Aug 042025
 

(Andy Synn has four more recommendations from last month which you might have overlooked)

For the most part, when putting together these “Things You May Have Missed” articles, I try to cover as varied an array of artists and albums as one possibly can when they’ve limited themselves (to preserve their own sanity) to just four records.

But, as it happens, the four records I’ve chosen to highlight here today – a succulent slab of gnarly, narcotic Sludge, a harrowing howl of soul-scarring Black Metal, a prime cut of prodigiously proggy Death Metal, and an unexpectedly ambitious (if flawed) attempt at combining the metallic and the metaphysical – all have at least two things in common.

One, they’re all from bands with one-word names and, two, they all hail from the good ol’ US of A.

Continue reading »

Jul 132025
 

(written by Islander)

Although this Sunday’s collection includes varying shades and phases of black metal I would say they have unsettling sensations of madness and murder in common, and most of them feature a muscular heart-hammering punch as well as abundant doses of crazed ferocity and mind-bending psychosis.

In many instances you’ll also encounter some of the most unhinged vocals you’re likely to find outside the hideous real-world history of self-immolation.

Only in extreme metal could an introduction like that qualify as “enticing,” but I know our audience well enough that I’m sure it will be. Continue reading »