Self Released

Tardigrade Inferno – Hush Review

Tardigrade Inferno – Hush Review

“In 2019, I accidentally stumbled upon St. Petersburg’s wacko dark cabaret metal freaks Tardigrade Inferno’s debut Mastermind, depicting an adorable evil water bear as mascot. You can imagine that I was immediately hooked. Their legitimately heavy riffs and whimsical songwriting kept me coming back for more when Burn the Circus dropped four years later. That release doubled down on original material backed by a more focused metallic spirit, and all the better for it. Initially, it sounded like third installment, Hush picked up right where Burn left off. However, gone is my beloved little tardigrade.” Sound of a circus leaving.

Desoration – NON Review

Desoration – NON Review

“Self-releasing an album is a monumental effort. Between production, distribution, artwork, press, yadda yadda yadda, the logistical weight quickly consumes vast amounts of time, money and energy. And that’s before you factor in the arduous task of creating music that’s actually fucking good. Indeed, for a young band, initial encounters are everything, which means it behooves one to ensure everything is as polished and professional as possible. Desoration understands this” Self against self.

Scythe – Boiled Alive Review

Scythe – Boiled Alive Review

“In the midst of a recent metal deep-dive, Romania’s Scythe skulked out from a Bandcamp back alley and bludgeoned me with the flat side of their blade, knocking me senseless with scuzzy shenanigans. We weren’t graced with a promo for Scythe’s self-released debut, but Boiled Alive packs in so much grimy panache that after my first listen, I had it shortlisted as someThing You Might Have Missed. Rather than wait several months before bringing attention to Boiled Alive, though, I volunteered to burn some midnight oil and write about this quartet from Constanța.” Get in the pot!

Dyed in Grey – Harbinger Review

Dyed in Grey – Harbinger Review

“For progressive death metal acts, the shadow of the masters, Opeth looms large. Yet some recent progressive death acts, like Iotunn, Tómarúm, and Dvne, have carved their own paths in the genre. When Dyed in Grey released their debut, The Abandoned Part, in 2013, Opeth was charting a course into pure prog sans death metal. I only mention Opeth because Dyed in Grey’s brand of prog death sees clear influences in the titans of the genre, though with a more technical, improvisational imprint.” Grey and fancy.

Vesseles – Home Review

Vesseles – Home Review

“In the metalverse, there are plenty of unique personas, and now we can count Valira Pietrangelo among them. She has been very open in interviews about suffering from identity dysphoria. As a result, she dove into making music and eventually discovering herself as a demon. What better way to express your newfound demonhood than through black metal? Everything about Vesseles (pronounced veh-sel-is) revolves around Pietrangelo’s identity.” Demons in the details.

Battering Ram – Time Masters Review

Battering Ram – Time Masters Review

“Occasionally, pet projects and casual fun bands can take a very long time to gestate into something more serious and tangible. Spain’s Battering Ram has had quite a long journey to get to their self-released debut album Time Masters, starting from their formation in 2008 and their demos in the early 2010s. Over this time period, their ambitions have also grown. Evolved from just another thrash metal band, Time Masters is a sci-fi concept album looking to fuse epic heavy and power metal with technical thrash metal.” Time is the fire in which we burn.

Unexpectance – Solus Ipse

Unexpectance – Solus Ipse

“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.

St. Unholyness – Through High Holy Haze Review

St. Unholyness – Through High Holy Haze Review

“As a non-musician, writing music and playing an instrument is always impressive to me, but I am in awe of the successful solo artist. The knowledge and skill required must be staggering. St. Unholyness, hailing from Pfarrkirchen, Germany, is essentially one such project. Aside from conscripting Mac Carrigan to play bass, debut Through High Holy Haze is the singular vision of guitarist/vocalist Christina Earlymorn. As far back as 2008, Earlymorn has been playing in various black metal projects, mostly solo, but Through High Holy Haze is a much wider-ranging affair.” One cowgirl from Hell?