftones Ohms | 3.0 |
| Deicide The Stench of Redemption | 4.0 |
| There are very few bands that have been able to pull a late game comeback; Megadeth came back roaring with 2009?s Endgame, Cradle of Filth reinvented themselves with 2015?s Hammer of the Witches, and OSDM stalwarts Deicide coincidentally pulled a miracle out of nowhere when they released The Stench of Redemption in 2005 after a near decade of phoning it in. Much like the other examples it was a changing of the guard that breathed new life into this husk of a band. Legends Jack Owen (of Cannibal Corpse fame) and Ralph Santolla (RIP) joined the group after the exit of the bug-eyed Hoffman brothers, and completely reinvigorated the project. By adding just the smallest dose of melody alongside classic, unrelenting death metal riffage, Deicide -for a short moment in time- climbed their way out of irrelevance and managed to position themselves on top the death metal heap once again. If you kept reading and made it to this part, do yourself a favor and just listen, you won?t regret it. |
| Deiquisitor Downfall of the Apostates | 3.5 |
| Deiquisitor/Phrenelith/Taphos/Undergang Tetralogy of Death | 4.0 |
| Del Paxton Worst. Summer. Ever. | 4.0 |
| Deletere Per Aspera ad Pestilentiam | 3.5 |
| Deletere De Horae Leprae | 3.5 |
| Delice Sillage | 4.0 |
| Demented Ted Promises Impure | 3.5 |
| Demilich Nespithe | 4.0 |
| Demon Hunter Storm the Gates of Hell | 4.0 |
| Demoncy Faustian Dawn | 3.0 |
| Demoniac The Fire And The Wind | 2.5 |
| Demoniac Stormblade | 3.0 |
| Demonic Sacrifice Enter the Realm of Pure Darkness | 3.5 |
| The first and only album by death metallers Demonic Sacrifice, Enter the Realm of Pure Darkness has a distinctly New York feel; miasmatic production, almost comically guttural vocals, and touch of hardcore influence. Like Malevolent Creation, Morpheus Descends, and Banished/Baphomet, Demonic Sacrifice are uber rhythmic, preferring decomposing breakdowns over absolute speed and technicality (though those elements are present as well). As far as death metal goes, you won't many albums catchier than this that still ooze madness and malice. |
| Demonical Chaos Manifesto | 3.0 |
| Demonical Death Infernal | 3.5 |
| This is pretty great stuff. These guys and Entrails seem to be doing a decent job at reviving the swedish sound |
| Demonical Mass Destroyer | 3.5 |
| Deogen The Endless Black Shadows of Abyss | 3.5 |
| Deorc Weg Ninth Circle Of Despondency | 3.0 |
| Deorc Weg An Astral Tomb | 3.0 |
| Deorc Weg Shallow Graves EP | 3.0 |
| Deorc Weg The Forlorn Cold of Ages | 3.5 |
| Departure Chandelier Dripping Papal Blood | 3.0 |
| Departure Chandelier Antichrist Rise to Power | 4.0 |
| Departures When Losing Everything Is Everything You Wanted | 3.5 |
| Dephosphorus Impossible Orbits | 3.0 |
| More "astrogrind" from this Greek outfit. Nothing too out of the ordinary as far as grind goes, but the spacey textures make for a nice addition. |
| Dephosphorus Night Sky Transform | 4.5 |
Holy fuck. I've really never enjoyed Dephosporus until
now; Night Sky Transform changed my opinion on the
band within its first thirty seconds. This record is just
massive, a superb juxtaposition of black metal
coldness and punk attitude. With that combination of
personalities, sonically the album ranges from
astoundingly fast to awesomely groovy allowing the
band's grindier side to take precedence with elements
of black metal resonating within its distant cousin.
Dephosphorus go about playing blackened grind on
their own terms, a bold move that has seemed to have
paid off in dividends here. |
| Depths Above Ex Nihilo | 3.5 |
| Der Weg Einer Freiheit Der Weg Einer Freiheit | 3.0 |
| Dernier Martyr/Lifeless Sorrow/All The Cold The Plague of Our Lands | 4.0 |
| Descompasso MMXVIII | 3.5 |
| Desecresy The Mortal Horizon | 3.5 |
| Desolate Shrine Deliverance from the Godless Void | 3.5 |
| Desolate Shrine Tenebrous Towers | 4.0 |
| Desolate Shrine popped up in the atmospheric death metal boom of the 2010's, but definitely stand out from the sea of Incantation emulators. They are atmospheric in a more traditional sense, with purposeful breaks separating the bouts of punk-y death metal savagery straight out of Stockholm. |
| Desolate Shrine Fires of the Dying World | 4.0 |
| Desolation Realm Desolation Realm | 3.0 |
| Despondent Moon A Spectral Descent | 3.5 |
| Despondent Moon Invoking the Freezing Mist | 4.0 |
| Destruktor Nailed | 3.5 |
| Det Eviga Leendet Reverence | 2.5 |
| When I come across an album like this - highly praised in the circles I run with - and I don't feel that same excitement, I often wonder if it's hype that has my friends gushing over it, or if I've "grown" to a point where my standards for exceptional black metal have tightened. Probably something I won't figure out in the sound-off section on Sputnikmusic, so let me just go ahead and say that I personally don't find this release too compelling. From a technical standpoint it is very good, but I just don't think the material is there. |
| Deviants Legion | 3.5 |
| One of metal's greatest hindrances is that while it is on the forefront of discovery in terms of new and exciting sounds, it also can't relinquish its grip on past glories. A band like Deviants and their debut Legion are emblematic of that issue, but it's a record that is so fun it's easy to cast away any dispersion one may have about its lack of originality. If you fancy yourself a fan of back-to-roots death metal - something in the vein of Leprosy or On the Seventh Day God Create....Master - then this is likely an album you will want to hear. |
| Devil's Dung Devil's Dung | 3.5 |
| Another one of Mark McCoy's one-off black metal projects (this time featuring Dominick Fernow of Ash Pool, Em Dath Rir, Vegas Martyrs, etc..), Devil's Dung play a mean brand of raw black metal that is poorly produced and sloppy but enjoyable and genuine nonetheless. Black metal was never meant to be perfect and this "mess" of an album perfectly demonstrates how mistake filled black metal can still make the above average cut. |
| DevilDriver DevilDriver | 3.5 |
| DevilDriver Pray for Villains | 3.5 |
| DevilDriver The Fury of Our Maker's Hand | 4.0 |
| DevilDriver The Last Kind Words | 4.0 |
| Devotee Faith of the Ancients | 3.0 |
| Devotee Grey Metal | 3.5 |
| Devouring Ghost Devouring Ghost | 3.5 |
| The latest project of Mark McCoy explores the realm of stripped down raw black metal and chilling minimal ambient works. It's certainly nothing ground-breaking, and hearkens back to the Norse black metal of yore, but it is enjoyable all the same. |
| Devouring Star The Arteries of Heresy | 3.5 |
| Dieux Des Cimetières Live By The Sword, Or Die By The Sword | 3.0 |
| Dimmu Borgir Abrahadabra | 2.0 |
| Dimmu Borgir In Sorte Diaboli | 2.5 |
| Dimmu Borgir For All Tid | 3.0 |
| Dimmu Borgir Stormblåst MMV | 3.0 |
| Dimmu Borgir Eonian | 3.0 |
| What makes Eonian so frustrating is that there is some genuinely good material strewn between the rorchestral pomp and cheesy posturing. I think it's better than Abrahadabra, and it does feel rslightly more black metal (as promised), but it's pretty clear that Dimmu has lost sight of their rroots and is more content as a money-hungry symphonic caricature of a black metal group than a rband that actually cares about creating quality content. |
| Dimmu Borgir Spiritual Black Dimensions | 3.5 |
| Dimmu Borgir Stormblåst | 4.0 |
| Dimmu Borgir Death Cult Armageddon | 5.0 |
| Dimmu Borgir Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia | 5.0 |
| Dimmu Borgir Enthrone Darkness Triumphant | 5.0 |
| Diocletian War of All Against All | 3.5 |
| Diocletian Gesundrian | 4.5 |
| Dir Yassin Discography | 4.0 |
| Dire Omen Formless Fire Embodied | 3.5 |
| Disaffected Vast | 4.0 |
| Disaffected are a Portuguese progressive death metal band that throughout their cumulative 20 year career have only released one truly worthwhile album, Vast. an impressive concoction of atmosphere, jazz fusion, and death metal. |
| Disassembled Portals to Decimation | 3.0 |
| Melodic/progressive death metal with a few decent enough moments to just barely scrape by. Album art is atrocious. |
| Dischordia Triptych | 4.0 |
| Discrucior Mundus Subterraneus | 3.0 |
| Disemballerina Undertaker | 4.5 |
| Disequilibrium Material Substratum | 3.5 |
| Disequilibrium Hyperalgesia | 3.5 |
| Disgrace (FIN) Debts of God | 3.5 |
| Disgusted Geist Reign of Enthrallment | 3.5 |
| Disinter (USA-IL) Desecrated | 3.0 |
| Death metal with little substance, Desecrated is a good album for a listen if you are in the mood for death metal that isn't trying to be overtly technical; angry, brutal but perhaps most importantly simple, Disinter craft some pretty cool moments but overall Desecrated won't be an album you'll be telling all your friends about. |
| Disma Towards the Megalith | 3.5 |
| Dispirit Enantiodromian Birth | 3.5 |
| Dissection The Somberlain | 4.0 |
| Dissection Reinkaos | 4.0 |
| Dissection Live Rebirth | 4.0 |
| Dissection Storm of the Light's Bane | 4.5 |
| Disthory Perfidia y Obito | 3.5 |
| What happens when you mix Discharge with Bathory... DISTHORY |
| Disturbed The Sickness | 2.5 |
| Disturbed Believe | 2.5 |
| Disturbed Indestructible | 3.0 |
| Disturbed Ten Thousand Fists | 3.5 |
| Djevel Dodssanger | 2.5 |
| Hailing from Norway, Djevel's allegiance to playing "trve" black metal is understood even if it is horribly generic; sure there are some cool twists every now and then, and vocalist Erlend Hjelvikbut (also of the ever popular Kvelertak) sounds pretty good, but overall Dodssanger is an average, second rate representation of everything glorious about 90's black metal |
| Djevel Tanker som rir natten | 3.5 |
| This album is actually beautiful. |
| Doctor Livingstone Trimphus Haeretici | 3.5 |
| Dodenbezweerder Zwarte Sluiers | 4.0 |
| Dodsengel Interequinox | 3.5 |
| Dodsengel Mirium Occultum | 4.0 |
| a new take on classic norweigan black metal that for the most part, works well |
| Dodskvad Krønike II | 4.0 |
| Dodsrit Mortal Coil | 4.0 |
| Rising from the ashes of dark hardcore act Totem Skin, Ddsrit is the project of ex-Totem Skin guitarist Christoffer ster and the logical progression of his former band?s sound. Their third album Mortal Coil explores the vast expanses of post-black metal and continues ster?s habit of fostering multifaceted extreme metal records. Now joined by a 3 new full-time members, Mortal Coil is easily Ddsrit?s most nuanced effort to date, their combination of shoegaze, hardcore, and black metal not exactly groundbreaking but effective nonetheless. The record?s melodic core is the main selling point here, and whether in the form of harmonized leads or octave chords their exuberance can?t be denied. If you?re searching for black metal record that honors the genre?s frostbitten roots but also isn?t afraid to venture out into sun, Mortal Coil is for you. |
| Dogman In Torment I Die (demo) | 3.0 |
| Doja Cat Hot Pink | 3.5 |
| Doldrum The Knocking, Or The Story of… | 4.0 |
| Dolmen Shrine 2020 Rehearsal | 3.0 |
| Dolorvotre Dolorvotre | 3.5 |
| Domains Sinister Ceremonies | 3.5 |
| Dominus Xul To the Glory of the Ancient Ones | 4.5 |
| Dommedagssalme Terra | 3.5 |
| Dommedagssalme Division | 4.0 |
| Don Caballero What Burns Never Returns | 3.5 |
| Donovan Wolfington Stop Breathing | 4.0 |
| HEY THIS IS CATCHY |
| Doom Formation Definition of Evil | 3.5 |
| Doth Datura Wrightii | 3.5 |
| Dotzd Fantasia | 4.0 |
| Dragged Into Sunlight Terminal Aggressor II | 2.5 |
| DragonForce Maximum Overload | 3.5 |
| DragonForce Valley of the Damned | 4.0 |
| DragonForce Sonic Firestorm | 4.0 |
| DragonForce Inhuman Rampage | 4.0 |
| Drast DOR | 3.5 |
| Drastus La Croix de Sang | 3.5 |
| Drastus Serpent's Chalice - Materia Prima | 4.0 |
| Draugsol Volaða Land | 3.5 |
| Dreadnought The Endless | 4.0 |
| Dreams of the Drowned Dreams of the Drowned I | 3.5 |
| Dreamshade A Pale Blue Dot | 3.0 |
| ?Nothing but the Truth? is the best melodeath inspired metalcore song to come out in the last decade. |
| Drekavac Grave Dirt and Blood | 3.5 |
| Drenched/Skulls Monuments of Ancient Death | 3.0 |
| Drenglyndr Blade And Honour | 3.5 |
| Dressed In Streams Dressed In Streams | 4.0 |
| Dressed In Streams Azad Hind | 4.0 |
| Dressed In Streams The Search for Blood | 4.0 |
| Dressed In Streams Swaraj: or, "Self Rule" | 4.0 |
| Drop Dead, Gorgeous In Vogue | 3.5 |
| Dross I & II | 3.5 |
| Drowning the Light The Masters Call | 3.0 |
| Drowning the Light The Weeping Moon | 3.0 |
| Drowning the Light A Pact With Madness | 3.5 |
| Drowning the Light An Alignment of Dead Stars | 3.5 |
| Drowning the Light 06/06/06 It Begins Here... | 3.5 |
| Drowning the Light A World Long Dead | 3.5 |
| Drowning the Light Through The Noose of Existence | 3.5 |
| Drowning the Light To The End Of Time | 3.5 |
| Drowning the Light Of Celtic Blood & Satanic Pride | 3.5 |
| Drowning the Light Catacombs of Blood | 3.5 |
| Drowning the Light Paradise Slaves | 3.5 |
| Damnnnnnn, Drowning The Light! Back at it again w/the romantic, melodic, and raw black metal! |
| Drowning the Light A Gleam in the Eye of Set | 3.5 |
| Drowning the Light The Fading Rays Of The Sun | 4.0 |
| Drowning the Light The Serpents Reign | 4.0 |
| Drowning the Light The Blood Of The Ancients | 4.0 |
| Drowning the Light Oceans of Eternity | 4.0 |
| Despite being one of the most inconsistent black metal musicians in previous years, Azgorh has since become a fairly strong force within the genre; the quality of the music has improved greatly, and in turn, Drowning The Light's popularity has deservedly soared. This is some top-notch atmospheric black metal, complete with all the recently great melodic choices that have made the past few DTL releases worthwhile. |
| Drowning the Light From the Abyss | 4.0 |
| Drowning The Light continue to get better. Each song has a "special" something that makes it memorable. |
| Drowning the Light The Vampire Cipher | 4.0 |
| Drowning the Light Cursed Below the Waves | 4.0 |
Azgorh's newest album explores the deepest and darkest depths of the ocean without the losing
blackened melodicism his recent records have exuded so effortlessly. |
| Drowning the Light Varcolaci Rising | 4.5 |
| As one of the most prolific artists in modern black metal, Drowning the Light strides and progress are noticeable with every album he releases. Varcolaci Rising is no exception, and it seems like Azorgh has his raw and romantic brand of black metal down to a science. The material here is very straightforward and full of strong melodies, making each track an absolute earworm, and the album as a whole, worthwhile. |
| Drowning The Light/Acherontas Drowning the Light/Acherontas | 4.0 |
| Hailing from Australia (Drowning The Light) and Greece (Acherontas) respectfully, both bands play a raw, majestic form of atmospheric black metal. Acherontas provides a more harsh yet melodic approach while Drowning the Light adds the perfect amount of keyboard atmospherics to match their almost equally as scathing approach. Although only 2 songs long, this is split recommended to anyone. |
| Drowning The Light/Circle of Ouroborus Moonflares | 4.0 |
| Drowning the Light/Empire of Tharaphita Path of the Old Lunar Cult Empire | 3.5 |
| Drowning The Virgin Silence Beneath The Sulfur Sky | 4.0 |
| Drudkh They Often See Dreams About The Spring | 3.5 |
| Druid Lord Relics of the Dead | 3.5 |
| Drux Vinterstilla | 3.0 |
| Dry Insides Deformity | 3.0 |
| DSKNT PhSPHR Entropy | 3.5 |
| Dua Lipa Future Nostalgia | 3.5 |
| Dua Saleh CROSSOVER | 4.0 |
| I'm not going to pretend like I understand club music or whatever niche microgenre of pop this belongs to, but I am finding myself enjoying this nonetheless. Dua has an amazing voice that has the tendency to exude vulnerability and confidence in equal measure and the guest spots really help diversify the vocal stylings (not that it they needed it though). Musically, it's minimalist-adjacent and the ideal vehicle for her sultry tones. |
| Dubuffet Batrakos | 3.0 |
| Dungeon Serpent World of Sorrows | 4.0 |
| Probably the best melodeath I've heard it years. Not overly saccharine but melodic enough for the hooks to embed themselves. The production is gritty and sounds like a long lost early 90's demo. Great riffs and vocals. |
| Dunnock Only Coming Up Twice | 3.5 |
| Dunnock Little Stories Told By Ghosts | 4.0 |
| Durazis Prayer Rehearsal | 3.5 |
| Durazis Rehearsal 04/29/09 | 3.5 |
| Durazis Demo 2012 | 3.5 |
| Durazis Curse | 3.5 |
| Durazis Nox Odium de Profundum | 3.5 |
| Durazis Feast Of Human Death | 3.5 |
| Durazis Into Negative Existence Rehearsal | 4.0 |
| Dwalin The Fall of Gondolin | 3.5 |
| Dwalin does justice to the fabled grandeur of the great Elven Kingdom of Gondolin, realm of Turgon, Lord of Nevrast, King of Gondolin, Lord of the House of the King, High King of the oldor. |
| Dystopia Na! Syklus | 4.0 |
| Eave Banners to the Moonswept | 3.0 |
| Echtra BardO | 3.5 |
| Cascadian black metal auteur Echtra returns with his first album in five years, a devastating statement of anxiety inducing atmosphere, harrowing doom, and otherworldly black metal. |
| Ecloss Diluvienne | 3.0 |
| Ectoplasma Cavern Of Foul Unbeings | 3.5 |
| Edasi Horror Movie | 3.5 |
| Edguy Rocket Ride | 3.0 |
| Eerified Catacomb / Icon of Curse Eerified Catacomb / Icon of Curse | 3.5 |
| Eidola Degeneraterra | 3.5 |
| Well fuck me, this rules. |
| Eidola To Speak, to Listen | 3.5 |
| Eigenlicht Sacral Regicide | 4.0 |
| Hellenic inspired black metal from Washington. Really fucking awesome stuff. |
| Eighteen Visions Eighteen Visions | 3.5 |
| Eighteen Visions Obsession | 4.0 |
| Eighteen Visions Yesterday Is Time Killed | 4.0 |
| Eighteen Visions Lifeless | 4.0 |
| Eighteen Visions XVIII | 4.0 |
| XVIII sounds like the forgotten child of Until the Ink Runs Out and Vanity, and I am not complaining one bit. |
| Eighteen Visions Inferno | 4.0 |
| After their redemptive come back with XVIII, Eighteen Visions continue to impress with their post-reunion material; Inferno is everything and more a fan of the band could want. Recalling their Until the Ink Runs Out while downtuning to acquiesce with the modern standard for "heavy", Inferno is chock full of skronky riffs, heart-racing breakdowns, and enough movie samples to satisfy any cinephile. This isn't even mentioning how great James sounds, as the vocalist provides perhaps his best performance yet. This release just proves Eighteen Visions is here to stay, and honestly, I am too. |
| Eighteen Visions Vanity | 5.0 |
| Eighteen Visions Until The Ink Runs Out | 5.0 |
| Eighteen Visions The Best Of Eighteen Visions | 5.0 |
| A collection of re-recorded songs from Lifeless, ]Time Is Yesterday Killed, and No Time For Love, The Best of Eighteen Visions is a shining example of why Eighteen Visions were one of the best metalcore bands of the early 2000's. With an improved production and the same unwavering enthusiasm, 18v relentless rips through 11 tracks of devastating metalcore that emphasize mosh-worthy riffage, whirlwind drumming and psychotic vocals. |
| Ein Entropie | 3.5 |
| Eithel Sirion Misanthropic Spheres of Damnation | 4.0 |
| El-Ahrairah The Blessing | 4.0 |
| El-Ahrairah El-Ahrairah 2009 Demo | 4.5 |
| El-Ahrairah Demo MMXII | 4.5 |
| El-Ahrairah El-Ahrairah | 4.5 |
It should be celebrated that El-Ahriarah created a raw black metal album that breaks the rules. With touches of
experimentalism littered throughout the course of this album, it's a record that is so many things at once, but still
feels unified under a singular vision. It's melodic, it's punk-y, it has a million different kinds of bells-and-whistles,
and they all come together to make this album one of the best black metal records of the year. |
| Elderwind The Colder The Night | 3.0 |
| this could be a lot better if they strived for a more guitar-oriented sound to match the brilliance and majesty of the keyboard playing |
| Electrocution Inside the Unreal | 4.5 |
| Electrocution played technical death metal before it was really called technical death metal; instead of all the gravity blasting, sweep abusing shit that comes out now, Inside the Unreal was old-school death metal with an extra technical edge. Still full of great, thick riffage, Electrocution literally played circles around everyone else but never come off as over the top; the balance between standard death metal elements and added instrumental ability here is perfect, allowing for this album to be remembered in the classic status it so rightfully deserves. |
| Elegiac Thirst for Vengeance | 3.5 |
| Elegiac Black Clouds of War | 4.0 |
| Ella Mai Ella Mai | 3.5 |
| Ellende Lebensnehmer | 3.5 |
| Ellorsith Orbhàis | 3.5 |
| This feels like wintry death metal, and I absolutely dig the crap out of it. |
| Elysian Blaze Cold Walls And Apparitions | 3.0 |
| Em Dath Rir The First Demonstration | 4.0 |
| Emarosa 131 | 2.0 |
| Emarosa Emarosa | 4.0 |
| Emarosa Versus | 4.0 |
| Emarosa Peach Club | 4.0 |
| This is what pop rock should sound like. |
| Emarosa Relativity | 4.5 |
| Embers Shadows | 3.5 |
| Embodied Spectre La Vall | 3.5 |
| Embra Abjection | 3.5 |
| Empire of Hate Visions of A Better Time | 4.0 |
| Enbilulugugal Offerings to Curlyton | 3.5 |
| Raw and noisy USBM from the genre's resident pervertor of convention. |
| Encoffination O Hell, Shine In Thy Whited Sepulchres | 4.0 |
| Encoffination/Rotting Kingdom Wretched Enigma Of Salvation | 4.0 |
| End These Days Ambivalence | 3.0 |
| End Times Descension | 3.5 |
| Endlosung/Morbus Mundi Endlosung / Morbus Mundi | 2.0 |
| A dual NSBM split masterminded by Boreas Meru, Endlosung / Morbus Mundi is a complete mess of a record. Endlosung's side manages to suffer from disgusting repetition (despite the fact the songs barely reach over a minute and half in length) and Morbus Mundi's side is 1) barely audible while still suffering from the same problems as Endlosung. Awful. |
| Engraved Before The Tales | 4.0 |
| Unlike much of modern melodeath which comes of as generic and uninspired, Engraved's demo 1995 is a true marriage of original death metal stylings and epic melodies. Backed by a truly fitting muddy production, this demo features some great, downtuned riffs, excellent guttural vocals and great, classic metal inspired melodies. |
| Engrossed Promo '18 | 3.0 |
| Engulfed Engulfed in Obscurity | 3.5 |
| Enisum Seasons Of Desolation | 3.5 |
| Enon Chapel Enon Chapel | 3.5 |
| Meghan Wood (Crown of Asteria, Iarnvidgur) and Balan (Palace of Worms, Botanist, Ordo Obsidium) get together and write an album about Jack the Ripper with musical influences from Ildjarn, Bone Awl, Cult of Daath, Les Legions Noire, and The Black Twilight Circle. This didn't even stand a chance of being bad. |
| Enshroud Demo IV | 3.5 |
| Enshroud The Emergence of Crawling Shadows That Lurk Within | 3.5 |
| Enshroud Demo II | 3.5 |
| Enslaved Isa | 3.0 |
| Enslaved Ruun | 3.5 |
| Enslaved Blodhemn | 3.5 |
| Enslaved Frost | 4.0 |
| Enslaved Below the Lights | 4.0 |
| Enslaved Eld | 4.0 |
| Enslaved Monumension | 4.0 |
| Enslaved Vertebrae | 4.0 |
| Enslaved Vikingligr Veldi | 4.5 |
| Enslaved Mardraum - Beyond the Within | 4.5 |
| Enslaved Axioma Ethica Odini | 4.5 |
| Axioma Ethica Odini is without a doubt the ultimate culmination of Enslaved's previous efforts; retaining the progressing rock elements of their last three albums while boosting the black metal elements that remained strangely absent, Axioma Ethica Odini is undoubtedly Enslaved's masterpiece album. |
| Ensnared Inimicus Generis Humani | 3.5 |
| Enter Shikari Take to the Skies | 3.0 |
| Entombed Left Hand Path | 5.0 |
| Entombed Clandestine | 5.0 |
| Entrails (SWE) The Tomb Awaits | 3.5 |
| I probably like this more than I should but there is something about Entrails no-deviation Swedish death metal sound that inspires me; everything here is run of mill, but who says that's such a bad thing? |
| Entrancement Demo I | 3.5 |
| Entropy Created Consciousness Impressions of the Morning Star | 3.5 |
| Entsetzlich Tormentous Lamentations | 3.5 |
| Eosphoros Eosphoros | 3.5 |
| Epheles Les Anges de la derniere Scene | 3.5 |
| Epheles Je Suis Autrefois | 4.0 |
| These french black metal veterans just don't know how to make a bad album |
| Epitaph Seeming Salvation | 2.5 |
| While Seeming Salvation is certainly not a horrible album when it really comes down to it their brand of Swedish death metal lacks a personality. Without the fair that led so many of their fellow countrymen to fame in the extreme metal underground, Epitaph's stagnant combination of thrash and death metal shows potential but just never quite gets a hold of utilizing it correctly |
| Epitaphe II | 3.5 |
| Eroded (JPN) IN | 3.5 |
| Erosion (CAN) Maximum Suffering | 3.5 |
| ERRA ERRA | 3.0 |
| Erraunt The Portent | 4.0 |
| Eructation 1992 Demo | 4.0 |
| Eructation The Fumes of Putrefaction (1992-1995) | 4.0 |
| Erythrite Throne Call of the Northern Moon | 3.5 |
| Along with Witches Moon and Wamypric Rites, Erythrite Throne is another prolific yet enigmatic entity dedicated to conjuring nearly unlistenable raw and blackened hymns. |
| Escalator Demo | 4.0 |
| Escape the Fate Dying Is Your Latest Fashion | 4.0 |
| Escape the Fate There's No Sympathy for the Dead | 4.5 |
| Esgaroth Hail Darkness | 3.0 |
| Instrumental melodic black metal with flourishes of symphonic pomp. It's actually pretty well balanced, and though the music is fairly conventional for the genre, it's still catchy with that touch of rough around the edges. |
| Esoctrilihum Pandaemorthium | 3.5 |
| Esoctrilihum The Telluric Ashes of the Ö Vrth Immemorial Gods | 3.5 |
| Designed to fit between their charnel sophomore album Pandaemorthium and the blackened necromancy of Inhu?ma, The Telluric Ashes of the O? Vrth Immemorial Gods bends together neanderthalic barbism with celestial mysticism to create a piece that bridges the gap between the two periods, but more importantly, stands as a testament to the power these disparities have when masterfully strewn together. |
| Esoctrilihum F'htansg | 3.5 |
| Esoctrilihum Inhüma | 4.0 |
| Delving further into the hellish chasms he excavated earlier this year on Pandaemorthium, Esoctrilihum is back for his second full-length of the year, Inhu?ma, an all-around more visceral and haunting experience in cavernous black/death metal. Showing slight leaps in sophistication only lends to making this experience more harrowing as if darkness itself manifested consciousness and is intent on casting your soul into diabolical inferno. |
| Esoctrilihum Eternity Of Shaog | 4.0 |
| Esoctrilihum Dy'th Requiem for the Serpent Telepath | 4.0 |
| Esoctrilihum Consecration of the Spiritus Flesh | 4.0 |
| Esoteric A Pyrrhic Existence | 3.5 |
| Estuarine Sic Erat Scriptum | 3.5 |
| Jazzy blackened death experi-metal? |
| Eterna Rovina Observer | 3.5 |
| Eterna Rovina Monolito | 4.0 |
| Eternal Fortress Enchanted Woods of Sorrow | 4.0 |
| Eternity Forever Fantasy | 3.5 |
Definitely not bad, but "Fantasy" and "Letting Go" were the highlights off this and I've already played them to the
point of exhaustion. Hopefully an LP yields some more consistent fare. |
| Ethicist II | 3.0 |
| Evaporated Sores Ulcerous Dimensions | 3.5 |
| Evilfeast Elegies of the Stellar Wind | 3.5 |
| Exaltation (NZ) Under Blind Reasoning | 3.5 |
| Exalted Eyes Rolled Back | 4.0 |
| Excellent punk influenced black metal EP. Fast, chaotic yet still extremely catchy and lots of fun. Although it is truly a shame this is EP is so short (only two songs), one thing it does for sure is make you want to check out the band's back catalog as well as get you excited for future material. Awesome. |
| Execration (NOR) Odes Of The Occult | 3.5 |
| Exeloume Fairytale of Perversion | 3.5 |
| Exhumation (GR) Seas of Eternal Silence | 4.0 |
| Exhumation (GR) Dance Across the Past | 4.5 |
| Exoto A Thousand Dreams Ago | 3.5 |
| Exoto Carnival of Souls | 4.0 |
| Exsul Allegoresis | 3.5 |
| The result of combining caveman death metal with coffee house jazz. Better than that sounds though, lol. |
| Extremity Coffin Birth | 3.5 |
| Eye of Solitude The Deceit | 3.0 |
| Eye of Solitude Sui Caedere | 3.5 |
| Eye of Solitude Canto III | 3.5 |
| F45.2 Parasitosis | 3.5 |
| F45.2 Bromosis | 3.5 |
| Face the Rail Face the Rail | 4.0 |
| Faceless Burial Speciation | 3.5 |
| Faceless Burial Multiversal Abattoir | 4.0 |
| Faceless Burial At The Foothills Of Deliration | 4.0 |
| Faceless Entity In Via ad Nusquam | 3.5 |
| Failures Decline And Fall | 3.5 |
| Failures Failures | 4.0 |
| Faith No More The Real Thing | 3.5 |
| Falaise My Endless Immensity | 3.5 |
| Falaise A Place I Don't Belong To | 3.5 |
| Fall Out Boy Infinity on High | 3.5 |
| Fall Out Boy Take This to Your Grave | 4.5 |
| Fallen Christ Abduction Ritual | 4.0 |
| Falling in Reverse The Drug in Me Is You | 3.5 |
| Falling in Reverse Fashionably Late | 3.5 |
| Falls of Rauros Patterns in Mythology | 5.0 |
| This is the type of album where words fail to do it justice. |
| Falls of Rauros Key to a Vanishing Future | 5.0 |
In retrospect, Fall of Rauros? last album felt like the end of an era. It was the culmination of a
linear progression for the band, one that started with the acoustic tinkering and scrappily
produced Hail Wind and Hewn Oak and then ended with a masterclass of folk-inflected black
metal, Patterns in Mythology. This isn?t to say their new record, Key To A Vanishing
Future is a million miles away from its predecessor(s) stylistically; no, within the euphoric
guitar leads and raspy proclamations strewn throughout the album you can still hear vestiges of
the ?old? Falls of Rauros. But now, they have so much more to offer. Key to A Vanishing
Gate is their most expressive performance to date, with the band achieving that magic
equilibrium between past glories and discovering a meaningful way to push their sound forward.
This sonic shift is the result of Falls?. centering elements that were previously relegated to the
peripheries of their blackened rtumult. Pre-release single ?Clarity? indulged in the band?s more
progressive inclinations while penultimate track ?Daggers in the Floodlight? is perhaps the
heaviest number in their catalog, with hints of death metal protruding through to the surface. As
?Poverty Hymn? - probably the song rmost reminiscent of their prior material- brings the album to
a close it?s apparent Falls of Rauros have stepped out of their comfort zone to deliver an
eclectic yet compelling album with Key to A Vanishing Future a record that should satiate
their current fanbase with the potential to expand it as well.r |
| False Hunger | 3.5 |
| False Portent | 5.0 |
False's newest effort Portent is a modern incarnation of Emperor's symphonic bombast filtered through 25
years of black metal evolution and supplemented by USBM's knack for twisting genre staples into something new
and previously unheard. And to be honest, there really is nothing that sounds like False; Portent takes all the
conventions of overly pompous black metal - orchestral backdrops, furious blasting, winding tremolo guitars - and
whips it all together into a maelstrom of melody and chaos. Thanks to their roots in the Minnesota DIY and
hardcore scenes, there is a underlying punk pastiche that makes the record feel real and grounded despite its
potential to burst through the stratosphere. In a year where black metal is dominating (especially the black metal
coming from the band's label, Gilead Media) False matches their peers' excellence and raises the bar for
everyone else. |
| False Lives Demo | 3.5 |
| Famous Last Words Pick Your Poison | 3.5 |
| These guys may be doing that whole dancey metalcore stuff but hey, it's catchy. We can't be looking for serious music all the time, and during those off times when you need a little brevity, this is a fun little EP that is pretty easily enjoyable. |
| Fanebærer / Carved Cross Fanebærer / Carved Cross | 4.0 |
| Fatal FE Transfornation | 3.5 |
| What the hell? A trance influenced post-hardcore band that actually doesn't completely suck, in fact actually rules quite a bit. Fail Emotions display a much higher level of technicality than some of their contemporaries that they manage to perfectly weave in and out in-between swathes of frisky, danceable electronica fun. The vocals are heavily autotuned but the band still pulls them off in style, juxtaposing the extremely commercial production technique against harsh screams and screeches. |
| Father Befouled Holy Rotten Blood | 3.0 |
| Father Befouled Morbid Destitution of Covenant | 3.5 |
| There is a lot of Incantation worship that goes on these days, and these guys plain and simple do it without much deviance. Good thing Incantation rules or these guys would be in trouble. |
| Father Befouled Desolate Gods | 3.5 |
| At this point, Father Befouled do Incantation better than Incantation. |
| Father Befouled Revulsion of Seraphic Grace | 4.0 |
| Father Befouled Crowned in Veneficum | 4.0 |
| Favorite Weapon Sixty Saragossa | 2.5 |
| Fell Voices Fell Voices | 4.0 |
| Fell Voices 2010 Tour CD-R | 4.5 |
| Fell Voices Untitled | 5.0 |
| Fellwinter Loyalty, Honor, Darkness | 3.5 |
| Femacoffin Demo 2013 | 3.5 |
| Feminazgul The Age of Men Is Over | 3.0 |
It's easy to pass on the hilariously titled Feminazgul; you pretty much know it's rife with anti-patriarchal hymns
and other pro-feminine extremisms. But isn't that kind of black metal has always been about? Preaching ideals
whether satanic, naturalistic, or otherwise to their utmost degree? Musically, this record is far from perfect, but I
can't help but admire Margaret Killjoy's sense of defiance and her willingness to shift the black metal paradigm on
it's head for her own purposes. |
| Feminazgul No Dawn for Men | 4.0 |
| The new Feminazgl record, No Dawn For Men is an incredible achievement of progressive, feminist black metal. Although I appreciated the concept of their previous album The Age of Men is Over, more than I necessarily appreciated the music (it was absolutely fine, just nothing to write home about), No Dawn For Men sees both elements in fine form. It has that lo-fi grit common to raw(er) black metal, yet melodically it adheres closer to post-black metal, employing wave after wave of uplifting tremolo riffage. There's a very pronounced orchestral/atmospheric element present throughout as well, which only serves to further bolster the already impressive and beautiful music created by the more "traditional" instrumentals. From start to finish this record is a win and highly recommended. |
| Feminazgul/Awenden Feminazgul/Awenden Split | 3.5 |
| Festerday Iihtallan | 3.0 |
| Fief III | 4.0 |
| Fief IV | 4.0 |
| Fief I-IV | 4.5 |
| Fields of Mildew Fields of Mildew | 4.0 |
| Fields of Mildew self-titled album is definitely one of my favorite releases of 2015; distributed by Fallow Field, but neither black metal or power electronics, Fields of Mildew is stirring, lo-fi folk of the highest caliber. Consisting of only guitars and vocals, whoever is behind Fields of Mildew is quite adept at creating despondent, yet beautiful melodies. Recommended. |
| Fire from the Gods Narrative | 3.0 |
| Fire In The Cave Fire In the Cave | 4.0 |
| Firebird Firebird | 4.0 |
| Firebird No. 3 | 4.0 |
| Firehouse Firehouse | 4.0 |
| Firnglow A Long Awaited Presence | 4.0 |
| Fit for an Autopsy The Sea of Tragic Beasts | 3.5 |
| FKJ French Kiwi Juice | 3.5 |
| Flail Flail | 3.5 |
| Flail Dying Embers to Coldening Coals | 3.5 |
| Flaming Ouroboros Uphold the Majesty | 4.0 |
| Fleshrot (USA-TX) Unburied Corpse | 3.5 |
| Fless Frenzied Bloodlust Underneath a Black Moon | 3.5 |
| Flourishing The Sum of All Fossils | 3.0 |
| Fluisteraars/Turia De Oord | 3.5 |
| Foothill Roots Nature Resonates (demo) | 3.5 |
| I was expecting a black/folk metal album, but was instead surprised by raggedy and raw black metal with an excellent backdrop of an atmosphere. Excited to see what else this band does. |
| Forþfæderasþrymcymeúpsprungennes Dark Druidic Folk Rites | 3.0 |
| Forest Mysticism Forest Mysticism | 4.0 |
| Forest Mysticism Demo Collection (2006-2011) | 4.0 |
| Forest Mysticism Hearken | 4.0 |
Forest Mysticism's second demo was one of my first experiences with raw music, and it
changed the way I saw black metal. Unfortunately, as a side project of Australian
mastermind D, leader of Woods of Desolation, Grey Waters, etc... Forest Mysticism offered
sparse material until recently. It's not as beautifully under-produced as his demos but
it's still super melodic and wondrous atmospheric black metal with some slight folk
elements thrown in for good measure. |
| Forest Mysticism/Larmes d'Hivers Blood of the Woodland/The Fall of Autumn | 4.0 |
| Forest Mysticism/Runespell Wandering Forlorn | 4.0 |
| Forest of Grey Crypsis | 4.0 |
| Cascadian black metal with a more progressive slant, not relying on repetition as much as adventurousness. |
| Forests Spending Eternity In A Japanese Convenience Store | 3.5 |
| Foret D'Hiver La Fin Du Monde | 4.0 |
| Forges Forges | 3.5 |
| Forgotten Spell Desecrated, Decayed and Still Holy | 4.0 |
| Forgotten Spell The Necromancer Demo | 4.0 |
| Forhist Forhist | 3.5 |
| Forlornd Eru Ilüvatar | 3.0 |
| Formorket Mane Absolute Fucking Darkness [Demo] | 1.0 |
| Fosso Solo Amargo | 3.5 |
| Four Year Strong Go Down In History | 2.5 |
| Makes me not want to take history class anymore. And I LOVED history class. |
| Four Year Strong Brain Pain | 2.5 |
| Four Year Strong Enemy of the World | 3.5 |
| Four Year Strong It's Our Time | 4.0 |
| Four Year Strong Rise Or Die Trying | 5.0 |
| Foxes (UK) Glorious | 3.0 |
| Foxes (UK) All I Need | 3.0 |
| Foxtails III | 3.5 |
| Frameworks Small Victories | 4.0 |
| Frontier Demo | 4.0 |
| Hailing from Massachusetts, Frontier plays a form of modern black metal with slight "post" influences. Everything from the instrumentals to the vocals are top notch. Definitely a band to look out for. |
| Frozen Soul Crypt Of Ice | 3.0 |
| Fuath I | 4.0 |
| Fugitive Wizard Extorris Magus Chapter I | 3.5 |
| Fugitive Wizard Extorris Magus Chapter II | 3.5 |
| Fugitive Wizard Extorris Magus Chapter III | 3.5 |
| Fugitive Wizard Obscuri Æternum | 3.5 |
| Fuming Mouth The Grand Descent | 3.5 |
| fun. Some Nights | 2.5 |
| fun. Aim and Ignite | 3.5 |
| Funebrarum The Sleep of Morbid Dreams | 4.5 |
| charles rules |
| Funebre Children of the Scorn | 4.0 |
| Funeral Altar Demo V | 3.5 |
| Funeral Chic Hatred Swarm | 3.5 |
| Funeral Chic Superstition | 3.5 |
| Funeral For God Deus Mortuus Est | 3.0 |
| Funerary Temple / Nihil Invocation Occult Longing for the Essence | 3.5 |
| Funereal Presence Achatius | 4.0 |
| Funereum Re Velatio | 3.5 |
| I'm usually not a fan of melodic death/doom, but Re-Velatio is pretty great. They are bit heavy-handed on the atmospherics, but overall the incorporation of synthesizers is pretty well done, and the addition of clean, female vocals is a nice fit. Nothing groud-breaking, but well done nonetheless. |
| Furdidurke November 2005 Rehearsal | 4.0 |
| Furdidurke Furdidurke | 4.0 |
| Furdidurke Native | 4.0 |
| Furze UTD | 2.5 |
| Furze The Presence... | 3.5 |
| Fuvk Almost Tuesday | 3.0 |
| Gabestok Tre | 4.0 |
| Gabestok Én Gang Rådden, Altid Rådden | 4.0 |
| Galvanizer Prying Sight Of Imperception | 3.5 |
| Garden of Silence Demo 92 | 3.5 |
| GARDSGHASTR Slit Throat Requiem | 4.0 |
| Garroted Of Damnation and Abyssal Terrors | 4.0 |
| Gash Crossing the Lugubrious Plateau | 3.0 |
| Gatecreeper Deserted | 3.0 |
| Gatecreeper An Unexpected Reality | 4.0 |
| Although their previous material is far from bad, I don't particularly feel they've earned the near universal acclaim heaped upon them since Deserted. That being said, An Unexpected Reality is a welcome improvement on Gatecreepers "stadium death metal" (their words, not mine) aesthetic; the choice to more heavily embrace their hardcore roots has imbued their music the energy and punchiness that their previous material lacks. However, closing death/doom track "Emptiness" can't be overlooked either, as it might be the best song here. They would do well in the future to either fully tread the path of hardcore influence or doom inspiration, not the plodding middle ground they've been exploring for the last decade. |
| Gates of Dawn Gates of Dawn | 4.0 |
| Gauche (AUS) Siesta Cinema | 4.0 |
| Gaunt Demo | 4.0 |
| Gaylord The Black Metal Scene Needs To Be Destroyed | 3.5 |
| Geheimnisvoll Venomous Sorcery Through Hidden Darkness | 3.5 |
| Gevurah Sulphur Soul | 3.0 |
| Ghash Goat | 3.5 |
| The production leaves much to be desired, but as far as post-black metal goes, one of the more original offerings I've heard recently. |
| Ghastly (FIN) Mercurial Passages | 4.0 |
| Ghastly (FIN) Death Velour | 4.5 |
| Ghâsh / Marunata / Dreamshift / A Light in the Dark Colors of the Mind | 4.0 |
Post-black metal as a whole may be tired, played-out and for the most part boring, but this split
featuring four new(er) post-black metal bands somehow isn't. |
| Ghost (POL) The Lost of Mercy | 3.5 |
| Old school death/doom that fucking slays. RIFFS RIFFS RIFFS. |
| Ghost (SWE) Impera | 3.5 |
| Ghost (SWE) Seven Inches Of Satanic Panic | 5.0 |
| Coming from someone who is impartial to Ghost, I haven't even listened to the other song and it could be utter shit, but this would still be a 5 purely based on how good "Mary On A Cross" is. |
| Ghostbound All Is Phantom | 3.0 |
| GHOSTEMANE Hexada | 3.5 |
I genuinely don't understand the disdain for this guy; His trap rap atmospheres conjure up the
same obscure mysticism that was floating over Norway in early 90's: his delivery is smooth, his
voice is different, and his flow is pretty great. Maybe I can't get over the distinct black metal-
ness of this, but I like it. |
| GHOSTEMANE N/O/I/S/E | 4.0 |
| Ghosts and Vodka Addicts and Drunks | 4.5 |
| Glaare To Deaf and Day | 3.5 |
| Glencove Anaphoric State | 3.5 |
| Gloria's Garden Gloria's Garden | 3.5 |
| Glorior Belli The Apostates | 3.0 |
| Glorious Depravity Ageless Violence | 3.0 |
| Glossolalia Gold in the Throat | 4.0 |
| Gnaw Their Tongues Kapmeswonden en Haatliederen | 3.5 |
| Gnaw Their Tongues An Eternity Of Suffering, An Eternity Of Pain | 3.5 |
| Goath II. Opposition | 3.5 |
| God Forbid Reject the Sickness | 3.5 |
| I'm not really understanding the lower ratings for this one, it absolutely slaps. The addition of thrash elements to the melodeath parts really gives the music a propulsive, energetic feel. |
| God Forbid IV: Constitution of Treason | 4.0 |
| God Macabre The Winterlong | 4.0 |
The Winterlong is an album that was released in 1993 and was (for the most part) forgotten.
Thankfully, some denizen of the late 2000's blogspot scene was also a collector of obscure Swedish
OSDM and uploaded it to their site or it may have remained gone forever. Since then the album has
rightfully gained a cult following and status as an un(der)heralded *classic* of that famed scene,
a fine example of the then burgeoning movement that's so fondly remembered today. |
| Gold Necklace Gold Necklace | 4.0 |
| Eternity Forever's eponymous EP was released and then immediately mythologized due to inter-band drama and a quick break-up. This meant Gold Necklace - a project between Brandon Ewing and Kurt Travis and the spiritual successor to Eternity Forever - had a lot to live up to before releasing a single note. Thankfully, Gold Necklace delivers; it's smooth and sultry, with guitar lines that could ace algebra but also steal your girl, and crooning that makes hearts flutter. It has the best of math rock and the best of R'n'B, which when working in tandem, prove to be a powerful combination. |
| Golgothan Remains Perverse Offerings To The Void | 3.5 |
| Gonemage Mystical Extraction | 4.5 |
Even going into this record knowing what it would sound like, I was still very much floored by
Gonemage’s debut album. Continuing in the spirit of Cara Neir’s last outing, Mystical Extraction
is the dungeon crawler alternative to Phase Out’s platformer black metal. Imagine if Bergtatt-era
Ulver and Castlevania’s Symphony of the Night soundtrack sired a child that was raised by
Dillinger Escape Plan and Slowdive and you’re halfway to understanding what Mystical Extraction
sounds like. Nothing here seems cobbled together though, with multi-instrumentalist/vocalist
Galimgim carefully curating elements from the aforementioned genres and sculpting them in ways
that feel fresh yet nostalgic all at once. Black metal and video games both share a certain
reverence for the past, but if Mystical Extraction is any indication, they’ve always had more in
common than we ever thought. |
| Gonemage Sudden Deluge | 4.5 |
Following up Mystical Extraction, Gonemage is back again with another boundary-breaking
blackened 8-bit garage emo record, Sudden Deluge. Featuring a smattering of other like-
minded forward-thinking black metal adjacent artists (Abysmal Specter of Old Nick, 8-bit/black
metal curator Winterquilt, & chiptune wunderkind Lunar Cult among MANY others), Sudden
Deluge continues Galimgim's (Garry Brents) ambitious inclinations to never rest on his
laurels, culminating in an album with many moving parts that somehow all fit together perfectly.
With a more pronounced garage rock and pop influence this time around, what Sudden Deluge
loses in the kitschy side-scroller charm of Mystical Extraction it makes up for in more
immediate melodies, and more attitude. Video game fans be not afraid however; there is still
plenty of Castlevania-inspired synthwork to please your average Belmont-stan. There is not enough
room here to adequately describe all of what makes Sudden Deluge such an amazing listen,
but you can pre-order the album and now and find out for yourself Nov. 19th. |
| Gonemage Handheld Demise | 4.5 |
| Goodbye To Sleep I Lost You In The Cold | 3.5 |
| This is honestly good as fuck. Sometimes I forget we have a lot of homegrown talent around here. Bump this! |
| Goodbye World At Death's Door | 4.0 |
| Gorebringer Terrified Beyond Measure | 3.5 |
| Gorephilia Ascend to Chaos | 4.0 |
| Gorephilia Embodiment of Death | 4.0 |
| Gorephilia Severed Monolith | 4.0 |
| Gorephilia In The Eye Of Nothing | 4.5 |
| The nexus between Azagthothian eccentricity and Finnish absurdity, Gorephilia's third album In The Eye of Nothing is a frequently off-kilter death metal record that embraces dynamicism as much as it does brutality. It touches on so many things that make death metal great; speed, atmosphere, groove all have their part to play here, and Gorephilia's execution is near flawless at every turn. This is what death metal should sound like in 2020. |
| Gorephilia/Undergang Split | 3.5 |
| Gorguts Colored Sands | 2.5 |
| Gorillaz The Now Now | 3.0 |
| I listened to this in my office where people are generally pretty stingy about the music and nobody complained, so I guess that counts for something. Perfectly harmless pop album that's great for summer days. |
| Gospel The Moon Is a Dead World | 4.5 |
| Gospel The Loser | 5.0 |
| The Moon is a Dead World was almost immediately mythologized by Gospel breaking up so soon after it was released. It was unfortunate, but preserved their and the album?s legacy in post-hardcore lore. I was pretty nervous about the new album, but it?s exceeded all my expectations. It?s not just the fact they were able to pick up right where the last album left off, but they were able to push their sound forward meaningfully and somehow captured lightning in a bottle twice. It?s certainly more prog-leaning, but doesn?t lose any of that viscerality that keeps the music from running too far off the edge. |
| Gothayr The Trial for the Black Sun (Chapter of Ariosophic | 3.5 |
| Very raw and cryptic industrial black metal from this Portuguese entity. More than overtly electronic flourishes, the industrial influences feel like they come more from the cold mechanicalism that is always slinking away in the background. The whole thing feels a satanic ritual recorded in an abandoned steel factory, closed for years due to the unfortunate on-site deaths of its working crew. Even for fans of raw black metal this is trying listen, but the feeling of reward is unmatched when it finally clicks. Raw, minimalistic and haunting, this is an album that will keep you up at night. |
| Grafvolludr Promo 2014 | 3.5 |
| Grand Belial's Key Judeobeast Assassination | 5.0 |
| Grand Mood Final Urge To March | 4.0 |
| Taking cues from their contemporaries Cirrhus and Furdidurke, Grand Mood were a short-lived raw black metal/punk band that released this solitary demo in 2011. Able to conjure galloping black metal melodies with a raucous punk stomp, it's truly a shame this band called it quits after only one, excellent tape. They could have gone on to do great things. |
| Grandeur Aurea Aetas | 4.0 |
| Grandmother Grandmother | 3.5 |
| Grave Dust Pale Hand | 3.5 |
| Grave Infestation Persecution of the Dead | 3.5 |
| Grave Miasma Odori Sepulcrorum | 3.5 |
| Grave Miasma Endless Pilgrimage | 3.5 |
| Grave Miasma Abyss of Wrathful Deities | 3.5 |
| Grave Revelations Echoing Graves | 3.5 |
| Grave Upheaval (untitled) | 3.5 |
| Gravehill The Unchaste, the Profane, & the Wicked | 3.5 |
| Gravewards Ruinous Ensoulment | 3.5 |
| Grógaldr Demo I: Malignant Channelings | 3.5 |
| Grógaldr Demo II: Deviant Masque of the Wraith | 3.5 |
| Grógaldr/Äkth Gánahëth Grógaldr/Äkth Gánahëth | 3.5 |
| Green Day American Idiot | 4.0 |
| Grenadier Trumpets Blare in Blazing Glory | 4.0 |
| Greta Van Fleet Anthem of the Peaceful Army | 1.0 |
| Trying to pinpoint stolen or ripped riffs? Don?t you mean having them shoved in our faces for 45 minutes straight? |
| Griefloss Griefloss | 3.5 |
| Grima Will of the Primordial | 3.5 |
| Grinning Death's Head Demo | 3.5 |
| Although it's not quite as developed as their later releases, Grinning Death's Head premier release is one of the most fun black metal/punk hybrids I've heard. Despite the fact that it's essentially total Bone Awl worship, Grinning Death's Head generally do it better than the blackened punk forefathers. Listen to "Prey" and try not to bob your head... You can't, right? |
| Grinning Death's Head No Afterlife | 3.5 |
| Grinning Death's Head Black Sun Rising | 4.0 |
| When you listen to Grinning Death's Head, you pretty much know what you expect: dirty and disgusting blackened punk reminiscent of Bone Awl. And yes, while they certainly recall the aforementioned kings of black punk -most bands in the genre do- honestly, they do it much better. Grinning Death's Head always manage to imbue destructive grooves into their four chord mayhem, creating music that is equal parts devastating, and catchy. Black Sun Rising is undoubtedly one of their strongest efforts, and an essential of the blackened punk genre. |
| Grinning Death's Head Golden Dawn | 4.0 |
| Grinning Death's Head Cataclysm | 4.0 |
| Grinning Death's Head Blood War | 4.5 |
| Grizelda War Held In Motion | 3.5 |
| Grob Metanoia | 3.5 |
| Raw black metal with some really wonderful rtouches of melody. The vocals are rparticularly deranged which makes the rcontrast all the more potent. Feels very rauthentic and "old school" without also rfeeling dated or stale. r |
| Grogaldr Demo I: Malignant Channelings | 3.5 |
| Grogaldr Demo II: Deviant Masque of the Wraith | 3.5 |
| Grogaldr Illness Unto the Womb of Spirit | 4.0 |
| Grogaldr/Kommodus Howling Sanguine Triumph | 3.5 |
| Grot (US) Hymns of the Woodland | 4.0 |
| Gudsforladt Friendship, Love and War | 4.5 |
| I am speechless right now, this is so fucking good. It?s raw and melodic black metal that is greatly inspired by 80?s heavy metal. You may think you know how that will sound in your head, but you don?t. Tentative 4.5, but it will be a 5 assuming the last 2 tracks line up to the rest. |
| Guidelines Rules of the Sife | 4.0 |
| Guidelines S/T_EP | 4.5 |
| Gutter Instinct Heirs of Sisyphus | 4.0 |
| Gutvoid Durance of Lightless Horizons | 4.0 |
| Gyibaaw Ancestral War Hymns | 3.5 |
| Gyibaaw is a pretty vicious little number from Canada who like their contemporaries Mitochondrion, Portal and Antediluvian delve deep into blackened death metal. Unbashedly chaotic, Ancestral War Hynms often times feels like it's exploding into seven different directions at once, but at close inspection you can really have nothing but respect for these Canadian metallers. Overall the songwriting is much more intricate than one can tell at first glace. This is superb debut and I expect great things from this blackened death crew. |
| Gden Beyond Darkness | 3.5 |
| Haapoja Haapoja | 4.0 |
| Hadez Aquelarre | 4.5 |
| Horribly underrated early black/death album that like most extreme metal from South America has very noticeable thrash influences as well. With a sense of minimalism that carries on from the riffs to the suitably dry production, Aquelarre's bare-bones approach is always effective, whether the band be performing their high-speed tremolo picked riffs or delving into the depths of doom with simple yet crushing chords and a funeral crawl pace. Also packed full of leads that range from absolute whammy-bar shred to creepier, more atmospheric lines, the lack of atmosphere from the production is more than made up for with a myriad of different yet equally terrifying guitar textures. To complete this near perfect package are the vocals, a great mash-up of hoarse gutturals and raspy high pitched screeches. Overall an album that is highly developed despite its simplistic presentation, Aquelarre to this day, still deserves to be a more recognized album within death and black metal's formative years. |
| Haenesy Mortals | 3.0 |
| Haenesy/Moondweller Earth and Space | 3.5 |
| Hagetisse The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin | 4.0 |
| Hagzissa Demo 2017 | 3.0 |
| Hagzissa They Ride Along | 3.5 |
| Hail Conjurer Carnal Light | 3.5 |
| Hail the Sun New Age Filth | 2.5 |
| Donovan has literally been singing the same vocal melody, in the same cadence for 3 albums now but.... yeah, go off I guess? |
| Hail the Sun Wake | 3.5 |
| Hajduk Кръв | 3.5 |
| Hajduk Природа | 3.5 |
| Hajduk Свобода | 3.5 |
| Hallow Hallow | 4.0 |
| An album based upon paintings by Mark McCoy, it is a great combination of black metal and noise |
| HammerFall Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken | 3.5 |
| Hand of Glory/Witchmoon Hand of Glory/Witchmoon | 3.5 |
| Hands Like Houses Unimagine | 2.0 |
| Hands Like Houses Ground Dweller | 3.5 |
| Hands of Thieves Feasting on Dark Intentions | 3.5 |
| Hanternoz Au Fleuve de Loire | 3.5 |
| Happy Particles Under Sleeping Waves | 4.0 |
| Harakiri for the Sky Maere | 1.0 |
| Hardware Hardware | 3.5 |
| Generally I would stick far away from industrial death metal (because most of it just plain sucks) however when it comes to Mexico's Hardware, I'll make an exception. Calling their keyboard infected brand of extremity "cyber death metal", Hardware ridiculously titled self-created genre actually does take on a life of its own in the hands of these Mexican banditos. Like most demos the production values for this release are pretty abysmal but the band kills it, blasting away squeaky tremolo picked lines and double bass rhythms while being backed by the unique keyboard atmospherics that create some pretty melancholic tones. It's not perfect and sometimes the band does seem a little less inspired as compared to other times, but overall this is an interesting release from the Mexican and 90's death metal scenes for sure. |
| Hate Eternal Upon Desolate Sands | 3.5 |
| Hate Eternal Phoenix Amongst The Ashes | 4.0 |
| Hateful Abandon Famine (Or Into the Bellies of Worms) | 4.0 |
| One of the earlier practitioners of blackened post-punk, Hateful Abandon combined the cold despondence of post-punk with the surprisingly different feeling of cold despondence from black metal to create something very sad yet compelling. |
| Hath Of Rot And Ruin | 3.5 |
| Hath All That Was Promised | 4.0 |
| Haunter (USA-TX) Sacramental Death Qualia | 4.0 |
| Haunter (USA-TX) Discarnate Ails | 4.0 |
| Haust Ride The Relapse | 4.0 |
| Havohej Table of Uncreation | 3.5 |
| Havukruunu Uinuos Syömein Sota | 4.0 |
| Haxan Haxan | 4.0 |
| As far as I know, Haxan was Mark McCoy's first dalliance with black metal, and though it is missing some of the sophistication of his later projects in that genre, it is still a very good effort. |
| Haxanu Snare of All Salvation | 4.0 |
| Häresie Häresie | 4.0 |
| He Is Legend Heavy Fruit | 4.0 |
| He Is Legend few | 4.5 |
| He Is Legend White Bat | 4.5 |
| He Is Legend I Am Hollywood | 5.0 |
| He Is Legend 91025 | 5.0 |
| He Is Legend Suck Out the Poison | 5.0 |
| He Is Legend It Hates You | 5.0 |
| He Is Legend Endless Hallway | 5.0 |
It?s not unheard of, but certainly rare when a band 25 years old and 8 albums deep into their career create a record that
could be in contention as their best, but if there was any group who could it, it would be He Is Legend. And guess what?
That?s exactly they?ve done with Endless Hallway. Tonally, it suggests one of their most divisive efforts Suck out the
Poison - it?s dark, heavy, sludgy, and one of their most narrative driven releases - but it has all of the finesse of their
post-reunion material. Speaking of heavy, Endless Hallway may be their most brutal outing to date, oscillating between
near djent riffcapades and slower, churning swamp metal throwdowns, there is no shortage of headbanging moments
strewn throughout the record. However, this uptick in viciousness does little to deter Schuylar from crafting some of the
most memorable hooks of his career. As always, the HiL frontman has a very distinct sense of melody, writing passages
that make use of odd harmonies but still are impossibly catchy. Endless Hall is somehow He is Legend at their peak, and
I can?t see any fan of the band being disappointed with this one. |
| Heads For The Dead Serpent's Curse | 3.5 |
| Heart on My Sleeve Blood Is Not Thicker Than Wine | 4.0 |
| Great dynamic screamo EP from this year; catchy, fun and played with tons of emotion, this simple yet striking EP would be a great listen to for anyone |
| Heart on My Sleeve Stand by, We're Going In For Life | 4.0 |
| Heaving Earth Darkness of God | 4.0 |
| Darkness of God, the third album from Czechia, Prague's Heaving Earth, is as dizzying and technical as it atmospheric. Having taken their name from the inimitable Morbid Angel, they too craft hymns that warp together unconventional precision with esoteric ambiance, though in a decidedly more modern style. There is no lack of chaos on Darkness of God, but Heaving Earth's acrobatic percussion and wriggling guitars still find a way worm their way into your brain. |
| Heavy Weather/The Hope and the Failure Split | 4.0 |
| Never thought I would see The Hope and The Failure release a new song, but all I can say is THANK FUCK THEY DID. Their ability write genuinely heartbreaking screamo hasn't diminished one bit. The music is wonderfully dynamic and Ina sounds fantastic. Heavy Weather's track is also just killer. The melodic depth it has is incredible. Damn, this split is good. |
| Hecatomb Horrid Invocations | 3.5 |
| Heinali And Matt Finney Aint No Night | 4.0 |
| Heinali And Matt Finney Town Line EP | 4.5 |
| Heinali And Matt Finney Lemonade | 4.5 |
| Heinali And Matt Finney Conjoined | 4.5 |
| WTF TOO MUCH GOOD MUSIC. Conjoined is better than it's predecessors and they are already both in my top 25 of the year! |
| Hekate (Italy) The Forest Is Watching | 3.0 |
| Hekate (Italy) Haunted Soul Of The Witch | 3.0 |
| Hellacaust Disgust | 4.0 |
| Hellacaust put thrash, death and black metal into a blender, spice it up with some punk attitude and serve it cold. Riffs, voKILLS and blasphemy, this album has it all. |
| Hellhammer Satanic Rites | 3.5 |
| Hellkvlt Mexica Males Antiguos | 3.5 |
| Well, this was a pleasant surprise. Hailing from Mexico (duh), Hellkvlt Mexica eschew the usual war metal delivery of their country for a more unique black/death metal approach. Consisting of sinister free-flowing instrumentation, the music here is disjointed, but in a good way? I don't know, it's actually pretty hard to describe, but it's fucking good, so listen to it. |
| Hemlock (USA) Funeral Mask | 2.0 |
| When listening to first song on Funeral Mask "Frozen Tears" it seems that if anything Hemlock play a competent if slightly generic version of atmospheric black metal. However once second track "Way of the Wolf" begins it is increasingly apparent that Hemlock is nothing but a poor man's second wave of black metal rip-off. No originality, shitty musicianship and man, does that lead vocalist have a fucking annoying voice. |
| Henbane Vildfaren Og Jagtet | 3.5 |
| Here I Come Falling Oh Grave, Where Is Thy Victory | 3.5 |
| Heresiarch Death Ordinance | 3.0 |
| Blasphemy styled war metal with little to no surprises, but still solid enough to be enjoyable overall. |
| Heretoir Heretoir | 3.5 |
Yeah uhhhhh so this pretty much sucks and your soundoff is too short
8 years later edit: Budgie was right. |
| Heretoir Existenz | 4.0 |
| Heretoir The Circle | 4.0 |
| Hermodr Midnight Eclipse | 3.0 |
| Hermodr A Realm Reborn | 3.5 |
| Hermodr Forest Sky | 3.5 |
| Herxsebet / Moribund / Obscurum Tenebrarum Travelling to the Three Ways of the Ancient Practi | 3.5 |
| Very ugly three-way raw black metal split comprising of bands from across the globe. The American based Moribund are part of the Necrosaint Worship Circle and play a style reminiscent of the rawer yet still legible LLN acts. Herxsebet is a Mexican project that lulls and hypnotizes with it's monochrome fervor. Obscurum Tenebrarum closes out the split with a melodic yet razor sharp assault of pure blackened fury. |
| Hexis XI | 4.0 |
| Grim and hateful hardcore with strong as balls black metal influences |
| Hexis/As We Draw/Euglena Split | 3.5 |
| A great release by three up and coming post-hardcore bands, the Hexis/As We Draw/Euglena split very much offers a look into the darker side of the aforementioned genre. While As We Draw and Euglena sprinkle in elements of post-metal to make their songs extra epic, Hexis's contributions dabble in the realm of black metal giving the album a nice sense of diversity. Although there are still some things that could be worked on, these three bands hint here that they just may have some pretty bright futures ahead of them. |
| Hierophant (IT) Great Mother: Holy Monster | 3.5 |
| HIM Razorblade Romance | 3.5 |
| HIM Dark Light | 3.5 |
| HIM Love Metal | 4.0 |
| HIM Venus Doom | 4.5 |
| Himelvaruwe Het Ondenkbare | 3.5 |
| Himelvaruwe Zwaluwenvesting | 4.0 |
| Himelvaruwe Het Onkenbare | 4.0 |
| Himelvaruwe Hemelpoort | 4.0 |
| Himsa Hail Horror | 3.5 |
| Hinterlandt Sollbruchstelle | 4.0 |
| His Statue Falls Collisions | 3.0 |
| Hissing Permanent Destitution | 3.5 |
| Between this and Infernal Coil, you don?t really need that much more dirty af blackened grinding death metal this year. |
| Hissing Hypervirulence Architecture | 4.0 |
| Homeskin Subverse Siphoning of Suburbia | 4.0 |
| At this point, there is no understanding how Garry Brents (Cara Neir, Gonemage, Sallow Moth) can continually pump out excellent music. I don't know if it's the water he drinks, the fact that he's vegan, or maybe he just gets a full 8 hours of sleep every night, but the man is prolific in the truest definition of the word. Homeskin is his latest project and this morning it released Subverse Siphoning of Suburbia, a full black metal EP recorded in 13 hours between today and yesterday. And y'know what? It's REALLY FUCKING GOOD! Advertised as for fans of Arizmenda, Suffering Hour, and Yellow Eyes, Subverse Siphoning of Suburbia certainly does sound like an amalgam of those bands; there's the eerie dissonance of Arizmenda, the unrepentant aggressive of Suffering Hour, and the adventurousness of the Yellow Eyes, all while retaining the sincerity and heart Garry is known to imbue his tunes with. This guy is a machine. |
| Homeskin Life's Grip to Laughter | 4.5 |
| Homeskin Integument Crystallization | 4.5 |
| Homeskin Cries Methodically | 4.5 |
| Homeskin?s newest deviates from the black metal orthodoxy of his previous releases to instead deliver a grind and emoviolence infused effort. Utilizing the rawness inherent to those styles as the foundation to mix and match elements from them all, there is no prevailing sound here, just a well executed fusion of extremity that will make your head spin. |
| Hooded Menace Fulfill the Curse | 4.0 |
| Hope Drone Husk | 4.0 |
| Hopelorn Golden Fields Black Wings | 3.5 |
| Horda Profana Beyond the Boundaries of Death | 3.5 |
| Horna Kuolleiden Kuu | 3.5 |
| I've always been skeptical of Horna, but this is very good. Captures of the essence of pure black metal without feeling like a rehash. |
| Hornet Murmuration Affirmation of Antipathy | 3.5 |
| Horrenda Neronian Times | 2.0 |
| Horrendous Anareta | 3.0 |
| Horrendous Idol | 5.0 |
| Horrid Cross Demo III | 3.5 |
| Horrid Cross Demo II | 4.0 |
| Horrid Cross Demo I | 4.5 |
| Horrified (UK) Allure of the Fallen | 4.0 |
| Occupying a space between early American old-school death metal and early Somberlain-era Dissection, Horrified recreate and expand on a sound that is rarely, if ever touched on. It's atmospheric and melodic without sacrificing bestial brutality, cleanly played without ditching some extreme metal sloppiness, and overall just contains very strong individual songs. Recommended. |
| Hoth Astral Necromancy | 2.5 |
| this would be better with some dirt, but it sounds like somebody scrubbed this thing top to bottom without leaving any of the precious filth this kind of music demands |
| House of Atreus From the Madness of Ixion | 4.0 |
| Argohslent-y melodic death metal courtesy of Iron Bonehead. Though it?s worship of the aforementioned band is fairly blatant, they?re definitely not the worst melodeath act to imitate. |
| How to Destroy Angels Welcome Oblivion | 4.0 |
| Hrae þar Sem Skepnur Reika | 3.0 |
| Huata Atavist of Mann | 3.5 |
| Hulder Embraced by Darkness Mysts | 3.5 |
| Hwwauoch Into the Labyrinth of Consciousness | 3.5 |
| Hwwauoch Hwwauoch | 4.0 |
This is one of the eeriest albums I've heard all year; it's like listening to Portal in the vacuum
of space, if that vacuum was always blasting horror movie soundtracks. |
| Hyperdontia Excreted From The Flesh | 3.5 |
| Hyperdontia Nexus of Teeth | 4.0 |
| Hyperdontia Hideous Entity | 4.0 |
| OSDM-styled death metal will always be the best and this is a perfect example of why. |
| Hyperdontia / Septage Hyperdontia / Septage | 4.0 |
| Hypomanie A City In Mono | 3.0 |
| Hypomanie follow up their great She Couldn't Find a Flower, But There Was Snow with an album that isn't bad, but only leaves you wanting to explore the more developed pastures of Hypomanie's contemporaries. Musically more shoegaze with black metal influences, Hypomanie's purely instrumental sophomore effort has moments of body-shuddering beauty (a saving grace, no doubt) but ultimately those moments sparsity coupled with album's overall derivative nature that create what is a mostly dull listening experience, jam packed full of songs that bleed onto the next. |
| I Am King Onehundred | 3.0 |
| I Have Dreams Three Days 'Til Christmas | 4.0 |
| I Myrkri Drivende i Dødens Æter | 3.5 |
| I See Stars 3D | 3.0 |
| I See Stars The End of the World Party | 3.0 |
| I See Stars Treehouse | 3.0 |
| I See Stars New Demons | 3.5 |
| I See Stars Digital Renegade | 4.0 |
| I Set My Friends On Fire You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter | 4.5 |
| Iarnvidjur èlègies | 3.5 |
| Icare Charogne | 4.0 |
| Iced Earth Something Wicked This Way Comes | 3.5 |
| IDYLLS Farewell All Joy | 4.0 |
| Ifernach Waqan | 3.5 |
| Ignite Our Darkest Days | 4.5 |
| Ignivomous Contragenesis | 3.5 |
| Ildjarn Forest Poetry | 4.0 |
| Illapa Lascivo Culto Solar | 3.5 |
| Illapa Deshonestos y Hechiceros | 3.5 |
| Illkynja Sæti Sálarinnar | 3.5 |
| Immolation Kingdom of Conspiracy | 2.0 |
| This is going to be uncompromising .... ly average. |
| Immolation Shadows in the Light | 3.0 |
| Immolation Atonement | 3.0 |
| Immolation Unholy Cult | 3.5 |
| Immolation Harnessing Ruin | 3.5 |
| Immolation Failures for Gods | 4.0 |
| Immolation Majesty and Decay | 4.0 |
| my cat has a bruise on it's right eye. because i kicked it. oh and yeah the album rules. |
| Immolation Acts of God | 4.0 |
| When Immolation dropped Close to a World Below, it was a record 20 years ahead of its time. Now, that style of death metal is commonplace within the scene, and yet, Acts of God still makes it feel like Immolation are one step ahead the majority of their peers. It is the culmination of two decades worth of death metal superiority from a band who secured their identity early on and have spent the years since tinkering with it to perfection. Opening quasi-title track ?An Act of God?, hypnotizes with swells of discordant tumult, while ?Blooded? pays homage to the more visceral straight-for-the-jugular approach death metal cut its teeth on. This has been Immolation?s default sound for decades now, and to varying outcomes (see: Kingdom of Conspiracy), but the result feels elevated here; there is a delicacy to how they convey their brutality, with very deliberate, conscious choices made to ensure their material on Acts of God is of the highest caliber possible. Despite a few missteps throughout their career (again, see: Kingdom of Conspiracy), it?s this level of thoughtfulness that has kept them a death metal institution since the genre?s inception. Immolation has spent two decades at the top of their game, and here?s to hoping we get two decades more. |
| Immolation Here in After | 4.5 |
| Immolation Dawn of Possession | 5.0 |
| Their best album IMMO.... DO YOU FUCKING SEE WHAT I DID THERE? |
| Immolation Close to a World Below | 5.0 |
| Immortal All Shall Fall | 2.0 |
| Immortal Damned In Black | 2.5 |
| Immortal Northern Chaos Gods | 3.0 |
| Immortal Sons of Northern Darkness | 3.5 |
| Immortal Blizzard Beasts | 3.5 |
| Immortal Pure Holocaust | 4.0 |
| Immortal Battles in the North | 4.0 |
| Immortal At the Heart of Winter | 4.5 |
| Immortal Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism | 5.0 |
| Immortalis Indicium De Mortuis | 4.0 |
| Imperator (MEX) Threnody of Wind | 3.5 |
| Raw yet adventurous black metal from Mexico that is unafraid to incorporate gabber, folk, and other extreme metal influences in their music. It?s not exactly seamless, but I applaud their willingness to experiment and am definitely looking forward to future material. |
| Imperium Dekadenz Dis Manibvs | 2.5 |
| Impetigo Horror Of The Zombies | 4.0 |
| Impetuous Ritual Blight Upon Martyred Sentience | 3.5 |
| Impetuous Ritual Relentless Execution of Ceremonial Excrescence | 4.0 |
| Imprecation Damnatio ad Bestias | 3.5 |
| Imynvokad Tongues of Death | 4.0 |
| Extra melancholic raw black metal that constantly straddles between clean picked sections of pure dissonance and coldly melodic yet churning tremolo picked riffs of epic proportions. Either way, win. |
| In Crucem Agere Calling the Void | 3.5 |
| ?Progressive? black metal from Austria that relies on crushing, death-like riffs as much as it does icy tremolo feistiness. There?s some very creative songwriting at work here, and while it doesn?t always congeal into something greater, I?ll give them points for effort. |
| In Fear and Faith In Fear and Faith | 3.0 |
| In Flames Clayman | 3.5 |
| In Flames Come Clarity | 3.5 |
| In Flames A Sense of Purpose | 3.5 |
| In Flames The Jester Race | 4.0 |
| In Flames Whoracle | 4.0 |
| In Flames Lunar Strain | 4.0 |
| In Love With A Ghost Healing | 3.5 |
| In Nothingness Black Sun Funeral | 4.0 |
| In This Moment Beautiful Tragedy | 3.0 |
| In This Moment A Star-Crossed Wasteland | 3.0 |
| In This Moment The Dream | 4.0 |
| In Thoth In Thoth | 3.0 |
| In Tormentata Quiete In Tormentata Quiete | 3.5 |
| Inanna Void of Unending Depths | 4.0 |
| Inarborat Wisdom Sans Words | 3.5 |
| Incantation Profane Nexus | 3.0 |
| Incarpathia Lost | 3.5 |
| I'm not a deathcore fan by any standards; even the mere mention of the genre sickens me basically. That being said, I love this album. Taking minimal doses of deathcore and combining it with melodic death metal, this US based quintet has released one of the best deathcore EPs there is; and nobody knows about it. |
| Inclination A Glimpse Through The Lens | 4.0 |
| Incursus Incursus | 4.0 |
| Deeply inspired by early Norwegian black metal, Incursus' debut EP is two songs of raw, hateful black metal. Backed by a fitting murky production, this USBM knows how to bring the kvlt. |
| Inearthed Implosion Of Heaven | 4.0 |
| Inearthed Shining | 4.0 |
| Inexorum Equinox Vigil | 3.5 |
| Infant Annihilator The Elysian Grandeval Galèriarch | 3.0 |
| Inferi (USA) Revenant | 4.0 |
This album reminds of what it felt like when I was first getting into extreme metal. Of course
jaded old me has a few gripes (vocals), but this is a fun and adventurous album filled with
stellar playing, exciting songs, and great energy. |
| Infernal Coil Within a World Forgotten | 3.5 |
| Infernal Conjuration Infernale Metallum Mortis | 3.5 |
| Inferno Requiem Gloomy Night Stories | 3.5 |
| Inferno Requiem Nuwa | 3.5 |
| Inferno Requiem Shanhai | 3.5 |
| Infernum (Norway) Livael-Itu | 4.0 |
| Inisans Transition | 3.5 |
| Inje Demo | 3.5 |
| Innards I've Lost Everything | 4.0 |
| Innumerable Forms Punishment in Flesh | 3.5 |
| Inoculation Celestial Putridity | 3.5 |
| Insineratehymn Disembodied | 3.5 |
| Insomnium In the Halls of Awaiting | 2.5 |
| Internal Rot Grieving Birth | 3.5 |
| Into Eternity The Scattering of Ashes | 4.0 |
| Inverted Tomb As Light Fades... | 3.0 |
| Invocation Spells Spread Cruelty in the Abyss | 3.5 |
| Irksvm Moribund | 3.5 |
| Iron Blood We Will Change | 3.0 |
| Iron Maiden Dance of Death | 3.0 |
| Iron Maiden No Prayer for the Dying | 3.0 |
| Iron Maiden Powerslave | 3.5 |
| Iron Maiden Fear of the Dark | 3.5 |
| Iron Maiden The X Factor | 3.5 |
| Iron Maiden Brave New World | 3.5 |
| Iron Maiden Virtual XI | 3.5 |
| Iron Maiden A Matter of Life and Death | 3.5 |
| Iron Maiden Somewhere in Time | 4.0 |
| Iron Maiden The Number of the Beast | 4.0 |
| Iron Maiden Piece of Mind | 4.0 |
| Iron Maiden Killers | 4.5 |
| Iron Maiden Seventh Son of a Seventh Son | 4.5 |
| Iron Maiden Iron Maiden | 5.0 |
| Undoubtedly Iron Maiden's magnum opus; amazing energy, great musicianship and a raw factor that is unfortunately absent with Dickinson era albums. "Prowler" remains to be the best song the band ever wrote. |
| Irrwisch Irrwisch | 4.0 |
| Isenordal Spectral Embrace | 3.5 |
| Isenordal/Void Omnia Split | 4.0 |
| A record like this will help remind how expansive and diverse black metal can be. |
| Isgalder To The Hall Of The Stars | 3.0 |
| Iskandr Euprosopon | 3.0 |
| Issues Black Diamonds | 3.0 |
| Issues Beautiful Oblivion | 3.0 |
Beautiful Oblivion is a very *fine* album that furthers Issues evolution into a pop/90's
rock'n'b(?) band. However, the metamorphosis still feels incomplete. There is little cohesion
between the remaining vestiges of heavy, downtuned riffage, and their commitment to a more
straightforward radio-friendly sound. As a result, everything feels a too restrained, caught
between the two eras of Issues without an avenue to lean into its potential. I feel like in
retrospect, this and predecessor, Headspace, will be seen as solid, yet transitory efforts from a
band who went on do something really great. |
| Issues Issues | 3.5 |
| Istapp Blekinge | 3.5 |
| It Dies Today Sirens | 3.0 |
| It Dies Today Lividity | 3.0 |
| Definitely doesn't hold up against It Dies Today's earlier matieral. While even Sirens was a little restrained at times, it fared much better than the pseudo metalcore assault on this album. |
| It Dies Today The Caitiff Choir | 3.5 |
| Ithaca The Language of Injury | 4.0 |
| Ives Burial of the Modernized Soulless | 3.5 |
| Ives Abandon | 4.0 |
| Iwrestledabearonce It's All Happening | 3.5 |
| Iwrestledabearonce Iwrestledabearonce | 5.0 |
| Ixachitlan Eagle, Quetzal, and Condor | 4.0 |
| Jackman Demo 2010 | 3.0 |
| Jackman Bad Intentions | 3.5 |
| Jaeger Jaeger | 3.5 |
| Je Suis Le Petit Chevalier Tropical Malady | 4.0 |
| Jellyfish Spilt Milk | 5.0 |
| Jellyroll Rockheads Wake Up, Music | 3.5 |
| Jellyroll Rockheads Kill Trend Thrash | 4.5 |
| Jesse Barrera Love In Technicolor | 4.0 |
| shameless radio pop that somehow never made it on the radio. stupid, cliched, catchy and just fun fun fun. the type of album you sit back and enjoy not over analyze |
| John Frum A Stirring In The Noos | 3.5 |
| Johnny Truant In the Library of Horrific Events | 4.0 |
| Jordablod Upon My Cremation Pyre | 3.5 |
| Jordablod play a more progressive form of black metal that doesn't feel progressive. It's expansive, playful, and colorful while retaining that core black metal feel of nihilism. |
| Jordablod The Cabinet of Numinous Song | 4.0 |
| Jordablod Promo | 4.5 |
| Jordablod is both raw and progressive. They are certainly ugly, evil, and everything you want black metal to be, but there is a sense of class to them as well that is generally lost on their peers. Overall, really fucking good. |
| Judas Iscariot An Ancient Starry Sky | 4.0 |
| Judas Iscariot's long lost album, An Ancient Starry Night was meant to be released in 1998, but pushed aside in favor of releasing his seminal Heaven In Flames record. Thankfully unearthed by Akhenaten's recent Judas Iscariot reissue campaign, it's reassuring that the first new JI material in almost two decades was recorded in the band's prime, and should stand as another worthy addition to the Judas Iscariot canon. |
| Judas Iscariot The Cold Earth Slept Below | 5.0 |
| Judecca Awakened By The Stench of the Dead | 3.0 |
| Raw, old-school death metal from Florida; crushing, fast, and of course mentioning Satan at almost every available chance possible, Judecca didn't quite posses the technical skill on their second demo to match most of their peers, but the primal intensity of "Awakened By The Stench of the Dead" is worth commending nonetheless. |
| Jungle Rot Jungle Rot | 2.5 |
| Jungle Rot A Call To Arms | 3.5 |
| Junior Beef Junior Beef EP | 3.5 |
| Jute Gyte Mitrealität | 3.5 |
| Jute Gyte Birefringence | 4.0 |
| Jute Gyte may be the most singularly innovative black metal act in the last decade. Rising from the crudity of normal raw black metal fare, his microtonal assault is as vicious as it is cerebral, elevating the genre beyond the blunt primitivity of his peers. |
| K.F.R. Scriptures of Death | 3.5 |
| Kaatayra Só Quem Viu o Relâmpago à Sua Direita Sabe | 4.0 |
| Kabexnuv Dzyan | 3.5 |
| Exceedingly raw black metal that will make you rethink listening to it once or twice along the way. Worth the ride overall, though. |
| Kacy Hill Simple, Sweet, and Smiling | 3.0 |
| Kaffaljidhma IV | 3.5 |
| Kaffaljidhma III | 4.0 |
| Kaleikr Heart of Lead | 4.0 |
| Kalisia Cybion | 4.0 |
| Kallathon Before Drifting into the Abyss | 4.0 |
| Kallathon/Blue Hummingbird on the Left Camino de Guerra | 4.0 |
| Kalmankantaja Routamaa | 3.0 |
| Kalmankantaja Ruumiinvaellus | 3.5 |
| Kalmankantaja Kaski | 3.5 |
| Kalmankantaja Korpi | 3.5 |
| Kaonashi Why Did You Do It? | 4.0 |
| One of the most exciting metalcore bands around today. |
| Kashyyyk Demo | 3.0 |
| Kathaaria To Be Shunned By All … As Centres Of Pestilence | 4.0 |
| Kathaaria The Complex Void of Negativity | 4.5 |
| Katharsis Fourth Reich | 3.5 |
| Katharsis Kruzifixxion | 3.5 |
| Kato Buried With The Rain | 4.0 |
| Kaznaxtheh / Funeral Altar / Obsidian Grave / Megalith Grave Remnants of Sacrificial Perversion | 3.5 |
| Kekht Arakh Pale Swordsman | 4.5 |
| Kerasphorus Cloven Hooves at the Holocaust Dawn | 4.0 |
| Cloven Hooves At The Holocaust Dawn maybe the more polished alternative to the likes of Diocletian or Father Befouled, but Kerasphorus are still every bit as aggressive as their fellow black death/bands as their first and only release displays really enjoyable, if not standard blackened death metal with some awesome riffs at times. |
| Kerasphorus Necronaut | 4.0 |
| Kerasphorus Kerasphorus | 4.0 |
| Khrysos Anthemon Khrysos Nunaat | 3.5 |
| Originally released in 1998 but re-released this year with 1996's Remembrance, Khrysos Nunaat legitimately sounds Something Wild-era Children of Bodom if they had really embraced the more eccentric sounds they featured on that album. It's very good and a lot of fun. |
| Kids Luv Cops James Skips Graduation Practice | 3.5 |
| Killswitch Engage Incarnate | 2.0 |
| Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage (2009) | 3.0 |
| Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage | 3.5 |
| Killswitch Engage Disarm the Descent | 4.0 |
| "Why do you guys keep rating an album WITHOUT listening to it in it's entirety? It hasn't came out yet, it hasn't leaked, so who already rated this as "Classic", "Superb" or anything else is a moron." Yeah, okay, THEY are the morons... |
| Killswitch Engage Alive or Just Breathing | 5.0 |
| Killswitch Engage The End of Heartache | 5.0 |
| Killswitch Engage As Daylight Dies | 5.0 |
| King Apathy Wounds | 3.5 |
| King Apathy Eine Momentaufnahme - Der Rest ist nur Einsamkeit | 4.0 |
| King Apathy The Elk | 4.0 |
| kishote KALEIDOSKOP | 3.0 |
| Kneel (San Francisco) Infinite Worship, Slaves Eternal | 3.5 |
| Knocked Loose A Different Shade of Blue | 2.5 |
| OC metalcore w/o everything that made OC metalcore good. |
| Knockout Kid Manic | 4.0 |
| Kolga Demo | 3.0 |
| A huge disappointment considering it's an Austin Lundr project. It's like a stripped down version of Panopticon's material on their second split with Wheels Within Wheels, and even though I loved that album, this is just a shadow of former glories. |
| komarov [UK] KOMAROV | 3.0 |
| Kombat (TX) New Dimensions of Pain | 3.5 |
| Kommodus Will To Dominate All Life (demo) | 3.5 |
| Kommodus One Thousand Years of the Wolf (demo) | 4.0 |
| Kommodus From the Ashes of Empire (demo) | 4.0 |
| Kommodus An Imperial Sun Rises (demo) | 4.0 |
| Kommodus Kommodus | 4.0 |
| Koreltsak The Moon In Our Hearts (demo) | 3.5 |
| Korgonthurus Kuolleestasyntynyt | 4.0 |
| Korhadt demo 1 | 3.0 |
| Korpsånd An Introduction to the New Wave of DKBM | 4.0 |
| Kortirion Helcaraxë | 3.5 |
| Kosmogyr Eviternity | 3.5 |
| Kostnateni Oheň Hoří Tam, Kde Padl | 3.5 |
| Krabathor Cool Mortification | 4.0 |
| Old school death metal from the Czech Republic with experimental and thrash influences aka FUCKING OWNS. |
| Krallice Wolf | 3.5 |
| Krampusnacht Krampusnacht | 4.0 |
| Christmas music in the key of HELL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Krieg The Isolationist | 3.5 |
| Although they aren't really apparent until a few listens in, there are some very fine moments on this album. One of the more underrated black metal albums of the past few years. |
| Krisiun AssasiNation | 3.5 |
| Although this is a bit repetitive , Krisiun make it work |
| Krolok Flying Above Ancient Ruins | 3.5 |
| Krukh Безглуздість! | 3.5 |
| Krummholz Rooted in Despair | 3.5 |
| Krypts Krypts | 3.5 |
| Krypts Remnants of Expansion | 3.5 |
| Krypts Open the Crypt | 4.0 |
| Excellent old-school styled death metal from Finland. Well produced, well-written this band has a great future ahead of them. |
| Krypts Cadaver Circulation | 4.0 |
| Kudlaakh Deepest Regions of Naught | 3.5 |
| Kurt Travis Split EP | 4.5 |
| Kuxan Suum Kinich Ahau | 4.0 |
| Kuxan Suum Kuxan Suum | 4.0 |
| Another project of Eduardo Ramirez (Volahn, Axeman, etc...), Kuxan Suum is the manifestation of Ramirez's desire to blend psychedelic elements with raw black metal. The result is a resounding success, as the two tracks here "Kinich Ahau" and "Principle of Harmonic Resonance" are excellent examples of progressive, forward-thinking black metal that never loses sight of its bestial roots. |
| Kvelertak Kvelertak | 2.5 |
| Kvelgeyst Alkahest | 4.0 |
| Kwade Droes Kwade Droes | 3.0 |
| Kyte Dead Waves | 3.5 |
| L'Acephale L’Acephale | 4.0 |
| L.A. Guns Cocked & Loaded | 3.5 |
| L.A. Guns LA Guns | 4.0 |
| L.A. Guns Tales From The Strip | 4.5 |
| La Dispute Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair | 4.0 |
| La Luna Always Already | 3.5 |
| La Torture des Tenebres Civilization Is the Tomb of Our Noble Gods | 4.0 |
| La Torture des Tenebres IV - Memoirs of a Machine Girl | 4.0 |
| One of the best black metal/noise fusions I've ever heard. The noise elements usually take precedence, but you can always feel the elements of black metal pulsating underneath the cacophony of static. Surprisingly melodic at times, and very palatable given its abrasiveness. |
| Labynkyr/JHAD Split | 3.0 |
| Lace Shawl The Secret Botanist | 4.5 |
| Laere Solve | 3.5 |
| Lamb of God Sacrament | 3.5 |
| Lament (CZ) Demo | 3.0 |
| Gnarly blackened punk from this already defunct band. It?s pretty by the book for this type of music, but a fun listen all the same. |
| Lament in Winter's Night / Night's Threshold Night's Threshold / Lament in Winter's Night | 3.5 |
| Lamentum The Suffering Stature | 3.5 |
| Lamp of Murmuur Thunder Vigil and Ecstasy | 4.0 |
| Lamp of Murmuur Melancholy Howls in Ceremonial Penitence | 4.0 |
| Lamp of Murmuur Chasing The Path Of The Hidden Master | 4.0 |
| Lamp of Murmuur Punishment and Devotion | 4.0 |
| A day after releasing arguably his best material yet with Submission and Slavery, M. drops Punishment and Devotion, an EP consisting of two songs written and recorded during the S&S sessions that were taken off that record for conceptual reasons. While this makes them leftovers, they aren't "leftovers", as both tracks maintain the high quality experimental black metal Lamp of Murmuur is coming to be known for. A cursory listen makes it easy to determine why they were left off; aggressive and unrelenting, "As My Pain Contorts In The Dionysiac Vortex" and "Forever Bound To The Will Of The Spectres" are much heavier cuts than their sister material, maintaining a crude hardcore edge while also delivering the blackened finesse that's become something of a calling card for the band. Very good. |
| Lamp of Murmuur Cursed Deambulations of the Nocturnal Entities | 4.5 |
| Lamp of Murmuur The Burning Spears Of Crimson Agony | 4.5 |
| Lamp of Murmuur Heir of Ecliptical Romanticism | 4.5 |
| Lamp of Murmuur Submission and Slavery | 4.5 |
| Lamp of Murmuur always delivers. The projects newest full-length weaves sections of storming Pacific Northwestern black metal with razor sharp thrash riffage and an underlying, goth-y/post-punk atmosphere that helps tie it all together. Just fantastic. |
| Lamp of Murmuur/ Ebony Pendant Plenilunar Requiems | 4.0 |
| Lamp of Murmuur/Dai Ichi Virgin Womb Of Eternal Black Terror | 4.0 |
| Lampir Demo III | 4.0 |
| Lampir The Alchemy of Cursed Blood | 4.5 |
| Raw and punky black metal from Perverse Homage records. Evokes familiar USBM acts like Furdidurke, Grand Mood, and the CW Productions line-up albeit with a more black metal feel. |
| Lampir Awaiting the Predatory Dreamscape | 4.5 |
| Lampir / Gormanudr Lampir / Gormanudr | 3.5 |
| Lampir/Flešš Lampir/Flešš | 3.5 |
| Lampir/Witchmoon Split | 3.0 |
| Lana Del Rey Born to Die | 4.5 |
| Lantern (FIN) Lost Paragraphs | 3.5 |
| Lantern (FIN) Dimensions | 3.5 |
| Lantlos Melting Sun | 2.0 |
| Last Days These Places Are Now Ruins | 4.5 |
| Laster Ons Vrije Fatum | 3.5 |
| Laster Het wassen oog | 3.5 |
| lastletters From Her to Here | 4.0 |
| What first drew me to lastletters. was the album cover for From Her to Here and what kept me coming back was the music. The melodies here resonate strongly and thanks to the more straightforward structuring of the songs (akin to melodic hardcore) they are super effective. Vocally, the screams here are typical of the genre but amazing nonetheless; literally cracking with passion, when lyrics like "We?ll always be a part of something greater than this, something real, and I can feel it now" , not only do you pay attention, you relate, something that just makes the EP all the more enjoyable. lastletters. have made a super enjoyable release with From Her to Here and are definitely a band to keep an eye on |
| Lathliss Demo I | 3.0 |
| Lathliss Demo II | 3.5 |
| Le Kraken Exalt | 4.0 |
| Le'Vampyric Vampyric Castle | 3.5 |
| Lecherous Nocturne Occultaclysmic | 3.5 |
| Leichengott Cyrograf | 3.5 |
| Leichengott Ostrza | 3.5 |
| Leper Embarrassed to Be Human | 3.5 |
| Leper End Progress | 4.0 |
| While black metal/crust punk and ska seem like genre's that would never mesh together well, Leper does a great job of successfully integrating these influences into burst of intense, great music. Diverse and fun, this album deserves more attention. |
| Les Discrets Virée Nocturne | 3.0 |
| Though I don't enjoy all of it, I have to acknowledge and commend Fursy for his ambition. It doesn't always work; "Capricorni.Virginis.Corvi" is a mess of jumbled percussion, glide guitar, and ethereal vocals with little in the way of cohesion. In his efforts of trying to break from his post-rock/shoegaze roots, he at times overdoes the experimentation. That being said, there are still a few inspired and well-executed moments stemming from that same ambition. Opener "Vire Nocturne" marries Massive Attack-esque trip-hop atmosphere and shoegaze melodies splendidly, creating a gray-colored soundscape filled with melancholy. At the very least, this EP will generate enough curiosity for the upcoming full-length. |
| Les Discrets Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées | 3.5 |
| letlive. The Blackest Beautiful | 4.0 |
| Lewis Grant Make Me Scared Again | 3.5 |
| Liar Liar Cross On Fire Exposed, Barren and Often Windswept | 3.0 |
| Libertin Homologous Avulsion | 3.0 |
| Lie in Ruins Demise | 3.5 |
| Finnish kings of deathly sewer metal are back at it and dirty as ever. |
| life (USA-TX) demo | 3.5 |
| life (USA-TX) four | 3.5 |
| life (USA-TX) demo 2 | 4.0 |
| life (USA-TX) demo 3 | 4.0 |
| life (USA-TX) demo 5 | 4.0 |
| life (USA-TX) coma garden | 4.0 |
| What makes life such a cool project is that it doesn't wear its emo influence as some type of pastiche, but truly embraces that style of music to make something genuinely devastating. |
| Light Dweller Lucid Offering | 4.0 |
| Light of the Morning Star Nocta | 4.0 |
| Light This City Remains Of The Gods | 2.0 |
| Light This City The Hero Cycle (Re-Issue) | 2.0 |
| Light This City The Hero Cycle | 2.5 |
| Light This City Facing The Thousand | 3.0 |
| Light This City Stormchaser | 3.0 |
| Limbonic Art Promo Rehearsal '95 | 4.0 |
| Lindow Moss 1st | 3.5 |
| Lindow Moss Seconds to Kill: Council Estate Druidry | 3.5 |
| Linkin Park Live In Texas | 1.0 |
| Linkin Park Hybrid Theory | 3.5 |
| Linkin Park Meteora | 4.0 |
| Lipitoare/Enshroud Lipitoare/Enshroud | 3.5 |
| Liquicity Escapism 4 | 4.0 |
| Another great DnB compilation from the Netherlands based label, Liquicity. The line-up for this one is particularly sick, featuring staples as Feint, Dualistic, Nymfo, and the almighty Ramses B. Ranging from pump-up tracks to pieces of pure atmospheric transcendence, there is no escape from the good vibes once this badboi gets started. |
| Liquicity Escapism 3 | 4.5 |
| Liturgy Aesthethica | 3.5 |
| Liturgy As The Blood Of God Bursts The Veins Of Time | 4.0 |
| Liturgy H.A.Q.Q. | 4.5 |
We laughed at transcendental black metal in 2011, but it looks like Liturgy are the ones having
the last laugh now. H.A.Q.Q. is an excellent record that reconciles black metal with Hunter-
Hendrix's more cerebral approach and abstract tendencies to create something very new and
exciting. |
| Liturgy Origin of the Alimonies | 4.5 |
| Liturgy of Desecration Traverese the Threshold of Blasphemia | 3.0 |
| As if the cover wasn't indication enough, Liturgy of Desecration's Traverese the Threshold of Blasphemia couldn't be anything other than war metal; seriously, the universe would risk collapse if an album cover and track names like "Anal Parturition of Theotokos" were featured on anything but some bestial black metal warfare. That being said, the Athens based band definitely err more towards the genre's death metal roots, vomiting forth some seriously gnarled tremolo riffage, ear piercing dive bombs, and uber-guttural vocals. It's all stuff we've heard before, but that doesn't impede on the competency in which these stereotypes are executed with. |
| Lizards Have Personalities Snows of Kilimanjaro | 3.5 |
| Lizards Have Personalities/Book Of Caverns Split | 3.5 |
| LLNN Unmaker | 2.5 |
| LLNN Deads | 3.5 |
| Lodge of the Empty Bed Pacta Sunt Servanda | 3.5 |
| Long Live Nothing Long Live Nothing | 4.0 |
| Lord Mantis Death Mask | 2.5 |
| Lord Snow winterhold | 3.0 |
| Lord Snow Lord Snow | 4.0 |
| Lord Snow SHADOWMARKS | 4.0 |
| Lord Snow Sovngarde | 4.5 |
| Lord Snow Solitude | 4.5 |
| Lorem Ipsum Que restera t-il ? | 3.5 |
| Lorna Shore Flesh Coffin | 3.5 |
| Loss of Self Demo | 3.5 |
| Loss of Self Twelve Minutes | 4.0 |
| Lostprophets Liberation Transmission | 3.5 |
| Lothric Adversarial Light | 4.0 |
| Very good straightforward black metal with a melodic twist. |
| Lotus Thief Gramarye | 3.5 |
| Love American Love American | 3.0 |
| lovechild In Heaven, Everything is Fine | 3.5 |
| Low Double Negative | 3.5 |
| lowmeninyellowcoats summerdemo'17 | 3.5 |
| Luciation Infernalistic Flames of Luciftias | 3.5 |
| Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 | 2.0 |
| Lugubrum Albino de Congo | 4.0 |
| Lugubrum De Vette Cuecken | 4.5 |
| Lunar Blood Twilight Insurgency | 3.5 |
| Lykotonon Only Our Eyes Are Alive | 4.0 |
| black/death metal from members of wayfarer and blood incantation? yes please |
| Machine Head Supercharger | 2.5 |
| Machine Head Through the Ashes of Empires | 3.0 |
| Machine Head The Burning Red | 3.5 |
| Machine Head The More Things Change... | 3.5 |
| Machine Head The Blackening | 4.0 |
| Machine Head Burn My Eyes | 5.0 |
| Machinemade God Masked | 4.0 |
| Mahr Antelux | 3.5 |
| Mahr Soulmare I | 3.5 |
| Mahr Soulmare II | 3.5 |
| Mahria Mahria | 3.0 |
| overrated female fronted screamo say whatttttttttt -- seriously if a guy was doing the vocals chances are nobody would really give two hoots about this. the vocals aren't even that great anyway |
| Mahumodo Waves | 4.0 |
| Majestic Mass Savage Empire of Death | 4.5 |
| rThis record seriously came out of nowhere and is fantastic. It sounds like if The Doors and Celtic Frost had a baby who grew up listening to nothing but The Cult Is Alive-era Darkthrone. It?s an odd mix, but overall the album is as good as it is eccentric. |
| Makrothumia The Rit of Individuation | 3.5 |
| Malefic Sorcery Under the Hammer of the Banished Gods | 3.5 |
| Maleficentt Night of the Crimson Stars | 4.0 |
| Malevolum Veritas et Violentiam | 3.5 |
| Malfet The Snaking Path | 5.0 |
| Malfet The Way to Avalon | 5.0 |
| Malfet The Glimmering | 5.0 |
If there's one not terrible thing that has come from Coronavirus, it was that it indirectly caused
Malfet's The Glimmering, a two song EP that was originally meant to be exclusive to the
unfortunately now cancelled Northeast Dungeon Siege, to be released.These two tracks are leftovers
from the Californian dungeon master's debut The Snaking Path, but they in no way feel like
afterthoughts, or inferior the tracks featured on that album; once again, Malfet delivers absolute
perfection. Both songs ("The Glimmering" and "Dim Arbours") are drenched in medieval melodies,
exuding wistful nostalgia and playful, folksy charm. They are excellent additions to his steadily
growing catalog and absolutely essential listening to any dungeon synth fans, newcomer and
veterans alike. |
| Malfet Alban Arthan | 5.0 |
| Malicious Intent Under The Shine Of The Ripping Sickle | 3.5 |
| Malignant (USA) Purity Through Putrefaction | 3.5 |
| Malignant Altar Retribution of Jealous Gods | 3.5 |
| Malignant Aura Abysmal Misfortune Is Draped Upon Me | 3.5 |
| Malthusian Below the Hengiform | 3.5 |
| Malthusian Across Deaths | 3.5 |
| Malthusian/Suffering Hour Time's Withering Shadow | 4.0 |
| Man's Gin Rebellion Hymns | 3.5 |
| Managarmr Colossus | 3.0 |
| ManBearPig Ruined Emo | 4.0 |
| Manchester Orchestra A Black Mile to the Surface | 4.5 |
| Maneskygge untitled | 4.0 |
There's black metal that attempts to achieve a chill through their music, and black metal
that attempts to achieve a chill through their production; M�neskygge is the latter, and
the tempest it conjures throughout its sole untitled full-length is cold enough to leave
you teeth chattering. There's an odd beauty to the harshness, and the though the
production could not be any rawer, it's a surprisingly listenable experience. With summer
quick approaching, this blizzardous album is the perfect tool to combat the oncoming
heat-wave. |
| Maneskygge untitled mmxix | 4.0 |
| Mangled State Pain Incarnate | 4.0 |
| Mannequin Pussy Patience | 3.5 |
| Maquahuitl At the Altar of Mictlampa | 4.0 |
| Mare Cognitum Solar Paroxysm | 4.5 |
| Marid V V V V V V V | 3.5 |
| Marina Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land | 4.0 |
| Maroon 5 Songs About Jane | 3.5 |
| Martire Martire | 4.0 |
| Released in 1991 by Dominator Records, the Martire EP was the first official release from this unknown Australian horde. While the earlier songs on the EP definitely accentuate the band's love for black metal, as the record progresses the band begins to reveal their knack for creating sick and twisted death metal, with tons of awesome riffs and great, technical instrumentation intertwined with black metal's ferocity. The vocals in particular really stood out to me with vocalist/guitarist Vince Feleppa providing screeches suitably spawned from hell. Overall a great EP that definitely comes recommended!rFun Fact: This band also features members of Mournful Congregation and Portal, and while Martire definitely has (well had) a sound of their own, this should reassure you that the quality is nothing less than exceptional. |
| Marunata Réminiscence | 3.5 |
| post-black metal that escapes most of the usual post-black trappings |
| Marunata Dernieres Reminscences | 4.0 |
| Alongside the Pale?s s/t EP, this is one of best post-black metal releases of the year. |
| Masachist Death March Fury | 3.5 |
| Massive Retaliation Arms of the War God | 3.5 |
| Master's Hammer Fascinator | 3.0 |
| I haven't even listened to this yet, but preemptive 5 because it's goddamn Master's Hammer. |
| Mastication 1991 Demo | 3.5 |
| Mastodon Remission | 5.0 |
| Mastodon Leviathan | 5.0 |
| Mata Mata Mata Mata | 3.5 |
| Maul Seraphic Punishment | 4.0 |
| Mayhem De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas | 3.5 |
| Mayhem Grand Declaration of War | 3.5 |
| Mayhem Deathcrush | 3.5 |
| Mayhem Ordo ad Chao | 3.5 |
| Mayhem Chimera | 4.0 |
| Maylene and the Sons of Disaster III | 3.0 |
| Me and Mark Me and Mark | 4.0 |
| Mefitis Offscourings | 4.0 |
| Mefitis Emberdawn | 4.5 |
| Megadeth Super Collider | 2.0 |
| Megadeth Dystopia | 2.0 |
| Megadeth The World Needs a Hero | 2.5 |
| Megadeth Risk | 2.5 |
| Megadeth Th1rt3en | 2.5 |
| Megadeth Youthanasia | 3.0 |
| Megadeth Cryptic Writings | 3.0 |
| Megadeth United Abominations | 3.0 |
| Megadeth Endgame | 3.0 |
| Megadeth Countdown to Extinction | 3.5 |
| Megadeth Rust in Peace | 4.0 |
| Megadeth Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? | 4.0 |
| Megadeth Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! | 4.0 |
| Megadeth So Far, So Good... So What! | 4.0 |
| Megadeth The System Has Failed | 5.0 |
| The System Has Failed is the perfect interim Megadeth album; somewhere in between their more commercial oriented route and the overtly technical thrash they began with, The System Has Failed does not only hints at once was and will be, but in itself is a great addition to the Megadeth discography. |
| Megalith Grave/Nihil Invocation Malicious Curses Reached in Drawing Night | 3.0 |
| Meillä Oli Vain Yö Mustan Metallin Muistelot | 3.5 |
| Melissa (NY) Melissa | 3.5 |
| Menestrel La Poésie des Temps Jadis | 3.5 |
| Menestrel Le Secret du Sage | 3.5 |
| Mercyful Fate Melissa | 4.5 |
| Merkury Mori Otis | 3.5 |
| Mesarthim .- -... ... . -. -.-. . | 3.5 |
| Very keyboard-saturated atmospheric black metal. That being said, the synth work never feels overdone. This was created with the express purpose to have that element be the most prominent. It creates a beautiful, celestial, and wonder-filled album. It gets a bit repetitive at times, but overall it's very enjoyable. |
| Mesarthim The Degenerate Era | 3.5 |
| Mesarthim Vacuum Solution | 3.5 |
| No matter how many times a band or album in this style appears, the collision of black metal and trance music will never cease to amaze me. On one hand, this fusion would see the corpses of Dead and Euronymous churn in their grave; on the other, isn?t this type of sonic rebellion what black metal is about? And now that Violet Cold are out of the picture for the foreseeable future, Mesarthim have usurped their LED-lit throne as the new sovereigns of danceable black metal magic. Though they certainly have the catalog to back up their claim to the crown, one need look no further than the Australian duo?s latest EP, Vacuum Solution, which is perhaps their most thorough examination of EDM influenced black metal yet. At their best, they make it sound like these two genres need each other and even at their worst the songs are still good enough to wring some enjoyment out of. Haters gonna hate, but given the globe?s current state of affairs, maybe some black metal to shake your ass to isn?t the worst thing in the world. |
| Meshuggah Koloss | 2.0 |
| This album chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chugs a lot of dick |
| Messiah In The Abyss Genocidal Journey | 3.5 |
| Metallica St. Anger | 2.0 |
| Metallica Reload | 2.0 |
| Metallica Load | 3.0 |
| Metallica Death Magnetic | 3.0 |
| Metallica Master of Puppets | 3.5 |
| Metallica ...And Justice for All | 3.5 |
| Metallica The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited | 3.5 |
| Metallica S&M | 3.5 |
| Metallica Garage Inc. | 4.0 |
| Metallica Kill 'Em All | 4.5 |
| Metallica Ride the Lightning | 5.0 |
| Metallica Live Shit: Binge & Purge | 5.0 |
| Methuselah Demo I | 3.0 |
| Very interesting demo by this Cleveland horde. While the slower bits are your typical Darkthrone-esque dirges, the faster sections are actually quite exhilarating. Equally as influenced by punk as they are Norway's classics, those moments are in your face but still atmospheric as well. |
| Methuselah Approaching the Northeast Ridge | 3.5 |
| Differing drastically from their previous demo, Methuselah's Approaching the Northeast Ridge essentially cuts almost all black metal traits from their sound in favor of droning, sylvan ambience. It's creepy and compelling. |
| Metro Station Metro Station | 2.5 |
| "Control" is such a fucking jammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm |
| Mgla Age of Excuse | 2.0 |
| Boring, standard melodic black metal. They roughen up the edges a bit for that "kvlt" appeal, but the end result is something too boring and too safe. |
| Mgla With Hearts Toward None | 3.5 |
| Miasmal Miasmal | 3.5 |
| Miasmatic Necrosis Apex Profane | 4.0 |
| I'm a sucker for any kind of Reek of Putrefaction/Symphonies of Sickness-era Carcass worship, and it just so happens that Miasmatic Necrosis do this kind of death/goregrind very well. The riffs are sharp and clean but with a healthy respect for the violence of old school gore, and the pitchshifted vokills are a great throwback to the late 80's/early 90's scene. The band also have their own inherent weirdness, which adds to the appeal and makes it their despite the obvious homage to the genre greats. |
| microcosmys / La Torture des Ténèbres The Gods Themselves | 4.0 |
| Miles Paralysis Miles Paralysis | 5.0 |
| Milumet Myth Is The Womb Which Fact Must Pass | 3.5 |
| Milumet Blood Songs | 3.5 |
| Mindbleeder Demo 6(66) - Birds of Rot and Anger | 3.0 |
| Miscarriage (USA) FUCKING DISGUSTING | 3.5 |
| Miscreance Convergence | 4.0 |
| Miscreance and their debut record Convergence fill the void that Horrendous have left in their wake. It's technical and progressive informed death metal that touches on melody but doesn't sacrifice any aggression in its forward-thinking ambition. |
| Miserere Luminis Miserere Luminis | 5.0 |
| Misericordia (RUS) The Microbiological Revolution | 4.0 |
| Misertus Daydream | 3.5 |
| Misery Signals Ultraviolet | 2.5 |
| Somewhere in Canada Karl is thinking, “I got fired for THIS?” |
| Misery Signals Absent Light | 3.5 |
| Misery Signals Of Malice and the Magnum Heart | 4.0 |
| Misery Signals Controller | 4.0 |
| Misery Signals Mirrors | 4.5 |
| Misfits Famous Monsters | 3.5 |
| Misfits American Psycho | 4.0 |
| Miss Fortune A Spark To Believe | 4.5 |
| Mister Heavenly Out of Love | 4.0 |
| Misthyrming Algleymi | 4.0 |
| The only word that comes to mind when listening to this is ?triumphant?. |
| Mists of Antiquity Before the Dawn of a Noble Age | 3.5 |
| Mitochondrion Parasignosis | 3.5 |
| Is it just me or does this album get a little longer each listen? |
| Mizmor Mishlei | 3.5 |
| Mizmor Yodh | 4.0 |
| One of the most dense, challenging, and ultimately rewarding albums I've listened to this year. As a combination of black metal, drone, and doom, there is a lot to digest here, and to be honest it isn't easy. Not one track falls under the 10 minute mark, and there are many layers of music to dig through. However, the depth makes this release come alive, and the dichotomy of slow churn and blistering rampage is utilized here at its best. This is daunting and horrifying, but gorgeous and wondrous within the same breadth. It's an album that thrives on contrasts, with each opposing section accentuating the strengths of the other. Yodh was meticulously constructed, and I recommend you listen to it with the same attention to detail, because if you do, you'll be richly rewarded with an excellent album. |
| Mizmor Cairn | 4.0 |
| When I listen to this record, I don't feel like I have a Cairn the world. |
| Mizmor and Thou Myopia | 4.0 |
| Mnima Gathering Sorcery... | 3.5 |
| Mnima Spectres of Oblivion | 3.5 |
| Mnima Flesh Prison | 3.5 |
| Mo'ynoq Dreaming in a Dead Language | 3.5 |
| Moenos Call From The Grave | 3.0 |
| Mol JORD | 3.5 |
| Mol Diorama | 5.0 |
This is the best blackgaze album since SUN BAT HER (which it also gives a run for the money). Absolutely
incredible and irrefutably transcendent. |
| Molder Engrossed in Decay | 3.5 |
| Mom Jeans. best buds | 4.0 |
| Monarque Jusqu'à la Mort | 3.5 |
| Monomakh MMXII | 4.0 |
| Mons Veneris Deathbringer | 3.5 |
| Monstrosity The Passage of Existence | 3.5 |
| Not many OSDM bands can still shred this hard in 2018. As someone who has never really listened to Monstrosity before, this has me psyched to check out their previous material. Seems like it?s generally considered to be better than this - and this kills - so I?m sure I?m in for a treat. |
| Monvment I | 4.0 |
| MooM Third EP | 3.5 |
| Moonknight Senmorta | 3.0 |
| Moonsorrow Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa | 2.0 |
| Goddamnit DarkNoctus, can you stop horribly overrated every piece of mediocre black metal garbage |
| Morbid Angel Illud Divinum Insanus - The Remixes | 1.0 |
| Morbid Angel Abominations of Desolation | 3.0 |
| Morbid Angel Kingdoms Disdained | 3.5 |
| Morbid Angel Formulas Fatal to the Flesh | 4.0 |
| Morbid Angel Domination | 4.0 |
| Morbid Angel Gateways to Annihilation | 4.0 |
| Morbid Angel Altars of Madness | 5.0 |
| Morbid Angel Blessed Are the Sick | 5.0 |
| Morbid Angel Covenant | 5.0 |
| Morbid Art The Cult of Flesh | 3.0 |
| Morbosidad Muerte de Cristo en Golgota | 3.5 |
| Morbus Chron Sweven | 4.0 |
| Mord'A'Stigmata Dreams of Quiet Places | 3.5 |
| Mordicus Dances from Left | 3.5 |
| Morgue Eroded Thoughts | 4.0 |
| Morir Morir | 3.5 |
| Morrow (UK) Fallow | 3.5 |
| Mors Atra Crucis I | 4.0 |
| Mortespermia CCCXXXIII | 4.0 |
| With bands like Mortespermia, it's pretty easy to be dismissive at first glance. As a Brazilian bedroom black metal project featuring sloppy playing, ear-torturing production and just a general amateurishness, CCCXXXIII's first impression isn't very flattering. The second and third impressions go down much better. As it turns out, Mortespermia is much more than meets the eye. From punk-y to atmospheric, straightforward to nuanced, CCCXXXIII is a surprisingly diverse yet cohesive piece of raw black metal. There are so many unexpected twists and turns throughout, whether it be the jolting bursts of melody or the odd shapes and phrases Grim summons out of his guitar. It has a very endearing kitsch quality about it, much like their forebears Hellhammer. Not everyone while get this or appreciate it, but this release is highly recommended to black metal fans entrenched in the rawer side of the genre. |
| Mortiferum Disgorged from Psychotic Depths | 3.5 |
| Mortiferum Preserved in Torment | 4.0 |
| Mortify (CHL) Fragments at the Edge of Sorrow | 3.5 |
| Mortsafe Exit Womb, Enter Death | 3.5 |
| Really killer blackened punk/hardcore from the UK. They veer from the typical Bone Awl-influenced branch of the genre to incorporate more NY hardcore elements, as well as a healthy dose of gloomy, graveyard rockin' goth. Very good. |
| Mortualia Blood Of The Hermit | 2.5 |
| Upon reading other reviews comments on Mortualia's second full-length, i couldn't help but get excited; tales of great melodies and excellent atmospheres were abundant yet sadly, overexaggerated. Despite first song "Becoming Meaningless" because a great track of depressive black metal, the rest of the album suffers from too much repetition. Shautrag definitely has some great ideas, yet plays them out for too long, effectively killing the potential of the album. |
| Mortuous Through Wilderness | 3.5 |
| Mortuous Upon Desolation | 4.0 |
| Morvunskar Im Angesicht des Abgrunds | 3.0 |
| On their debut EP, Germany's Morvunskar performs fairly straightforward atmospheric black metal with a melodic touch. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to scoff at either. |
| Moss Upon The Skull In Vengeful Reverence | 3.5 |
| Mossen Thee Knoweth Nay Apparition? | 3.5 |
| Mother Love Bone Apple | 4.0 |
| Mother of Graves Where the Shadows Adorn | 4.0 |
| Mother of Graves evoke Peaceville 3-era death/doom in a way that obviously pays respects to that triumvirate of groups but without feeling like an imitation. |
| Motley Crue Greatest Hits (1998) | 2.0 |
| Motley Crue 20th Century Masters | 2.0 |
| Motley Crue Carnival Of Sins Live | 3.0 |
| Motley Crue Generation Swine | 3.5 |
| Motley Crue Girls, Girls, Girls | 3.5 |
| Motley Crue Saints of Los Angeles | 3.5 |
| Motley Crue Dr. Feelgood | 4.0 |
| Motley Crue New Tattoo | 4.0 |
| Motley Crue Theatre of Pain | 4.0 |
| Motley Crue Red, White, & Crue | 4.5 |
| Motley Crue Shout at the Devil | 5.0 |
| Motley Crue Too Fast for Love | 5.0 |
| Motley Crue Motley Crue | 5.0 |
| Motley Crue Decade of Decadence | 5.0 |
| Mourning Forest Au Coeur de l'Ombre | 3.5 |
| Mr Twin Sister Salt | 3.0 |
| Mr Twin Sister Mr Twin Sister | 4.0 |
| Mrakobes Мракобес | 3.5 |
| Mt. Meridian Emeritus | 2.0 |
| Muknal CN-22 | 3.5 |
| One of the weaker bands to come from Crepsculo Negro but these guys are still pretty good |
| Munn Selbstmordwald | 3.5 |
| Muse The Resistance | 2.0 |
| Muse Showbiz | 3.5 |
| Muse Origin of Symmetry | 3.5 |
| Muse Black Holes & Revelations | 3.5 |
| Muse Absolution | 4.5 |
| Mutilated by Zombies Scripts of Anguish | 4.0 |
| Mvrdvrkvltvr Mauled By Savagery | 3.0 |
| My Chemical Romance The Black Parade | 4.0 |
| My Chemical Romance Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge | 4.5 |
| My Purest Heart For You A Heart Worth Violence | 3.5 |
| Mycorrihazie Mycorrhizae | 4.0 |
| Straightforward yet epic one man USBM. It forgoes any kind of experimentation for five brief tracks of powerful melodic black metal. |
| Mylingar Döda Drömmar | 3.5 |
| Mylingar Döda Själar | 3.5 |
| Mystagogue And The Darkness Was Cast Out Into The Wilderness | 3.5 |
| Mystifier The World Is So Good That Who Made It Doesn't Live | 3.5 |
| Nachtgeist Void | 3.5 |
| Nachtlich Nachtlich | 3.5 |
| Nachtlich Bygone Winds of a Black Curse | 3.5 |
| Nader Sadek In the Flesh | 3.5 |
| Nahadoth Child of Star | 3.0 |
| Nahadoth Chameleon in Nightshadow | 3.0 |
| Nahadoth Necromancy, and other poems | 3.0 |
| Nails Abandon All Life | 3.5 |
| Nameless Coyote Devoured by the Swirling Night | 4.0 |
| Nameless Coyote Blood Moon | 4.0 |
| Nan Elmoth Void Serpent | 4.0 |
| Napalm Death Scum | 3.5 |
| Napalm Death From Enslavement to Obliteration | 4.0 |
| Naphobia Of Hell | 4.0 |
| More overlooked Floridian death metal, Of Hell Naphobia's only full-length album is played in the style of most United States based OSDM bands, meaning there are few things you can automatically guess about whats in store you when listening to this record; uber technical instrumentation, a pace almost too fast to follow, and great production values. Naphobia didn't stray from any formulas but rather just put their heart into perfecting one, making for a great performance by all the group's members. Of Hell is plain and simple incredibly solid from start to finish, and if you can't take my word for it, take it from Chuck Schuldiner and Gene Hoglan two death metal luminaries that wouldn't ever waste their precious time guesting on an album that didn't offer anything but the best. |
| Narrows Painted | 3.5 |
| Natural Law Slump | 3.5 |
| Modern hardcore that still recalls the genres classic elements, Natural Law are loud, fast, dirty and they don't even give a fuck. |
| Naturgeist Reinvigorated Terror | 3.5 |
| Nächtlich Nächtlich | 3.5 |
| Nächtlich The Third Coming | 3.5 |
| Níedgedál MMXV | 4.0 |
| Originally recorded in 2015 but not released until March of this year, Nedgedl's MMXV is a collection of "pagan" folk hymns; essentially a fusion of traditional, Nordic folk with ambient and splash of dungeon synth. It's a beautiful release, as gentle guitar licks meet with airy, atmospheric keys to create something that sounds personal even as underlying soundscape continues to expand. I was really surprised by how good this was. |
| Nechochwen Heart of Akamon | 4.0 |
| Nechochwen Kanawha Black | 4.0 |
| Neckbeard Deathcamp White Nationalism is for Basement Dwelling Losers | 3.0 |
| Neckbeard Deathcamp SO MUCH FOR THE TOLERANT LEFT | 5.0 |
| Neckbeard Deathcamp/Gaylord United Antifascist Evil | 3.0 |
| Necrodeus Womb of Sathanas | 3.5 |
| Necrom All Paths Are Left Here... | 4.0 |
| Necromass Mysteria Mystica Zofiriana | 2.0 |
| After reading nothing but praise for Mysteria Mystica Zothyiana (a name that probably should have hinted me off) I can't but feel pretty disappointing after finally listening to the album. Sure, Necromass aren't horrible but they aren't so great either, creating an album full of worthless atmospherics, generic vocals and uninspired melodies. |
| Necropanther Necropanther | 3.5 |
| Necros Christos Doom of the Occult | 3.5 |
| Necros Christos Domedon Doxomedon | 4.5 |
Necros Christos final album evokes the malevolence of 80's black/death metal while being
played with modern intensity. At a whopping 27 tracks, the many interludes while
interesting in of themselves, do hinder the immersion and flow of the otherwise
synergetic extreme metal experience. It really is unfortunate that Necros Christos is
breaking up, however leaving us with their best effort is nothing to mope around about. |
| Necrot Mortal | 4.0 |
| Necrotic Mutation The Realm of Human Illusions | 3.5 |
| Nefarious Spirit / Void Prayer Nefarious Spirit / Void Prayer | 3.5 |
| Nekrasov Lust of Consciousness | 4.0 |
| Nekros Manteia Deus Otiosus | 3.5 |
| Nembrionic Psycho One Hundred | 4.0 |
| Death/grind that focuses much more on the death aspects of the music, Nembrionic delivers both deliciously crunchy riffs and enjoyably primal grind riffs along with an overall great instrumental delivery. Featuring a great production that no doubt helped the band give a more dense, well-structured performance, Psycho One Hundred is another fantastic slice of Dutch death metal heaven. |
| Neon Trees Habits | 4.0 |
| Nevermore This Godless Endeavor | 4.0 |
| Newborn In These Desperate Days We Still Strive for Freedo | 4.0 |
| A very energetic and fun combination of metalcore and post-hardcore with a dash of melodic death metal. The vocals are awesome and this is high octane from beginning to finish. |
| Nietzu Submersion | 4.0 |
| Night Hag (USA-VA) Phantasmal Scourge | 3.5 |
| Night Verses Into the Vanishing Light | 3.5 |
| Night's Threshold Boundless Evil | 3.5 |
| Night's Threshold Deep Within The Night | 4.0 |
| Nightfucker Nightfucker | 3.5 |
| Nightwish Dark Passion Play | 4.0 |
| Nigredo Flesh Torn - Spirit Pierced | 3.0 |
| Nihil Invocation The Valleys Green and Journeys Mourned | 3.5 |
| Nihil Invocation Furthering the Depth of Lucid Madness | 3.5 |
| Nihil Invocation / Nyctophilia Season of the Purest Decay | 3.5 |
| Nihilifer Subterfacto.declive | 3.5 |
| Cavernous blackened death metal draped in occult robes and with hell in its eyes. |
| Nimbifer Demo I | 3.5 |
| Nine Inch Nails Hesitation Marks | 3.5 |
| Ninkharsag The Dread March Of Solemn Gods | 3.5 |
| If you told me that these were recently unearthed and remastered Dissection tracks, I would have no choice but to believe you. |
| Niteris Our Death, His Monument | 3.0 |
| No Age Snares Like A Haircut | 3.5 |
| Noctambulist Atmospheres of Desolation | 3.5 |
| Noctivago III | 4.0 |
| Nocturnal Blood Nocturnal Cruxifictions | 3.5 |
| Nocturnal Blood Invocation of Spirits | 3.5 |
| Nocturnal Blood True Spirit of Old | 4.0 |
| SATANS HARDS |
| Nocturnal Blood Devastated Graves... | 4.5 |
| Nocturnal Triumph Into Light's Graven Womb | 4.5 |
| It's pretty rare that I am completely floored by something, but this is one of the best black metal albums I've heard in a long time. It has this unidentifiable quality about it, this aura of mysticism and magic that reminds me of black metal's second wave. It has that same classic feeling, effortlessly. The production is perfectly bad, and together with the grand, sweeping melodies, creates a euphoric listening experience that's rare to come by. Recommended. |
| Nocturnal Triumph Nocturnal Triumph | 4.5 |
| These are some wack ratings. This band is super underrated and this record is awesome. Very few modern black metal bands have a voice like Nocturnal Triumph do. They way the string together raw and punk driven sections with passages of melodic grandeur is second to none. |
| Nocturnus AD Paradox | 3.0 |
| NOFX Wolves in Wolves' Clothing | 3.5 |
| Noise Trail Immersion Symbology of Shelter | 5.0 |
| Nokturnal Mortum The Voice of Steel | 3.0 |
| Nokturnel Nothing But Hatred | 4.0 |
| Noose Rot The Creeping Unknown | 3.5 |
| Normakk Bael | 3.0 |
| Nortt Endeligt | 3.5 |
| Notches High Speed Crimes | 3.5 |
| Really endearing pop-punk with an emphasis on PUNK. It's fuzzed out, sloppy, catchy, energetic, and loads of fun. |
| Nova Charisma Exposition I | 1.0 |
| literally sounds like everything else these two have done |
| Nuit Noire Black Form | 3.0 |
| Numenorean Adore | 2.0 |
| Nusquama Horizon Ontheemt | 3.5 |
| Nyctophilia Dwelling in the Fullmoon Light | 3.5 |
| NyreDolk Demo | 3.5 |
| NyreDolk Indebrændt | 3.5 |
| Oath of Cruelty Summary Execution At Dawn | 3.5 |
| Obituary The End Complete | 3.5 |
| Obituary Slowly We Rot | 4.0 |
| Obituary Cause of Death | 4.5 |
| Obliteration Cenotaph Obscure | 4.0 |
| Obliteration Black Death Horizon | 5.0 |
| rating classic to remind myself to get this also fu sputnik i dont need yr 50 chrctrs |
| Obliti Devoravit Obliti Devoravit | 4.0 |
| Obliti Devoravit O.D. | 4.0 |
| Obolus (US) Lament | 3.5 |
| Obscene (USA-IN) ...From Dead Horizon to Dead Horizon | 4.0 |
| Obscura Akróasis | 2.5 |
| Obscuring Veil Fleshvoid To Naught | 3.0 |
| Obsequiae The Palms of Sorrowed Kings | 4.5 |
| Obskuritatem U Kraljevstvu Mrtvih... | 4.0 |
| There's a quantifiable difference between bands that can evoke the sound of classic 90's Norwegian BM and bands that can evoke the feeing of it; Obskuritatem are certainly the latter. |
| Occelensbrigg The Cosmic Winter State | 3.5 |
| Occelensbrigg The Quest for Star Mountain | 4.0 |
| Occelensbrigg / Spiral Staircase Occelensbrigg/Spiral Staircase | 3.5 |
| Occulted Death Stance Some Things Are Eternal | 3.0 |
| Unbearably raw black metal from the masters, Legion Blotan. |
| October Fall A Season in Hell | 3.5 |
| Odinsgoat Datura | 3.5 |
| Odz Manouk Odz Manouk | 5.0 |
| Odz Manouk/Tukaaria Split | 4.0 |
| Of Feather and Bone Sulfuric Disintegration | 3.5 |
| Of Feather and Bone Bestial Hymns of Perversion | 4.0 |
| Of Mice and Men The Flood | 4.0 |
| Coming off an average debut album, the departure (and subsequent rejoining) of the ever controversial Austin Carlile, Of Mice & Men have still managed to overcome all their trials and tribulations to craft a modern post-hardcore album that is actually worth giving a damn over; more creative song-writing, better instrumentals and with Shayley Bourget's soaring vocals taking more precedence than seen before, Of Mice & Men are a band that is well on their way to some well-deserved success. |
| Offenbarung Manifestus | 4.0 |
| Offenbarung Jaguar Levitation | 4.5 |
| Old Graves This Ruin Beneath Snowfall | 3.5 |
| Old Nick Flying Ointment | 3.5 |
| Old Nick Witch Of The Northern Vill | 3.5 |
| Old Nick Witch Lymph | 3.5 |
| Old Nick Curse of the Lock Master | 3.5 |
| Old Nick Haunted Loom!!! | 3.5 |
| Old Nick The Vanitous Specter | 3.5 |
| Old Nick Forest of Grief | 4.0 |
| Old Nick The Night Of The Ambush . . . | 4.0 |
| Old Nick Crisp Winter Dawn of my Night Moon | 4.0 |
| Unsurprisingly, Old Nick returns in 2021?s eleventh hour to deliver another slice of jaunty and whimsical raw black metal. The genre just doesn?t get more fun than this. |
| Old Nick Ghost O'Clock | 4.0 |
| Old Nick Iam Vampire Castle | 4.5 |
| Old Nick A New Generation Of Vampiric Conspiracies | 5.0 |
I don?t know what Old Nick are drinking but I would love some. They are consistently amazing, not only in terms
of quality but in terms of how they effortlessly incorporate weird, sound silly effects into black metal that actually
enhances the music. Even without, their raw yet captivatingly melodic black metal is enough to stand out. Just a
crazy good ,innovative band and one act that I believe will be the future of black metal. |
| Old Tower Stellary Wisdom | 3.0 |
| I'm still quite unsure how to feel about this release. "Deep Within My Somber Castle Halls" starts out creepily, building tension with every passing second. However, just when you truly start to immerse yourself in how haunting and unsettling it all is, the music fades out unceremoniously. As a whole, the song is comprised of four separate parts, crudely stitched together. It makes it difficult to really immerse yourself, the bread and butter of dungeon synth. The title track is what needs more investigation, but I can safely the last few minutes are some of the most beautiful, affecting music I've heard in a while. |
| Old Tower The Rise of the Specter | 3.5 |
| Old Tower Ruination, the New Dawn Cometh | 3.5 |
| Old Tower Drachenblut | 3.5 |
| Old Witch Come Mourning Come | 3.5 |
| Olivia Rodrigo Sour | 3.5 |
| Omnium Gatherum Grey Heavens | 2.5 |
| As far as melodic death metal in 2016, this isn't bad. You've heard this album before by a few different bands, but these guys do it with admirable enthusiasm and a surprise every now and then. The clean vocals seem thrown in a bit haphazardly, and only seem to work on the album's best track "Majesty and Silence", but they aren't too detrimental to the album's overall quality. Recommended for people who started listening to melodic death metal yesterday and Insomnium fans. |
| Opeth Blackwater Park | 3.5 |
| Opeth Watershed | 3.5 |
| Opeth In Cauda Venenum | 3.5 |
| Opeth Orchid | 4.5 |
| Ophiolatry Anti-Evangelistic Process | 3.0 |
| Order From Chaos Dawn Bringer | 3.5 |
| Order From Chaos An Ending In Fire | 4.0 |
| Order From Chaos Stillbirth Machine | 4.5 |
| Ordrhein Atavism | 4.0 |
| Orgy of Carrion Everlasting Blood Of Night | 3.5 |
| Orgy of Carrion Perverse Homage to the Rotting Divine | 3.5 |
| Orgy of Carrion Obscured Ceremonies Under Hell Moon | 3.5 |
| Orgy of Carrion Hymns Of Melancholic Violence And Plague | 3.5 |
| Orgy of Carrion Blood Washed Away the Grave Purity | 3.5 |
| Ornamental Headpiece Masks of Ash | 4.0 |
| Orrery Nine Odes to Oblivion | 4.0 |
| Orth Ano Kato | 4.0 |
| Burping voKILLZ in addition to some prime old school tech death metal goodness |
| Orth Feed The Flames | 4.0 |
Orth were a criminally underrated German death metal that existed for a relatively scant 9-10
year period between 1991-2000. Why underrated? First would have to be the insane musicality
the band displayed throughout their only 2 LPs, Ano Kato, released in 1995 and Feed the
Flames, released in 2000. Even for a death metal band, the technicality was off the charts and
in some ways could be considered tech death, though instead of mindless sweeping and uber-
sterile production standards, remained true to classic old school death metal-isms. The second
factor would be Johannes Dimou croaked vocals which were eerily similar to the amphibious
gutturals of Demilich vocalist Antti Boman. Unfortunately these two traits didn't earn Orth
any lasting popularity or allegiances, but the duo of albums we were left should quench
anyone's thirst for quality and relatively unknown OSDM. |
| Oskoreien Oskoreien | 2.5 |
| holy overrated black metal album batman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Ossa Coronata A Candle | 3.0 |
| Ossa Coronata Ander Lant | 3.5 |
| Ossaert Bedehuis | 3.5 |
| Ossuarium Living Tomb | 4.0 |
| Ostraca / Flesh Born Faces of the Moving Year | 3.5 |
| Othendara Dae of Nox | 3.0 |
| Oubliette (USA-TN) The Passage | 3.5 |
| Our Place of Worship is Silence The Embodiment of Hate | 4.0 |
| Outer Heaven Realms of Eternal Decay | 4.0 |
| Outre-Tombe Nécrovortex | 3.5 |
| Ov HELL The Underworld Regime | 1.0 |
| P.L.F. Jackhammering Deathblow Of Nightmarish Trepidation | 3.5 |
| P.L.F./Incinerated Split | 3.5 |
| Pa Vesh En Pyrefication | 3.5 |
| Paladin (USA) Ascension | 3.0 |
| Pale Pale | 3.5 |
| Palisades I'm Not Dying Today | 3.5 |
| Palisades Palisades | 3.5 |
| Pandiscordian Necrogenesis Eigenwelt | 3.5 |
| Pandiscordian Necrogenesis Elohim Glowing Bile | 3.5 |
| Pandiscordian Necrogenesis Immortal Initiation | 3.5 |
| Pandiscordian Necrogenesis Outer Supernal | 4.0 |
Black metal should always strive to be the pinnacle of extremity in music - whether through
atmosphere, instrumentation, ideals, or any other medium - and the unorthodoxy of Pandiscordian
Necrogenesis certainly provides another worthy effort in the genre's well-established canon of
boundary pushing. Each track from this project is completely improvised, with sole member
Ephemeral Domignostika recording guitars, drums, and vocals, simultaneously. It would be comical,
but the end product Outer Supernal is nothing to laugh about. Raw black metal itself has the
undeserved connotation of being a mindless vociferation of unlistenable noise but it's projects
like this that exhibit it has the potential to transcend the stigma that it's the talentless
wasteland of a genre outliers misunderstand it to be. |
| Panic! at the Disco Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! | 3.5 |
| years later and i still cant get over the fact they passed on the name panic! at the discoteca |
| Panopticon Kentucky | 4.0 |
| Panopticon The Crescendo of Dusk | 4.0 |
| While both the title track and "The Labyrinth" match the quality of the respective albums they were originally composed for, it takes only a cursory listen to The Crescendo of Dusk to deduce that these two songs were somehow made to be packaged together. |
| Panopticon ...And Again into the Light | 4.0 |
| Panopticon Social Disservices | 4.5 |
| Panopticon Roads to the North | 4.5 |
| Panopticon Autumn Eternal | 4.5 |
| Panopticon The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness | 4.5 |
| This will need a few listens to really nail down feelings, but initial thoughts are this is very good. The production is grainier enough to appease raw(er) black metal fans but textured enough for dynamicism to thrive. The music is loud, bombastic, and grand but unlike other symphonic or orchestral black metal acts, Austin is able to imbue a small-town, folksy charm that makes the added atmosphere feel more like a call home than ostentatious embellishment. His ear for melody is second to none and it's nice to see that his standards haven't dropped after 10+ years of doing this. r**haven't listened to the folk/country side yet, but excited to |
| Panopticon The End is Growing Near | 4.5 |
| I can?t believe how good these tracks are. How DARE Austin hide them from us for the last 13 years?!? |
| Panopticon Panopticon | 5.0 |
| Panopticon Collapse | 5.0 |
| Panopticon On the Subject of Mortality | 5.0 |
| Panopticon's already well established awesomeness + shoegaze influences = EVEN MORE AWESOMENESS |
| Panopticon Collapse (remixed and remastered) | 5.0 |
| Collapse will always be the definitive Panopticon record, and the remaster only lends more credence to that fact. |
| Panopticon/Lake of Blood Split | 3.5 |
| Panopticon/Nechochwen Panopticon / Nechochwen | 4.5 |
| Panopticon/Vestiges Split | 4.0 |
| I won't even try to deny that I'm a huge Panopticon fanboy. That being said, I wasn't a huge fan of his two releases, which to me just seemed a bit by the numbers. This split returns to A's exploration of post-rock and shoegaze, and it is easily his most successful fusion of the two so far. Beautiful melodies coupled with pained barks and an entrancing atmosphere make his two songs here essential to any fan of his work so far. Honesty, I often forget to praise Vestiges, but they do an excellent job here as well, contributing only one song but it's epic as hell. |
| Panopticon/Wheels Within Wheels II | 4.0 |
| Haven't heard Wheels Within Wheels side yet but Panopticon's side was so fucking impressive, WWW could literally have recorded themselves taking wet shits and I still would still rate this a 4.5. |
| Panphage Jord | 3.0 |
| Pantheist Pantheist | 3.5 |
| Pantheon I Worlds I Create | 4.0 |
| Paragon Impure To Gaius | 3.5 |
| This shit is fucking intense. Raw as fuck, dissonant as anything, there is literally nothing accessible about this album. And I love it. |
| Paragon Impure Sade | 3.5 |
| Paralysis (USA-LA) Patrons Of The Dark | 3.5 |
| Paramore Riot! | 4.0 |
| Paramore After Laughter | 4.0 |
| Parasite Dreams Rehearsal Room Demos | 3.0 |
| Parkway Drive Horizons | 2.5 |
| Parkway Drive Deep Blue | 3.0 |
| Parkway Drive's latest offering may not be the most original piece of metalcore to date, but it still retains a certain sense of enjoyability thanks to some key riffs and melodies. Also, vocalist is a beast |
| Parkway Drive Killing with a Smile | 3.5 |
| Pathologist Putrefactive and Cadaverous Odes About Necroticism | 4.0 |
| If you ever find yourself wanting another Symphonies of Sickness-era Carcass album, look no further than Pathologist's putrid and puke-inducing debut. |
| Pathology The Time of Great Purification | 3.5 |
| I am generally not a fan of brutal death metal at all but fuck this is really good. I think the main reason I enjoy it so much is because everything from the riffs to the vocals are extremely reminiscent of Abominable Putridity |
| Patristic Apologetica | 4.0 |
| Paul Travis Braille | 4.0 |
| Paysage d'Hiver Geister | 2.5 |
| Paysage d'Hiver Im Wald | 4.0 |
| Paysage d'Hiver/Lunar Aurora Split | 3.5 |
| Peaking Lights Imaginary Falcons | 4.0 |
| Pearl Jam Ten | 5.0 |
| Penance Stare House of Bastet | 3.5 |
| Penance Stare Scrying | 4.0 |
| Penance Stare's first album Scrying is a filthy juxtaposition of blackgaze, dark wave, and shoegaze elements. The addition of electronics and their cold mechanicalism piercing through the gritty production and thick tremolos adds a certain detachment from humanity to the overall sound, a sensation that at times is legitimately frightening. As a one-women project ELN's vision for Penance Stare is single-minded and executed with tunnel vision, a dedicated that in this case pays off beautifully. |
| Pendragon (US) Uther | 3.5 |
| Pendragon (US) Morgana | 3.5 |
| Pensees Nocturnes Ceci est de la musique | 3.5 |
| This could very well be my black metal album of the year; retaining the strong yet tasteful use of symphonic and theatrical elements, Pensees Nocturnes 2011 release sees sole member Vaerohn not only mustering truly impressive atmospheric backdrops but also adding much more bite to the bands brand of avant-garde black metal. And while Vaerohn easily proves himself to be a truly awe-inspiring multi-instrumentalist he also conjures one hell of a hoarse wail, the perfect type of vocals to accompany an album that is just drench in melancholy. Fucking recommended. |
| Pensees Nocturnes Vacuum | 4.0 |
| Pensees Nocturnes Grotesque | 4.0 |
| Generally 'sophisticated" and "black metal" are never mentioned in the same sentence, yet with Pensees Nocturne's Grotesque the band brings a certain level of refinement that the genre overall could use. |
| Pentatonix Pentatonix | 4.0 |
| Pentatonix PTX Vol. II | 4.5 |
| For the longest time I thought a cappella was cheesy without redemption (and maybe it is) but Pentatonix is the sound of its future |
| Pentatonix PTX, Vol. 1 | 4.5 |
| Perverse Homage/Hatework Häretischer Kreis | 3.5 |
| Pestilence Doctrine | 1.5 |
| RIP Pestilence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!r |
| Pestilence Consuming Impulse | 5.0 |
| Idk, probably one of the best death metal albums ever |
| Pestilength Basom Gryphos | 3.5 |
| Petrification Hollow of the Void | 3.5 |
| Petrine Cross Demo | 3.5 |
| Petrine Cross Centuries of August | 4.0 |
| Petrine Cross/Tower Of Filargyria Split | 4.0 |
| Phalanx (USA-CA) Golden Horde | 3.0 |
| Phantom Spire Seven Relics (demo) | 3.0 |
| Phantom Spire Golden Messiah (demo) | 3.0 |
| Pharmacist Medical Renditions of Grinding Decomposition | 4.0 |
| Pharmacist Flourishing Extremities On Unspoiled Mental Ground | 4.0 |
| Extremely confused as to how this has not blown up here. This is essentially a marriage of grindcore-era Carcass with melodeath-era Carcass and it fucking rules. |
| Phlebotomized Preach Eternal Gospels | 3.5 |
| Phobocosm Bringer Of Drought | 3.0 |
| not bad, but definitely not great either |
| Phobophilic Enveloping Absurdity | 4.0 |
| Pierce the Veil Misadventures | 2.5 |
| Pierce the Veil A Flair for the Dramatic | 3.0 |
| Pierce the Veil Selfish Machines | 3.5 |
| Pierce the Veil Collide with the Sky | 5.0 |
| Pissgrave Posthumous Humiliation | 3.0 |
| tfw the album art is more interesting than your music. |
| Pissmoon/Carrion of Orgy Pissmoon/Carrion of Orgy | 4.0 |
| Plague (GR) Portraits of Mind | 3.5 |
| Plague Rider Rhizome | 3.5 |
| Plainwords Overgrow to Overthrow | 4.5 |
| Planks The Darkest of Grays | 4.0 |
| Planks Funeral Mouth | 4.0 |
| Ploertendoder / Cancriculus Ploertendoder / Cancriculus | 3.5 |
| Poison Ruin Poison Ruin LP | 3.5 |
| Poison Ruin Poison Ruin | 4.5 |
| Poppy I Disagree | 3.5 |
Even for Poppy the move into metal was a turn of unexpected turn of events, one that she's
masterfully manipulated into a victory. She built on the rejection of expectations with a
very solid set of songs that delve heavily into nu-metal, metalcore, and industrial metal
territory, very much seizing upon the late 90's revival zeitgeist that's permeated the underground
metal scene while also infusing the music with her typical pop infectiousness and trademarked
oddity. |
| Portal Vexovoid | 3.5 |
| Portal Avow | 4.0 |
Avow, more like "a wow! this is really good!" amirite?
sorry |
| Portal Seepia | 4.5 |
| Although easily the band's most "conventional" release, Portal's first demented album, Seepia is still a sick and twisted listening experience. Performed in filth ridden production, Seepia shows Portal playing more riff oriented blackened death while still beginning to exhibit some of the claustrophobic and dense atmospheres that would take precedence on later albums. They might have not have found their feet yet, but Seepia is still an incredible album and "Glumurphonel" is still one of the group's best songs to date. |
| Portal Outre | 4.5 |
| Portal Swarth | 4.5 |
| Portal ION | 4.5 |
| This album is so antithetical. They've finally removed all the murk that was shrouding their rsound, and yet I found this easily the most challenging Portal record to sit through. I feel like rmy mind was constantly struggling to keep up with all their technical aerobics. Ultimately though, rthe struggle made it so much more of a rewarding listen. |
| Porter Robinson Nurture | 4.0 |
| Portrayal of Guilt Portrayal of Guilt | 3.0 |
| Portrayal of Guilt Let Pain Be Your Guide | 3.0 |
| Portrayal of Guilt Suffering is a Gift | 3.5 |
| Portrayal of Guilt/Soft Kill Split | 3.5 |
| Post Malone beerbongs and bentleys | 3.0 |
| Pouya The South Got Something To Say | 3.5 |
| Prayer for Cleansing Rain In Endless Fall | 4.0 |
| Pre-Between the Buried and Me melodic metalcore that often veers closer to melodic death metal than hardcore. Certainly a more technical iteration of the sound peddled by their peers at the time, Rain In Endless Fall doesn't ever feel as wanky as some of the music this group of musicians would go on to make. Really good. |
| PRECARIA, DEATHSPIRAL OF INHERITED SUFFERING and DOMINUS IRA Metamorphosphoros | 3.5 |
| Predatory Light Death and the Twilight Hours | 4.0 |
| Preprophecy Season of Sorrows | 3.0 |
| Pretty Little Flower Ultimate Whirlwind of Incineration | 3.5 |
| Fuck bitches and listen to P.L.F. |
| Pretty Little Flower Devious Persecution And Wholesale Slaughter | 4.0 |
| Primeval Well Primeval Well | 3.5 |
| Primeval Well Talkin' in Tongues with Mountain Spirits | 3.5 |
| Primitive Warfare Primitive Warfare | 3.5 |
| Prison Suicide 2016 Demo | 3.5 |
| Five minute long hardcore demo from Colloquial Sound Recordings. Nothing fancy, just an absolutely ripping release that's tons of fun. |
| Prison Suicide Prison Suicide (II) | 3.5 |
| Prison Suicide nets Colloquial Sound Records another great release. |
| Proclamation Nether Tombs of Abaddon | 3.5 |
| Profanatica Disgusting Blasphemies Against God | 3.5 |
| Profanatica is all about the blasphemy; decrying religion at almost every chance they get, if any devout Catholic heard a minute of their 2010 opus Disgusting Blasphemies Against God (or even just heard the title) they would probably declare some sort of Armageddon warning. Musically, the band plays a pretty raw form of black metal, yet nothing really new. Definintely more enjoyable when in a certain mood, yet for the most part this is just another average black metal release with above average lyrics of blasphemy. |
| Profanatica Putrescence of... aka As Tears of Blood Stain the | 3.5 |
| Profanatica The Curling Flame of Blasphemy | 3.5 |
| Well, it's definitely a Profanatica record |
| Profanatica Rotting Incarnation of God | 3.5 |
| Profanatica Sickened By Holy Host | 4.0 |
| It's good to see that after twenty two years the original black metal band is still playing by the rules they themselves set so long ago - Profanatica doesn't play to please the fans, they don't play to please the critics, they play because they genuinely love to create some of the most crude and simplistic black metal racket to ever exist. Sickened By Holy Host is one of the band's best releases yet. |
| Profane Congregation/Grave Grave Revelations / Profane Congregation | 3.5 |
| Profane Order Tightened Noose of Sanctimony | 3.5 |
| Profetus The Sadness Of Time Passing | 4.0 |
| Prosanctus Inferi Hypnotic Blood Art | 3.0 |
| Prosanctus Inferi Red Streams of Flesh | 3.5 |
| Prosanctus Inferi Pulpit Sycophants | 3.5 |
| After a six-year silence, I was worried they had died an innocuous death, but luckily I was wrong; they are alive, kicking, and gearing up for the release of a new album entitled Hypnotic Blood Art (release date TBA). It would seem Pulpit Sycophants a demo that has so far only been released via Youtube, consists of rough versions of this upcoming full-length. Despite their being incomplete, the material on Pulpit Sycophants is impressive nonetheless, and seems to hint at the band returning to the bestial and crude blackened death metal they wielded on their earlier releases like Pandemonic Ululations of Vesperic Palpitation. Despite my love for their last record Noctambulous Jaws Within Sempiternal Night and its more pronounced death metal influence, I am still very much looking forward to what's coming next. r |
| Prosanctus Inferi Sacreligious Desecration In Excelsis | 4.0 |
| Although most days I prefer their full-length, Prosanctus Inferi's first demo is absolute descent into hell; spawning riffs of pure malevolence, choking with its conjuration of a thick, stifling and ever so tangible atmosphere and battering with an assaulting percussive performance, Sacrilegious Desecration In Excelsis is more than just music, it's a ritualistic satanic journey from which there may be no return. Listen at your own risk. |
| Prosanctus Inferi Pandemonic Ululations of Vesperic... | 4.0 |
| Probably the best black/death metal release from last year |
| Prosanctus Inferi Noctambulous Jaws Within Sempiternal Night | 5.0 |
| Since its release in 2013, Prosanctus Inferi's diabolical sophomore effort Noctambulous Jaws Within Sempiternal Night has been a favorite of mine, but thanks to their recent announcement of an upcoming third album, Hypnotic Blood Art (release date TBA), I've dug back into Noctambulous... in a way that I haven't in a long time. I still find it the ultimate culmination of black and death metal; Jake Kohn's spits bile with every blasphemous word, his delivery reminiscent of the vaunted Peter Helmkamp in its guttural rasp. Musically, Noctambulous... is easily the group's most muscular and death metal-oriented outing to date, however it still oozes a charred and blackened atmosphere. In many ways, it's very similar to early Morbid Angel, rife with Azagthothian off-kilteredness and an underlying sense of esoterica. When it comes to war metal that isn't completely Blasphemy inspired, Prosanctus Inferi's Noctambulous Jaws Within Sempiternal Night is the best you're going to get. |
| Proscription Conduit | 4.0 |
| Protector A Shedding of Skin | 3.0 |
| Protector Excessive Outburst of Depravity | 3.5 |
| Pseudogod Deathwomb Catechesis | 3.5 |
| Psychic Blood Autumn Curses | 3.5 |
| Psycroptic The Scepter of the Ancients | 3.5 |
| Puce Mary Rubber Therapy | 3.5 |
| Pulchra Morte Divina Autem et Aniles | 3.5 |
| Evoking the morbid grandiosity of the "The Peaceville Three" (Paradise Lost, Anathema, My Dying Bride) Pulchra Morte's debut album Divina Autem et Aniles hearkens back to the gothic death/doom sound of the early 90's British metal scene, uniting melody and chaos in an unholy matrimony. |
| Pulczesar Pulczesar | 3.5 |
| Pure Disgust Pure Disgust LP | 3.0 |
| Pure Wrath Sempiternal Wisdom | 3.5 |
| Purgatorial Blue Flame Choir of Nosferatu | 3.5 |
| Push Over Demo | 3.5 |
| Putrefiance Demo 2018 | 3.5 |
| Pyre of Black Roses Demo I | 3.0 |
| Pyre of Black Roses Demo II | 3.5 |
| Pyrrhon Abscess Time | 4.0 |
| Qrixkuor Three Devils Dance | 4.0 |
| Queensryche Operation: Mindcrime | 5.0 |
| Question Reflections of the Void | 3.5 |
| Raat (IN) Ashen | 3.5 |
| Radiohead OK Computer | 4.0 |
| Ragana and Thou Let Our Names Be Forgotten | 3.5 |
| Rahu Caput Draconis | 3.5 |
| Rain City Drive Through Art We Are All Equals | 3.0 |
| Raspberry Bulbs Before The Age Of Mirrors | 4.0 |
| Rational Animals Bock Rock Parade | 4.0 |
| Ratt Out of the Cellar | 3.5 |
| Ravachol Great Moments in the Void | 3.5 |
| Ravenous Death Visions from the Netherworld | 4.0 |
| Raw Nerve Nervous Habits | 3.5 |
| A great tape by another great Youth Attack! hardcore band. I wonder how long until it's too trendy to like any YA! bands and we are all forced to ignore their consistent brilliance. |
| Reactor (CH) The Tribunal Above | 4.0 |
| Real Friends Composure | 3.0 |
| Rebel Wizard Triumph of Gloom | 3.5 |
| Rebel Wizard Voluptuous Worship of Rapture and Response | 4.0 |
| Rebel Wizard Magickal Mystical Indifference | 4.5 |
I?ve always enjoyed the majority of his material, but Rebel Wizard has easily become my favorite Nekrasov
project. His newest album under that guise, Magickal Mystical Indifference, is stunningly good. The way he
combines punk driven black metal and classic heavy metal is such a wonderful collision of sound, offering both
the grounded rawness in the former while still indulging larger than life qualities of the latter. It?s undoubtedly
heavy but when he hits a melody, he hits it hard. That?s not even mentioning the guitar hero-esque solos he lays
down throughout. This is just so good. Recommended. |
| Red (USA) End of Silence | 3.0 |
| Redwood Hill Ender | 3.5 |
| Reeking Aura Blood And Bonemeal | 4.0 |
| Reeking Nightshade Within the Effulgence of the Moon | 3.5 |
| Reel Big Fish Monkeys for Nothin' and The Chimps... | 2.0 |
| Reel Big Fish Fame, Fortune and Fornication | 2.0 |
| Reel Big Fish Cheer Up! | 3.0 |
| Reel Big Fish We're Not Happy 'Till You're Not Happy | 3.0 |
| Reel Big Fish Everything Sucks | 3.5 |
| Reel Big Fish Why Do They Rock So Hard? | 4.0 |
| Reel Big Fish Turn the Radio Off | 4.0 |
| Reel Big Fish Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live | 5.0 |
| Reflux The Illusion Of Democracy | 4.0 |
| Rehashed Rehashed Demo | 4.0 |
| Hardcore and thrash metal combo that maintains a contain stream of unbridled aggression. Great riffs, awesome vokillz and overall just good vibes this album is fun as it is dangerous. |
| Reign in Blood Missa Pro Defunctis | 3.0 |
| Rejoice! The Light Has Come Untitled EP II | 4.0 |
| Reka III | 2.5 |
| Reka I | 4.0 |
| Reka II | 4.0 |
| Remete (AUS) Forgotten Aura (demo) | 3.5 |
| The second new black metal project from D. of Woods of Desolation. Instrumental black metal with a focus on grand melodies and an overall lax atmosphere. The lack of vocals hinders it slightly, but it still remains fairly compelling. |
| Remete (AUS) The Winter Silence | 3.5 |
| Remete (AUS) Into Endless Night | 4.5 |
| Remete continues to be one of the only worthwhile cold and blizzardous black metal band worth investing in. This album rages with the tempest of only the fiercest winter storm yet the underlying ambience remains surprisingly soothing. It's a beautiful album and at this point D has cemented himself as a one-man wunderkind on par with Austin Lunn, M. Rekevics, and any other black metal visionary that's debuted in the last decade. |
| Remmirath Polis Rouge | 3.0 |
| Respire Denouement | 3.5 |
| Revenant Prophecies of a Dying World | 4.0 |
| Revenant Marquis Polterngeyst | 3.5 |
| Revenant Marquis Youth In Ribbons | 3.5 |
| Revenant Marquis/Lamp of Murmuur Revenant Marquis/Lamp of Murmuur | 4.0 |
| Lamp of Murmuur and Revenant Marquis are both bands that could be classified as raw black metal, yet their sounds exist on two opposites ends of the spectrum; the former revels in tradition, imbuing their music with wintry mysticism and icy ambiance reminiscent of the classics but with an undeniably modern twist. The latter deconstructs black metal, sifting through its base elements and using its most terrifying devices to craft their abstract and insanity-inducing blackened fervor. Their pairing - while odd at first glance - makes for a great combination, displaying two of black metal's most promising young acts and the diversity that can still be found within the genre. |
| Revenge (CAN) Infiltration.Downfall.Death | 4.0 |
| Revenge (CAN) Triumph.Genocide.Antichrist | 4.0 |
| Revenge (CAN) Victory.Intolerance.Mastery | 4.0 |
| Revenge (CAN) Scum.Collapse.Eradication | 4.0 |
| Hailing from the same lineage as famed blackened blasphemers such as Angelcorpse and Order From Chaos, Revenge has always been one of the best blackened death metal groups around; fourth full-length album Scum.Collapse.Eradication solidifies this as the band continues to purvey some of the most vile and wretched music to grace this earth. |
| Reverorum Ib Malacht Im Ra Distare Summum Soveris Seris Vas innoble | 3.5 |
| Rhinocervs RH-14 | 3.5 |
| Rhinocervs RH-15 | 3.5 |
| Rhinocervs RH-16 | 3.5 |
| Rhinocervs RH01 | 4.0 |
| Rhinocervs RH-12 | 4.0 |
| Rhinocervs RH-13 | 4.0 |
| Rhinocervs RH02 | 4.5 |
| Rhinocervs RH-07 | 4.5 |
| Rhinocervs RH-11 | 4.5 |
| Rhinocervs RH-08 | 4.5 |
| Rhinocervs RH-08 "Untitled 1 & 2" | 5.0 |
| Rhinocervs Odour of Dust and Rot | 5.0 |
| Rhizome (USA) Demo | 3.0 |
| Pissed-off female fronted hardcore from San Fransisco. Some genuinely catchy moments dispersed throughout the usually vicious hardcore fare. |
| Ride for Revenge Sinking The Song | 3.5 |
| Rietas Vaikainen - Demo MMXX | 3.5 |
| Rina Sawayama Sawayama | 3.5 |
| Ringare Under Pale Moon | 3.5 |
| Ringare Where Cold Dwells And Winter Once Lay | 3.5 |
| Ringare Sorrow Befell | 3.5 |
| Masterminded by one man black metal auteur Alex Poole, Ringare's newest demo Sorrow Befell is an impressive display of Summoning-esque bombast filtered through the structure of more typical atmospheric black metal. The result is a terrifyingly immersive piece of work to lose yourself in. |
| Ripped to Shreds Eight Immortals Feast | 3.0 |
| Ripped to Shreds 魔經 - Demon Scriptures | 3.5 |
| Ripped to Shreds 埋葬 | 4.0 |
| Ripped to Shreds 劇變 (Jubian) | 4.0 |
| Rishloo Feathergun | 2.0 |
| Rites of Thy Degringolade Totalitys Commad | 3.5 |
| Rites of Thy Degringolade The Blade Philosophical | 3.5 |
| It's hard to find an apt descriptor for The Blade Philosophical; if I could think of one, it would be something like Morbid Angel meets Deathspell Omega. |
| Rites of Thy Degringolade The Caryatid | 4.0 |
| Rites of Thy Degringolade Totality | 4.0 |
| Rites of Thy Degringolade An Ode To Sin | 4.0 |
| Ritual Necromancy Oath of the Abyss | 4.0 |
| Ritual Necromancy Disinterred Horror | 4.0 |
| Ritual Necromancy / Fossilization Split | 4.0 |
| Rivendell Farewell - The Last Dawn | 3.0 |
| Rivers Like Veins Z iskier srebrnych orszaków | 3.0 |
| Roadrunner United The All-Star Sessions | 5.0 |
| Roanoke Beautiful People | 4.0 |
| Wow, this is some REALLY fantastic stuff |
| Roman Cross Make Graves the Home of Men | 3.5 |
| Roman Master The Basilisk | 3.5 |
| Rome Hero Foxes 18 Summers | 3.5 |
| Rose Kemp Golden Shroud | 4.0 |
| Rotted Fumes DEMO MMXVIII | 3.0 |
| Rotted Remains Rotted Remains | 3.5 |
| Rotten Tomb Visions of Dismal Fate | 4.0 |
| Rotting Christ Rituals | 2.0 |
| Rotting Sky Sedation | 3.5 |
| Royal Coda Royal Coda | 2.5 |
| Royal Coda Compassion | 2.5 |
| Royal Coda To Only a Few at First | 4.5 |
| Man I love this new Dance Gavin Dance album. I sure am glad that Kurt never left the band. |
| Ruin Lust Choir Of Babel | 3.5 |
| Ruined Families Ruined Families | 2.0 |
| The first song on this kicks ass, as a nice combination of hardcore and black metal, after that however everything is just grating. |
| Ruined Families Blank Language | 3.0 |
| Ruminations Rehersal Demo | 3.5 |
| Runemagick Into Desolate Realms | 3.5 |
| Runespell Voice of Opprobrium | 3.5 |
| RVIVR The Beauty Between | 4.5 |
| holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit |
| Rx Bandits Mandala | 3.5 |
| Rx Bandits Gemini, Her Majesty | 4.5 |
| This is just so ridiculously catchy. Perfect summer album. |
| S H R I E K I N G Let The Galaxy Burn | 3.5 |
| Sacramental Blood Ternion Demonarchy | 4.0 |
| Sacramentary Abolishment The Distracting Stone | 4.5 |
| Sacramentary Abolishment River of Corticone | 5.0 |
| After fifteen years, The River Corticone is an album that by all means, is the definition of being completely and utterly underrated. Superbly written blacked death metal that succeeds in being both primal and astoundingly mature AT THE SAME TIME. |
| Sacred Son Arthurian Catacombs | 3.5 |
| Sacrilegious Crown Sacrilegious Crown | 3.5 |
| Sacrilegious Crown Flagellated Temple | 3.5 |
| Sacrilegious Crown Plenilunium Cult | 3.5 |
| Sacrilegious Crown Forbidden Vestiges of Veneration | 3.5 |
| Sacrilegious Crown / Illuminated Manuscripts Meditations on the Revenant Enigma | 3.5 |
| Sacriphyx The Western Front | 4.0 |
| Sadist Firescorched | 4.0 |
| Sadness I want to be there | 3.5 |
| Sadness Alluring the distant eye | 3.5 |
| Sadness Circle of Veins | 4.0 |
| Sadness tortuga | 4.0 |
| Sadness I | 4.0 |
| Sadness within the lightseam | 4.0 |
| Sadness our time is here | 4.0 |
| Sadness kiss in october (2017) | 4.0 |
| Sadurn Radiator | 4.0 |
| Sael The Sixth Extinction | 3.5 |
| Saidan Jigoku: Spiraling Chasms of Blackst Hell | 4.5 |
| Saidan Onryo II: Her Spirit Eternal | 4.5 |
| Sainte Marie des Loups Sainte Marie des Loups | 4.0 |
| A monumental slab of blackened filth that evokes aged and odious antiquity; listening feels like unearthing an ancient artifact that will corrupt your soul by runtimes end. |
| Sainte Marie des Loups Funérailles de feu | 4.0 |
| Sallow II: Corpses and Ruins | 3.5 |
| Sallow play of a very modern form of classic black metal; it's cold, unforgiving, aggressive, and evocative of an assailing winter tempest. Every once in a while they will have a brilliant moment -each track has at least one or two - but as whole, this is standard black metal brought to you by a band that has yet to unlock their true potential. |
| Sallow Moth The Larval Hope | 4.0 |
| Sallow Moth Failure to Find | 4.0 |
| Sallow Moth / Vmthanaachth Sallow Moth / Vmthanaachth | 4.0 |
| Saltas Currents | 3.5 |
| Saltas Parasites | 3.5 |
| Salvaticus Hidden Manna | 3.5 |
| Salvation (USA) Of Unforgiving Wind | 3.5 |
| Uber aggressive buzzed out hardcore from Pennsylvania. |
| Salvation (USA) House of the Beating Hell | 3.5 |
| A part of the Youth Attack! music conglomerate, Philadelphia's Salvation have been releasing great and seriously moody hardcore since 2009 with the release of their debut album, Of Unforgiving Wind. Seemingly at odds with the sheer violence of their first album (and sophomore effort, Mortality Interactions) Salvation's latest EP shows the band paying more attention to detail, crafting a set of songs that may lack their previous aggression but more than makes up for it with their obviously more thoughtful compositions. House of the Beating Hell is still very much a Salvation release, but it is easily their most mature to date. |
| Salvation (USA) Mortality Interactions | 4.0 |
| Salvation's second full-length is a definite step-up from their already impressive debut, containing more even more aggression, more demonic shrieks courtesy of vocalist Adis and even more buzzed out hardcore riffs. Raw but still catchy as fuck, Mortality Interactions is a fantastic and unique hardcore gem from last year. |
| Sanctum On The Horizon | 4.0 |
| Sanguine Eagle Storm Mysticism | 3.0 |
| Sanguine Eagle Shores of Avarice | 3.5 |
| Sanguine Moon What Shadows Once Hid... | 3.5 |
| What Shadows Once Hid... feels legitimately frightening. It's build-up of distorted ambiance rumbling below mysterious chants and foreboding euphoria creates an uncomfortable yet oddly enjoyable tension. |
| Sanguine Relic Bitter Reflection in Luminous Shadows | 4.0 |
| Sanguine Relic are one of the more popular raw USBM acts circulating the underground today. Over the years they've developed a keen melodic edge and at the time of its release, Bitter Reflection in Luminous Shadows was the best example of that. It has all the atmospheric coldness you would want but also a stinging punk edge for some extra attitude. |
| Sanguine Relic The Essence of Eternity's Despair | 4.0 |
| Sanguine Relic From Ruin & Emptiness (Destroyed Remains & the Abs | 4.0 |
| Sanguine Relic Divine Stygianism: The Bliss in Torment | 4.5 |
| Sanguisugabogg Tortured Whole | 2.0 |
brutal death metal for brutal metal metal tourists. this is like going to philly and getting a
cheesesteak from genos or pats. |
| Sans Ami Sans Ami | 3.5 |
| Saor Aura | 3.5 |
| Saor Forgotten Paths | 4.5 |
| Sarcasm (SWE) Stellar Stream Obscured | 4.0 |
| Sarcophagus For We... Who Are Consumed by the Darkness | 4.0 |
| Sargeist Unbound | 3.5 |
| I?ve never been a huge Sargeist fan but this is really good, super melodic and icy black metal. I need to give props to the production too, it?s the perfect combination of clean and chaotic. |
| Sargeist/Drowning the Light Crimson Wine/As the Blood Flows On... | 3.5 |
| Sarr Ávitun | 3.5 |
| Really euphoric atmospheric black metal with palpably agonizing howls. |
| Satyr of Solitude Secret World | 3.0 |
| Satyr of Solitude Demo I | 3.5 |
| Satyr of Solitude Tree of Contemplation | 3.5 |
| Saya Gray 19 Masters | 4.0 |
| Scar Symmetry Dark Matter Dimensions | 2.5 |
| Scar Symmetry Symmetric in Design | 3.5 |
| Scar Symmetry Pitch Black Progress | 3.5 |
| Scar Symmetry Holographic Universe | 3.5 |
| Scarlxrd Dxxm II | 3.5 |
| Scars on Broadway Scars on Broadway | 1.0 |
| Sceptical Schizo Sceptical Schizo | 3.5 |
| Schizophrenia (BE) Recollections of the Insane | 3.5 |
| Scorched (USA-DE) Ecliptic Butchery | 4.0 |
| Scraps Aaargh! | 4.0 |
| French hardcore styled after Japanese hardcore that rules |
| Scythe Lore Through the Mausoleums of Man | 3.5 |
| Seagraves Weight of the World | 3.5 |
| Secret Band Secret Band | 4.5 |
| Secret Band LP2 | 4.5 |
| Secret Band Secret Band EP (Remastered) | 5.0 |
| Secret Creation Holding My Carrot | 3.5 |
| Secret Creation Bye Bye Bunny | 3.5 |
| Sectioned (Death Metal) Elme | 3.5 |
| Infusing elements of old school death metal with elements of thrash and even black metal, Sectioned's Elme is a competent excursion into realms of (slightly) experimental black metal. Fast riffs, excellent vocals and some pretty cool song-writing this album doesn't come highly recommended, but recommended nonetheless. |
| Sectioned (Death Metal) Purulent Reality | 4.0 |
| I somehow forgot about this. Sectioned is a UK based death metal band who takes a feather out of Benediction and Bolt Thrower's mid-paced cap. It's decidedly old-school, and rife with melody la Vital Remains; sparse and effective. Recommended. The heavier parts are exactly original, but they are damn memorable. Don't let the fact I forgot about this fool you; I'm just kinda dumb. This is worth checking out. |
| Sedimentum Suppuration Morphogénésiaque | 4.0 |
| Seep Hymns to the Gore | 3.5 |
| Maine's Seep relishes in the inherent absurdity of death metal and on Hymns to the Gore amplifies the more comedic aspects of the genre without sacrificing great -if not simple-songcraft. This is ignorant, riff-heavy death metal that borders parody but is super fun nonetheless. Despite the fact the band are clearly leaning into death metal schlock, their usage of slasher-style synths is quite ingenious, genuinely sounds killer, and continues to aid in the B-horror vibes the band cultivate here. |
| Seether Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces | 3.0 |
| Seether Disclaimer | 3.5 |
| Seether Karma And Effect | 4.0 |
| While Disclaimer was more natural in the band's raw mongrel rock, its follow-up Karma and Effect takes the unexpected route in being MUCH heavier than its predecessor. Impressively forsaking an attempt to go more mainstream, Seether's second effort is heavily influenced by metal and benefits greatly from it. For a "mainstream" rock band, these guys sure can write some motherfucking riffs. Great shit. |
| Seether Disclaimer II | 4.5 |
| Sejr Demo | 3.5 |
| SELVA Doma | 3.5 |
| Sen Deni Secret of the Sea | 3.0 |
| Sen Deni No More | 4.0 |
| Another great example of post-rock infused screamo, Belarus's own Sen Deni create very captivating songs with overflowing amounts of emotion. From faster paced sections with bright and blissful powerchord assaults to beautiful clean interludes, Sen Deni isn't reinventing the wheel whatsoever but they rule just the same. |
| Sen Deni письма | 4.0 |
| Senses Fail Still Searching | 2.0 |
| Senses Fail Pull the Thorns from Your Heart | 3.0 |
| I still need to listen to this 10-15 more times before I can rate this accurately, but as far as first listens go, this sounds like choppier version of Renacer. Sure, it's simultaneously their most technical and most ethereal, but it's also their most disjointed. Really hoping this grows on me. |
| Senses Fail From The Depths Of Dreams (2019) | 3.5 |
| It's a bit jarring to heard versions of these songs after 17 years of growing up with the originals, but overall From The Depths of Dreams is a fun little release, if not just a bit kitschy. While I appreciate some of the added elements - mostly backing vocals - the actual production sounds really awful and plastic. It saps a bit of the genuity the original version thrives on. However, Buddy sounds really good and I don't mind his improved voice singing out some of my all time favorite Senses Fail melodies/lyrics. Recommended for people who won't take this too seriously. |
| Senses Fail From the Depths of Dreams | 4.0 |
| Senses Fail Life Is Not a Waiting Room | 4.0 |
| Senses Fail The Fire | 4.0 |
| Senses Fail If There Is Light, It Will Find You | 4.0 |
| Senses Fail Renacer | 4.5 |
| Album should have been called "Yes, We Lift" |
| Senses Fail Let It Enfold You | 5.0 |
| Sepsism Distorting the Mortal Visage | 4.0 |
| Septage Septic Decadence | 4.0 |
| Septicflesh Modern Primitive | 3.0 |
| Septulchu Food For Moloch | 3.5 |
| Sepulcher Panoptic Horror | 4.0 |
| Sequestered Keep Wandering Far | 3.5 |
| Sequestered Keep The Vale of Ruined Towers | 4.0 |
| Sermon of Flames I Have Seen the Light, and It Was Repulsive | 4.0 |
| Serpent Column Ornuthi Thalassa | 3.0 |
| Serpent Column Endless Detainment | 3.5 |
| Serpent Column Mirror In Darkness | 4.0 |
Mirror in Darkness is another fine example of 2019 black metal. Serpent Column's sole member
Theophonos manages to conjure a maelstrom of music that is simultaneously chaotic and tempered.
There are obvious odes to other dissonance dominated black metal like Deathspell Omega or
Suffering Hour, as well as a spastic energy that exudes the electricity of post-hardcore. That
combination along with some well placed and powerful melodies makes Serpent Column's newest one to
look out for. |
| Serpent Column Kathodos | 4.0 |
| Kathodos sees Serpent Column at their most straightforward yet, distilling the best parts of melody and chaos to create an album that excels at both. |
| Serpentine Dominion Serpentine Dominion | 4.0 |
| Serum Dreg Lustful Vengeance | 3.5 |
| Seven Sisters Of Sleep Seven Sisters of Sleep | 4.0 |
| Sevenday Curse After the Storm | 4.0 |
| Another early melodic metalcore practitioner, Boston's Sevenday Curse erred more on the side of pure melodic death metal, but definitely had the punk flair and attitude that would go on to dominate the scene in following years. |
| Sexdrome Sexdrome | 3.5 |
| Sexdrome Grown Younger | 4.0 |
| Sexdrome On What Draw | 4.0 |
| Shades Of Vrsaj'kett Perishing Embers of a Funeral Pyre | 4.0 |
| Shades Of Vrsaj'kett What Lies Beneath Gravel & Soot | 4.0 |
| Shadow Of Intent Melancholy | 3.5 |
| Shadows Fall Threads of Life | 2.5 |
| Shadows Fall Fallout From The War | 3.0 |
| Shadows Fall Somber Eyes to the Sky | 3.5 |
| Shadows Fall The Art of Balance | 4.0 |
| Shadows Fall The War Within | 5.0 |
| When Shadows Fall released The War Within, it was just another album, albeit a great one but there was nothing overtly special about it; it didn't make any crazy cultural impact, it wasn't the most original album and it wasn't even the best album of the year... but it will forever remain a life-changing release for me. You see, this is the first record I bought with screamed vocals, a decision that changed my musical life. From this point on there were no more boundaries, no more caps to what I could listen to. This album opened my mind to world of extreme metal and will forever and always remain a milestone in my musical development. |
| Shaolin Finger Jabb Santa Maria Powerviolence | 3.5 |
| No holds barred, female fronted powerviolence that absolutely rips. Also the song titles are actually pretty funny. |
| Shark Bait/Adaje Split | 3.5 |
| Shataan Earth | 3.5 |
| Shataan was always an outlier in the BTC, so it wasn?t very surprising when they struck out on their own a few years ago, branching away from Crepsculo Negro and black metal altogether. Their latest, Earth, still has some remnants of that era, but is moreso a cultivation of the previously sidelined psychedelic, freak folk, and rock elements that were present in their music. For me, Shataan was one of the most exciting Black Twilight bands because these influences were lurking in the background and on Earth, where they?re finally in the limelight, they are definitely done with justice. |
| Shataan Weigh Of The Wolf | 4.0 |
| After War Cry Lament (which I loved), Shataan have steadily been going downhill; certainly nothing they released was bad, but couldn't compare to their first demo. Weigh of the Wolf absolutely does. His fusion of black metal and psychedelic (with some slight, surprising, and welcome hints of surf rock) has never sounded better than it does here. It's melodic, raw, catchy, and offensive all at once. The bass in particular steals the show, taking a prominent role and bouncing around all over the place. Great album with thought-provoking lyrics. |
| Shataan War Cry Lament | 4.5 |
| Underrated so hard. Musically this is a fantastic combination of psychedelic, dark folk, and black that easily sets the band apart. The vocals get some take some getting used to but Damn when it finally hits you, it really hits you |
| Sheidim Shrines of the Void | 3.0 |
| Shikari 1999 - 2003 | 4.0 |
| Shinedown The Sound of Madness | 4.5 |
| Shining (SWE) VII: Fodd Forlorare | 3.0 |
| Shining (SWE) III - Angst, Självdestruktivitetens Emissarie | 3.5 |
| Shining (SWE) I - Within Deep Dark Chambers | 4.0 |
| Shining (SWE) IV - The Eerie Cold | 4.0 |
| Shining (SWE) II - Livets Andhallplats | 4.0 |
| Shinki Chen Shinki Chen and his Friends | 4.0 |
| Shizune Shizune | 3.5 |
| Shylmagoghnar Transience | 3.0 |
| Shyy/... The Path Toward Forgetfulness | 3.5 |
| A release between two bands that are arguably some of the better groups from the shoegazing black metal pool, The Path Towards Forgetfulness has some pretty glaring errors but overall is an extremely enjoyable listen. Although they have received much more attention, Shyy is easily the weaker band here, creating two decent songs that have more in common with straightforward indie but definitely get their vocal style from shoegaze. ... on the other hand (yes, the name of the band is "...") create three completely entrancing pieces which if honestly had been by themselves would have made for an excellent demo/EP. The songs transition beautifully from more depressive black metal sections (which are actually wonderfully done) to clean vocal driven shoegaze dreamfests. Definitely a band to look for, if these songs are any indication, this band will do great things on future releases. |
| Sianvar Stay Lost | 4.0 |
| Siberian Hell Sounds/Convulsing Split | 4.0 |
| interesting split between two bands that approach black metal in completely different ways |
| Sickening Gore Destructive Reality | 4.0 |
| Sickness (Finland) Nidus Diaboli | 3.5 |
| Siege Column Inferno Deathpassion | 3.5 |
| SiFulan Desolate | 3.5 |
| Sigh Hail Horror Hail | 3.0 |
| Sigh Scenario IV: Dread Dreams | 3.0 |
| Sigh Gallows Gallery | 3.5 |
| Sigh Infidel Art | 3.5 |
| Sigh Ghastly Funeral Theatre | 3.5 |
| Sigh Scorn Defeat | 4.0 |
| Sigh Heir to Despair | 4.0 |
| Sigh Imaginary Sonicscape | 4.5 |
| Silent Civilian Rebirth of the Temple | 3.5 |
| Silent Thunder Usurping The Hall Of Might And Splendour | 4.0 |
| Silent Thunder Thousand Hammers (Demo II) | 4.0 |
| Silent Thunder/Shadow Dungeon community Gates Of Pestilence And Deceit | 4.0 |
| Silver Knife Ring | 4.0 |
| Simply Death Crucification | 2.5 |
| The best part of this demo are the vocals, which are reminiscent of Altars of Madness-era David Vincent. Otherwise Simply Death are simply put, not worth your time. |
| Sinat Hinam Sinat Hinam | 3.5 |
| Black metal influenced crust punk from Israel. Thick murky guitars that swap between simpler crust punk lines, tremolo picked guitar and classic metal inspired passages Sinat Hinam is heavy, pounding and passionate crust that doesn't hold anything back |
| Sinmara Within the Weaves of Infinity | 3.5 |
| Icelandic black metal has been all the rage the last few years, and it's really not hard to see why; twisting, cavernous, and more aggressive, there is a certain magic that Icelandic BM and by extension, Sinmara, have in spades. Eerily melodic at times, the dichotomy of DsO-esque cacophony and cold, frozen harmony are well-representing throughout, creating excellent and contrasting counterpoints. A dense, but thoroughly enjoyable listen.r |
| Sinmara Aphotic Womb | 4.0 |
| Sinmara Hvísl Stjarnanna | 4.0 |
Based on the tracks available, this album should be amazing. "Crimson Stars" is particularly
fantastic; the riffs have this majestic yet dark melodicism about them. It? gorgeous with a sense
tension, a pretty thrilling combo. It definitely has that DsO quality inherent to the
Icelandic scene but repurposed into something uplifting. There's really not much else to say at
this point other than I am super excited for the whole thing to come out.
Edit: Listened, and the rest of the album is amazing. Strikes an amazing balance between melody
and maelstrom. |
| Sista Sekunden Aldras Med Stil | 3.5 |
| Six Brew Bantha Six Brew Bantha | 4.0 |
| Six Feet Under Graveyard Classics IV: The Number Of The Priest | 1.0 |
| Sixx:A.M. This Is Gonna Hurt | 3.5 |
| Mainstream rock that isn't embarrassing to listen to. We all knew Sixx:A.M. would make this album, an album that further propels their burgeoning mainstream sound but it's so damn catchy who cares if there's little to no substance to be found here? Great vocals, catchy melodies and surprisingly solid instrumentation This is Gonna Hurt continues Sixx:A.M.'s hot-streak of writing awesome modern rock records. |
| Skagos Ast | 4.0 |
| Skaphe Skáphe³ | 4.0 |
| Skaphe and Wormlust Kosmískur Hryllingur | 3.5 |
| Skeletal Remains Devouring Mortality | 4.0 |
| Skeletal Remains The Entombment of Chaos | 4.0 |
| Comparing this to Blood Incantation is a weird choice, as they are high-minded prog influenced DM & this is clearly an ode to the more visceral, brutal style of DM coming out in the late 80's/early 90's. And they do it well to boot! Need more listens to solidify a rating but this is good! |
| Skid Row Subhuman Race | 3.5 |
| Skid Row Slave to the Grind | 4.0 |
| Skid Row Skid Row | 5.0 |
| Skravl En Higen mod Tilintetgørelsen | 3.5 |
| Skrawl Nil (demo) | 3.5 |
| Skullcrush Visions of the Firestorm Eclipse | 3.5 |
| Sky Eats Airplane Everything Perfect on the Wrong Day | 3.5 |
| Slaegt Ildsvanger | 3.5 |
| Slave House Taste In Pain | 3.5 |
| Slavehouse / Krukh / Kostnatění / Sainte Marie des Loups / Torment Is Flesh | 4.5 |
| Slayer World Painted Blood | 2.0 |
| Slayer Reign in Blood | 2.5 |
| Slayer Show No Mercy | 3.0 |
| Slayer South of Heaven | 3.0 |
| Slayer Hell Awaits | 4.0 |
| Sleeping Village Fragments | 3.5 |
| Sleeping With Sirens If You Were a Movie, This Would Be Your Soundtrack | 4.5 |
| Sleepwalker (JPN) 一期一会 | 4.0 |
| Slimelord Insurmountable Peril | 4.0 |
| Slipknot The End, So Far | 1.5 |
| Slipknot All Hope Is Gone | 3.0 |
| Slipknot .5: The Gray Chapter | 3.0 |
| Slipknot We Are Not Your Kind | 3.0 |
| Slipknot 9.0: Live | 3.5 |
| Slipknot Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. | 4.0 |
| Slipknot Disasterpieces | 4.0 |
| Slipknot Iowa | 4.5 |
| Slipknot Slipknot | 5.0 |
| Slipknot Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses | 5.0 |
| I was a relative latecomer to the Slipknot boom of the late 90?s/early 2000?s and didn?t formally get into them until Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verse. That being said, my opinion on the best Slipknot album often teeters between the aforementioned and their debut which is a force of nature unto itself. Iowa is of course also very good, but the anger on that record never felt as visceral to me as the self-titled or the heaviness as effective as it is on Vol. 3. More often than not, I lean on The Subliminal Verse as my favorite because it?s this unique intersection of death, nu, progressive, and alternative metal(s) with a very twisted and sinister pop sensibility. The guitars often twist and contort familiar riffs into unfamiliar shapes, and Corey?s gnarled, worn vocals only lend to their emotive prowess. Rick Rubin?s production is clean yet gritty and gifts the record with an atmospheric quality that?s absent from the rest of their discography. However, the star of this record was always Joey; his drumming here groovy yet technical, showing he knows restraint, but will never fail to let the chaos take over when it needs to. For all their angst and rage, Slipknot?s self-titled and Iowa are still very much a nu-metal records, taking cues from Korn, the Deftones, and all that came before them, while Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verse established Slipknot as a transcendent metal entity without knowledge or care of boundaries. |
| Slipknot Vol.3: The Subliminal Verses [Reissue] | 5.0 |
| Slithering Decay Demo 2018 | 3.5 |
| Slowly Building Weapons Sunbirds | 3.5 |
| Slugathor Crypt of the Ancient Fire | 3.5 |
| Smash Mouth Fush Yu Mang | 3.0 |
| Smash Mouth Astro Lounge | 3.0 |
| Smash Mouth Smash Mouth | 3.5 |
| Snowing Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit | 2.0 |
| Snowing has potential; displaying an energetic performance, competent musicianship and a weird sense of honesty about them by all means they could go on to be great...once they dump their singer whose vocals literally make this near unlistenable. |
| Soilwork Stabbing the Drama | 4.0 |
| Soilwork The Chainheart Machine | 4.0 |
| Sojourner The Shadowed Road | 3.0 |
| Soker Tilflukt The Dark Woods of Sorrow | 3.5 |
| Solipsism (AUS) Whispering to the Strange (demo) | 3.5 |
| Solstice (USA-FL) Solstice | 4.5 |
| FUCKING EXCELLENT RECORD. It's beyond me how these guys didn't up blow up with the rest of Floridian death metal scene in the early 90's, Solstice's first self-titled effort easily holds its ground against any classic produced from that time period. This album is basically just the complete package; absolutely crushing guitar riffs, killer solos, (two guest solos from the famous James Murphy!) along with great, technical drumming and some vocals that actually manage to stand out from the pack. Highly recommended! |
| Solum Solum | 3.0 |
| Someplace To Hide Shouting, "Saintly Not Ghostly!" | 4.5 |
| Sonne Adam Transformation | 3.5 |
| Sorcier Des Glaces Sorcier Des Glaces | 3.5 |
| Sorrow Plagues/De La Nostalgie/Elderwind/Dreams of Nature Mater Natura Excelsa Split | 4.0 |
| Sorry... Failure Years of Neglect Apathy | 3.0 |
| Soundtrack (Film) Sucker Punch | 5.0 |
| Holy shit if watching this movie already made me wanna bang emily browning this just ... sets me offf |
| Sparkle The Absurd World | 3.0 |
| Spawn of Possession Incurso | 3.0 |
| Spear of Teuta Scorn | 3.0 |
| This would be a lot better if the vocals weren't a)so upfront and b) awful. Black metal and post-punk have a long relationship with each other, but the last few years in particular have seen uptick in this stylistic pairing. If Spear of Teuta can refine their sound a bit and get a better vocalist, they'd be at the forefront of this movement. |
| Spectral Lore and Mare Cognitum Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine | 3.5 |
| Spectral Lore/Jute Gyte Helian | 3.5 |
| Spiral Staircase Cellar Dream | 4.0 |
| Spiral Staircase/Disequilibrium In the Scrying House / Fungal Growth Adorning Tree | 3.5 |
| Spirals Spirals | 4.0 |
| Spirit Possession 2020 Demo | 4.0 |
| Spirit Possession Spirit Possession | 4.0 |
| Spiritbox Rotoscope | 2.5 |
| The first track reminded me of Powerman 5000. I'm gonna let that statement and my score speak for itself. |
| Spiritbox Eternal Blue | 3.5 |
| Spiritbox Spiritbox | 4.5 |
| Spite (USA-NY) Antimoshiach | 3.5 |
| Spite Extreme Wing Non dvcor, dvco | 4.0 |
| Spite Extreme Wing Vltra | 4.5 |
| Sport Colors | 4.0 |
| SQRM Rodeo | 4.0 |
| rSQRM have always confounded me. Even to this day - 9 years after the release of their last album - I was never able to place whether they were cerebral hardcore deconstructionists or noisy hardcore savages. I've always preferred to believe the former; that their cover, a miserable clown, was some kind of cynical commentary on the state of happy-go-lucky hardcore. Or perhaps it's just a teaser of the misery in store for all those who listen? I guess I'll never REALLY know if SQRM is as subversive as I want them to be, but what I can tell you is Rodeo, their sophomore and final effort, is one of the most disgusting, sludgy, and filthy slabs of hardcore I've ever heard. Oscillating between noisy half-tempo dirges and near powerviolence bouts of aggression, SQRM's schizophrenic assault corrodes your mind until you feel as insane as the music portrays itself to be. In the middle of the bedlam stands front man Tony P., feverishly yelling lines of lunacy like "I'M A FUCKING FREAK, SPIT ON ME", further cementing the band's commitment to their uber-negative, self-deprecating style of hardcore. For me, Rodeo still feels like a fresh if not absolutely vile take on the genre, with SQRM feeding you a palate cleanser of dirt and Clozapine while they convulse in the corner. |
| Srodek Forfall | 3.0 |
| Another band to incorporate a hefty does of alternative influences into their black metal sound, Srodek occasionally falls flat on their face thanks to ultra repetitive song structures and less than inspired melodies but overall deliver an enjoyable does of post-black metal fun. |
| Stalingrad Stalingrad | 3.0 |
| I have no qualms in saying that part of me likes this only because it's a project of YakNips, who overall, is a very cool dude. The other part of of me legitimately enjoys the rawness and the primitive bashing of the album's slower moments. However, this release as a whole is ruined by the production, which makes the guitar during the faster parts completely undecipherable. |
| Standing Far Quod Sacrum Scriptum | 4.0 |
| Starcave Nebula / Eerified Catacomb Starcave Nebula / Eerified Catacomb | 3.5 |
| Starless Domain EOS | 3.5 |
| State Faults Clairvoyant | 3.5 |
| Static-X Start A War | 3.5 |
| Staurophagia Sacrifice of the Wind | 3.5 |
| Stellar Descent Cycles of Life | 3.5 |
| Still Remains The Serpent | 3.0 |
| Still Remains Ceasing to Breathe | 3.5 |
| Still Remains Of Love and Lunacy | 5.0 |
| Stillness My Snow Princess | 3.0 |
| Stolas Stolas | 3.0 |
| Stone Sour Stone Sour | 3.5 |
| Stone Sour Come What(ever) May | 4.0 |
| Stormkeep Tales of Othertime | 4.0 |
| Stortregn Impermanence | 4.0 |
| Strigoii The Oldest of Blood | 4.0 |
| Stygian Obsession Form is Void | 4.0 |
| Stygiofilia Barren Crops of Heavenly Deception | 3.5 |
| Subdued Torment & Torture | 3.5 |
| Suffering Hour Dwell | 3.5 |
| What even is this? |
| Sugartown Cabaret The First Time I Lost The Road Map | 3.5 |
| Sugartown Cabaret Beyond Foam | 3.5 |
| Suhnopfer Nos Sombres Chapelles | 3.0 |
| Suicide Nation (USA-AZ) Suicide Nation | 3.5 |
| Sulphur Aeon The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos | 3.5 |
| Sum 41 Does This Look Infected? | 4.0 |
| Sum 41 Chuck | 4.0 |
| Sum 41 All Killer No Filler | 4.0 |
| Summoning Lugburz | 3.0 |
| Summoning Oath Bound | 3.5 |
| Summoning Dol Guldur | 3.5 |
| Summoning Minas Morgul | 3.5 |
| Summoning With Doom We Come | 3.5 |
| There is something off about the production that stops this from feeling as euphoric and grandiose as it should. It's a shame, this is some of their most interesting work in a while. |
| Summoning Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame | 4.0 |
| Summoning Nightshade Forests | 4.0 |
| Summoning Stronghold | 5.0 |
| Sump Sump | 3.5 |
| Sump Autumn Blood | 4.0 |
| Sump Taken Dead | 4.0 |
| Sun Kil Moon Benji | 3.0 |
| Sunrise Patriot Motion Black Fellflower Stream | 4.5 |
| Unsurprisingly, the Skarstad brother's latest endeavor is yet another forward-thinking project that combines goth rock and black metal to great effect. It sounds like Yellow Eyes covering Killing Joke and if that doesn't get your attention, I'm not sure much else will. |
| Superfruit Future Friends - Part Two | 3.5 |
| Suppression The Sorrow Of Soul Through Flesh | 4.5 |
| Surgeon (PHL) Beast of Light | 4.0 |
| If Children of Bodom and Cradle of Filth had a baby together and it listened to Dream Theater but only gleaned the important parts, it would sound like this. I don't know this is pretty diverse, but it's good as hell. |
| Svalbard When I Die, Will I Get Better? | 3.0 |
As far as competency goes, there are few bands who can do it like Svalbard; over their relatively
short career they've consistently released high-caliber material. When I Die, Will I Get
Better? is no different, and again the band impresses with their shoegazing hardcore flavor.
My only gripe is that it feels so familiar, just another attempt of a sound that's been
circulating throughout the metal/hardcore underground for the last decade. In some ways it feels
dirty to dock this hardworking band points because of the honesty and integrity that comes through
in their music, but there were definitely a few points across these 8 tracks where my mind
wandered into "been there, done that" territory. |
| Svart Crown Witnessing The Fall | 2.5 |
| I don't see why everyone is fapping about this album it's pretty boring |
| Svartidaudi Revelations of the Red Sword | 3.5 |
I'm giving the benefit of the doubt that Revelations of the Red Sword will grow on me. The
band's hesitation to commit to either a wholly melodic or wholly chaotic sound stifles their
potential. It's not that they have to fully commit either, but there's a palpable sense of
uncertainty present, hanging over their tortured instrumentals just as much as the occult
atmosphere they're trying to curate. This is me being a bit harsh however, as this is overall a
very enjoyable listen. Guitars twist and wind at their own volition to create forms of diabolical
splendor while Sturla howls incantations of infernal damnation as if he were the mouth of Satan
itself. Despite its few flaws Revelations of the Red Sword is the soundtrack to calamity,
and a worthy follow-up to the ever-esteemed efforts of Flesh Cathedral |
| Svartsot Mulmets Viser | 2.5 |
| One of those cheesy metal bands that blend folk, black and death metal; still boring, still monotonous and still really gay. |
| Svavelvinter Mörkrets Tid | 4.0 |
| Christian lvestam?s of Scar Symmetry has a new band it rules. It?s more sci-fi melodic death metal and it definitely has some bite. As per usual Christian sounds awesome.r |
| Svrm Останнє Сонце | 3.5 |
| Svrm Лихиї вітри стогнуть без упину | 3.5 |
| Svrm Згарище | 3.5 |
| Svrm Занепад | 3.5 |
SVRM are a Ukrainian blackgaze project formed in 2015 that sounds like Deafheaven if they had
embraced their hardcore/skramz roots, instead of embracing alternative/shoegaze. It would be
reductive to simply cast them as a DFHVN clone though, as the project does provide some
interesting idiosyncrasies of its own, such as some folk interludes and an all around more
atmospheric approach despite the very pronounced sense of urgency their music also exudes. Still,
reductive or not, this is recommended listening for DFHVN fans, Bosse-de-Nage fans, or anyone else
whose developed a taste for skramzy, post-black metal. |
| Svrm За Смертю | 4.0 |
| Svrm голод | 4.0 |
| Svrm Червів майбутня здобич | 4.0 |
| Svrm Розпад | 4.5 |
| Swallowed Whole Atrocity | 1.0 |
| ftw when the name of your album lives up its name |
| Swamp Temple/Sinister Tradition Gods Of A Dying Sun | 3.5 |
| Sweet Pill Where the Heart Is | 4.0 |
| Sweven (SWE) The Eternal Resonance | 5.0 |
| Sword Breaker Sword Breaker | 3.5 |
| Sword Breaker are a fun, new Dutch band that play blackened oi!/garage punk and sounds like a brighter version of Sump. This is really cool and a nice refreshing take on blackened punk. |
| Sylvania Ave. In A Day | 3.5 |
| Symphony X Paradise Lost | 4.5 |
| Symptom Opulent Atrocity | 3.5 |
| System of a Down Hypnotize | 1.5 |
| System of a Down Steal This Album! | 2.0 |
| System of a Down Mezmerize | 2.0 |
| System of a Down System of a Down | 3.5 |
| System of a Down Toxicity | 3.5 |
| Tacatosa Demo | 3.5 |
| Raw and blown out black metal that teeters on the edge of being considered black noise. Between the unending deluge of static and otherwordly howls it is a constant assault on the senses. However, through accepting the discord it becomes a singularly meditative and ecstatic experience. |
| Taetre The Art | 2.0 |
| Talvihorros Let Us Be Thankful We Have Commerce | 4.0 |
| Tanpopo Crisis Everything Flows | 3.0 |
| Tanpopo Crisis Millennium Flower | 4.0 |
| Taphos Come Ethereal Somberness | 3.5 |
| Taproot Plead the Fifth | 2.0 |
| Tate McRae I Used to Think I Could Fly | 3.5 |
| Tau Tau Eyelids | 4.0 |
| Holy shit i don't like this electro bullshit pop shit generally but this is really good |
| Taut Fantasty Mapped In Blood | 4.0 |
| Tawny Peaks Harris Harris Harris EP | 2.5 |
| Tawny Peaks Tawny Peaks | 4.0 |
| Taylor Swift Red (Taylor’s Version) | 1.5 |
| 1.5/5 team gyllenhaal baby gang gang brokeback mountain crew where u at??? |
| Tebotjf Pronounced "Tee-bot-jeff" | 3.5 |
| Teitanblood The Baneful Choir | 3.0 |
| Temple Desecration Whirlwinds of Fathomless Chaos | 3.5 |
| Temple Nightside Pillars of Damnation | 3.5 |
| Tenebrae in Perpetuum L'Eterno Maligno Silenzio | 4.0 |
| In essence Tenebrae in Perpetuum is the manifestation of true black metal; high pitched shrieked vocals, repetitive, tremolo picked guitar chords and quite the sinister atmosphere are all staples of the band's sound and of course the genre yet Tenebrae In Perpetuum seems to add just the perfect amount of odds and ends to raise this album above a good portion of the genres other practitioners |
| Tennis Cape Dory | 3.5 |
| Terminal Conquest 2017 Demo | 3.0 |
| Terrorizer World Downfall | 3.5 |
| Terzij de Horde A Rage of Rapture Against the Dying of Light | 4.0 |
| Testament The Formation of Damnation | 3.5 |
| Tevlo/Veela Icy Love EP | 4.0 |
| 2016 has been a great year for Veela. Finally making a comeback after a few years of reduced output, her releases this year have all been fantastic and this is no exception. A more "pop" oriented release, her collaboration with fellow electronic vocalist/producer Tevlo is an extremely fun, and oftentimes sexy release. The production in particular is sleek and sharp, and the don't even get me started on the hooks. Each of the three tracks has its own flavor, making it easy to revisit time and again. |
| Thangorodrim Gil-Estel | 3.5 |
| Thangorodrim Akallabêth | 4.0 |
| The 1975 I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It | 4.0 |
| The 1975 A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships | 4.0 |
| The Afterimage Lumière | 3.5 |
| Dance Gavin Dance licks meets Misery Signals' brutality and djentin' rhythms... cool beans. |
| The Apache Revolver The Midwinter | 3.0 |
| The Atlas Moth The Old Believer | 3.5 |
| The Bad Form No More Neo No Wave | 4.0 |
| The Black Crowes Shake Your Money Maker | 5.0 |
| The Black Heart Rebellion Har Nevo | 3.0 |
| The Black Twilight Circle Worship Black Twilight | 4.0 |
| The Black Twilight Circle Desert Dances and Serpent Sermons | 4.0 |
| where did my review for this go ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? |
| The Black Twilight Circle Tliltic Tlapoyauak | 5.0 |
| This just reaffirms why The Black Twilight Circle are the most important thing in black metal today. It's amazing to see the growth in the returning bands - Arizmenda's track might just be the best thing they've ever done. Axeman's song could be one of the best black metal songs EVER. Even the newer bands manage to pull their own weight. Kampilan rocks the foundation with their thundering brand of filthy death/doom while In Lakech Ala Kin triumphantly represent the disturbed brand of atmospheric black metal The Black Twilight Circle has become known for. Seriously, any and every black metal fan needs to get their hands ALL OVER THIS. Hopefully, this is a prelude to a whole slew of releases from this enigmatic group of bands, and if it is, the underground has a lot to look forward to. |
| The Buttertones Buttertones | 4.0 |
| The Callous Daoboys Celebrity Therapist | 5.0 |
| The Cancer Kids The Possible Dream | 4.0 |
| Thrashcore that doesn't pull any punches. Violent, spastic chaotic, The Cancer Kids play one of hardcore's most visceral sub-genres a brimming energy that is nothing less than awe-inspiring |
| The Chasm The Scars of a Lost Reflective Shadow | 4.0 |
| The Chronicles of Israfel Starborn, Tome I | 4.0 |
| The Clearing Path Watershed Between Firmament And The Realm of Hyper | 3.0 |
| The Color Morale Hold On Pain Ends | 3.0 |
| The Color Morale Know Hope | 3.5 |
| The Color Morale Desolate Divine | 3.5 |
Leading up to the release of this album I was kind of worried; the past two albums have seen the band
deteriorating at an alarming rate, and based on the pre-release singles, it seemed they like so many others in the
current crop of post-hardcore, had abandoned their "heavier" roots. Fortunately, Desolate Divine proved my
expectations wrong. The ratio of singing to screaming is certainly tipped in the favor of the former, but as usual,
Garrett's soulful croon is a joy to experience. The heavier parts are a bit dialed in, but their sparsity and
placement make them effective, and Mike Honson taking over harsh vocals was an excellent decision. His voice
is nasty and guttural without going too far, a great compliment to the -core aspects. Surprisingly solid. |
| The Color Morale We All Have Demons | 4.0 |
| The Color Morale My Devil In Your Eyes | 4.5 |
| The Consequence The Consequence | 4.0 |
| The Devil Wears Prada The Act | 3.0 |
| A very fine album that is maybe a bit too self-indulgent. |
| The Devil Wears Prada ZII | 3.0 |
| The Devil Wears Prada's ZII is a lot like Zombieland: Double Tap; both are serviceable sequels about zombies that just don't quite capture the magic of the original. |
| The Devil Wears Prada With Roots Above and Branches Below | 3.5 |
| The Devil Wears Prada Dead Throne | 3.5 |
| The Devil Wears Prada Plagues | 4.0 |
| The Devil Wears Prada Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord | 5.0 |
| The Devil's Blood The Time Of No Time Evermore | 4.0 |
| Fucking awesome occult rock that sounds like it come out in 1969 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Dissociation | 3.0 |
| The Electric Boa Candy Coated Cyanide | 4.5 |
| The hard rock hometown heroes of Philadelphia, The Electric Boa's debut album, Candy Coated Cyanide is easily one of the best and unique straight up rock albums to come out in the last decade. With The Rolling Stones swagger, The Black Crowes unabashed love for the blues and the modern edge of Buckcherry (without the suck!) The Electric Boa is simply put, one of kind. As if all those factors wasn't enough, when you add lead songwriter and crooner John "Higgsy" Higginbottom and all his eccentricities, you get an album that that is truly memorable and instantly enjoyable. Super highly recommended, this is definitely an album that deserves to be heard by ANYONE. |
| The Embers of Tara Realm of Sleep | 3.5 |
| The Gates Of Sinn The Great Sabbath (demo) | 3.5 |
| The Ghost Inside The Ghost Inside | 1.0 |
| The Great Old Ones Al Azif | 3.5 |
| The Halo Effect Days of the Lost | 4.0 |
| The Haunting Presence The Haunting Presence (II) | 4.0 |
| Assuming I'm rating the right one (because this band has no less than three separate self-titled releases) The Haunting Presence's most recent effort is their best yet. First listens show how talented THP is at creating completely bestial and brutalizing blackened death metal; further listening reveals how well constructed these songs actually are. THP has been creating music like this for some time now under one moniker or another; first Nocturnal Blood, now this, so his craft has naturally gotten better with time. This collection of songs are not only just aggressive bursts of metallic violence, but they perfectly capture the oppressive atmosphere a lot of music in the vein lacks. |
| The Home Team Slow Bloom | 4.0 |
| One of the best pop rock albums I?ve heard in the last decade. Vocalist is killer. |
| The Hope and the Failure The Lights Are on But This Dance Never Ends | 5.0 |
| Ugh this is like the best screamo album of all time, it's so fucking amazing ughaldfkajdf |
| The James Hunter Six Whatever It takes | 3.0 |
| The Lion's Daughter Shame On Us All | 4.0 |
| The Mausoleums Blackened Fawns Cleanse the Earth With Fire | 4.0 |
| The Offspring Splinter | 3.0 |
| The Offspring Ignition | 3.5 |
| The Offspring Conspiracy of One | 3.5 |
| The Offspring Baghdad | 3.5 |
| The Offspring Club Me | 3.5 |
| The Offspring A Piece of Americana | 3.5 |
| The Offspring The Offspring | 4.0 |
| The Offspring Americana | 4.0 |
| GIVE IT TO ME BABY, UN HUNH UN HUNH! GIVE IT TO ME BABY, UN HUNH UN HUNH! |
| The Offspring Greatest Hits | 4.0 |
| The Offspring Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace | 4.0 |
| In reality, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace isn't too different from The Offspring's past releases; sure, there some minor kinks to their same patented formula, what would you expect from this twenty some odd year old punk band? The same damn catchy albums they have producing throughout their career. |
| The Offspring Smash | 5.0 |
| The Offspring Ixnay on the Hombre | 5.0 |
| The Physics House Band Mercury Fountain | 3.5 |
| The Push Kings Far Places | 4.5 |
| The Range Mercury | 4.0 |
| Both forward thinking and nostalgic all at once, a combination that is very tough to best. |
| The Rosebuds Sand + Silence | 4.0 |
| The Spirit Of Iuvenium Bequeath Thy Grievous Loss | 4.5 |
| The Spirit of Iuvenium's debut dropping on the eve of autumn's yearly reprisal must have been intentional; Bequeath Thy Grievous Loss rolls in with gothic splendor and the same feeling of ravishing decay fall evokes. Elements of dungeon synth, dark wave, and neo-classical provide a backdrop for album's themes - tainted purity, lost love, madness, and obsession - the ideal canvas for its tragic inclinations. |
| The Stalin STOP JAP | 4.0 |
| The Starting Line Say It Like You Mean It | 4.0 |
| The Strokes Comedown Machine | 4.0 |
| The Strokes The New Abnormal | 4.0 |
| The Strokes Angles | 4.5 |
| The Sword Age of Winters | 3.0 |
| The Tidal Sleep Four Song EP | 3.5 |
| The Tidal Sleep The Tidal Sleep | 4.0 |
| The Toll (USA) The Toll | 4.5 |
| The True Werwolf Devil Crisis | 4.0 |
| The Veils Total Depravity | 4.0 |
| The Venus De Melos Fatty | 4.0 |
| I absolutely love this. It's like The Speed of Sound in Seawater, but more noodle-y and also more poppy. Love love love love it. |
| The Wallflowers Bringing Down the Horse | 4.5 |
| The Weeknd Starboy | 3.5 |
| You don't have to runnnnnnn I know what you can doooooo |
| The Weeknd House of Balloons | 4.5 |
| The Wonder Years The Greatest Generation | 3.0 |
| The Wonder Years Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing | 4.0 |
| The Word Alive Empire | 3.0 |
| The Word Alive Dark Matter | 3.0 |
| If The Word Alive and Breaking Benjamin had an illegitimate love-child who listened to djent and then formed a band, it would sound like this. |
| The Word Alive Deceiver | 3.5 |
band was much better with mabbitt and you're just kidding yourselfs if you think otherwise
Don't listen to Comatorium., he's putting Bring Me The Horizon on the end of his year list |
| The Word Alive The Word Alive | 5.0 |
| Thecodontion Thecodontia (demo) | 3.5 |
| This Gift Is A Curse This Gift Is A Curse | 3.5 |
| This Gift Is A Curse A Throne of Ash | 4.0 |
| This Station of Life Antithetic | 3.5 |
| Thormesis The Sixth | 3.5 |
| Thorngoth Leere | 4.5 |
| Hell yeah had to bump rating up! Album fucking rules face and is a great example of a modern take on traditional black metal. EPIC AS SHIT. In my top ten of the year. |
| Thorns Grymyrk | 5.0 |
| We wouldn?t have black metal as we know it today without this demo. |
| Thos Aella Sempiternal Mobocracies | 3.5 |
| Threnodist The Vomitous Demo | 3.5 |
| Threnos By Blood and By Earth | 4.0 |
| The often uncredited beginners of the Cascadian black metal scene, Threnos was around long enough only to put out one release but it really fucking ruled. |
| Through the Eyes of the Dead Bloodlust | 3.5 |
| Thy Heart, Thine Kingdom In the Garden of Somer | 4.0 |
| Tides of Man Dreamhouse | 5.0 |
| Tilian Future Friends | 3.5 |
| Tilian Material Me | 4.0 |
| Tilian The Skeptic | 4.0 |
| Time, The Valuator How Fleeting, How Fragile | 3.5 |
| thanks kmac2021 |
| Timeghoul Panaramic Twilight | 4.0 |
| Timeghoul Tumultuous Travelings | 4.0 |
| Timeghoul 1992-1994 Discography | 4.0 |
| I don't remember which label decided to do this, but whoever it was obviously pays keen attention to metal blogs -- this band's two demos have been posted quite a few times in the past few months. Really unique and individual death metal, this awesome release offers the chance for people to own a physical copy of previously rare material. |
| Times of Grace Songs of Loss and Separation | 1.0 |
| Times of Grace The Hymn of a Broken Man | 4.5 |
| Tina Dico Tina Dickow w/ Danish National Chamber Orchestra | 4.5 |
| Tiny Hawks Fingers Become Bridges | 4.0 |
| Tiny Hawks People Without End | 4.0 |
| Tiny Moving Parts Tiny Moving Parts | 3.0 |
| Tiny Moving Parts This Couch Is Long & Full of Friendship | 4.0 |
| Tiny Moving Parts Swell | 4.0 |
| this their best |
| Titan (CAN) Burn | 3.5 |
| To Destroy A City Go Mirage | 3.0 |
| Todos Caeran Todos Caerán | 3.0 |
| Todos Caeran After Dark | 3.5 |
| Toil Relics of Decaying Splendor | 4.5 |
| Tomb Mold Cerulean Salvation | 3.5 |
| Tomb Mold Planetary Clairvoyance | 3.5 |
| Tomb Mold Manor of Infinite Forms | 4.0 |
| Tomb Mold Aperture of Body | 4.0 |
| Tomb of Annihilation End of Time | 4.0 |
| Toorvond Vlakten | 4.0 |
| Between Turia, Zeegang, Fluisteraars, and now Toorvond, Dutch black metal is position itself in a way quite similar to that of Iceland's black metal scene a couple of years ago. Toorvond - which consists of sole member R.v.R. - is a particularly raw incarnation of black metal from this region, but is no less epic. Though grainy, tracks like "Een strijd der stormen" emanate a sense of icy grandeur, a throughline that connects the entirety of the record. Cold black metal doesn't really impress me often anymore, but I enjoyed this very much. |
| Toorvond Demo | 4.0 |
| Very raw and melodic black metal, where the grandeur constantly feels like it could force its way out from the the fuzzed up production. |
| Torchlight Realms of Oblivion | 3.5 |
| Torchlight The Long Quest | 4.0 |
| Tormentor Anno Domini | 4.0 |
It's hard to call anything "essential" anymore, but if you're a fan of black metal and even only
peripherally interested in its culture and history, Anno Domini is an important album to
experience. Its forward-thinking compositions completely belie the fact that it originally
released in 1988, as even today the songs feel relevant. It's no surprise that Norway's fledgling
black metal scene gravitated towards this underrated monolith; it's now more than 30 years later,
we've pulled back the layers of black metal, and yet this still exudes such an alluring and unique
mysticism. Definitely recommended for extreme metal fans. |
| Torso (FIN) Demonic Vomiting | 3.5 |
| Torture Chain Across Great Landscapes to a Legacy of Blood | 3.5 |
| Torture Chain Mountains of Hate | 4.0 |
| Torture Chain Wasting Syndrome | 4.0 |
| Torture Rack Malefic Humiliation | 3.5 |
| Total Control Henge Beat | 3.5 |
| Totaled Lament | 3.5 |
| Toughness The Prophetic Dawn | 3.5 |
| Toughness perform old school brutal death metal in a way that sure, is a bit sloppy, but is also super endearing at the same time. They are not coy about wanting to be as devastating a possible, and achieve that either through a rhythmic pummeling or crawling doom-ridden dirges. |
| Towergeist Towergeist | 3.5 |
| Towergeist Towergeist II | 4.0 |
| Trachimbrod A Collection of Hidden Sketches | 4.5 |
| Trapt Trapt | 3.0 |
| Trautonist Ember | 3.5 |
| Traveler (MO) Something Blue | 3.0 |
| good, genuine pop-punk. kinda sloppy in an endearing way. |
| Trench Stench From Beyond the Beyond | 3.5 |
| Trha Nvenlanëg | 5.0 |
| Trha novej qalhnjënno | 5.0 |
| The second release and first EP this year by this mysterious one-man black metal entity, Novej kalhnjnnp may adhere to the tried and trve frostbitten atmosphere black metal's foundation was built upon, but nobody can accuse of them of not doing it their own way; the wintrous maelstrom Trh whips up throughout these three tracks is completely unique to them. The way riffs can bounce from blizzardous mysticism to stomping punk fervor, the way ethereal keys frame its metallic brethren to give order to the chaos, and so many more small elements work to give Trh a feeling of uniqueness despite their dedication to this 30+ year old craft. Highly, HIGHLY recommended. |
| Trha lhum jolhduc | 5.0 |
| Trha Endlhëtonëg | 5.0 |
| This record evokes a very strong feeling of nostalgia in me. Part of this is due to the typical black metal instrumentation, buried under the static and buzz of the familiarly raw production, but most of it is thanks to the synths, which for this Trha album have stolen the focus from the guitars and shrieks. They're ethereal, with a magic to them that makes me long for a time I thought I've long since forgotten. I don't want to say black metal rarely gets emotional -that would be a lie- but rarely does it get this emotional. |
| Trha inagape | 5.0 |
| Trha tálcunnana dëhajma tun dejl bënatsë abcul’han dlhenisë ëlh inagat.. | 5.0 |
| One of modern black metal?s most prolific acts, Trh, is back with a new record that is as good as its title is unpronounceable. It?s a record that evokes a sense of nostalgia that warm and beautiful, but even moreso, haunting and sad. Like most of Trh?s music it?s a difficult album to wrap your head around, but the work is definitely worth it. r |
| Trha mã Héshiva õn dahh Khata trhândlha vand... | 5.0 |
| Trha Vat Gëlénva!!! | 5.0 |
| Triangulum Victory in Death | 4.0 |
| Triangulum / El-Ahrairah Triangulum / El-Ahrairah | 4.0 |
| Tribal Gaze The Nine Choirs | 4.0 |
| Trist Dod Past Obtainment | 3.5 |
| Tristengrav II - Nychavgé | 4.0 |
| Triumvir Foul Urine of Abomination | 4.0 |
| Triumvir Foul Onslaught to Seraphim | 4.0 |
| Trivium In Waves | 2.0 |
| Trivium Silence in the Snow | 2.0 |
| Trivium Ember to Inferno | 3.5 |
| Trivium The Crusade | 3.5 |
| Trivium Shogun | 4.0 |
| Trivium Ascendancy | 4.5 |
| Trna Earthcult | 3.0 |
| Trophy Scars Never Born, Never Dead | 4.5 |
| Troye Sivan Bloom | 3.0 |
| Truppensturm Salute to the Iron Emperors | 3.5 |
| tsosis Acoustics | 3.0 |
| tsosis First Contact | 3.5 |
| tsosis Blue Version | 4.0 |
| tsosis Underwater Tell Each Other Secrets | 4.0 |
| Following up the superb Red Version, Underwater Tell Each Other Secrets is stylistically a return to the math-rock oriented approach of their debut Blue Version while keeping the sugary sweet vocal harmonies of Red Version. Just like everything this band has done, this album rules fucking hard and is highly recommended to the world. |
| tsosis Red Version | 5.0 |
| Tukaaria Raw to the Rapine | 5.0 |
| Tuman Transylvanian Dreams | 3.5 |
| Turia Degen van licht | 3.5 |
| Turpitude Brume hiémale | 4.0 |
| Raw, melodic, and surprisingly dense black metal from Quebec. There is great depth of sound that only furthers to enhance the already wondrous melodies heard here. |
| Twilight Trident Death Rattle | 3.5 |
| Twitching Tongues Gaining Purpose Through Passionate Hatred | 3.0 |
| Tyler, the Creator Call Me If You Get Lost | 3.0 |
| Typhoon (USA-OR) Offerings | 3.5 |
| Tyrannus Forest of Sempiternal Night | 3.0 |
| Tyrannus Ruins | 3.5 |
| Tyrannus Black Sun (Demo) | 3.5 |
| Tyrannus Serpentslayer | 3.5 |
| Surprisingly docile release from Tyrannus, Serpentslayer is easily his most "traditional" dungeon synth album to date. It's a bit repetitive, but still has that medieval charm. |
| Tyrannus Flames of Tyranny | 3.5 |
| Tyrannus The Warden | 4.0 |
| Following the awesome Black Sun, The Warden is more noisy and dirty and dungeon synth, this time with an emphasis on melody that takes it to a brand new level. |
| Tyrannus Storm Empress | 4.0 |
| Tyrant Myst Tyrant Myst | 3.5 |
| Uada Cult of a Dying Sun | 3.5 |
| Ufesas Ufesas | 3.5 |
| Uhtceare El Genocidio Primordial Llevará El Nombre Infinito | 3.5 |
| Ulcerate Vermis | 3.5 |
| Ulcerate Shrines of Paralysis | 3.5 |
| Ulcerate The Destroyers of All | 4.0 |
| Ulcerate Stare Into Death and Be Still | 4.5 |
| how tf they expect me to be still with all these good riffs? |
| Ultar Pantheon MMXIX | 3.5 |
| Ulthar Cosmovore | 3.5 |
| Ulthar Providence | 3.5 |
| Ulvegr Vargkult | 3.5 |
| Ulver Flowers of Evil | 3.0 |
| This was a struggle to sit through. Not bad, but in comparison to the sheer exuberance of Assassination of Julius Caesar this falls short. |
| Ulver Bergtatt - Et eeventyr i 5 capitler | 4.0 |
| Ulver The Assassination of Julius Caesar | 4.0 |
| Ulver Nattens Madrigal | 4.5 |
| Ulver Kveldssanger | 5.0 |
| Un Sentiment | 3.5 |
| unable to fully embrace this happiness The Morning Sun and the End of the World | 3.5 |
| Unbegotten Manifestation | 3.5 |
| Unbirth Fleshforged Columns of Deceit | 3.5 |
| Uncanny Splenium For Nyktophobia | 4.5 |
| Undead Creep The Ever-Burning Torch | 4.0 |
| One of the most underrated Swede-styled death metal albums since the OSDM revival started in (or around) 2009. Though Italian, on The Ever-Burning Torch Undead Creep captured the rampant aggression and hardcore undertones that made Stockholm a death metal mecca in the early 90's in a way that sounds genuine enough to pass as a long lost treasure from that time. |
| Undeath Lesions of a Different Kind | 4.0 |
| Under A Serpent Sun Under A Serpent Sun | 3.5 |
I've only listened a few times so I'm trying to figure out how much I like this still, but on my
few initial playthroughs I am enjoying the hell out of this. It's a great throwback to early/mid
aughts melodic death metal influenced metal/death-core. In the spirit (hehe) of the recently
released Serpent Dungeon album, Under A Serpent (coincedence?) Sun has great riffs and does the
harmony thing without being overly saccharine. Also, the vocals recall a more palatable early-days
Oli Sykes, and if you're like me, you'll have a hard time not ruining your voice trying to scream
along to this. Possible bump to a 4 in the future. |
| Undercroft Twisted Souls | 3.5 |
| Underdark/Antre Underdark/Antre Split | 3.0 |
| Undergang Misantropologi | 3.5 |
| Undergang Den dobbelte Grav | 3.5 |
| Underoath They're Only Chasing Safety | 3.5 |
| Underoath Lost in the Sound of Separation | 3.5 |
| Underoath Ø (Disambiguation) | 3.5 |
| Underoath Act of Depression | 4.0 |
| Underoath The Changing of Times | 4.5 |
| Underoath Cries of the Past | 4.5 |
| Underoath Define the Great Line | 4.5 |
| Undersave Sadistic Iterations... Tales of Mental Rearrangeme | 3.5 |
| Undying This Day All Gods Die | 4.0 |
| Undying The Whispered Lies of Angels | 4.5 |
| I've been listening to old school melodic metalcore all day, and in terms of melody, intensity, and just overall songcraft, Undying steals the show with The Whispered Lies of Angels. |
| Unearth Alive From the Apocalypse | 2.0 |
| Unearth III: In the Eyes of Fire | 3.0 |
| Unearth The Stings of Conscience | 3.5 |
| Unearth The Oncoming Storm | 4.0 |
| Unexpect In a Flesh Aquarium | 1.0 |
| Unfelled Beneath Distant Skies | 3.5 |
| One of two brand new projects from D of Woods of Desolation fame, Unfelled is pure atmospheric black metal bliss. Thick and enveloping atmosphere, whispered growls, and strong melodies make this a great, short release. |
| Unfun Caroline | 4.0 |
| Unholy Vampyric Slaughter Sect Canticle Bound In Spirit-Faith In Vampyric Blood | 3.5 |
| Unholy Vampyric Slaughter Sect Order of the Rose Cross | 3.5 |
| Unholy Vampyric Slaughter Sect The World Trapped in Vampyric Sway | 4.0 |
| Unreqvited Stars Wept to the Sea | 3.5 |
| Unreqvited has no trouble coming up with gorgeous pieces of orchestrated black metal, but if there's one thing he has yet to get down, it's restraint. Sometimes there's just too much going on. |
| Unreqvited Mosaic I: l'amour et l'ardeur | 3.5 |
| Unreqvited Mosaic II: la déteste et la détresse | 3.5 |
| Unreqvited Empathica | 4.0 |
| Unsacred Where The Light Dims | 4.0 |
| As blackened hardcore/crust becomes a more prevalent trend in music more and more bands continue to show just how far and how interesting this newfound genre can be taken. |
| Upir / Celestial Sword Journeying Through Nameless Wilderness - A Pilgrim | 4.0 |
| Upir/Forgotten Tomb Upir / Forbidden Tomb | 3.5 |
| Ur Pale Sea Synth Ensemble | 3.5 |
| Ur Pale Water Tombs & Crimson Horizons | 4.0 |
| Ur Pale Crystal Waves Orchestra | 4.0 |
| Unsurprisingly epic nautical themed dungeon synth. For a second release of the year, this is quite good. |
| Utred Sovereign | 4.0 |
| Utumno Across the Horizon | 4.0 |
| Utzalu The Loins of Repentance | 3.5 |
| blackened as all hell punk |
| V/A (TAS) Tasmania II | 3.5 |
| Vacuus Demo | 3.5 |
| Vacuus II | 3.5 |
| Valac Burning Dawn of Vengeance | 4.0 |
| Valac / Crucifixion Bell Corrupted Spells of Perpetual Suffering | 4.0 |
| Valaraukar Demonian Abyssal Visions | 3.5 |
| Valdrin Effigy Of Nightmares | 4.0 |
| Valkyrie (CAN) Valkyrie | 4.0 |
| An amazing folk album a truly elusive American group; epic yet serene the band's keen sense of melody and dynamics makes this relatively short demo a real pleasure. |
| Van Halen Van Halen | 5.0 |
| Vanhelgd Temple of Phobos | 3.5 |
The production is absolutely fantastic, but the songwriting is whatever. The songs just don't move at all.
Edit: okay Willie, I see you
Double edit: Okay, this is better than I initially gave it credit for. |
| Vanhelgd Deimos Sanktuarium | 4.0 |
| Vanum Ageless Fire | 4.0 |
| Vanyar Abandoned | 3.5 |
| raw and epic black metal with a euphoric atmosphere |
| Various Artists Odour of Dust and Rot | 4.0 |
| Various Artists (Metal) Mater Natura Excelsa | 4.0 |
| Vasaeleth Crypt Born & Tethered To Ruin | 4.0 |
| Vassafor To the Death | 4.0 |
| Vastum Carnal Law | 2.5 |
| Vastum Orificial Purge | 4.0 |
| Vastum/Spectral Voice Split | 4.0 |
| Veela 2233 | 4.0 |
| Vegas Martyrs Harlot Widow | 4.0 |
| Vehemence (FRA) Ordalies | 4.0 |
| Veil II Negative Space | 3.5 |
| Vein.fm This World Is Going to Ruin You | 3.0 |
| Veins Veins | 4.0 |
| Vektor / Cryptosis Transmissions Of Chaos | 1.5 |
| Veldes Flameless | 3.0 |
| Venenum Trance of Death | 3.5 |
| Vengeance Sorcery Witchdance Rising | 3.5 |
| Venom Prison Samsara | 4.0 |
| This album is crazy good. It unites mid-aughts -core intensity with visceral flashes of OSDM but isn?t afraid to use melody as an accent to the chaos. This feels nostalgic and new at the same time, an interesting sensation I recommend everyone tries at least once to find. |
| Venom Prison Erebos | 4.0 |
I feel like I?m listening to some early aughts metalcore that I discovered from Headbangers Balll!
Edit: Bro, if you can't hear the obvious melodic metalcore influence, just say that!! This isn't
unique at all, but still rules! Tons of newer bands will tell you pilfer from the greats, if
they're not pressed, why are you?? |
| Venus Star Nigredo Expulsion | 3.5 |
| Verberis Adumbration of the Veiled Logos | 4.0 |
| Verheerer Maltrér | 4.0 |
| Verwustung Beyond The Watercolor Sunset, We Feel New Life | 4.0 |
| amazing amazing amazing amazing amazing amazing amazing amazing |
| Verwustung When Light Broke the Stars, Humanity Rejected Us | 4.5 |
| Vessel of Iniquity Void of Infinite Horror | 3.5 |
| Abyssal black metal that resides in a womb of static and noise. |
| Vetëvrakh Demo IV | 3.5 |
| vhmnt / blsphm vhmnt / blsphm | 3.5 |
| Victory Over The Sun A Tessitura of Transfiguration | 3.5 |
| Victory Over The Sun Nowherer | 4.0 |
| This is very good and more palatable than most of Jute Gyte's material. |
| Viggo Mortensen Intelligence Failure | 3.5 |
| Viggo Mortensen Pandemoniumfromamerica | 4.5 |
| Vigrid Throne of Forest | 3.5 |
| Awesome folk influences black metal with some classic metal influences |
| Vil / Infra / Aspergillum / Tarantula Nebula Presente, pasado y muerte | 3.5 |
| Vile Gash Agonized Corrosion | 3.5 |
| Vilkacis The Fever of War | 3.5 |
| Vilkacis Beyond the Mortal Gate | 4.0 |
| Vilkacis / Turia Split | 3.5 |
| Vim Patior Magni Nominis Umbra | 3.0 |
| Vintr Drottning | 3.5 |
| Viogression 3rd Stage of Decay | 3.5 |
| Violent Dirge Craving | 4.5 |
| For those of you who love Cynic but wish that they were heavier, Violent Dirge's second album, Craving is the perfect album for you; still achieving that uber technical jazziness while also having a foundation more firmly placed in the death metal camp, Craving is the answer to all of you who have asked themselves "What if?". |
| Violent Ends Black Moon | 4.0 |
| Violent Hammer Demo 2014 - More Victims | 3.0 |
| Violet Cold Magic Night | 3.0 |
| Violet Cold Noir Kid | 3.0 |
| I finally gave this album a listen and it's very interesting. The more melodious, soaring moments definitely cause my heart to flutter, but the implementation of EDM elements is not done quite as well as it could be, at least in terms of production. Coming up with a dance-y melody really isn't enough to sell electronic music, there needs to be layers and depth of sound. The EDM sections throughout this feel too thin, and amateurish. The potential is in plain view, but the execution to match it isn't quite there yet. Anyway, this is still very solid, and as always, it's nice to see musicians continue to push the boundaries of black metal. |
| Violet Cold Səni Uzaq Kainatlarda Axtarıram | 3.0 |
| This is okay. It's very beautiful but these are definitely sounds and melodies we've all heard before at this point. |
| Violet Cold Sommermorgen (Pt. I) - Innocence | 3.5 |
| Violet Cold Sommermorgen (Pt. II) - Joy | 3.5 |
| Violet Cold Sommermorgen (Pt. III) - Nostalgia | 3.5 |
| Violet Cold Empire of Love | 3.5 |
| Vital Remains Dechristianize | 3.5 |
| Vlad Tepes / Belketre March To The Black Holocaust | 4.5 |
| While the Black Legions had some good material,this split remains to be one of the best albums released from the group. |
| VOËMMR Sombr Moebrd | 3.5 |
| An acolyte of Portugal's Aldebaran Circle, Vommr's Sombr Moebrd upends the traditional black metal experience and lures you into a ritualistic bout of necrotic expression totally unique unto itself. |
| Void Eater II | 3.5 |
| Void Eater III | 4.0 |
| Void Prayer Stillbirth from the Psychotic Void | 4.0 |
| Void Prayer The Grandiose Return to the Void | 4.0 |
| Void Rot Descending Pillars | 3.0 |
| VoidCeremony At the Periphery of Human Realms | 3.5 |
| Voidorror / Aspergillum Voidorror / Aspergillum | 3.5 |
| Voidsphere To Await | To Expect | 3.5 |
| Voimaton Profane Vestige | 4.0 |
| Volahn El Tigre del Sur | 4.0 |
| Volahn Dimensiones del Trance Kosmico | 4.5 |
| Volahn Aq' Ab' Al’ | 4.5 |
| Absolutely fantastic black metal courtesy of The Black Twilight Circle. Very much inspired by their Aztec roots, the Spanish influenced music certainly sets Volahn apart from their contemporaries in the best way possible. Add in the impressive musicianship and sweeping melodic breaks and you have all the ingredients for an excellent album. |
| Volahn / Blue Hummingbird On The Left Debajo del Simbolo del Sol | 3.5 |
| Volahn/Kallathon Disequilibrium of the Ecliptic Plane | 3.5 |
| Volahn/Xaxamatza Gods of Pandemonium | 4.0 |
| Vomit Angel Imprint of Extinction | 3.5 |
| Vomitrot Rotten Vomit | 3.5 |
| Vorash Exhumed Corpses | 3.0 |
| Vortex of End In Satan and Plutonium We Trust | 4.0 |
| Vosbúð Almannagjá | 3.5 |
| Vouna Vouna | 4.0 |
| Vous Autres Champ du Sang | 4.0 |
| Vox Vocis Star Meissa | 3.0 |
| Voyeur's Blood Voyeur's Blood | 3.5 |
| Vraeck Vergraeck Lehuien Gevlaekt | 3.0 |
| Vranorod Vranorod | 1.5 |
| Awful combination of black metal with post rock and shoegaze influences. I repeat: AWFUL |
| Vrasësimendur Demo I - Vrasëspërtkh Keqen | 3.5 |
| Vreid V | 4.0 |
| I can't really say I was ever a particularly huge fan of Vreid before, but with the excellence of V, the Norwegian based black metal band has definitely sparked my interest. 9 tracks, of scathing yet melodic black metal composed with a refined edge that never fails to impress, V is an extremely dynamic record that will hold your interest till the end. Harboring a welcome display of modest technical ability, Vreid's amazing instrumentation varies in all sorts of things, tempo, aggression etc... but one thing that remains consistent throughout all the music's various incarnations is the fact that Vreid has crafted a black metal album that will both please the fans of old and gain the band many legions of basement dwelling trolls anew. |
| Vrenth Succumb to Chaos | 4.0 |
| Vual To End All Life | 4.0 |
| Vucub Cane The Transformation of Holy Water | 3.0 |
| Vucub Cane Eternal Hatred of the Human Race | 3.0 |
| Vucub Cane Frozen Black Hallucinations | 3.5 |
| Vukari Divination | 3.0 |
| The definition of middle-of-the-road; the black metal parts are fairly inoffensive and the shoegaze/post-rock parts aren't as gorgeous as one would hope. It's still not bad, but overall this release is just kind of ... there. |
| Vukari Aevum | 3.5 |
| Wake Devouring Ruin | 4.0 |
| Wall Painted Black Wintergaze | 3.5 |
| Philadelphian dungeon synth/ambient with a windy and winter-y atmosphere and black metal vocals howling in the background. |
| Wampyric Rites Antigua Esencia Astral | 3.5 |
| Wampyric Rites Demo II | 4.0 |
| Wampyric Rites ...In The Desolate Forest of Eternity | 4.0 |
| Wampyric Rites Reflections Of A Frostbitten Moon | 4.0 |
| Throughout 2019 Ecuador's Wampyric Rites has proven to be one of the most enigmatic and prolific black metal acts in the scene today, reveling in his obscurity while rapidly deploying new releases with each being a marked improvement on the last. Reflections Of A Frostbitten Moon is his best and most mature effort to date, a wonderful piece of black metal that balances ghoulish melodies and esoteric atmospheres to create an album that exudes pure necrotic ecstasy |
| Wandering Anduin Wandering Anduin | 3.5 |
| War Hungry War Hungry | 4.0 |
| There's no denying that this Wilkes-Barre based hardcore unit has a lot going on for them; from crushing hardcore riffs, balls to the wall thrash breakdowns and just an overall great sense of songwriting, War Hungry's debut album is pretty spectacular. Imagine a more intense Corrosion of Conformity and you're halfway to what these guys sound like. |
| Warforged The Grove | Sundial | 3.0 |
| Warmoon Lord Burning Banners of the Funereal War | 4.0 |
| Warthog Warthog II | 3.5 |
| Warthog Exterminate Me | 4.0 |
| Watain The Wild Hunt | 1.5 |
| Watain Casus Luciferi | 2.0 |
| Watain Lawless Darkness | 2.0 |
| Watain Sworn to The Dark | 2.5 |
| We Came As Romans To Plant a Seed | 3.5 |
| Weak Teeth What a Plague You Are | 4.0 |
| Weakling Dead as Dreams | 4.0 |
| Weald and Woe The Fate of Kings and Men | 3.5 |
| Weapon From The Devil's Tomb | 4.0 |
| There must of have been something in the water during 2010 because the amount of black/death releases that ruled seemed to raise exponentially during that time, which of course, was when Weapon released From The Devil's Tomb; more heavily emphasizing their death metal upbringing's, From The Devil's Tomb has awesome riffs, devilish vocals and ridiculously shredding solos, just about everything a black/death fan would need. |
| Wednesday 13 Transylvania 90210 | 4.0 |
| Weeping Casket F.B.I | 4.0 |
| Grime Stone Records, a paragon of all that is wacky and weird in the US extreme music underground, just dropped a pop-punk record with hints of black metal and it?s very good. Abysmal Specter has proven time and again that he possess the unique ability to turn what otherwise would be mundane, into something magical. Despite its name, F.B.I is an extremely fun record that evokes the rebellion of early 90?s SoCal pop-punk but performs its as if Transilvanian Hunger-era Darkthrone were behind the helm. This by all means SHOULD NOT WORK and yet it so effortlessly does. |
| Weeping Nimbus Rehearsal MMXVII | 3.5 |
| Weeping Sores False Confession | 4.5 |
The album cover and review I read earlier (which is on Invisible Oranges and written by Langdon Hickman who is
one of my favorite metal reviewers) convinced me to check this out and I?m so glad I did. It has a gothic feel in a
Peaceville Three kind of way, but still has moments where it bares its teeth. The pacing is really compelling, and
doesn’t really ascribe to the usual death/doom paradigm as far as its division of faster/slower segments. My
favorite part is definitely the violin, performed by Gina Eygenhuysen of Tchornoborg. It gives the already
impressive atmosphere even more depth, doesn?t detract from the metallic instrumentation, and offers some
gorgeous melodies in its own right. Overall this is just really solid, and feels fresh while still providing all the
familiar thrills of extreme music. |
| Weezer The Teal Album | 3.0 |
| Enjoyable, but doesn't really ... (s)teal the show. |
| Weezer Van Weezer | 3.5 |
| if you gave this anything below a 3 you're thinking about it entirely too hard |
| Welk Sein | 3.5 |
| wellspring iris's room | 3.5 |
| Weregoat The Devil’s Lust | 3.5 |
I?ve never listened to this band before, but I was pleasantly surprised by The Devil?s Lust. Weregoat are clearly
inspired by older school black/death metal - Conqueror, Beherit, Revenge - but they also employ a myriad of sounds
more closely linked to the modern iteration of the genre. It?s a small trick but it helps the bad stick out among the
seemingly endless legions of Blasphemy clones. |
| Werendia Werendia | 3.5 |
| Werendia Småland | 3.5 |
| Wet Petals s/t II | 3.5 |
| When Bitter Spring Sleeps/Panopticon Split | 3.5 |
| Whirr Feels Like You | 3.0 |
| 2 1 ratings and the whirrors are BESIDE themselves |
| Whispering Oak Feast of the Warlords | 3.5 |
| Beautifully ethereal dungeon synth that reminds of green pastures and great rolling fields more than dank, wet chambers resting below castles. |
| White Lies Friends | 3.0 |
| White Medal Jorviking | 3.5 |
| White Ward Futility Report | 4.0 |
| White Ward Love Exchange Failure | 4.0 |
| White Ward False Light | 4.0 |
| This is a step up from Love Exchange Failure and the band's most compelling and thorough synthesis of black metal and jazz yet. |
| White Wolves Kommando White Wolves Power | 3.0 |
| White Wolves Kommando Dark Ages Return | 3.5 |
| White Wolves Kommando Black Metal Resistance | 4.0 |
| White Wolves Kommando Our Empire of Shadows | 4.0 |
| William Fitzsimmons Lions | 4.0 |
| The album will probably be a 4/5 but his beard 5/5 all day. |
| William Fitzsimmons The Sparrow and the Crow | 5.0 |
| Wilsumnes Onwards to the Great Darkness | 3.5 |
| Wilsumnes Upon the Altar of Sacrificial Blood | 4.0 |
| Wilt (CAN) Ruin | 3.5 |
| Wilt (GER) Faces of the Grave | 2.5 |
| Wilt play barbaric German death metal that's very much informed by Swedeath, making for an overly-simplistic and amateurish take on the genre that most fans would be better left without. |
| Winds of Plague The Great Stone War | 1.5 |
| Wintaar Songs of White Wilderness | 3.5 |
| This has been one of the better albums I've found to cool me down throughout this exceedingly hot summer. It's very typical atmospheric black metal but the melodies are nice and WV's vocals have a tortured element not too far way from Varg's. |
| Wintaar The Burialmoon Mist | 3.5 |
| Winter Dust Existence | 4.0 |
| Winterblood (US) L'ingresso | 3.0 |
| Wintersun Wintersun | 3.5 |
| Wishfield Wishfield | 3.5 |
| Wist Fallacy of Being | 3.5 |
| Wist The Ambiguity of Reason | 3.5 |
| Wist Allegory of the Cave | 3.5 |
| Witch Claw Summoning of the Heksevin | 3.5 |
| Witch In Her Tomb Witch In Her Tomb | 4.0 |
| Witch King Voice Of The Ossuary | 3.5 |
| Witch Ripper Witch Ripper | 4.0 |
| Witchcraft (Hun) Mortuus | 1.5 |
| A really disappointing release from what once a good band. Everything from the riffs to the vocals seem really contrived and overall this just doesn't hold the raw majesty of the bands first demos. |
| Witchcraft (Hun) Carpathian Fire | 4.0 |
| Witchcraft play a formed of traditional second wave black metal and they do it right; buzzing guitars, necro vocals and a filthy production the band could easily be confused for any of the original Norwegian black metal bands during their prime. Mixing the typical Darkthrone-esque droning guitar lines with little specks of melody, Carpathian Fire is a straight up great black metal album. |
| Witches Moon Black Moon Kiss | 3.0 |
| Witches Moon A Swing of Sickle to Summers Dawn | 3.5 |
| Witches Moon Azazel Bedazzle | 3.5 |
| Witches Moon The Grim Botanical | 3.5 |
| Witches Moon The Womb of Those Whom Fall From Heaven | 3.5 |
| Witches Moon enters the new year on a high note with some quality dungeon synth. |
| Witches Moon A Storm of Golden Mare and Black Cauldron | 3.5 |
| Witches Moon at it again with their second release of the year. The Witch's mixture of dungeon synth and black metal is a bit more unorthodox than most, providing the nostalgic grandeur of the former while enabling the latter to flex its grim eccentricities. The production's vast feel gives him room to explore, and he doesn't take it for granted; each element whether it be a chime of synth or serpentine riff is given enough room to both flourish on its own and compliment each other part at play. Prolificity hasn't gotten in the way of good songwriting, as Witches Moon continues to provide quality and quantity in equal measure. |
| Witches Moon Bed of Hemlock, Sex with Angels | 3.5 |
| Witches Moon brews up another wicked but enjoyable dose of dungeon synth, folk, and metal. |
| Witches Moon Ouroboros Will Stray by the Light of the Milky Way | 3.5 |
| Witches Moon The Rock House | 4.0 |
| Witches Moon An Olde Goat's Game of Stars | 4.0 |
| witchface Fryktelig For Alltid | 3.5 |
| Witchface are a bunch of Norwegian punks playing black metal, taking the decade-plus formula of Bone Awl and injecting some of that oddball Scandinavian charm to create something that's at once, familiar and fresh. |
| With the End in Mind Thresholder | 4.0 |
| With the End in Mind Unraveling; Arising | 4.5 |
| It's been a long time since I've been so genuinely floored by a black metal album, and the last place I expected it to come from was Cascadia. That scene may be dead, but apparently With the End In Mind didn't get the memo. The juxtaposition of the naturalistic timbre of the aforementioned movement and winsome dolor of post-black metal is executed so tactfully throughout, bringing to light the strengths of both scenes without their flaws anywhere in sight. The pristine production can't belie how raw the sentiment underneath is, and waves of despair slice through your gut like jagged, but fine shards of glass. Superficially beautiful, but emotionally tormented, Unraveling; Arising is truly a special album. |
| With the End in Mind Tides of Fire | 4.5 |
| As one of the only Cascadian black metal bands to make it out of the 2010's, With the End in Mind enters this new decade with their finest work yet, Tides of Fire. It's not an album that traverses new ground, but rather doubles down on what the project does best; euphoric swells of melodic black metal riffage, doom-ridden spoken word ruminations, cooing folk passages, and atmosphere that drops you right in the Pacific Northwest. As someone who waited four years for this release, I am more than satisfied with the final product. |
| Woddrea Mylenstede Cwylmendeap | 3.5 |
| Unrepentantly raw black metal that pushes the boundaries of listenable music |
| Woe A Violent Dread | 3.5 |
| Woe A Spell For The Death Of Man | 4.0 |
| Woe Quietly, Undramatically | 4.5 |
| Woe, Is Me Number[s] | 4.0 |
| Wold Screech Owl | 3.0 |
| Good idea Bulldog go right from listening to Gucci Mane to Wold and have some expectations of possibly liking it |
| Wolf and Bear Everything Is Going Grey | 3.0 |
| Wolf King Loyal to the Soil | 3.5 |
| Wolfheart Constellation of the Black Light | 3.5 |
| Wolves in the Throne Room Celestite | 2.5 |
| Now that we know WIITR has a pair of celestits, maybe they can grow a pair of celesticals for their next album? |
| Wolves in the Throne Room Black Cascade | 3.5 |
| Wolves in the Throne Room Wolves in the Throne Room | 4.0 |
| Wolves in the Throne Room Diadem of 12 Stars | 5.0 |
| Woman Is The Earth Dust of Forever | 4.0 |
| Wombripper From The Depths Of Flesh | 3.5 |
| Wombripper Macabre Melodies | 4.0 |
| Woods of Desolation Torn Beyond Reason | 3.5 |
| World Untouched By Mankind The Forests Are Old With Grief | 4.0 |
| Worm Gloomlord | 3.5 |
| Wormhole The Weakest Among Us | 3.5 |
| Worst Days Someone Has It Worse | 3.0 |
| Wotanorden The Hands of Faith | 3.5 |
| Wounds of Recollection You Were A Garden of Empyrean Light | 3.5 |
| Wrath of the Weak Alogon | 3.5 |
| Wrath of the Weak Wrath of the Weak | 3.5 |
| Wrath of the Weak Solace | 3.5 |
| Wrathprayer In Utter Darkness | 2.0 |
| Filth covered blackened death metal with a surprisingly strong amount of ambience. Of course this one thing does not make up for the rest of the album, which is actually pretty dull. |
| Wreodan Heahl Laecig | 3.5 |
Symphonic black metal has a certain negative connotation amongst the genre's more "elite" listeners (whatever
that means), but there are still some great acts of that variety out there: Wreodan Heahl is one of them. It's
medieval symphonic black metal in the vein of early Dimmu Borgir, and it absolutely slays. The orchestrations are
perfectly done, and the black metal segments are nice and cold, just like they should be. |
| Wretched Empires Bloom | 3.5 |
| Wrevelmoed Demo I | 3.5 |
| Wristmeetrazor Misery Never Forgets | 3.0 |
| Writhing (AUS) Of Earth and Flesh | 4.0 |
| Writhing Shadows Writhing Shadows | 3.5 |
| Wvnder Precipice | 3.5 |
| Xandelyer Upheaval Of Medieval Darkness (demo) | 4.0 |
| This reminds me of Odz Manouk with a stronger emphasis on melody. It's dark and twisted but also beautiful and engaging. One of my favorites from this year. |
| Xasthur Nocturnal Poisoning | 3.5 |
| Xavlegbmaofffassssit.... Gore | 3.0 |
| Xavlegbmaofffassssit.... Gore 2.0 | 3.5 |
| I honestly thought Acidic Vaginal Liquid Explosion Generated By Mass Amounts Of Filthy Fecal Fisting And Sadistic Septic Syphilic Sodomy Inside The Infected Maggot Infested Womb Of A Molested Nun Dying Under The Roof Of A Burning Church While A Priest Watches And Ejaculates In Immense Perverse Pleasure Over His First Fresh Fetus would be a one and done gag project, so I was fairly surprised to find Gore 2.0 while skimming through bandcamp. Even more surprising is how legitimately good this album is. Laying off the pure grinding discordance of their debut, Xavleg's second album toys with a melange of styles (death metal, goregrind, beach rock...?) skillfully but without sacrificing the joviality and carefree attitude of its predecessor. It's clear these dudes are still having fun, they've just become a lot more listenable while doing so. |
| Xazraug Unsympathetic Empyrean | 4.0 |
| XII Boar Beyond the Valley of The Triclops | 3.5 |
| Fucking raucous as fuck rock'n'roll. Heavy-hitting groove riffs, sludgy bass, and throat-shredding vocals for days. Great shit. |
| xLESIONSx Tired of Being Pushed Around and Told Just What To | 4.0 |
| Sludgy, crusty, and powerviolent hardcore from members of black metal bands At Dusk and Nan Elmoth. It's another killer release from Pacific Threnodies. |
| xSPONGEXCOREx How Tough Are Yah? | 2.0 |
| |
| Yaldabaoth That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate | 3.5 |
| Yard Boy Promo Tape | 3.0 |
| Yatra Born Into Chaos | 3.5 |
| Yellow Eyes Silence Threads the Evening's Cloth | 3.5 |
| Yellow Eyes Hammer of Night | 3.5 |
| Yellow Eyes The Desert Mourns | 3.5 |
| Yellow Eyes Stillicide | 3.5 |
| Yellow Eyes Sick With Bloom | 4.0 |
| Yellow Eyes Immersion Trench Reverie | 4.0 |
| Yellow Eyes Rare Field Ceiling | 5.0 |
| Now that I've finally gotten to take a good listen, Rare Field Ceiling is officially my rblack metal AOTY so far. It's such a nuanced piece of music that brims with classic black rmetal energy while maintaining the individualistic flair that sets Yellow Eyes a step rabove their contemporaries. Most of all, you can feel the passion it took them to rcultivate this album, as it's imbued in every riff and necrotic snarl. It is a shining rexample of modern black metal, setting a standard that won't soon be beaten. |
| Yellow Swans Being There | 3.5 |
| Yellow Swans At All Ends | 4.0 |
| Yellow Swans Going Places | 4.0 |
| Yersinia Pestis (US) Finis Gloriae Mundi | 3.5 |
| Reminiscent of Sweden's burgeoning melodic death/black metal scene of the early 90's, Yersinia Pestis is six tracks of fairly solid extreme metal with enough aggression, melody, and buzzsaw guitar tone to satisfy both newcomers and older fans of the genre alike. |
| Yith Immemorial | 3.5 |
| Ynkleudherhenavogyon Honan Bleydh | 3.5 |
| You Plus Me Rose Ave. | 3.5 |
| Young and in the Way I Am Not What I Am | 1.5 |
| This is so ridiculously boring |
| Young and in the Way When Life Comes to Death | 2.0 |
| YOUWRETCH YOUWRETCH | 3.5 |
| Heavy as shit hardcore that also has some awesome melodic flourishes |
| YOUWRETCH Sympathy Of Wolves | 3.5 |
| Ysengrin Initiatio | 3.0 |
| Zeal and Ardor Zeal and Ardor | 2.0 |
| this album is like if you had tried to explain to shinedown what black metal was and then they made an attempt at performing it without ever listening to what it actually sounds like |
| Zeal and Ardor Stranger Fruit | 3.0 |
Zeal and Ardor should certainly be praised for their uniqueness of sound; what they're doing is
wholly original and unprecedented. Unfortunately, the disconnect between their various styles
makes for a jarring listen. Transitions simply don't exist here, haphazardly stitching together
pieces black metal, soul, and gospel into a Frankenstein-esque visage of incongruous limbs. Zeal
and Ardor are on to something, but Stranger Fruits feels like a band unsure of how bridge the gap
between vision and delivery. |
| Zealot Cult Spiritual Sickness | 3.5 |
| Zealotry At the Nexus of All Stillborn Worlds | 3.5 |
| Zeegang Een morgenstond, door mist verhuld | 3.0 |
| Zella Day Kicker | 3.5 |
| Zella Day Zella Day | 4.5 |
| Zohamah Spread My Ashes | 3.0 |
| Zpektraellotaen Possessed by the Loathing Specters at Dawn / In Co | 3.5 |
| Zuriaake 深庭 | Resentment in the Ancient Courtyard | 3.5 |
| Zwarte Drakk Demo I | 4.5 |
| THIS IS WHAT RAW BLACK METAL SHOULD SOUND LIKE. |
