Currents – I Let The Devil In EP
Currents burst onto the progressive side of the Metalcore scene with their debut album back in 2017, displaying an array of influences including Architects and Northlane. Just over a year later and the...
View ArticleKing Creature – To The Bone EP
Full disclosure here, when I saw the words “acoustic EP”, my toes curled up so far they nestled in my intestines and set off a chain reaction of cringing and shuddering. While King Creature may have...
View ArticleCrevassian – Crevassian EP
Instrumental metal quite often gets the wrong rap for being a bit tedious and pretentious, seemingly a genre that is more about a band trying to show off how well they can play their instruments rather...
View ArticleFall – The Dreamer of Tragedy EP
Two years after their self-released debut album 'The Insatiable Weakness', Melodic Death Metallers Fall have some more Scandi-inspired music for you; an EP with the equally poetic title 'The Dreamer of...
View ArticleArchangel A.D. – Warband
Released digitally back in the summer of 2018 (the band have already undergone another major line-up change since then), debut EP 'Warband' is being released on CD to launch 2019, and is a charmingly...
View ArticleJinjer – Micro
If anything can be learned from Jinjer, it is that you can never have disrespect for drive and a strong work ethic. Aside from working on a new album and reissuing their 2014 LP 'Cloud Factory', these...
View ArticleSaqra’s Cult – The 9th King
Sometimes Black Metal is just a mess of clichés – unreadable spiky fonts, unhinged teens in corpsepaint, blizzards... Yet Belgians Saqra’s Cult treads a different path. As their new EP, 'The 9th King'...
View ArticleKomodor – Komodor
The world of Psychedelic Rock has enjoyed a population resurgence over the past couple of years, with all manner of newcomers coating their grooves in a warm, oscillating fuzz. In such a world it helps...
View ArticleCane Hill – Kill The Sun EP
When Cane Hill came onto the scene in 2014 they were classified as nu-Metal. They were introduced as a foursome from New Orleans trying to make the highly criticized genre relevant. They are staying...
View ArticleA.A. Williams – A.A. Williams EP
It’s a name that will be unfamiliar to many but London-based Alex ‘A.A.’ Williams is destined to rise above the radar before too long. With YouTube comparisons with Chelsea Wolfe and Emma Ruth Rundle...
View Articlewars – As Within /// So Without EP
wars, unbeknownst to me, are from my own stomping ground of Rugby in the Midlands area of England. Their debut album, 2017’s 'We Are Islands After All' (Spinefarm), offered up a lot of promise and it’s...
View ArticleAugust Burns Red – The Phantom Sessions
Normally August Burns Red EPs are, believe it or not, a bunch of Xmas songs given a metal makeover. However, this time to bridge the gap between recent album, The Phantom Anthem, and the next record,...
View ArticleCreeping Death – Specter Of War EP
Since independently releasing this EP in a digital only format at the beginning of 2018, Creeping Death from Denton, Texas have earned themselves a record deal, and, while they currently remain focused...
View ArticleStarve To Survive – Have Me To Waste EP
Newcastle’s latest Hardcore reprobates Starve To Survive are back after a whole three years with a new EP, 'Have Me To Waste' (Caliber), hoping to make their own statement of intent and garner some of...
View ArticleUn / Coltsblood – Un / Coltsblood
When I heard about this particular collaboration, I swear a little bit of wee came out. Seattle’s Un is still reveling in the success of last year’s coruscating, moving Sentiment (Translation Loss...
View ArticleSnake Tongue – No Escape No Excuses EP
An EP is an auditory window to the soul. Whether it’s a band in the infancy of their career laying out their opening salvo, or a veteran act dipping their toes into more experimental waters, it gives...
View ArticleThe Munsens – Unhanded
Home to the likes of Khemmis and the sickening might of Primitive Man, Denver Colorado has carved out a significant Metal niche in the last few years, and rag-tag trio The Munsens intend to mean more...
View ArticleDelain – Hunter’s Moon
The final part of a trilogy which began with the Lunar Prelude EP and continued with the Moonbathers full length, Hunter's Moon (all Napalm Records) is the latest EP by Dutch Symphonic Metal act...
View ArticleBoundaries – My Body In Bloom
When it comes to Metalcore there may be nothing new left under the sun. Some detractors would argue that there never was anything to the subgenre. And to those insufferable malcontents may I suggest a...
View ArticlePrimitive Man / Hell – Split
Nothing beats a good split between two solid artists putting together a song or two each since we all know as music lovers, we all want new tunes! Primitive Man and Hell have joined forces on 'Split'...
View ArticleExitWounds – Visions
Those who still religiously follow the Metalcore scene will probably enjoy this EP because it’s a faithful rendition of an established approach, and ExitWounds perform it competently, if lacking in...
View ArticleBlack Coast – Ill Minds Vol.2
Without need for a long winding introduction, Black Coast kick straight into 'Ill Minds Vol.2' (Primordial) where they left off. Hard-beating drums and Gojira-esque riffs fill the room as Charlie...
View ArticleColt 48 – Negatives
During the 00s, Alternative Metal exploded and has acted as the gateway for many listeners to discover the vast sonic ground which is under the banner of Metal. The question is: does Colt 48’s new...
View ArticleSection H8 – Phase One
As the band kick in underneath the yelped vocals, there’s a carnal urge to flip tables and spin kick like your life depends on it. In a mere forty seconds, Section H8 are able to tap in to the base...
View ArticleThousand Thoughts – Thousand Thoughts EP
Making it in Hollywood hardly seems realistic but if you were to look closely the story of a Thousand Thoughts, is a Hollywood story. In just a year Ethan Smith, Jack Botterill, Matt Morrell and Jed...
View ArticleThe Glorious Rebellion – Scholars of War
An attacked guitar fades in with a straight Rock n’ Roll riff, before spacious strings reverberate around the listeners’ skulls. They give way into the abyss as an almighty Sludge riff threatens to...
View ArticleTides Of Sulfur – Paralysis Of Reason
Despite having released a host of material since its 2012 inception, Glamorgan trio Tides Of Sulfur has issued just one album, the coruscating 'Extinction Curse' (self-release) in 2016. New EP...
View Article1349 – Dødskamp
In addition to being one of Norway’s finest and most consistent Black Metal purveyors, we now know that 1349 are also patrons to the fine arts. You see, 1349 was part of a group of artists selected by...
View ArticleManowar – The Final Battle I
Seven years after their last (original) studio release, the irrepressible Manowar return to the hall (well, two original members and two new guys anyway) atop their mighty steeds, gripping a new EP...
View ArticleBlood Command – Return Of The Arsonist
While Return Of The Arsonist (Fysisk Format) is a spiritual successor to the Hand Us The Alpha Male EP, the eight-year gap really shows the songwriting prowess Blood Command have amassed. There is less...
View ArticleHamferð – Ódn
Apart from being a staple of the UK shipping forecast and consistently failing to progress from the qualifying stages of the World Cup, the Faroe Islands are still a relatively unknown quantity for...
View ArticleSworn Amongst – Reclamation
Sworn Amongst are one of the best-kept secrets in UK Metal - there is something familiar yet different to their approach to modern Metalcore. Indeed new EP Reclamation (Famined Records) is full to the...
View ArticleThe Shrine – Cruel World EP
Despite a brief flirtation with the Century Media label, the decade-long career of Los Angeles grease punks The Shrine has sailed largely deserted seas. As the line-up has grown, however, so has the...
View ArticleJoyous Wolf – A Place In Time
Once in a blue moon does a band come barreling onto the music scene that makes every person who hears them go, "If Heaven had an in house band, it would be these guys". Joyous Wolf is a once in a blue...
View ArticleVader – Thy Messenger
Ok, laying my cards down on the table. I, Hans Lopez, fully admit that I don't think I've encountered a Vader release that I didn't enjoy. The way they combine brutal riffs, mind-flaying solos, and...
View ArticleRedbait – Cages
These days I live a fairly clean lifestyle. I'm working out almost every day, cut way back on carbs and sugar and smoke more weed than I do drink. Hell, in the ultimate piece of sacrilege I've even...
View ArticleHigh Tone Son Of A Bitch – Death Of A New Day / Eye In The Sky
High Tone Son Of A Bitch. That's it right there eh?! 'Nuff said. Only it's not even the half of it. Back in 2007, with merely one EP to the Oakland quintet's name, ex-Cruevo guitarist Drew Kott fell...
View ArticleWormed – Metaportal
Something about EP releases in the past few years have left a bigger impact on me as a listener than full releases. The latest EP release from tech-death veterans Wormed, entitled Metaportal (Season of...
View ArticleThe Contortionist – Our Bones EP
Midwestern progressive metal act, The Contortionist, return with another chapter in their transformation story. This particular collection of tracks making up a quick, yet most satisfying, EP is...
View ArticleEP REVIEW: Lonely Dakota – End of Days
Despite their stateside sounding name Lonely Dakota are a British quartet who formed at the tail end of 2015. With a few lineup changes and singles in between, including 2018s 'Dead Stories', this year...
View ArticleEP REVIEW: Municipal Waste – The Last Rager
You know the old idiom, “you can't judge a book by its cover”? Yeah, well, it's nonsense. Just take one quick look at the cover to The Last Rager (Nuclear Blast), the new EP from Virginian beermonsters...
View ArticleEP REVIEW: Black Talon – Existential
Formed in 2010, Edinburgh thrashers Black Talon follow up their 2015 debut Endless Realities (Wasted State Records) with independently released five-track EP Existential. Sounding like a modern...
View ArticleEP REVIEW – Astaroth Incarnate – Ascendance
It used to be easy, doing the devil's good work. A pentagram here or there, maybe an inverted cross on the forehead, and audiences would cower at your brimstone-summoning bravura. But the competition...
View ArticleEP REVIEW: Meth Fetish – Meth Fetish EP
For the fortieth release of its cruel, fetid existence, Dry Cough Records has chosen to issue forth another slab of tortured hate, this time from intentional duo Meth Fetish. The band, another project...
View ArticleEP REVIEW: Razor Candy – Razor Candy
I like to think I am a tough nut to crack, an enigma, if you will, shrouded in a mystical cloud of mystery. My editor proved to me that when it comes to my musical tastes he has me all figured out....
View ArticleEP REVIEW: Destroyer of Light – Generational Warfare
There's no denying Destroyer of Light's prolific sense of adventure. The Austin, Texas quartet's first release was a live set and in the eight years since, the band has let loose three albums, three...
View ArticleEP REVIEWS: The Acacia Strain – D and E EPs – Rise Records
In these very strange, unprecedented times for the world over (and not just the music world) it must make a few of us uneasy in terms of when does “new music” stop coming out thanks to the pandemic....
View ArticleEP REVIEW: Wretched Empires – Bloom EP
I hadn't registered so much as a whisper of St Louis trio Wretched Empires…until I learned that vocalist Tom Ballard was also the frontman for UK Sludge-Doomers Allfather. THEN my ears pricked up....
View ArticleSPLIT RELEASE: Shrieking / Puddleglum Split
2020 has already been a busy year for San Diego electronic darkheart Shrieking. Debut album Let the Galaxy Burn (Self-Release) was released in January; a single, Truth About Demons (Self-Release)...
View ArticleEP REVIEW: Midnight Dice – Hypnotized – Underground Power Records
Coming off a self-titled demo in 2019, Midnight Dice’s first EP, Hypnotized (Underground Power Records/Hoove Child Records), sees the Chicagoans continuing to build their momentum. Comparisons to the...
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