Hierophant Nox

STEVEN WILSON : INSURGENTES Kscope Arguably one of the most important, talented, and prolific recording artists of the 21st century, Steve is (of course), the man behind Porcupine Tree, I.E.M. Bass Communion, Blackfield, and No-Man (amongst others)… and the acclaimed producer and collaborator of Opeth, Orphaned Land, Yoko Ono, and a multitude of other major [...]

VOMITORY : CARNAGE EUPHORIA Metal Blade Records Vomitory are – to my mind anyway – the purest, boldest, most brutal, crushing, vicious, unstoppable kind of death metal band. Others might grind a little harder, and others still might be able to go at it with a touch more speed, but no one’s more consistently impressive. [...]

INTEMPERENCE : THRONE OF AESIR Unsigned Intemperence are a fresh, young band hailing from Oslo, and “Throne of Aesir” is their debut EP. As the thundering battery that opens the title track segued into a down-tuned chug with the flavour of Morbid Angel on steroids, I thought I had them pegged as derivative death metal [...]

SLOUGH FEG : APE UPRISING Cruz Del Sur I genuinely have quite a soft spot for these Pennsylvanian oddballs, who fall somewhere between old-school British metal, quirky folk metal, and slightly Hawkwind-esque space rock. This time around, you can further add to that already uniquely balanced mixture, the punchy essence from the NWOBHM movement, because [...]

THE LAST DANCE : PERFECT Mystine Just in case you are wondering, YES I am well aware that this has been out since late last year! However, where can you honestly say you have read a single other review for this brilliant album? I rest my case! I wish I could tell you I have [...]

ETERNAL HELCARAXE : PALEST KINGDOM Unsigned Given the beautifully grim artwork and Irish provenance, I fooled myself into believing that “Palest Kingdom”, the debut demo from Eternal Helcaraxe, would be an exercise in purest primitivism, a la fellow countrymen Siorai Geimhreadh. However, these three warriors from Cavan actually tread a more expansive and poetic path, [...]

THERION : THE MISKOLC EXPERIENCE Napalm Records Here is an album that in cringe-worthy football terms might well be described as “a game of two halves” (nasty analogy I know, and I am sorry for stooping so low). In late 2008, Therion mastermind Christofer Johnsson took his ‘band’ to the International Opera Festival in Miskolc, [...]

NAGUAL ART : SEANCE 1931/TALES FROM F Unsigned Fans of dark ambient soundscapes can, in many cases quite rightly, claim that their favourite artists have a powerful and unique emotive force, originating from their ability to summon all sorts of nightmares and fantasies from every corner of the listener’s imagination. Where the composer gives the [...]

BONE GNAWER : FEAST OF FLESH Pulverised Here is yet another “extreme metal supergroup” of sorts, fronted by a man whose name (at least to many) will be a kvlt “blast from the past!” Before I name said bestial vokillist, let me tell you what you can expect musically. Bone Gnawer takes the nasty gore [...]

FUKPIG : SPEWINGS FROM A SELFISH NATION Feto Fuck me! What a fucking noisy bastard riot! Take a large messy dose of crustcore Discharge/ENT/Disgust, throw in a festering sod of VERY old school Black Metal rifferama, then mix it bloodily up with some seriously ‘necro’ fucked up BM production…et voila… FUKPIG! Who are these fucked [...]