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From Friday 25 August 2017

Dead Cross – ‘Dead Cross’

The first thing you should know about the self-titled debut from thrashcore/noise unit Dead Cross is that Mike Patton is on it. Mike ‘audio Marmite’ Patton – the one from Faith No More and other less well known outings. And he’s not just on it in the sense that

Monday 31 July 2017

Abhorrent Decimation – ‘The Pardoner’

Mislabelling happens all the time. We’ve all experienced its wrath. Turns out the shoes you picked up weren’t on sale, the sandwich wasn’t part of the meal deal, and that local free hip hop gig was a Christian hip hop gig. While mislabelling is mostly harmless (apart from inflammable

Friday 28 July 2017

Prong – ‘Zero Days’

For many, Prong are to underground metal what Metallica are to mainstream metal: thirty-plus year old veterans who continue to play hard, and have influenced a vast number of bands spanning several notable genres. Tommy Victor and co came bounding back onto the scene a decade ago, after a

Tuesday 11 July 2017

Fleshpress – ‘Hulluuden Muuri’

Finnish blackened doom crew Fleshpress have the perfect title for sixth full length, ‘Hulluuden Muuri’. Unless you’re a Finnish speaker, however, you’ll have to trust to Google Translate to get the full effect – ‘The Wall Of Dread’. A fitting description of an album that looms large, presenting the

Friday 30 June 2017

Human Future – ‘Flat Earth Blues’

When an act draws influence and comparison from the varied likes of Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Amenra and Ulver, it’s sure to pique interest. Can such mighty and seemingly disparate influences co-exist, channelled into sonic form by one act alone? If Human Future’s new EP ‘Flat Earth Blues’ is anything

Tuesday 27 June 2017

LIVE: Bongripper / Primitive Man @ The Underworld, London

Even among the metal underground, a community that thrives on exclusivity, selective appeal and obscurity, there’s something surrounding Chicago doom crew Bongripper that screams ‘cult’, especially on these shores. Whether it’s their lengthy, crushing instrumental odysseys or their scarcity on stages this side of the pond (understandable considering the increasing

Monday 05 June 2017

Endon – ‘Through The Mirror’

“That’s just noise.” If you like any kind of alternative music, you’ve heard this epithet before, supposedly derogatory, demeaning. Japan’s Endon, an act lauded for being one of the most extreme in the Tokyo music underground, would revel in the label. But to limit them by calling them ‘just’

Sunday 04 June 2017

Samsara Blues Experiment – ‘One With The Universe’

Germany’s Samsara Blues Experiment first burst into the acid-rock consciousness with their 2010 debut, ‘Long Distance Trip’. Seven years on (and a decade since their formation), has the trio’s penchant for bluesy licks, spacey reverb and change through repetition stood the test of time? Fourth studio album ‘One With The

Wednesday 31 May 2017

Sólstafir – ‘Berdreyminn’

‘Berdreyminn’, the sixth studio album from Iceland’s premiere anthemic metal exports Sólstafir, marks something of a new chapter for the band. The first release since the contentious departure of drummer and founding member Guðmundur Óli Pálmason, long term fans will be no doubt questioning whether this has affected the

Monday 22 May 2017

LIVE: Napalm Death / Brujeria / Power Trip @ The Electric Ballroom, London

Go ahead and picture a British institution. You might have thought of an artery clogging breakfast, an opinion dividing yeast paste, a depressing regional soap opera or a lukewarm cup of brown leaf water. Or, you might have thought of the decade’s long career of grindcore progenitors, Napalm Death.