The title track, Rejoice In Sin, opens the album with what feels like the distant wail of a horn, leading into a scream and a guttural growl that immediately sets the tone. The guitars and drums carry an organized chaos, while tempo changes at the start and near the end keep you engaged. The track closes with a cleaner guitar sound that still maintains its intensity—a strong introduction that draws you deeper into the album.
Wretched Is This Life, the second track and my personal favourite, showcases an incredible balance of guitar and bass in the intro. A standout tempo change after the first verse brings back the opening riff, blending classic black metal elements with a modern edge. The bass line here deserves special mention—it steps out from behind the main guitars at times, delivering sharp, rhythmic punches that elevate the song. This track is a perfect example of how Burial blends precision with raw energy.
Across the album, the vocals are haunting and guttural but never feel gimmicky. Derek Carley’s delivery feels authentic and perfectly suited to the gritty tone of the music. The blast beats from Dave Buchan are a highlight—they aren’t a repetitive blur but instead vary in tempo and add depth to each track. The bass guitar, often overlooked in this genre, is prominent throughout, acting as both a foundation and, at times, a rhythm guitar. This attention to the bass gives the songs a layered, full sound that’s hard to achieve with just three members.
For a black metal album, Rejoice In Sin brings in some welcome variety. At times, it leans into atmospheric black metal; at others, there’s a hint of Symphonic influence or even a black-n-roll vibe. The production feels deliberately raw, as if you’re sitting in the studio with the band, which adds to its edgy charm.
After a dozen playthroughs, I can confidently say there isn’t a single track I’d skip. Each song is carefully crafted, and the precision in the tempo changes is impressive. Burial has created an album that’s gritty, immersive, and engaging from start to finish. 8/10
Veuve - Pole (Go Down Records) [Rich Piva]
You would think that a record almost an hour long with only six tracks would lean heavily on the psych side of the house, but the first two tracks, Land Of Denial and The Thaw are just straight up killer heavy stoner rock goodness. Land Of Denial has a killer bass work and enough fuzz for all of us. I love the guitar tone on this one and on all of the tracks on Pole. The Thaw gives me Fire Down Below vibes, which of course is very welcomed, and has my favourite guitar work on the record. The first two tracks are the shortest on Pole, the next three is when it gets intense.
Veilburner - The Duality Of Decapitation And Wisdom (Transcending Obscurity Records) [GC]
When I see something from Transcending Obscurity, I immediately think death metal and usually quality death metal at that, however Veilburner have been listed as black metal and of course labels need a variety of different acts to keep thing interesting, so The Duality And Deception Of Wisdom is Veilburner’s new album, and this is my take on it.
I’m instantly struck that its seven tracks are all exactly seven minutes long and not sure why that is or if there some hidden meaning to it all? Bit weird really, anyway it all starts off ok on Tem Ohp Ab In Mysticum which is chock full of blasting drums which are the highlight because the rest is a bit stop start and ragged, with loads of different time changes thrown in and differing types of vocals that are at one point decent but then in an instant a bit cringeworthy and about halfway through it all just gets to repetitive and drags on till the end.
This really summed up my feelings on black metal, it can be great and really devastating at times but then in an instant can sound ridiculously stupid but still wants to be taken seriously? There were parts on The Duality Of Decapitation And Wisdom that I really enjoyed but equally there were parts I just rolled my eyes at and wanted to skip, it’s a decent listen but whatever you do don’t take it too seriously!! 6/10
Grey Attack – Back To Greysland (Metalapolis Records) [Liam Williams]
Back To Greysland is the 4th album by hard rock quartet Grey Attack. This is going to be quite a short one because I’ll be honest, I really struggled to get through this album. I can appreciate the bands efforts to bring back a more 80’s glam rock sound and mix in a bit of grunge and metal to try and keep things updated but it still sounds like something straight out of the 80’s. It’s like they’re just trying to sound like a heavier Bon Jovi, but it just doesn’t work. Each part on its own sounds decent enough, but altogether it’s very rough.
The guitars and bass are pretty good, some of the solos are great, but most of them just lack any soul. I do like some of the riffs and I appreciate the experimenting with different effects in some parts. The drums are ok but in most of the songs they sound way too loud in the mix compared to everything else. As if they thought making the drums louder made the songs sound heavier but it just sounds really bad. The singer can definitely sing, I actually quite like his voice, he sounds a lot like Scott Weiland, one of my favourite singers.
Some of the other glaring issues is when the band attempts to add any other sounds into the songs like piano and strings. They just sound off to me. The mix is really rough and it ruins their inclusion in the tracks. I really did try to give this album a chance, I listened to the whole thing from start to finish in one sitting hoping that it would get better as the album progressed but unfortunately it didn’t. There are some decent parts but nothing that’ll make me want to give it another listen. I’m giving it a very generous. 3/10