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Metalcatto
At this point, you know I like Doom, but I’m not Pegah, so my level of fanaticism is relatively sober. However, if there’s one Doom band that makes me feel like a cat on catnip, it’s Khemmis. Sure, the band still has yet to surpass its first two albums, but everything afterward has been nothing but quality. That’s why you’d expect Khemmis to be a display of the band’s experience and maturity, right? You know, these guys know the game. Or so I hope.

Pegah
Théogonie is the debut album by the French Doom Metal duo Aetere. Its title refers to Theogony, the epic poem attributed to Hesiod, recounting the origins of the Greek gods. Rooted in a Greek term meaning “the birth of the gods,” it serves as one of the foundational texts of Greek cosmology.

Metalcatto
Here we go again. More French Black Metal that sounds like it was recorded in a fridge by people who should have gone to therapy instead. That’s the cliché, at least. But Véhémence is doing something strange with Assiégé pour l’éternité. It’s a remake of its own first album, with new production, new tracks, and new lyrics. It’s almost as if they said, “This is the way we wanted to debut, but back then we didn’t have the budget.” So how good can this be? I’m completely primed by previous Antiq releases, so you could say I’m pretty neutral about it.

Metalcatto
In our not-so-long career, we have reviewed bands with all sorts of quirky names. Temple ov Ahriman isn’t that weird, but who the heck names an album Heretics of Consensual Reality? I’m old school. I read Durkheim. Reality is what opposes the individual will. This title makes no sense! Anyway, you’re here for the Metal, not for the snobbery. So let’s see if this is more than just average Black Metal.

Metalcatto
When I think of Meuse Records, I think of sad puppy Death/Doom with clean production. However, Rigorous Sardonicus truly defies the stereotypes, because Diatriba Deorum is just nasty work that feels like it came out of Finland in 1993. I was surprised by the band’s obscene proposal, but that’s not all it had to offer. We need more than slow riffs to be truly impressed at this point, don’t you think?

Metalcatto
It’s been a while since I last gave a chance to a little band. Tsar Stangra is basically that – I don’t mean it in a disrespectful way. The whole point of this blog is helping bands reach new people. Hymns of the Broken Worlds pretty enigmatic. Is it folk, or death metal? Or both? Also, I could be wrong, but this might be the first or second band with Bulgarian heritage we’ve reviewed. Hence, I know nothing about Bulgarian metal. Still, there should be fair judgement today. Don’t despair!

Metalcatto
I have a confession to make: I’ve never been the biggest Voivod fan. A mystery indeed, because the band has everything I should like—Thrash, Prog, space themes, and just pure, unhinged madness. But who knows? It just doesn’t click with me. Symphonique is pretty much a greatest hits album, but with an orchestra in the background, which might be what I’ve always needed to enjoy these guys’ work as much as I should. Anyway, does this work, or is it going to be full of clichés?

Metalcatto
Elder is one of the best acts out there. Doubts are next to none. Ever since Reflections of a Floating World, the band has released Album of the Year contender after another. So my real question was: will Through Zero reach those heights, or sink into absolute misery and disappointment? For once, my expectations landed somewhere in the middle of the scale. Ready to be happy or bored, but not furious. Snob note: how do you go through zero? It’s literally the absence of anything. But maybe these guys are in the “zero is a number” camp. Let’s see.

Metalcatto
This is the section where we give brutal feedback to the underground bands and patrons that somehow still care about our opinions. Incredible, don’t you think?