2.5

Moon Wisdom – Let Water Flow Review

By Creeping Ivy on January 20, 2026 in Reviews, Black Metal, Punk, Shoegaze, 33 comments

“Metal Fatigue is not a moral failing: it is a physiological phenomenon, befalling even the most honorable of headbangers. Though traditional metal can tire in its own way, Metal Fatigue mostly lurks on the severe side of the genre. Too often, extreme metal exhausts by coupling sonic monotony with album lengths more appropriate for episodes of prestige television. Given my own struggles with Metal Fatigue, I was intrigued to see Let Water Flow—a 28-minute black metal record from Moon Wisdom—sitting in the sump.” Waterborn or waterlogged?

Architectural Genocide – Malignant Cognition Review

By Alekhines Gun on January 18, 2026 in Death Metal, Reviews, 18 comments

“It’s gotta be tough being inspired by genre giants. For bands like Incantation or Autopsy, it can be hard to drink from their well without sounding like derivative, uninspired knockoffs. In the realm of brutal death, Suffocation unsurprisingly stands at the top of the corpse pile, with a sound that’s inspired offshoot after offshoot and triggered more permutations of listener-savaging than one can count. There was a period when “Suffoclone” was used as a term of mockery, and now time has looped back around to turning such a descriptor into a potential point of praise. Architectural Genocide have landed with their sophomore album Malignant Cognition, which unsurprisingly seeks to worship at the altar of the brutal death kings.” Brutalist constructions.

Ov Sulfur – Endless Review

By Lavender Larcenist on January 17, 2026 in Reviews, Deathcore, 45 comments

“Blackened deathcore has truly run its course. This is simultaneously a hopeful sentiment, as it may encourage bands to explore new ideas, but also a sad one, because so few bands have actually created music that resembles the genre’s namesake. For every A Wake in Providence, there are twenty more bands flailing around with crappy production, boring synths, and chugga-wugga breakdowns that induce eye-rolls every time. Vegas-based Ov Sulfur sits somewhere between the two on their sophomore release, Endless. Featuring genuinely blackened elements in their sound, the band puts greater focus on melody and clean singing, bringing them much closer to… dare I say, blackened metalcore?” The core problem.

HyperioN (IT) – Cybergenesis Review

By Spicie Forrest on January 15, 2026 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 29 comments

“Formed in Bologna, Italy, HyperioN has been kicking around since 2015. When they visited these halls in 2017, Eldritch Elitist called their debut, Dangerous Days, “the strongest 3.0 possible,” citing its ability to “effortlessly [inject] elements of trash and power metal into the proceedings” and its “significant room for future growth.” HyperioN returns now in 2026 with their third full-length, Cybergenesis, a concept album chronicling an interdimensional war, humanity’s enslavement, and their eventual rebellion and liberation.” Start the cyber.

Unexpectance – Solus Ipse

By Kenstrosity on January 14, 2026 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, Metalcore, 41 comments

“Spanish metalcore/melodeath quintet Unexpectance lived up to their name when I encountered them for the first time in 2022, boasting a remarkably meaty and riff-packed assault on their sophomore effort Vortex. After recruiting a new drummer, a new vocalist, and a new lead guitarist, their upcoming salvo Solus Ipse threatens to sound quite a bit different, despite tapping similar Dante-centric philosophical wells for its theme. This potential shift didn’t hamper my interest, however, as their chunky, groovy songwriting held up quite well over time.” No one expects the unexpectance.

Bite Down – Violent Playground Review

By Samguineous Maximus on January 13, 2026 in Reviews, Deathcore, Metalcore, Nu Metal, 66 comments

““TikTok deathcore.” Two words guaranteed to make trve metalheads shudder inside their Jørn-adorned battle jackets. It’s also a term that could apply to a vast swathe of newer deathcore acts; each chasing the viral glory of Will Ramos reaction videos through near-endless vertical content. Enter Sweden’s Bite Down, who’ve ridden this wave to a respectable level of buzz across a steady drip-feed of singles and EPs, with their debut, Violent Playground.” Toothsome or untoother?

Oraculum – Hybris Divina Review

By Owlswald on January 12, 2026 in Reviews, Death Metal, 23 comments

“New year, new beginnings. And just as my resolutions refresh and my word count resets to zero, Chilean quartet Oraculum arrives to break the seal. These connoisseurs of the “tried and true” first graced these pages more than ten years ago with their counter-breaking EP, Sorcery of the Damned—back when EPs still qualified for regular reviews outside of our now annual EP/Split/Single Roundups. That initial offering was a grim manifesto on old-school death metal (OSDM), forging deathly Incantations into a sharp, lethal slab of barbaric hostility.” Olde but still bolde?

Olymp – Rising Review

By Steel Druhm on December 18, 2025 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 15 comments

“You’ve heard me rant about the horrors that lurk in the promo sump come December, and how it’s mostly sub-basement black metal made by those who live on gas station pizza rolls. That kind of low-target high-risk environment is why I noticed the offering from German trve metal act Olymp and took action upon it rashly.” May your sword stay stiff.

Fleshvessel – Obstinacy: Sisyphean Dreams Unfolded Review

By Spicie Forrest on December 8, 2025 in Reviews, Avant-Garde, Black Metal, Death Metal, Experimental Metal, Progressive Metal, 18 comments

“Sisyphus is my favorite character in Greek mythology. It’s why I picked up Obstinacy: Sisyphean Dreams Unfolded, the sophomore release from US-based metal vanguard, Fleshvessel. You see, not only does Sisyphus cheat Death twice—which in itself is hella metal—but in being damned to eternally roll a boulder uphill, he becomes an allegory for the human experience. This endless toil and glorification of the struggle serves as the thematic foundation for Obstinacy, revolving around “our own stubbornness/persistence as human beings and how it can be both a detriment to, or deliverance from, our collective and individual struggle for a better world.”” Rock and a slanted place.

Carnal Savagery – Crypt of Decay Review

By Steel Druhm on November 28, 2025 in Reviews, Death Metal, 19 comments

“Advanced scientific studies indicate that the style of metal known as “Swedeath” will not die and may, in fact, be incapable of being killed. The foundation created by Entombed and Dismember in the early 90s cemented the “Stockholm Sound” so deeply in musical bedrock that forecasters predict it could function like an everflowing stream for untold aeons. Enter Sweden’s Carnal Savagery. This gruesome duo have gone in big on the Swedeath formula, releasing 6 albums of it since 2020, all of which pay loving homage to the genre’s forefathers.” Back to the crypts of the dismembered entombed.