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FAUST – Death From Beyond – Review

Before we dive into the realm of 2026, let’s peak back at this killer 2022 release from Faust. If you are a fan of mid 90s Melodic Black Metal, you are in for a fucking treat.

The album wastes little time setting the scene before blasting off with razor sharp fury with some killer melody. This is an album that grabs you by the throat from the get go before fully pulling you in. The vocals perfectly match the intensity that follow  the rest of the assault.

Michael Hellstorm is the single maniacal madman behind this project. The fact that there is only one person behind all of this chaos is truly surprising. Without any additional song writers, Hellstrom crafted an immersive listing experience as each track pulls you in even further.

The pace slows down a bit with the haunting “Ashes,” followed up quickly with “Night Eternal,” which really showcase Hellstorm’s vocals. Adding in the background vocals and some killer grooves this may be one of my favorite tracks on this album.

The production on this album is incredible, especially for a “Black Metal” album. While it may lack the conventional “recorded in a medieval dungeon’s bathroom” approach reserved for most black metal bands, don’t let that stop you from giving this album a spin. On its surface it may appear to be yet another band trying to recapture the dark spirit of the classic Melodic Black Metal scene but Faust continue to develop that sound.

I am excited to hear what they do next.

 

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Faster Than the Devil 4 – REVIEW

Another year, another Faster Than the Devil album from our sick friends at Wise Blood Records. The killer split series has birthed its 4th incarnation of the best underground thrash, black, speed and other creepy crawlers to their already impressive arsenal.

This time around we have Demon Sacrifice, Nattmaran and Ventor. Each band contributed 3 new nasty thrashy and trashy speed fueled lunacy this time around. On top of that Demon Sacrifice offers a live track of “Haunting Night,” while Nattmaran and Ventor offer covers from Motorhead and NME.

Demon Sacrifice starts the party off with killer riffs, raw energy and fury. Each of their tracks start hauntingly slow before taking off. Gotta love that bass on “The Shining of Bloody Rites.” An absolute jam of a track.

Nattmaran, a Faster Than the Devil alum, once again offers up punk as fuck/black Metal attack that has become their signature style over the years. The unique screeching vocals here remind me slightly of the legendary Chicago Death Metal band Macabre and that’s never a band thing.

Ventor closes out the album with punk as fuck attitude. The riffs on “Invoked Rapidity,” make want to gleefully tear shit up. This is the type of soundtrack you want when it’s time to fuck some shit up. It’s aggressive and yet playful at the time.

The Faster Than the Devil series continue to do a tremendous job of putting the spotlight on underground bands that you didn’t realize  were about to become your new favorites.

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EXILLIUM NOCTIS – Pactum Diaboli – REVIEW

 

 

Pactum Diaboli roughly translates to “pact with the devil,” from Latin and with a quick look at the album cover, it dosen’t look our dude walked away with a good deal. Back with their sophomore album, the Greek black/death metal  are out to prove why they are one of the best bands to come out of the Greek extreme metal scene.

Starting with the out a haunting instrumental, Exilium Noctis brings the pain with the second track, “All Shall Burn.” With it’s rapid vocal delivery, frenzied riffs and blasing beats  It’s technically brutal musically and evil AF lyrically. While the sound is and production are mostly clean, Exilium Noctis does not waste a note on superfluous solos or needless noise.

Exilium Noctis’s blends in plenty of death metal with their black metal and it tastes great. The technical skills here are tight and the production is clean as can be. They can also be raw and nasty.This combined with a heavy helping of black metal give us plenty of darkened chaotic mayhem.

And that’s just the way we like it.

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TURIAN – Blood Quantum Blues – REVIEW

 

’ll admit that when I usually see a band labeled as, “Hardcore,” I’ll give it a pass. But this new shit from Turian? This is fun, this is a jam, this is fuckin’ pissed,this is different. 

I won’t waste anymore time trying to define their sound. Each track adds a new element and style to the overall experience. Turian throws in moments of hardcore, sludge, prog and plenty more genres and influences that you will probably discover with each new listen.

Turian melodic parts are where their true strengths lie on tracks such as “Nite Flights” and “Chemical Bath,” the energy here might possibly cause an unwanted rearrangement of your living room furniture, so please provide caution when listening.

Turain were not afraid to experiment by adding in a heavy dose of synths. I may not know traditional Hardcore music but I think it is safe to say that not too many Hardcore artists mess with any electronics. That’s too bad for them. “Mach,” is a cool retro feeling synth track that smoothly rolls into “Divine Child,” with its heavy nu-metal style sound here, Turain continues to keep the listener guessing. 

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KIRITSIS – REVIEW

This past week, managing to make it outdoors should have come with some sort of trophy. It’s hot, thick and sludgy and just generally nasty.

Just like this debut album by Indianapolis Doom/Hardcore band, Kiritsis.

Starting off with, “Knuckles,” Kiritsis launch a heavy head nodding attack with their first strike. It’s a nice lean and mean that excently leads the charge. “Locusts,” delivers a more intense galloping feel that will no doubt wake up the kids looking to mosh.

The mixture of both hardcore and sludgy doom here is an interesting one. The influence of hardcore tones and shouted vocals work well to establish the a new blend to an old genre.

“It Ain’t Easy,” takes a turn and goes deep into all of the atmospheric dread you may or may not have been looking for. This track slowly builds and builds until it completely buries you. “Like the Taste” fires off next with a hardcore fury that wants to snap your neck. It’s brief but it’s animosity leaves a mark.

 

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ASHEN – Ritual of Ash – Review

Ashen released a pretty rad debut EP, Godless Oath back in August or 2021. This little EP was able to spark enough fury with it’s no nonsense approach to which can be considered “classic Death Metal.” No gimmicks, no “retro inspired” tracks. Just straight up kick you in the balls , born in the fire Death Metal.

Yee Haw. Let’s flppin’ go.

Ashen first full length, Ritual of Ash was released in January of 2023. Opening with “Ritual,” Ashen starts off with a slow crawl while managing to include pretty sick groove. “Deadsight,” follows much of the same path almost slowing down into Doom territory in moments. Don’t get too comfortable though as their is still plenty of tremlo and blast beat terror mixed within.

Threshold and Blood slow things down a bit here and there in order to deliver either a new killer hook or more savage vocals. “Cursed Rebirth” starts off with an awesome melodic riff that plods the track along. Personally, this is my favorite track off the album, part fist pumping, part face bashing, all awesome!

The next 2 tracks feel like they step out of the early 90’s. Old school Death Metal fans take note here. “Embrace of Extinction,” and “Gravemind,” are classics in the making. Here are some incredible vocals with some real nasty riffs.

“Buried in Ice,” is another track for the Melodic Death Metal fans. The riff here really reminds me of Glasgow era Arch Enemy. (That’s a compliment) “Inhuman,” isn’t the best song to close the album on. It’s not bad in the least but fails to leave as much as a lasting impression as other songs may have.

If you are looking for some “Old School” Death Metal but are tired of so many bands trying too hard, this Bud’s you.

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PYRRHIC SALVATION – Manifestum – REVIEW

You gotta love life’s “happy little accidents.” Sometimes some of the best things in life came to be from unexpected sources. Pyrrihic Salvation began as online band sending tabs through the digital universe. With that, they began to create a technical death/black metal monster. Their most recent release is, When Society Crumbles, but for this review let’s look at their 2022 release, Manifestum.

With just 4 tracks and under 30 mins, Pyrrhic Salvation perform a rather ambitious amount brutality within those limited constraints. Hell, the second track is a 2 minute instrumental!

The EP is crushingly heavy. Plenty of brutal vocals with noisy underlying grooves can be instantaneously be felt. Darkness just oozes throughout the tracks. Plenty of chaotic energy. What really stands out here and calls for additional  listens is the amount of densely packed and multi layered technical sound going on here. What is equally interesting here is that the band does not limit this recording technique to the tech death metal side alone put includes plenty of black metal elements as well.

With plenty of eerie and dark elements fused with some impressive tech death work Pyrrhic Salvation prove early on in their careers that they can meld many different styles together.

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EUPHROSYNE – Keres – REVIEW

 

Euphrosyne describes itself as a “post-black doom.” While that may be a turn off for some and an instant must listen to others regardless of your own preference, their latest EP is worthy of your attention.

The opening track, “Black Opal,” is an instrumental complete with haunting synths alongside a rather jazzy sounding saxophone. Kinda like a mellow Black Metal elevator song. Trust me. It works.

The following track, “Pale Days,” is where the party really starts and may be one of the strongest tracks on the album. The rhythm section guys into overdrive and accompanies the synths and violins and screaming vocals. There is a lot of layers at play here but thanks to some killer production it all works here. Vocalist Efi Eva showcases an incredible range of vocals from harsh screams to whispers. Where she really hits her peak is in her “symphonic metal” style.

The band does a great job changing the musical style based on the vocals. There are a ton of layers to this EP and it will require a few listens until you really pick up on everything. Personally, I love going from blast beats to synths and saxophone on “Within the Ages.”

From classic tremolo riffing, blast beats and killer riffs, Euphrosyne still manages to stay fresh why remaining Trve.

 

 

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WYNDRIDER – Revical – REVIEW

We are back with a second helping of Stoner Doom for the month of January. This time around, things are a little soft and calm with WyndRider at the helm.

WyndRider emerged from the Appalachian Mountain area of Tennessee in and released their debut self titled album in 2023. Their must be something in the water of the Bible Belt because this is some serious good ol’ Southern Doom.

This album lazily floats you along with deep, warm and fuzzy tones instantly gets your body moving. Vocalist Chloe Gould perfectly bluesy/soul/haunting vocals blend into the groove perfectly. As the tracks plod along you’ll feel if you can actually feel a smoky haze start to feel the room around you. WyndRyder do a great job of capturing that early Black Sabbath feeling in Metal; Occult rock with great grooves and plenty of dark atmosphere.

Listening to Revival you will instantly feel the Sabbath influenced riffs with an almost distinctive tone. Don’t let that discount the band as another simple Sabbath worship band. Gould’s warm and haunting vocals really add a bit of a swagger that helps WyndRyder over the pack.

Album #2 for WyndRyder is yet another step forward for the group.  With 2 strong releases in a relatively short time, WyndRyder is a band to watch.

 

 

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FIREBLOOD -Goatslayer – REVIEW

 

Fireblood are here with a grimy and slimy 4 track EP beat down. Goatslayer is actually the band’s second EP of 2024, following up Hellalujah earlier in the year.

Looking at the album art, you may expect to get hear some evil ass death metal or some ear spitting thrash. Instead you will find some pretty savage sludge and doom within. The band plays a style of self described, “Southern Fried Sludge.”

“A Perfect Place for Death,” starts out with thick riffs showcasing their sludgy style. The vocals are clean, no growls but are still harsh and brutal.

“Death Comes Rolling,” is one of the best named stoner tracks I have heard in a long time. The vocals are a little heavier in parts. The spoken parts are a little to mumble and grunge inspired for my personal taste but that’s just me. The grove on this track is enough for me to forgot about that.

“Burning Underground, ” is where the real Doom crawl begins. Slow, heavy and full of thick lead lined spoke, this track is Fireblood at their best.

Closing out the EP with the monster 7 minute “A.I.G.O.D,” FireBlood are able to maintain a long grove that will be to be a hit with fans of the genre.