Hierophant Nox

NEFARIUM : AD DISCIPLUM Agonia Records Formed all the way back in the late 1990s, Nefarium have been jabbing their black metal spear into the ribs of Christ for a good long while. The predecessor to this effort, “Heretichristus”, saw the band find a well-suited home on Agonia Records, and the intervening couple of years [...]

TRIPTYKON : EPARISTERA DAIMONES Prowling Death/Century Media So much expectation rides on this album’s shoulders, so much pressure, so much personally onto the narrow shoulders of Thomas Gabriel Fischer himself. Rarely has an album been borne of such rage, hate, and pain, born so publicly and out of sheer desperation. Yet despite all that pressure, [...]

TROLL : NEO-SATANIC SUPREMACY Napalm Records Although they’ve always been an impressively fearsome promise, Norway’s Troll, with their fourth full-length album “Neo-Satanic Supremacy”, seem to have evolved into nothing less than a force of nature. Brainchild of the intensely visionary Nagash – he of The Kovenant and former Dimmu fame – this is an act [...]

SCORPIONS : A STING IN THE TAIL Sony So here we go… the last EVER studio album by our favourite Teutonic, predatory arachnidans! Hopefully we won’t see the veteran heavy rockers following the Status Quo/Ozzy Osbourne etc ‘oh we’ve retired but…’ dull routine… hopefully these fellows have better judgement and integrity than to follow such [...]

BEISSERT : THE PUSHER Agonia Records Whatever flavour of metal a band embodies, they’ll sit somewhere on an imaginary spectrum that ranges from ‘terrifyingly unique’ to ‘mind-numbingly derivative’, and if I’m honest, if their particular poison is ‘groove’ metal, I have a pre-conception about where on the mythical line they’re going to be positioned (and [...]

MOTORPSYCHO : HEAVY METAL FRUIT Rune Grammafon Here is yet another excellent musical offering from beautiful Norway. Therefore it’s going to be in the best tradition of black metal or Blackened Folk Metal… right? WRONG! In point of fact it’s a wonderfully strange album of epic psychedelic spacerock… with trumpets! It’s a real ‘trip’, from [...]

A year ago, we took a walk on the ritualistic side with the founder of independent promoters Astrum Argentum, an outfit that deals with black metal acts of the ‘religious’ flavour, and which had such a great volume and variety of projects under its banner it nearly exhausted my brain just to catalogue them. I’m [...]

ARMORED SAINT : LA RAZA Metal Blade I fucking LOVE Armored Saint! They are unarguably THE most underrated pure heavy metal band in the genre’s history. Their discography is rammed with amazing songs, killer musicianship, and then there’s THAT voice… John Bush! Before we do the actual review, let’s talk about the Anthrax situation. After [...]

THE KANDIDATE : UNTIL WE ARE OUTNUMBERED Napalm Records On paper, the death metal and hardcore-inflected thrash of Denmark’s The Kandidate might not seem like the most thrilling prospect to the dedicated extremist – what could be fresh and vital about this particular assault on the senses? The answer to this question is ‘rather a [...]

BRING ME THE HEAD OF ORION : COURTING LEVIATHAN Blackdrone I have unashamedly said on this most august site from day one, that I have become a colossal and exponent fan of the drone genre, and search out new bands whenever possible. Here is a fine American band I have only recently become aware of, [...]