Suffering so you don't have to!
Metalcatto
It feels like fame has gotten to the top of my head and I’m starting to neglect the deep underground, right? Just kidding! But we’ve had a lot of special articles and high-profile reviews lately, and—as usual—the local bands pay the price like innocent bystanders. So now I’m bringing back a bit of justice, even if just for a moment, in this sorrowful world… Wait, what am I trying to say? It’s sunny outside—let’s stick to that mood. Let’s go!
Ixone
Very few albums have impacted me as deeply as Naglfar’s Harvest, and a huge part of that is, of course, its lyrical content. Why is that? To start, it’s fitting to address the fact that, generally, in Black Metal, when someone wants to explore dark states of being, the result often ends up being an absolute trauma dump of a DSBM record. Yeah… there are better ways to do it. Luckily, Naglfar found a solution to that problem on this album. But how did they manage that? By doing quite literally what symbolist poets were doing in the late 19th century: assigning external elements to inner states. However, in Harvest, this is done with far less subtlety and far more visceral intensity—which, being Black Metal, is exactly what one might expect.
Metalcatto
Well, this isn’t a new release—it’s a reissue—so why am I writing about it? Simple. Hessian Firm, the label behind it, was kind enough to send us a free physical copy of Ingurgitating Oblivion’s debut EP, Cadence and Perspective in Desolation. A title that already hinted at how complex IO would become. So, without further nonsense, let’s check if this thing still holds up more than two decades later.
Metalcatto
Have you ever wondered what would happen if a Nu/Groove Metal band actually tried to be heavy? No? Well, me neither—but part of the reviewer’s job is to find things you weren’t even looking for (you get Post-Groove! Please make it stop!). And Noumenia – Echoes is exactly that. So my question before jumping into this wave of crystal-clear production is: is this album going to be Pantera good or Limp Bizkit bad? I’m almost equally afraid of both outcomes, but it’s time to give a chance to something slightly less from the sewers!
Ixone
And so it is that I once again find myself venturing into partially foreign musical territory. Not entirely unfamiliar, but just enough outside my usual comfort zone that I initially put off diving into this record—until my conscience kicked in and dragged me back. That brings us to Slaves of the Wolf, the latest album by American band Bear Mace.
Metalcatto
When I got the promo for Castrator’s Coronation of the Grotesque, my eyes rolled back so hard that, for a moment, I could see my brain (this makes no anatomical sense, just saying). This was because, with a name so edgy and typical for Brutal Death Metal, there couldn’t possibly be anything original here, right? But I was wrong. This is an all-female band that is basically giving the male demographic a taste of their own medicine. Let’s face it—so much Death Metal is about doing horrible things to women. We needed something else! And I’m all for making the world a fairer place, so let’s go!
Metalcatto
It’s been a while since we’ve had some Post-Black Metal in our hands. You know how it goes with these types of albums: they either end up on a best-of-the-year list or fade into oblivion. There’s rarely anything in between. However, Oskoreien is a band that, despite having few releases, has been around for a while, which is why I approached Hollow Fangs with a decent amount of respect—and even a little hope. Besides, I kind of dig that dragon artwork (no, the dragon doesn’t look goofy—it’s art!). Now, let’s start throwing down.
Vicky
To make this introduction brief, I am just going to say that I realised these days that the ’90s as a decade had marvelous music, both Rock, and in Metal. Given that there were so many great albums released during that time, I’ve decided to make a short list containing five of my personal favorites – that are also sometimes overlooked. Let’s dig into these five underrated masterpieces.
Elyna Kahn
Have you ever noticed that when a band releases an album and describes it in terms of music, lyrics, production, and so on, what you end up hearing isn’t always what you were told to expect? Well, that didn’t happen to me with Fer de Lance, an epic Heavy Metal band from Chicago. Their second album, Fires on the Mountainside, arrived in my inbox a while back with a description that went something like this: “This new work promises an immersive experience where epic heavy/power metal intertwines with doom-like overtones and black metal atmospheres, taking the listener through landscapes of mythology, revolution, and darkness. Far from sounding generic, Fer de Lance embraces a bold identity that pays homage to ’90s metal while forging their own path, guiding the bravest listeners toward unforgettable sonic adventures.”
Milo Lane
Hello, solstice, and hello, Cryptopsy Saturday! An Insatiable Violence arrives with the summer heatwave — relentless, overwhelming, and probably exactly what you didn’t know you needed. Just when you thought the Brutal Death Metal scene couldn’t get any more punishing, these Canadian legends throw down a record that will easily jackhammer an eardrum out of ya. And while I can’t tell you what to like, I can try my best to explain why this is a good thing.
Metal Eclipse Reviews 