Experimental Metal

Blessings – Blodsträngen Review

Blessings – Blodsträngen Review

By Owlswald on August 4, 2025 in Reviews, Experimental Metal, Noise, Noise Rock, post-punk, 8 comments

“Originating from the same vibrant scene that has spawned acts ranging from At the Gates to Ace of Base, Gothenburg experimental noise quartet Blessings have been forging their own path within the borders of Sweden’s olde harbor city for thirteen years. Comprised of long-standing veterans of the Swedish scene, Blessings have been worshipping at the altar of turmoil since its 2012 debut, Bittervaten came out waving a Black Flag of loud, Unsanely harsh, in-your-face noise rock.” Blessed are the slick.

Felgrave – Otherlike Darknesses Review

Felgrave – Otherlike Darknesses Review

By Thus Spoke on April 29, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Experimental Metal, 26 comments

“When a promo doesn’t adequately prepare you for what an album will sound like, one of two things is usually the case. Either the promo is poorly written, or the music is particularly description-defying. The promo for Felgrave’s sophomore, Otherlike Darknesses, while well-written, was insufficient to convey the music’s especially idiosyncratic nature. Despite the forewarnings that it “[melds] doom, black, and death metal in a way rarely done before,” and contains “intense and complex parts that wouldn’t be out of place on a technical death metal album,” Otherlike Darknesses is far stranger and deeper than expected.” Aural ambush.

Cave Sermon – Fragile Wings Review

Cave Sermon – Fragile Wings Review

By Thus Spoke on April 26, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Experimental Metal, Post-Metal, Sludge, 100 comments

“For the second year in a row, I was blindsided by a silent Cave Sermon drop. At least it didn’t take me 11 months to catch up this time. Album number three, Fragile Wings, sees Charlie Parks returning as a solo act, but now handling vocals on top of everything else. This latter is a welcome development, given how well the previous record proved vocals complement and enhance the unique musical style. After Divine Laughter blew my socks off and nonchalantly pushed its way to the top half of my 2024 year-end list, a follow-up so soon filled me with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Surely he couldn’t do it again?” Rave in the cave.

Flummox – Southern Progress Review

Flummox – Southern Progress Review

By Kenstrosity on April 23, 2025 in Reviews, Avant-Garde, Black Metal, Death Metal, Experimental Metal, Folk Metal, Melodic Metal, Progressive Metal, 90 comments

“Originally slated to be my main Thing You Might Have Missed feature, Tennessee avant-garde metal quintet Flummox’s fifth LP Southern Progress caught me completely off guard. Attracted to the prompt “their most obnoxious album yet,” I wasn’t sure what to expect from my first exposure to Flummox’s work. I figured it might be weird, but it’s also distinctive, fun, and infectious. Fearlessly creative, deeply detailed, lyrically cutting, and stupidly intelligent, Southern Progress rapidly became my favorite record released so far this year.” Southern fried befuddlements.

Bong-Ra – Black Noise Review

Bong-Ra – Black Noise Review

By Thus Spoke on February 19, 2025 in Reviews, Electronic Metal, Experimental Metal, Industrial Metal, Noise, 35 comments

“When I reviewed Bong-Ra’s last album, Meditations, I commented on the about-turn the project made moving into doom. I should have known that the individual behind Bong-Ra, Jason Köhnen, likes to keep the listener guessing. So it is that Black Noise, their ninth official full-length, sees yet another mutation. In a whiplash change, Meditations’ successor is not dreamy, sax-infused, instrumental doom, but uncanny blackened, industrial, electronic metal; synthetic elements are used now to splice in unsettling samples and twist the guitar sound rather than dominate the melodies.” Bong show.

Cave Sermon – Divine Laughter [Things You Might Have Missed 2024]

Cave Sermon – Divine Laughter [Things You Might Have Missed 2024]

By Thus Spoke on December 23, 2024 in Things You Might Have Missed 2024, Black Metal, Death Metal, Experimental Metal, Post-Metal, Sludge, 38 comments

“When I finally heard Divine Laughter, it was closer to January 2025 than it was January this year, when Cave Sermon released it. This temporal technicality turned out to be trivial because its brilliance was immediately obvious. Divine Laughter traverses death, black, sludge, post, ambient, and more, exploring further, and committing harder to mania—as I later discovered—than debut Memory Spear, which I also devoured eagerly.” Sermon on the mound.

Melted Bodies – The Inevitable Fork Review

Melted Bodies – The Inevitable Fork Review

By GardensTale on October 21, 2024 in Reviews, Alternative Metal, Experimental Metal, Noise, 20 comments

“I am more of an album guy than an EP guy. This makes the trend of releasing several EPs and combining them into a full album a bit frustrating. Thankfully, I glommed onto Melted Bodies’ plan to do the same with The Inevitable Fork. After reviewing the first EP in the 2022 roundup, I decided to leave the remainder be for the inevitable album review, which is now upon us in tandem with the third EP.” Toothsome sporking.

Moiii – Moiii Review

Moiii – Moiii Review

By Thus Spoke on July 31, 2024 in Reviews, Electronic Metal, Electronica, Experimental Metal, Noise, 25 comments

“True genius, especially in art, is often not recognized when it first emerges. Van Gogh barely made a penny and garnered little acclaim for paintings that people now travel the world to see. Art may be subjective, but an entirely new world of debate arises when something comes along for which there are very few, if any, analogues. With this in mind, let us turn to Moiii, and their self-titled debut. It’s the fusion of musical minds hardcore and rock-centric—Scott Shellhamer (American Heritage, Ghosts and Vodka)—and electronica, pop, and folk-inclined—Jason Butler (Thee Conductor)—plus an additional healthy helping of aggressive noise rock—Thor Harris (Swans) performs percussion.” Less weird is MOAR.

Occulta Veritas – Irreducible Fear of the Sublime Review

Occulta Veritas – Irreducible Fear of the Sublime Review

By Thus Spoke on July 19, 2024 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Experimental Metal, Post-Metal, 36 comments

“From the seemingly boundless nightmare realm that is the melting pot of extreme, dissonant black and blackened death metal, Occulta Veritas arises. The creation of Daniele Vergine, guitarist of Noise Trail Immersion, it veers off on its own experimental path with that project as a starting point. Blending post, atmospheric, and the most chaotically inaccessible black metal into an unusual, confrontational whole, Irreducible Fear of the Sublime presents its own challenge.” Join the melting cult.