Orthodox, come blasting on their latest slab of hardcore brutality. If I was asked to describe it in one word I would go with ‘chunky’ because it’s the best word I can find to accurately describe the tone deployed by guitarists Austin Evans and Ben Touchberry.
It’s a sound that is so thick it just dominates proceedings from the off. What you have is 12 songs that revolve around a distinct arrangement that basically wants to stomp you into the ground. Online, they are described as Metalcore and yes there are leanings into that style and for some that label may discourage but I would look past that and get onboard with just how well their songs roll out during its 33-minute run time.
They take absolutely no time in getting straight into it, starting off with the aforementioned chunky build of Can You Save Me? And you could be forgiven for thinking that this style will be repeated but you would be wrong. Yes, they drop massive break downs but when they want to up that speed and as a result complexity of the music (see Godless Grace for some fleet fingered moves) they can do that equally as well.
They further change that style up to suit with Keep Your Blessings which keeps that initial approach in play but adds in an underlying backing noise that adds to the sound of aural destruction. The ending stretch of this one is huge, with everything slowing down as they rain their artillery down on you until there is a brief respite. And it is very brief as it circles back to a stormer of riff. Its that combination of intelligent yet heavy guitar work with that sound that makes it work so well.
Some may find that repeated percussive blasts are maybe one-note or boring, but I think that would stem from perhaps a negative view of Metalcore in general. I’m not a great fan of it as a whole because I do find it to be boring but sometimes you chance upon a band like this that makes it a devastating listen. Check out Step Inside for how they can shift from a traditional fast start into a more engaging arrangement that throws in some wonderful guitar lines amongst the brutality.
Some may find that repeated percussive blasts are maybe one-note or boring, but I think that would stem from perhaps a negative view of Metalcore in general. I’m not a great fan of it as a whole because I do find it to be boring but sometimes you chance upon a band like this that makes it a devastating listen. Check out Step Inside for how they can shift from a traditional fast start into a more engaging arrangement that throws in some wonderful guitar lines amongst the brutality.
There should also be shout outs to the backbone on here provided by Shiloh Krebs and Mike White (bass and drums respectively) who lock down and provide the space and support for Austin and Ben to do their thing. And they do this very well yet if they didn’t have the voice of Adam Easterling to provide that abrasive roar then there is no way it would hit as hard as it does. It’s a collective where each is pulling in the same direction, utterly driven on the target in front of them.
I think that if you are fan already, then I am probably preaching to the converted and you know exactly what you are getting here. For others, don’t be put off by that label, I mean who cares about them anyway? This is as good as anything you will hear this year because of how they do it. They make it theirs and even throw in a scorching lead on Searching For a Pulse which I thank them for. They attain a level of intensity that feels tangible, you feel it from the first seconds and it is present right up the closing seconds of Will You Hate Me?
It there was an album that is meant to be played live, it is this. Each of these tracks are killer and are pared to the bone. If its on there, its there for a purpose including appearances from Matt McDougall, Brann Dailor (One Less Body is a cracker) and Andrew Neufield. I know that some bands are exceptional on record but miss something live.
It there was an album that is meant to be played live, it is this. Each of these tracks are killer and are pared to the bone. If its on there, its there for a purpose including appearances from Matt McDougall, Brann Dailor (One Less Body is a cracker) and Andrew Neufield. I know that some bands are exceptional on record but miss something live.
Others are incredible live but cannot capture that in the studio. With Orthodox, I am of the firm opinion that they are lethal in both environments, purely based on what I have heard here. Fantastically brutal stuff. 9/10
Holy Scum - All We Have Is Never (Rocket Recordings) [Mark Young]
All We Have Is Never is another release which comes in and sounds completely different from what I expected. Their second album can only be described as something that is unique to them, born from a love of sludge and heavy feedback combined with an improvisational approach which means that nothing is off the table. Instead of trying to pin a label on their sound which I believe would do them a disservice and offer no use to you (dear reader). Instead, I’m going to avoid a song by song breakdown (for these same reasons) and talk about the album as a whole.
It is an intense, direct and unflinching collection of music that avoids traditional guitar driven arrangements whilst still managing to be aa crushing as those bands which opt for a more normal route. Each of the songs here are different from the others, taking cues from different facets of extreme music. Its jarring and is constantly on the edge of a collapse but somehow, they avoid it. If there was only one constant is that each one is driven from the percussive movement of Jon Perry (GNOD, Shuck) on drums, who brings controlled fury into play and allows the others to build around them.
Holy Scum - All We Have Is Never (Rocket Recordings) [Mark Young]
All We Have Is Never is another release which comes in and sounds completely different from what I expected. Their second album can only be described as something that is unique to them, born from a love of sludge and heavy feedback combined with an improvisational approach which means that nothing is off the table. Instead of trying to pin a label on their sound which I believe would do them a disservice and offer no use to you (dear reader). Instead, I’m going to avoid a song by song breakdown (for these same reasons) and talk about the album as a whole.
It is an intense, direct and unflinching collection of music that avoids traditional guitar driven arrangements whilst still managing to be aa crushing as those bands which opt for a more normal route. Each of the songs here are different from the others, taking cues from different facets of extreme music. Its jarring and is constantly on the edge of a collapse but somehow, they avoid it. If there was only one constant is that each one is driven from the percussive movement of Jon Perry (GNOD, Shuck) on drums, who brings controlled fury into play and allows the others to build around them.
The guitars themselves are used as weapons, chiming shapes that on the surface just cut in and out but are providing the kind of urgent, frenetic noise that could only work here. The bass is the other MVP here, like the drums it provides the anchor to move the songs along and provides the support for the guitars to do their thing. Both Chris (Haslam, GNOD) and Joe are as one here, tightly wrapped together, constrained yet fluid.
One of the surprises here is the vocal delivery from Mike Mare (Dälek) who pitches the performance so that it is original to that song alone and sets them running against blended soundscapes that are often dizzying and unnerving at the same time. Its this kind of originality and creative drive that puts them to one side of what I would normally listen to. In fact, I don’t think I’ve heard anything like this in the way it just unfolds, running where they want it to and at first it may sound like its all over the shop it isn’t.
By normal standards, this is a short review. I make no apologies for that because this doesn’t deserve the normal treatment that you can roll out for other styles of music. At first, I wasn’t really getting it and It took the realisation that I had to approach this differently. I’m glad that I did because otherwise I would have thrown the towel in on one the most distinctive releases of 2025. It is worth your time to check these out and to show them your appreciation because they offer something totally different. 8/10
Funeral - The Funereal EP (Season Of Mist) [Matt Bladen]
The bastion of Funeral Doom bands out there Norwegian act Funeral probably exemplify why the genre is called that. Pain, melancholy, misery and anguish are all the calling cards of this bands slow, moody, depressive leaning style of heaviness, guitars lingering on a few chords as vocals grunt, the strings sullen and sorrowful.
Throughout their long time as a band they've lost members, to suicide and overdose, they've had roadblocks placed in their way with labels, family commitments and a global pandemic, hindering their last album especially but band founder and drummer Anders Eek continues to be the driving force behind this band and with the signing to Season Of Mist they open their account with a new EP, but are already talking about their next album being in the finishing stages.
The Funereal EP is a three part suite, for the first time sung totally in Norwegian/Faroese, the Gamalt Ijós suite is also the first set of lyrics to have an outside influence on them a friend of Eek's who also happens to be a psychologist interpreted Emmanuel Kant's work. It's a grandiose effort as you'd expect from Funeral the harsh growls are countered by low croons, the heaviness of the suite offset by the acoustic version of Når Kisten Senkes a final moment of maudlin beauty that includes violin which the band have now added full time to this band since this EP was recorded.
One of the surprises here is the vocal delivery from Mike Mare (Dälek) who pitches the performance so that it is original to that song alone and sets them running against blended soundscapes that are often dizzying and unnerving at the same time. Its this kind of originality and creative drive that puts them to one side of what I would normally listen to. In fact, I don’t think I’ve heard anything like this in the way it just unfolds, running where they want it to and at first it may sound like its all over the shop it isn’t.
By normal standards, this is a short review. I make no apologies for that because this doesn’t deserve the normal treatment that you can roll out for other styles of music. At first, I wasn’t really getting it and It took the realisation that I had to approach this differently. I’m glad that I did because otherwise I would have thrown the towel in on one the most distinctive releases of 2025. It is worth your time to check these out and to show them your appreciation because they offer something totally different. 8/10
Funeral - The Funereal EP (Season Of Mist) [Matt Bladen]
The bastion of Funeral Doom bands out there Norwegian act Funeral probably exemplify why the genre is called that. Pain, melancholy, misery and anguish are all the calling cards of this bands slow, moody, depressive leaning style of heaviness, guitars lingering on a few chords as vocals grunt, the strings sullen and sorrowful.
Throughout their long time as a band they've lost members, to suicide and overdose, they've had roadblocks placed in their way with labels, family commitments and a global pandemic, hindering their last album especially but band founder and drummer Anders Eek continues to be the driving force behind this band and with the signing to Season Of Mist they open their account with a new EP, but are already talking about their next album being in the finishing stages.
The Funereal EP is a three part suite, for the first time sung totally in Norwegian/Faroese, the Gamalt Ijós suite is also the first set of lyrics to have an outside influence on them a friend of Eek's who also happens to be a psychologist interpreted Emmanuel Kant's work. It's a grandiose effort as you'd expect from Funeral the harsh growls are countered by low croons, the heaviness of the suite offset by the acoustic version of Når Kisten Senkes a final moment of maudlin beauty that includes violin which the band have now added full time to this band since this EP was recorded.
Veterans and probable namesakes of the entire Funeral doom scene, this Nordic band a poised to reclaim their tearstained throne. 8/10
Inglorious - V (Frontiers Music Srl) [Matt Bladen]
Powerhouse vocalist Nathan James returns after a hiatus started in 2022 with a reinvigorated Inglorious line up, for many the return of original member Colin Parkinson (bass/guitar/keys/percussion) can be seen a step in the right direction after the band was replaced wholesale in 2018.
A few pints, a few song writing sessions and they were back on track, Parkinson was a key co-writer on those first three albums so with him and James back together, joined by guitarist Richard Shaw (Cradle Of Filth) and celebrated prog drummer Henry Rogers, this is the resurrection of Inglorious then, revising the past to carry them forwards on album number 5.
V bursts out of the gates with Testify and Eat You Alive, the first a soulful rocker while the second has moments of Alter Bridge to it, as does Devil Inside, the boisterous production from Parkinson and mix from Tony Draper makes it burst from the speakers as the pace doesn't drop until Believe which goes a bit dramatic, James' experience in musical coming to fruition here.
Despite the return of Parkinson, they aren't resting on past glories though as there's a lot of modernity here, the influences of bands such as Alter Bridge and Black Stone Cherry (In Your Eyes) just as important as Whitesnake and Bad Company. V does feel like a bright new chapter in the story of Inglorious, James and Parkinson's writing team is reactivated in fine form making for more classy, heavy rock. 8/10
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