Self-Releases

Acidsloth – Acidsloth Review

By Thus Spoke on July 7, 2025 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Post-Metal, Sludge, 22 comments

“Can you guess what genre Acidsloth plays? Yes, that’s right, it’s thrash! Ok, no, obviously not, it’s stoner doom—what else with a name that’s a portmanteau of a drug and a notoriously slow-moving animal? Kicking around since 2021, Kraków’s Acidsloth already have two LPs to their name, but it’s their third that they bestow the honor of being self-titled. The reason is that this time, they’re a “full band” (to use their own terminology), totaling eight(!) musicians, five of whom perform vocals.” The hateful 8 and the danger sloth.

Stellar Blight – Eventide: Synod of the Dying Stars Review

By Thus Spoke on June 12, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Heavy Metal, 40 comments

“Contact form promos are a high-risk, high-reward option when it comes to choosing a review candidate. The unsigned artist(s) behind the enthusiastic prose could be overselling an undercooked bedroom project, or understatedly presenting shockingly good music that makes you want to shake record labels and say “sign these guys, goddammit!” Stellar Blight, happily, are of the latter breed, though this fact is unsurprising. Comprised of the vocalist from Mānbryne (and Blaze of Perdition); the guitarist from Shodan; and the drummer from Owls Woods Graves, the trio have plenty of experience.” Thoughts arrive like mutterflies….

Fleshspoil – The Beginning of the End Review

By Tyme on March 27, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 12 comments

“Troy, New York’s Fleshspoil, may be new to the NYC metal scene, but its constituent members certainly are not. Vocalist and guitarist Jeff Andrews (The Final Sleep, Armor Column) and drummer Mike Van Dyne (The Final Sleep, ex-Arsis) have joined forces with Bay Area bassist Dan Saltzman (Illucinus) to wade into the crowded waters of the blackened death metal pool with their self-released debut album, The Beginning of the End. I wondered what Fleshspoil had in store, mainly what Andrews and Van Dyne, given their pedigree, would do to set themselves apart in a genre rife with stiff competition.” The flesh is reek.

À Terre – Embrasser La Nuit Review

By Thus Spoke on February 4, 2025 in Reviews, Post-Metal, Sludge Metal, 21 comments

“There’s nothing wrong with sticking to an established genre template, but it’s interesting when a band opts to mix things up. Bordeaux’s À Terre could be said to go a step further, claiming the musical DNA of their debut Embrasser La Nuit was guided by the provocative question, “Is making Cult Of Luna or Converge really that original these days?” As a sludge/post-metal ensemble, the group’s self-awareness about their debt to the big names, leads them, in Embrasser La Nuit, to sprinkle in a handful of other influences, mainly from the French rap and hip-hop scene.” Embrasser or embarrass?

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.

Witnesses – Joy Review

By Thus Spoke on November 8, 2024 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Post-Metal, 49 comments

“Since their inception in 2016, New York’s Witnesses have been a fluid entity. A constantly shifting lineup, held together by sole permanent member and mastermind Greg Schwan, where a small collection of artists lend their voices and instrumental talents to the equally shifting sounds of each album—ambient, post-metal, and doom.” Does each shift vary in quality? Come, be witnesses to Witnesses Joy.

Griefsoul – Extreme Northern Griefmetal Review

By Owlswald on October 22, 2024 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 22 comments

“Extreme Northern Griefmetal, the debut full-length from Finnish melodic death metal project Griefsoul, is the result of measured evolution. The creation of solo artist Emppu Kinnaslampi, the Finn has spent the past four years carefully shaping his take on the infamous Finnish melo-death sound, drawing inspiration from the frigid, dark, and unforgiving Northern winters. He did this by partially writing, composing, and experimenting with his self-described and ambitiously titled “grief metal orchestra” from the confines of a snow-covered woodland cabin.” Griefer madness.

Outer Graves – Terminal Limit Review

By Steel Druhm on September 22, 2024 in Reviews, Death Metal, 23 comments

“It’s nearly October, which means it’s time to unpack the outerwear, and just in time, unheralded Wisconsin death crew Outer Graves drops an abrasive piece of outer space-themed death metal called Terminal Limit to chill your sunny disposition into a wintery pale. Their recipe is vintage death force-fed through a grind filter with touches of black metal madness crisping the edges. The result is uniformly caustic, savage, and chaotic, without a trace of melo or prog to be found.” Dead Space in your face.

Eyes of the Oak – Neolithic Flint Dagger Review

By ClarkKent on September 12, 2024 in Reviews, 41 comments

“One look at the cover of Neolithic Flint Dagger, the second album by the independent Swedish band Eyes of the Oak, and it should be no surprise that they play a mix of psychedelic doom, stoner rock, and traditional metal. That means fuzzy guitars, gruff cleans, and brief psychedelic passages of the kind that Pink Floyd plays on Dark Side of the Moon.” Neolithic Flint Daggers flying through space is not on my “Album Cover Bingo” card, I’ll give them that.

The Mercury Impulse – Records of Human Behaviour Review

By Thus Spoke on August 21, 2024 in Reviews, Ambient, Drone, Noise, Not Metal, 21 comments

“Drone is an exceptionally difficult genre to analyse. By its very nature, it resists structure, memorability, and conciseness; its forms are indiscrete; monotony is a feature. Chicago duo The Mercury Impulse intensify and deepen this trait by channelling their drone through a noisy medium with a subtle undercurrent of dark ambient. Debut Records of Human Behaviour thus stands as a kind of mood music indifferent to musical norms and tangible emotions.” Alienist entertainments.