Andy Synn Archives - Page 3 of 126

HECATONCHEIR – NIGHTMARE UTOPIA

Mar 072024

(Nightmare Utopia, the debut album from Hecatoncheir, is out now on Total Dissonance Worship)

As we’ve said several times, one of the reasons we keep doing this is because we love discovering new music, and we love sharing our discoveries with people.

Hell, if we didn’t have this blog we’d probably just be running up to people in the streets and screaming at them about how good the latest Blackened Post-Progressive Doom-core release is… and, according to the authorities, we’re not supposed to do that any more.

So when I first stumbled across Nightmare Utopia, the debut album from talented Slovakian Dissonant Death Metal trio Hecatoncheir, last week I knew immediately that I wanted to write about it and spread the word.

And while it took me a little longer than I’d hoped to find space in my schedule, I’m hoping you’ll agree that the wait was more than worth it, as this is one of the most promising debuts I’ve heard so far this year.

ABORTED – VAULT OF HORRORS

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Mar 062024

(Andy Synn plays armchair casting director with the new Aborted, set for release on March 15)

In the almost twenty-five(!) years since their first album, Aborted have proven themselves – on multiple occasions – to be one of the most relentlessly reliable purveyors of sonic shock and awe in the business.

But, as with any long-running franchise, audience-fatigue is always a constant concern, and while the group’s sound (and membership, with frontman Sven de Caluwé being the only original cast member left) has generally proven to be mutable and malleable enough to differentiate different entries in the series from one another, for the most part – for better or worse – you kind of know what you’re going to get with a new Aborted record.

On album number twelve, however, the band have opted to get some extra buzz – and maybe even a bit of a box office boost – by drafting in a plethora of guest stars, and while this isn’t exactly a new strategy by any means, the sheer number of famous names making an appearance this time around (one on each of the album’s ten tracks – none of whom are me, I’m sorry to say) can’t help but make me wonder whether this a case of shallow stunt-casting or a proper creative cross-over (although there’s no reason it can’t be both, I suppose).

So, with that in mind, instead of simply telling you whether it’s a good album or not (it is, don’t worry) or even how good it is (very, as it happens, due to an extra dash of “blackened” melody and brutish ‘core influences), I’ve decided – mostly for my own amusement, but hopefully for yours too – to take a slightly different approach with this review and focus my attention on how effective these guest features are and what they add (or don’t).

So let’s see who has chemistry and who’s been miscast, shall we?

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

Album Reviews 3 Responses »

Mar 042024

(Andy Synn presents four artists/albums from February that may have flown under your radar)

While I obviously love putting together these “Things You May Have Missed” columns and using them as an opportunity to highlight a handful of bands that you (and we) might otherwise have overlooked, one thing I don’t love is having to compromise and make hard choice about who to include, and who to leave out.

Sure, keeping it to just four entries is a lot easier on my typing fingers (and a lot less demanding of my time) but I absolutely hate the fact that I have to leave so many deserving releases off the list.

So, please, as well as listening to the quartet of releases I’ve selected to highlight this month, try and make some time to check out the latest records from Fange, Pyra, Stiriah, Devine Defilement, Vanta, Terramorta, Theophonos… and, well, I could go on!

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 168): BLACK KNIFE

THE SYNN REPORT 2 Responses »

Feb 292024

Recommended for fans of: Midnight, Hellripper, Goatwhore

Let me tell you a story about why it’s important to strike while the iron (or knife) is hot.

Having first discovered self-described “Heavy Metal Punx from Hell” Black Knife back at the end of 2021, and then enjoying their third (and, sadly, final) album, Baby Eater Witch, last year, I decided that I’d pick up the band’s entire back-catalogue on cd for #BandcampFriday at the start of February

But no, it was not to be, since – due to their decision to break-up (which I hadn’t even heard about) – they’d recently sold out of every single copy of both their debut album, Spell Caster and it’s fantastic follow-up, Murder Season, so I ended up missing out on the chance to add both to my collection.

So, with that in mind, I hereby encourage you all to check out what brimstone snortin’, bullet-belt wearin’, d-beat lovin’ devil-worshippers Black Knife have to offer in this latest edition of The Synn Report, because while the band may now have been laid to rest, their music is still very much alive and kicking.

BEST OF BRITISH: ANDRACCA / DEVASTATOR / VERMINTHRONE

Album Reviews No Responses »

Feb 272024

(Andy Synn brings us three more examples of The Best of British from the year so far)

As some of you may know, a couple of weeks back I attended an excellent all-dayer featuring some of the very best of the UK Black Metal scene, two of whom – Andracca and Devastator – I subsequently decided I wanted to write some more about here, in the hopes of introducing them to at least a few new listeners.

And for the third artist/album – because all good things come in threes, right? – I’ve selected the debut album from a bunch of up-and-coming Souther sludge-slingers by the name of Verminthrone, who I predict you’re going to be hearing quite a bit more from over the next few years.

So, without further ado, let’s dig into another edition of “The Best of British”, shall we?

DARKEST HOUR – PERPETUAL | TERMINAL

Album Reviews No Responses »

Feb 262024

(Andy Synn gets his teeth into the new album from Darkest Hour, out now on MNRK Heavy)

Darkest Hour have been one of my favourite bands for… well, if you want a clue as to just how long, the shop where I bought my first copy of So Sedated, So Secure as a kid has been closed for about twenty years.

Which either makes me the worst possible person to review their new album due to my obvious bias… or the best, since I know exactly what they’re capable of and am therefore best prepared to judge them accordingly.

Let’s hope it’s the latter, shall we?

IHSAHN – IHSAHN

Album Reviews No Responses »

Feb 212024

(Ihsahn‘s self-titled album was released last week, and Andy Synn has a few thoughts about it)

Vegard Sverre Tveitan, better known as Ihsahn, is undeniably one of the most recognisable names/faces/voices in our little, parallel Metal universe.

And while he initially earned his infamy as part of a little band called Emperor (maybe you’ve heard of them?) he has now spent almost twenty years pursuing a solo career under the Ihsahn moniker, meaning that there’s a good chance that at least some of his fanbase probably knows him more for that than for his seminal role in the early days of Black Metal.

As a vehicle for his proggier predilections, his collective catalogue under the Ihsahn banner has run the gamut from modern classics to experimental oddities, and everything in between, but there’s certainly an argument to be made that – as a self-titled summation of his career so far – on his eighth album, the eponymous Ihsahn, we’re truly seeing Ihsahn being the most Ihsahn he can be.

Which leaves just two question which need answering – what exactly is it about Ihsahn which makes the album so special, and how many more times am I going to write the word “Ihsahn” over the course of this review?

FARSOT – LIFE PROMISED DEATH

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Feb 202024

(Life Promised Death is out now on Lupus Lounge)

Farsot‘s 2017 album, Fail·Lure, is – in my humble opinion, at least – one of the best Black Metal records of the last ten, if not twenty, years.

Which means, of course, that Life Promised Death has a lot to live up to, especially with almost seven years of built up expectations to contend with on top of that.

GRIFFON – DE REPUBLICA

Album Reviews No Responses »

Feb 192024

(Andy Synn is ready to join the fight for freedom alongside French firebrands Griffon… are you?)

Aux armes! Aux armes! To the barricades my friends, to raise our flags and spit death in the eye once more!

You see, I’ve been on a bit of a Black Metal binge recently – just this weekend I attended a fantastic event in Manchester where I got to see the likes of Andracca, The Sun’s Journey Through The Night, Abduction, Devastator, The Infernal Sea, and Ninkharsag all performing their latest releases in full – and discovering the new album from Griffon early last week has only further helped reignite my passion for the genre.

And so, like any good son of the revolution, I felt it was my duty to spread the word and enlist more names to swell our ranks and bolster our forces!

ETERNAL STORM – A GIANT BOUND TO FALL

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Feb 152024

(Andy Synn offers some insight into A Giant Bound to Fall, out tomorrow on Transcending Obscurity)

Spanish sensations Eternal Storm have found themselves in an interesting position in the run-up to the release of their long-awaited, highly-anticipated, second album, A Giant Bound to Fall.

The group’s first full-length, 2019’s fantastic Come the Tide, was such a breath of fresh air in a segment of the scene which had, for the most part, grown rather stagnant that many outlets (including this one) declared it to be one of the best albums of the year.

But success like that can be just as much of a curse as a blessing, setting such a high bar – one inevitably raised even higher by the sheer flush of excitement engendered by a new discovery – that nothing they ever do afterwards will ever be judged to match it.

And with the not-insignificant gap between their first and second releases having raised audience expectations ever further, the question now is – can Eternal Storm recapture that same Melodic Death Metal magic from their debut or are they… bound to fall?

Older Entries Newer Entries