Negative Agent – Terminal Days

Metalcatto

Sometimes, I get to review the weirdest things, and by that, I mean something like Negative Agent’s Terminal Days—an Industrial Metal album steeped in Cyberpunk aesthetics and antifascist politics. This is genuinely underground material, but it arrived with a strong personal recommendation from musicians whom we deeply respect here at MER. Trusting that instinct, I decided to give this electronic assault a fair chance, even though it checks almost none of the boxes on my usual stylistic checklist. There are moments when one simply craves to be surprised, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Lost In The Riffstorm 2025: Part 1

Metalcatto

It’s that time of the year! When I try to look at the albums we missed because we were too busy covering other releases or making the horrible decision of having a life outside music. You should try it sometime — it’s rewarding and actually pays the bills! Alright, so let’s get to it.

Arson Charge – A Dying Light

Metalcatto

Let’s return to the underground and pick up something unconventional, and by that I mean Arson Charge’s A Dying Light. Not every day do I get an album that sounds like a car crash between Thrash, Industrial, and even Nu-Metal. The real question is: are there any survivors of this massive collision? That’s what I’m here for—to take the bullets you’re too busy to take. Can this band impress us, or will it just make us scratch our heads? Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect just by looking at the artwork. Nothing wrong with it, but what does it make you feel? Maybe I don’t want to know. Let’s go!

Watch My Dying – Egyenes Kerőlő

I promise I have no Central/Eastern European agenda this year—it’s just what makes sense to review as the quiet month of January moves along. Watch My Dying is a Hungarian band with a long career, and at first, I wasn’t sold on the idea of listening to some strange industrial experiment. But Egyenes Kerőlő caught my attention when I read in the promo that they had collaborated with Thy Catafalque. You know we love anything that project puts out. Still, I wasn’t expecting a bootleg of that band—I wanted something more!

Marilyn Manson – One Assassination Under God – Chapter 1

Ok, sigh, here we go. You guys voted for this in our Instagram poll, so I wash my hands of it! Saying that Marilyn Manson is a controversial figure is like saying Burger King sells burgers. So when I received the promo, my reaction was, “Oh no! What do I do now?” I asked the people—that’s what I did. I also want to state that if MM is guilty of even half of what he’s been accused of, that’s more than enough reason for me to not enjoy anything he’s produced. However, I’m a professional, and in One Assassination Under God – Chapter 1, I’ll do my best to separate the art from the artist.

True kvlt – Katana, Detonation Boulevard & Legion: Ritualis

Welcome back! Last week, we took a break from the never-ending battle—the one we can never win. No, it’s not the war on drugs; it’s the battle to review all the underground releases we get every week. We’ve reached a stalemate with the internet, but that can’t last. So, this week, I’m not slacking and will keep up the good fight. Today, we have bands that surprised me—without this section, I would’ve never sought out these experiences. The same could be true for you, my dear corpse-painted child. A good reason to keep reading.

Ævangelist – Perdition Ekstasis Meta

Whoever said that Industrial Metal is boring and commercial has clearly never listened to whatever Ævangelist has been up to. Do they even know what they’re doing? Ever since De Masticatione Mortuorum In Tumulis, the band has developed this bizarre blend of Death, Black, and Industrial Metal, all wrapped in the most lo-fi production possible. It’s such a dense listen that I was genuinely worried I might hate Perdition Ekstasis Meta. Was it because it’s so far removed from anything we might consider enjoyable, or because it lacks something previous it previously had? Either way, I came in ready to give this disturbing album a chance. Let’s go!

True kvlt: Barzakh, Glass Coffin, Aldorfrea, Mindistry

Destiny has decided that this week’s True Kvlt becomes a blend of mostly underground Black and Death Metal straight from the cave. Lately, we’ve had too much beauty and cleanliness in this section, so it was about time things got nasty again. Join us on this quick trip to the basement.