Kronos

Xenobiotic – Dante Review

By Kronos on March 7, 2026 in Reviews, Death Metal, Deathcore, 25 comments

“You haven’t lived until you’ve heard an Australian recite Dante. Once a niche ritual available only to the geographically privileged, everyone’s somethingth-favorite Australian prog-death band Xenobiotic are using their aptly titled third LP to democratize access to this sonorous phenomenon, and some other sonorous phenomena to boot, familiar to those acquainted with much-lauded sophomore effort Mordrake. The band’s adventurous efforts are well-suited to epic literature, and, as for the subject matter, recall that this is a death metal record.” Hell is here.

Dusk – Bunker Review

By Kronos on March 3, 2026 in Reviews, Black Metal, Industrial Metal, 14 comments

“Dusk have been at it for a while now, toiling in the shadows to scrape together an acid concoction of abrasive noise and screaming menace. But who hasn’t? Newcomers to the blog, or the metal scene in general, may not have enjoyed of the deep sadness of early-2010s underground metal, when the promo pit burst with bedroom black metal from a seemingly inexhaustible trove of men who owned a guitar and made up for their lack of talent, and bandmates, and vision by pure profligacy. Though we’re now blessed with far more in the way of interesting music, the Vardans of the world are still out there, now and again transformed by their toil into something worthy of remark. And the crisp mashup of industrial synthesizers and black metal intensity has been worth a listen for the last decade in which Dusk have operated.” Gloom in the gloaming.

Diespnea – Radici Review

By Kronos on February 4, 2026 in Avante Garde, Black Metal, Code666 Records, Italian Metal, Releases, Reviews, Black Metal, 35 comments

“A black metal album bent on re-orienting the genre away from a frostbitten North and towards an imaginary sun-bleached South, the saguaro being perhaps the most resilient (and, tellingly, clichéd) symbol thereof. Ambitions often crumble against this landscape; the schemes of miners fall through, the hopeful homesteads dry into rubble, at the bodies of desperate migrants collapse in the canyons. Beauty and hostility, available in such great measure here, produce the romance of the desert, the basis for Radici.” Like a cactus in the snow.

Defaced – Icon Review

By Kronos on February 2, 2026 in Reviews, Death Metal, 45 comments

“Icon, the third record form Switzerland’s Defaced, comes wrapped up in a characteristically Olofsson-ey work and, much like the cover, is decidedly human, if a bit unambitious. Defaced have re-emerged more than a decade for good reason; a record’s worth of carefully-crafted death metal.” Re-Defaced.

Titan to Tachyons – Vonals Review

By Kronos on September 28, 2022 in Reviews, Instrumental Metal, 22 comments

“With a lineup of New York experimental metal and prog veterans, it’s no surprise that the group glint and dazzle like so many subatomic scintillations, but the strength of Vonals lies in its subtle ebb of the ridiculous and the restrained.” Jazz monsters.

Revocation – Netherheaven Review

By Kronos on September 6, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 98 comments

“Revocation are cool again. To be fair, Revocation were almost always cool. From 2008’s Empire of the Obscene to 2014’s Deathless, the band were unstoppable, almost single-handedly revitalizing death thrash. With the speed and grace of a whipsnake, they gleamed through twisting, treacherous songs, dazzling with every move. Their music was not malicious; it was downright joyous, and bandleader Dave Davidson’s boisterous solo work hearkened back to the crazed fret flights of records like Rust in Peace while taking thrash in new directions.” Be not deaf in Heaven.

Psycroptic – Divine Council Review

By Kronos on August 14, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 63 comments

“Though they arrived too late to take part in the birth of tech-death in the 1990s, Tasmania’s Psycroptic made a big mark on the genre just after the turn of the century, and by now they’re something of a legacy act. Eight albums in, Psycroptic have managed to retain their core sound, wrapped around Joe Haley’s long, eclectic riffs, for more than 20 years. The band augmented that thrashy tech death with gospel choirs for their most recent record, As the Kingdom Drowns, nearly escaping the debt of expectation set by the classic The Scepter of the Ancients back in 2003. Four years later, Divine Council nods towards the Kingdom, but doesn’t rely on past successes to make its mark.” Psy-ops.

Molder – Engrossed in Decay Review

By Kronos on July 11, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 27 comments

“I cannot understate the futility of attempting to introduce this record more accurately than its album art does. For the learned among us, it leaves not a single note in question. But for those of us impaired in the fields of vision or death metal knowledge, I’m compelled to at least give it a shot. Engrossed in Decay, the debut record from Joliet, Illinois’ Molder, is a triumph of slime. Coughing up spores from mycetozoic muck, Molder exhume ten tracks from very recent, very shallow burials in a graveyard that’s been filled to the brim for thirty years.” Mold strategy.

Interview with Project: Roenwolfe’s Alicia Cordisco

By Kronos on June 2, 2022 in Interviews, 45 comments

“On a video call from Tucson, with her playful dog Kansas and a huge Visigoth poster in the background, Alicia Cordisco filled me in on what she’s been up to. A prolific metal guitarist and occasionally, singer, with plenty to say, she’s a joy to interview, speaking extemporaneously on her community within the metal scene, the joys of Manilla Road (“they’re the greatest band ever and I will accept no other option”), and the challenges of coming out and of living as a trans woman.”

Author & Punisher – Krüller Review

By Kronos on February 10, 2022 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Drone, Industrial Metal, 31 comments

“Author and Punisher albums seem to alternate between anthemic and ambitious. Women & Children saw Tristan Shone’s transhumanist industrial drone-doom project spinning out singles with the force of a hundred pound steel drum, an approach echoed by 2018’s belligerent Beastland. But between them, the disturbing, experimental Melk en Honing took a slower, nastier pace, savoring the acrid stench of electrocuted machine-oil that the music produces. So does Krüller, Shone’s densest work yet.” Punishment and dystopian donuts.