Tag Archives: review

Artist: Mystic Circle Album Title: Erzdämon Label: Fireflash Records Date of Release: 17 March 2023 I can still remember where and when I first discovered Mystic Circle. It was around the turn of the Millennium, and I was at University in Canterbury. In the high street, as was the way in those days, there was an  Continue Reading »

  Artist: Oak Pantheon Album Title: The Absence Label: Independent Release Date of Release: 20 January 2023 What do you get when you seek to blend black metal with folk and post metal, alongside a fair few other ingredients? The answer is, you get Oak Pantheon and, more specifically, their third full-length album, ‘The Absence’.  Continue Reading »

Artist: Redemption Album Title: I Am The Storm Label: AFM Records Date of Release: 17 March 2023 It wasn’t love at first listen when I first heard Redemption. In fact, it wasn’t until album number four, ‘Snowfall On Judgement Day’, released some six years after their self-titled debut saw the light of day, that I  Continue Reading »

Artist: Bizarrekult Album Title: Den Tapte Krigen Label: Season Of Mist Date of Release: 27 January 2023 The only problem with pacing myself with my reviews, is that I have to apologise a lot more, for delays in getting them written and published. If I go hell for leather as I did in 2022, I  Continue Reading »

Artist: Enslaved Album Title: Heimdal Label: Nuclear Blast Date of Release: 3 March 2023 It might, to many, amount to blasphemy, but Enslaved are one of those bands with whom I have had a rocky relationship over the years. It took me ages to listen to their music and, when I eventually did, I struggled,  Continue Reading »

Artist: Twilight Force Album Title: At The Heart Of Wintervale Label: Nuclear Blast Date of Release: 20 January 2023 I hang my head in shame at the time it has taken to bring this review to fruition. However, I’ve finally mended the error of my ways and can offer my considered thoughts about ‘At The Heart  Continue Reading »

Artist: Haken Album Title: Fauna Label: InsideOut Music Date of Release: 3 March 2023 The reason I got into progressive music around a quarter of a century ago, was because I wanted to be challenged. Up until then, I had got into heavier and heavier music, and enjoyed the discoveries that I’d made. But when  Continue Reading »

Artist: Insomnium Album Title: Anno 1696 Label: Century Media Records Date of Release: 24 February 2023 On paper, Insomnium should be one of my favourite bands of all time, and yet they are not. Theirs is an epic and melodic style of death metal that also brings folk, doom, and dark metal influences to bear on  Continue Reading »

Artist: Frozen Dawn Album Title: The Decline Of The Enlightened Gods Label: Transcending Obscurity Date of Release: 10 February 2023 There’s something in the water in 2023 where black metal is concerned. It’s mid-February and already I have waxed lyrical about the new …And Oceans record, ‘As In Gardens, So In Tombs’, as well as  Continue Reading »

Artist: Delain Album Title: Dark Waters Label: Napalm Records Date of Release: 10 February 2023 In 2021, Delain disbanded, leaving fans wondering whether or not we’d seen the end of the Dutch symphonic metal band. I wasn’t one of them though, as I’d never been particularly enamoured by them, and the fact that they might  Continue Reading »