Bloodstock Metal To The Masses Interviews: Soul Fracture - West Heat #3 The Bunkhouse, 01.03.26

Interview With Soul Fracture - West Heat #3 The Bunkhouse, 01.03.26



1. Please introduce yourself for anyone who may not know you. Tell us a little bit more about you as a band.

We’re Soul Fracture, a groove-driven metal band focused on heavy riffs, deep grooves, and undeniable rhythm. Blending styles from metal, rock, funk, and even disco, we create a sound that’s crushing, infectious, and built to move people as much as it hits hard. Formed originally in late 2024 with a full set list ready to rock. Influences include Rick Astley, Steps and 70s era Cher.

2. What made you want to participate in the Metal To The Masses South Wales 2026 campaign? Have you had previous experience? Or is this your first time?

We had all competed before with different bands, all getting to the final, we know what it takes and that it's hell of a ride.

3. M2TM is all about supporting your local scene. How important is the local scene to you as a band?

Without the local scene there is no live music, no next big thing, and we don't get to perform without out, so selfishly it's rather vital.

4. We have a slightly different set up this year with Heats/Quarters/Semis taking place at Bunkhouse/Green Rooms. Have you played the venue before or is this your first time? Are you excited to get on those stages?

Soul Fracture haven't played either venue before, but we all have in previous bands, both venues have had renovations in recent years so be exciting to get on a fresh stage and Swansea crowds always deliver the hype so we're excited.

5. What are your expectations from being a part of M2TM?

We’re approaching Metal to the Masses with an open mind and high energy. Our expectation is to give everything we have on stage, connect with potential new audiences of the supportive metal community, and prove what Soul Fracture is about. Learn from other bands and push ourselves. If we can grow as a band and leave our mark along the way, that’s a win for us.

6. What would getting to our Day Of Wreckoning final and the possibility of playing Bloodstock Festival 2026 mean to you?

The Day of Wreckoning sounds like such a fun day out for all involved with the whole takeover almost a mini-festival in itself that would be great to be a part of. All bands love playing festivals, they always have amazing crowds and such an opportunity to win over new fans, and to play one as big and established as Bloodstock would be a real privilege

7. We encourage all the bands in M2TM to try and check out the other bands, who are you most looking forward to? Who should your fans also try to catch?

We don't want to spoil the performances for ourselves, we're looking forward to be impressed and everyone bringing their A game. Metal is such a wide genre of music and everyone has their own tastes, we encourage the audience to give a try to bands they haven't seen before and maybe usually wouldn't listen to.

8. Tell us in five words why people should come and see your band?

Why use 5 when can do it in 3 ;)
LOUD HYPE ENERGY

Reviews: Fossilization, Oreyeon, Patriarchs In Black, Rules For Radicals (Spike & Rich Piva)

Fossilization– Advent Of Wounds (Sentient Ruin/Everlasting Spew) [Spike]

There is a specific kind of pressure that comes with a debut full-length, especially when your preceding EP was hailed as a subterranean masterpiece. Brazil’s Fossilization carry a heavy burden on Advent Of Wounds. It’s a record that attempts to document the slow, grinding entropy of the earth itself, but while it possesses a tectonic level of force, it occasionally feels like a series of monumental landslides rather than a single, cohesive tremor. It is a work of immense potential that sometimes struggles to find its own connective tissue.

The album opens with Cremation Of A Seraph, and the mission statement is immediately clear: this is death/doom intended to be felt in the marrow. The guitars emit a low-frequency dread that fans of Incantation or Dead Congregation will find familiar, yet there’s a professional sheen to the rot that suggests a band aiming for something more architectural. It flows into Disentombed And Reassembled By The Ages, a track that lives up to its name with a rhythmic structure that feels like bones being clicked back into place.

However, as the record moves through Scalded By His Sacred Halo and Terrestrial Mold, a certain disjointedness begins to creep into the frame. The band is exceptional at creating "moments", a sudden, blackened blast beat here, a suffocating doom-crawl there but these elements sometimes feel like they’re being held together by the production rather than an organic songwriting impulse. It’s a collection of brilliant ideas that haven't quite fused into a singular, breathing entity yet.

There is a noticeable shift in intent during the middle of the record. Servo and While The Light Lasts lean heavily into the "cavernous" aesthetic, utilizing dissonance and thick, clotted-cream distortion to create a sense of genuine peril. When they lean into the slow-burn, the atmosphere is undeniable; it’s when they attempt the more complex, high-velocity transitions that the gears occasionally grind with a bit too much audible friction. It’s the sound of a band pushing their technical limits, which is admirable, even if the results are sometimes slightly fragmented.

The finale, Temple Of Flies And Moss, brings the record back to its primary strength: pure, unadulterated weight. It’s a four-minute study in decay that finally allows the atmospheric dread to take the lead without being interrupted by the record's more restless tendencies. It’s a strong, if somewhat abrupt, closing statement for an album that seems to be in a constant state of internal debate.

Is it a triumph? In terms of tone and sheer sonic presence, absolutely. Fossilization have managed to capture the sound of a world being reclaimed by the soil. But as a cohesive piece of songwriting, Advent Of Wounds feels like a high-end prototype, stunning to look at and terrifyingly powerful, but still waiting for that final, unifying spark to turn the potential into a masterpiece. They’ve dug the hole deep enough; now they just need to find a way to make sure every part of the collapse happens at exactly the right time. 8/10

Oreyeon - The Grotesque Within (Heavy Psych Sounds) [Rich Piva]

La Spezia, Italy’s Oreyeon are such a great band. I have loved all of their releases, as they leverage influences from late 60s psych, to 70s rock and proto, to 90s grunge, a bit of prog, a dash of punk...all of which turns into a big bowl of awesome. This delicious dish continues on the band’s latest record, The Grotesque Within. Album four is a darker affair, bringing a bit of bleak atmosphere to their version of psych-leaning stoner doom.

Echoes Of Old Nightmares opens the record up in blistering fashion with a killer riff and a great stoner rock, melodic groove. Dig those harmonized vocals too, which is a nice addition to their already great sound. The guitar tone is perfect here. Nothing But Impurities Pt.1 has a crushing riff with some other great guitar work, reminding us why grunge is listed in their bio, in the best kind of way. Love the psych-y solo on this one. 

Nothing But Impurities Pt.2 turns up the grunge a bit more and turns the tempo down, bringing some serious AIC vibes which I am sure everyone will be there for. The title track brings the heavy, but the band’s sense of melody and the harmonized vocals creates this perfect balance for this track and across the seven songs. 

The cool bass line on Something Over There is what jumps out first, before the riff kicks in and what is probably the heaviest track on the record is unleashed. But never does the heavy overwhelm, with this one again heading out to the Pacific Northwest territory with zero complaints from me. 

The quirky I'm Your Mistake is different from the other tracks with its weird tempo and changes, but still keeps us on target. This may be my favourite on a record filled with great songs. The closer, Dead Puppet Eyes, has what may be synths opening up this spacey, proggy, but still nice and heavy coda to another great effort from an excellent band.

Let’s not take Oreyeon for granted as they keep steadily releasing killer record after killer record. Let’s put these guys up there with the leaders of the genre where they belong, especially given how excellent The Grotesque Within is. 8/10

Patriarchs In Black - Completely Covered In Black (NoLifeTilMetal Records) [Rich Piva]

Veteran rockers Dan Lorenzo and Johnny Kelly have been super prolific over the last five years or so with their doomy metal project with multiple guest vocalists Patriarchs In Black. Like a bunch of EPs and full length albums prolific. So why not continue the output with a covers album with some cool versions of 70s and 80s classics, with a couple of surprises along the way.

Did they need to do three Kiss songs? For me, sure, I love Kiss, but I am not sure everyone will want to hear Strange Ways, Almost Human, and Hotter Than Hell so close together on Completely Covered In Black. I might even say just give me a whole Kiss covers record with different vocalists, but that’s just me. All are great though, especially the guitar work on HTH. My other favourites include a slowed down version of Motörhead’s The Chase and the quirky Queen song selection, Dragon Attack. 

The Zeppelin covers are executed well, but I am not sure how many more versions of The Ocean and Immigrant Song we need, even if they are two of my favourites. The real treat here is the version of Peter Gabriel’s Games Without Frontiers, all metaled up but never mistreated, this one is worth it alone. Rob Dukes (former vocalist of Exodus) did a great job on this one.

Did we need a full covers record from Patriarchs In Black, with multiple Kiss and Zeppelin songs? Who cares, here we are with some fun stuff from the guys doing versions of songs they love on Completely Covered In Black. 7/10

Rules For Radicals – Rules For Radicals (Trench Art Noise) [Spike]

There is a specific, lean power in the number two. Without the safety net of a bass player or the decorative clutter of a second guitarist, a duo is forced into a constant, exposed dialogue where every missed beat or thin chord has nowhere to hide. 

Bury St. Edmunds’ Rules For Radicals don’t just inhabit this space; they weaponised it. Featuring Shannon Hope on drums and Jay Mills on guitar, their self-titled debut is a masterclass in sonic economy, a record that somehow translates the flat, windswept horizons of Suffolk into the vast, sweltering soundscapes of a high-desert psych-noir.

I caught them recently supporting IAN, and the transition from the stage to the studio hasn't robbed them of their ability to utterly swamp a crowd. If anything, the isolation of the recording process has sharpened the edges of their "dialogue."

The record opens with Suffolk Sands, a track that acts as a bridge between their local geography and their global sound. It’s a shimmering, atmospheric threshold that feels like heat rising off a tarmac road, quickly giving way to the rhythmic grit of Oxblood. Mills has a gift for finding that specific frequency of fuzz that feels like it’s vibrating in your sternum, while Hope’s drumming is less about "keeping time" and more about providing a physical counterweight to the guitar’s erratic, bluesy stabs.

On Outriders and God's House, the band moves with a mechanical, almost predatory intent. These aren't just jams; they are tightly wound compositions that rely on the silence between Hope’s snare hits to create a sense of impending disaster. It’s a stark, unpolished sound that manages to feel massive through sheer conviction.

The tectonic heart of the record, however, is Dry Crop. Clocking in at over eleven minutes, it’s a sprawling, hallucinogenic journey that demands total submission from the listener. It begins as a slow, parched crawl, a study in sustained tension, before eventually exploding into a feedback-saturated delirium. It captures that "swamping" live energy perfectly, showing a band that knows exactly how to build a crescendo until the room feels like it’s being reclaimed by the earth.

The energy shifts into a final act of defiance with the title track, Rules For Radicals. It’s a sharp, jarring finale that brings the focus back to the immediate friction between the two performers. No overdubs, no studio magic, just the raw, unvarnished sound of two people making a hell of a lot of noise in a very small space.

Rules For Radicals haven't just made a "minimalist" record; they’ve created a document of sonic survival. They’ve proven that Bury St. Edmunds can produce a soundscape every bit as vast and terrifying as the Mojave. It’s honest, it’s loud, and for those of us who saw them tear the roof off while supporting IAN, it’s the definitive proof that there are indeed "more of us, always" lurking in the gaps of the local scene. 9/10

Reviews: Worm Shepherd, Uncultivates, Greyhawk, Belonging/Inny (Mark Young, Spike, Simon Black & Rich Piva)

Worm Shepherd - Dawn Of The Iconoclast (Unique Leader Records) [Mark Young]

Coming back from a two-year hiatus and with a new line up, Worm Shepherd bring a supergroup ethos approach in delivering 5 tracks that will either excite or discourage depending on what kind of extreme metal floats your boat. Their description accompanying this release notes that it is a masterclass in blackened brutality from the newly returned deathcore band.

The version we reviewed did not include the instrumental versions of the same songs, which given my distaste for instrumentals that are included for the sake of it is a bonus. Getting into the guts of it, they start with The Omen and from the off you can hear that they are attacking the material with all the energy they can. 

What it also does is spell out that it has an incredibly familiar sound and build, one that you will have heard elsewhere. I’m getting this out in front before we go to far. It has all the core ingredients – drums that are off the charts in terms of speed and dexterity, guitar sounds that flatten all in front of it and a vocal performance that is lower than low. 

As an opening song, its trying to break you in two and leave a mark so that they become your new favourite band. For me it hits like a band that is trying to move beyond one label and just make a lethal listening experience for you.

Soulless Lament, well this is a burner of a track. Again, it takes the traditional approaches and then puts them through a grinder in order to align with where they see this music going. If you look at this from the following standpoints: Is it heavy? Yes. Does it do melody? Yes. Do I like this in music? Yes, then you have two songs that will kick you up hill and down dale. You just have to give them the chance to do it.

Feast repeats the trick, this time using a restrained edge to proceedings. The way that the song (and others) have been put together is focused on satisfying their own need to make art the way they want to do it. There are other bands that would have taken the starting point of Feast and then thrown out a slow start into frenzied end type song. Not here, they just unfold it at the same measure, using air to give it room to breathe. It takes a lot for a band to this and shows that they are truly comfortable in their talent. Sanctified Rot is probably the most normal/traditional track here. 

In saying that, it shares a common approach with the others on here, but its execution sounds like could hear it elsewhere. It doesn’t have the same kick to it as the preceding tracks whilst Whispers Of A Buried Land with its 7-minute runtime closes out what is a very good collection of heavy metal. Its 5 songs that show that there isn’t any hangovers following their break. Going back to their notes online, the content actually backs up their statements of this being a masterclass. It is, genuinely is the sound of a band pushing themselves to make the best music they can.

On reflection, I’m probably being a little hard on Sanctified Rot. 8/10

Uncultivates – This Will Become Clear Later, Like The French Revolution (Horsebox Records) [Spike]

If there is one thing the city of Cork excels at, it’s a specific brand of perverse, high-intellect stubbornness. It is a place that refuses to be categorized, and Uncultivates have taken that local trait and turned it into a "Math Post Metal" manifesto. Their third release, This Will Become Clear Later, Like The French Revolution, is a glorious, disorienting collision of sounds that shouldn't be in the same room together, let alone on the same record.

The experience starts with a bit of a curveball. The Intro leans into a distinct bluegrass vibe, almost a western saloon feel, a bit of acoustic twang that suggests a shift toward the pastoral before the floor drops out. The transition into I Am Your God, Your Father And Your Boss is a physical jolt, trading the acoustic for a post-metal crunch that feels like a low-hanging cloud over the Lee. It establishes the record’s central dynamic: a constant, jarring tension between the rustic and the industrial.

What really sets this record apart, however, is the wordplay. There is a sharp, caustic wit here that feels like a direct descendant of the Mclusky school of lyrical combat. Titles like Great Minds Think Of Mike and the spectacularly descriptive Every Day I Wake Up On The Bonnet Of A Different Car aren't just jokes; they are the framework for a sound that is as clever as it is loud. The lyrics are delivered with a dry, knowing smirk, cutting through the dense math-rock structures with a surgical precision.

Tracks like Oliver and Flatley (a title that suggests a very different kind of Irish footwork) showcase the band’s technical dexterity. The rhythms are knotty and unpredictable, shifting under your feet just as you think you’ve found the groove. It’s a sophisticated bit of "math" that never loses the "post-metal" heart, a credit to the way they’ve managed to balance technical complexity with raw, unvarnished force.

The momentum takes a breath with Rory's Interlude before descending into the final act. Dread First and Rental Snake are short, sharp shocks of noise-rock instability, leading into the record's massive conclusion. The Ice Bed World Tour Of North America is the standout here, a four-minute-plus sprawl that manages to synthesize the record into one cohesive, feedback-saturated exit. It’s a chaotic, brilliant mess that refuses to resolve into anything comfortable, leaving you exactly where the title promised: waiting for the clarity to arrive.

Uncultivates haven't just made a "heavy" record; they’ve made a literate one. They’ve proven that you can be math-nerds and sludge-fiends at the same time, all while maintaining a healthy sense of the absurd. It’s honest, it’s noisy but don't expect it to explain itself on the first listen. 9/10

Greyhawk - Warriors Of Greyhawk (Cruz Del Sur Music) [Simon Black]

I’m normally a bit wary when another example of cheesy Power Metal lands on the platter, because let’s face it, there’s an awful lot of it out there, and the vast bulk of content rarely lifts its head above the bar of notable delivery because despite being of perfectly serviceable quality there’s nothing to differentiate it from the thousands of other acts treading the same territory. 

However, I’ve not been very active when it comes to reviewing in recent months for reasons that I won’t bore you with, so I find myself quite surprised at Greyhawk’s delivery landing rather well here.

It’s very much Power Metal of the well-trodden European template – fast paced Speed Metal pace, up-tempo major chords, musical roots that clearly balance NWOBHM (particularly Judas Priest) and big four Euro Power (Helloween et al) tropes, a sword and sorcery theme and the first contender for this year’s cheesy album cover awards (because nothing says “cheese” more than a painting of the lads in armour, swords aloft … with aviator shades). 

Two things surprise me however, despite everything else that’s got the cliché alarm ringing up to eleven. Firstly, these guys hail from Seattle in the USA, not Europe; secondly, and more importantly it’s rather good, and very fresh sounding to boot.

The band have been going since 2018, with a couple of EP’s and two full length albums under their wing already, so we are at that dangerous stage so many bands hit when album number three and their tenth anniversary looms of running out of road, with all the material they had hanging around and finely honed over time running dry and having to sit down afresh with a full album to deliver in short order. There’s no need to worry on that front, however.

There’s clearly been a fair amount of churn in the line up over the years but changing vocalists at this stage in your career is a dangerous moment for many acts, given how intrinsic to their sound the frontman frequently is. The departing Rev Taylor was apparently quite distinctively operatic in his style, but not having heard his predecessor, I can’t really compare them. 

However, new lungsman Anthony Corso is a formidable addition to the line-up. He’s very much the traditional Heavy / Power Metal singer – with a broad octaval range, a huge amount of power and his energy, talent and charisma ripple throughout the piece, to the point where it sounds like he’s been a part of the furniture for some considerable time.

Musically, the balance between trad and power metal works well, and we’ve also got some very crisp and well arranged songwriting going on here. All the numbers have a strong sense of melody and structure, and that crucial anthemic catchiness that is needed for an unknown act to get a festival full of newbies chanting along like they had been following them for years, which is again surprisingly European in style. 

Clearly this young act have got the essence of this rather better than many of the cookie-cutter acts cluttering up the European scene, because this is an enjoyable, well-crafted and perfectly delivered romp that made me want more. Well, not of the cover, that you can keep boys… 9/10

Belonging / Inny - The Dog (Dipterid Records) [Rich Piva]

Portland, Oregon is a hotbed of awesome heavy music. It feels like every other band I interview for my Show (The Rich & Turbo Heavy Half Hour) has a band from that part of the Pacific Northwest bringing some more amazing form of the stoner/doom/metal/whatever you want to call it, and it is all some level of great. Continuing on that, we have a split from two Portland bands that are new to me: Inny and Belonging, who bring to us a split EP of three songs each, titled The Dog. You didn’t think, based on my opening, I was going to tell you anything else except that this EP rules, right?

Well that is exactly what I am telling you. Let’s start with Inny. Their contribution starts with their version of the title track. Inny is more 90s Post Hardcore than anything else, in the best possible way. Think bands like Fugazi, Jawbox, Steel Pole Bathtub, early Girls Against Boys, and that will give you an idea. Melodic, lo-fi, indie post hardcore is the best I can do here, and yeah, it’s great. 

Vessel slows it down but keeps the same vibe while also reminding me of some of the very early At The Drive In stuff. I love when it all kicks in about half way through. Their third track, Morsel, rips it up, doubling down on that Fugazi thing (total DC vibes) but I also hear an old band from up their way, Seaweed, making their way into the picture. A great set of three songs that will leave you wanting a lot more from Inny.

The three songs from our second band, Belonging, are also on the post hardcore side, with Quicksand being a good reference point for their first track, Hellkite. There is something delightfully lo-fi indie rock going on here too and boy does that make this guy happy. Their track titled The Dog screams post hardcore, maybe even emo, but the good stuff like Thursday, let’s not get crazy here. Dead Reckoning closes out the Belonging side, reminding me of all the great 90s noise rock bands who were signed to one of the bigger indie labels in the 90s, which could not be a higher compliment coming from me.

What a fun little split EP that gives me two more killer bands from Portland to scream about. I am sure there will be more to hear from Inny and Belonging, but this EP is not a band place to start. 8/10

Bloodstock Metal To The Masses Interviews: Blindburn - West Heat #3 The Bunkhouse, 01.03.26

Interview With Blindburn - West Heat #3 The Bunkhouse, 01.03.26



1. Please introduce yourself for anyone who may not know you. Tell us a little bit more about you as a band. 

Hey! we’re Blindburn, nu-gaze quintet hailing from Cardiff/Swansea. We’ve been jamming together for just pushing 6 months now and things have come together pretty smoothly for us in the short time we’ve been a collective. We released our debut single “in the skin” back in December and have big plans ongoing through this year and the future.

2. What made you want to participate in the Metal To The Masses South Wales 2026 campaign? Have you had previous experience? Or is this your first time?

 
We wanted to participate in M2TM as we believe the opportunities, friendships and connections that arise through being part of the competition are second to none. The friendly competition and final outcome is exciting to be a part of, even outside of striving to win.

3. M2TM is all about supporting your local scene. How important is the local scene to you as a band?

The local scene is the MOST important thing as a young band. All of us hold the local music scene close to our hearts and know strongly that without it, the bands we know and love would never have had a platform to grow from in the first place. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SCENE! and if you don’t have one, MAKE ONEEEEEE!

4. We have a slightly different set up this year with Heats/Quarters/Semis taking place at Bunkhouse & Green Rooms. Have you played the venue before or is this your first time? Are you excited to get on those stages?

 
We’re performing M2TM West at The Bunkhouse, our debut headline show was at Bunk and we were overwhelmed with the support we received. Our vocalist hailing from Swansea has been attending Bunk for numerous years, and was even a part of the opening of the business several years ago, holding a lot of love for the place & the people that run the show. It was a fantastic feeling getting to play their stage, and we are equally as excited to return.

5. What are your expectations from being a part of M2TM? 

 
Honestly, we haven’t necessarily set expectations for being a part of M2TM. The opportunity in itself and to just simply take part is more than we could ask for, but if we are to set any expectations- then they would simply be expectations for ourselves, to get better, play tighter, cause more chaos, have more fun. We know in confidence the opportunity here with M2TM will grant us all of these and more.

6. What would getting to our Day Of Wreckoning final and the possibility of playing Bloodstock Festival 2026 mean to you?

To reach the final for us would be an insane feeling. As such a young band surrounded by so much talent through the competition it would be an honour to get such an opportunity. We only hope to do our best, and whether we make it to the final or not we will be rooting for those that do. Everyone on this competition deserves it.

 7. We encourage all the bands in M2TM to try and check out the other bands, who are you most looking forward to? Who should your fans also try to catch?

This is a tough one, like previously mentioned there is so much strong talent in this year’s competition that we would be at every show of every heat if it were possible, to name a few bands we’d say; Inscape, Paroxism, Soul Fracture, Mould & Virtue In Vain! support everyone as much as you can!

8. Tell us in five words why people should come and see your band? 

5 words.. if like nu-metal, come!

Reviews: The Magus, Sneaky Mustard, AmongRuins, Leatherhead (Matt Bladen)

The Magus – Daemonosophia (The Circle Music)

The Magus is a bit of lengeend in the Greek extreme metal scene, we’ve covered all this before, on previous album ΒΥΣΣΟΔΟΜΩΝΤΑΣ, but he co-founded Necromantia and was also a member of Rotting Christ, so two out of ‘Big Three’ of Hellenic Black Metal ain’t bad as they say. 

After the death of his Necromantia co-founder Baron Blood in 2019, he formed his solo project The Magus as an extension of the Lucifer praising, anti-dogmatic scene he has been a part of his entire career. The Magus himself takes vocals and bass here joined by long time conspirators El on guitars and Maelstrom on drums.

Daemonosophia represents a “journey into demonhood” strongly influenced by the Infernal Triptychon, it’s the idea so six is three is one, united under one unholy union in direct opposition to the trinity of the Christian faith. 

Unless you’re really into this stuff and subscribe to Crowley et al then I guess it would all be an ecumenical matter, but be aware The Magus take this seriously and like the Christian metal bands out there, the conviction on the other side is just as strong. It’s these beliefs that brings out the theatrical/devotional side of the band allowing them to go into broader styles than just black metal.

So a record rich in Satanic and occult teachings, played by genre leaders as a follow up to an already well received debut? Daemonosophia is going to be good right? Yes if you’re a Hellenic Black Metal fan you’re going to love this record, however it’s more than just black metal, these are occult soundscapes, diverse in stature but still potent. 

From gothic haunting female vocals on the title track or the macabre vaudeville of La Llorona Negra, to the glacial creep of The Era Of Lucifer Rising, which is a reimagining of a Thou Art Lord song, there’s depth to the record beside the ferocious blasts of black metal. These are still there on such as Pseudoprophetae or the more melodic Magia Obscura through to chuggy blackened death of The Chapel Of Iniquities, but even they feature layers of musicality over raw nastiness.

The Magus returns with more sermons to Mephistopheles, a grand conjuring, through cinematic framing, Daemonosophia will have you embracing your inner demon. 9/10

Sneaky Mustard - This Will Explain Everything (Self Released)

Sneaky Mustard are a Groove Alt/Prog metal band from Athens. They live by the motto of "weird riffs, big choruses” and there are plenty of those on their debut full length This Will Explain Everything. They've released an EP on 2018 but after a long time they finally show what they can do for more than five tracks.

On this album the foursome of Nikos (guitar), Stamatis (vocals), Dimitris (bass) and Manolis (drums) play music where virtuosity and left field sound merge with heavy grooves, they're compared to the likes of Tool, Audioslave and Nothing But Thieves and this eclectic collection of influences mirrors the myriad of sounds they use in their music.

Be it grunge/alt rock tones, math rock oddness, prog metal and even just some good old riffs Sneaky Mustard mange to lasso all of these things into one place adding a few curve balls for anyone who gets too comfortable. From the stop start opening of Full Thrust that wanders into some dreamy psych meets garage rock, Sneaky Mustard starting as they mean to go on with music that makes you never take anything for granted.

The slickness of the production and in particular the vocals gives them quite an American sound which is where they pitching their music, there's some QOTSA on AM Calls and the woozy All We Are Is What We Are, moving into ambient post rock on Scathel3ss while Aftermath is a fit for radio with it's emotional sound of pop.

On This Will Explain Everything, Sneaky Mustard deliver some very weird riffs and big choruses, just like they promise. If groovy alt progging is what you get down with then don't let them sneak by. 8/10

AmongRuins - Advent Of Chaos (Theogonia Records)

AmongRuins are another entry into the ever growing list of Greek bands playing Melodeath. With Nightfall and Nightrage the genre leaders, AmongRuins draw from bands such as Insomnium, Wolfchant and others, merging dark aggressive styles with brighter melodic elements. 

They follow up Land Of The Black Sun with new record Advent Of Chaos, refining what they do as a band to create songs that really display their talent as a band. AmongRuins call Advent Of Chaos a "dark, cinematic journey through loss, rage, and transcendence" so by bringing in Christos Mitros on keys, they are able to give these songs the extra gravitas they are trying to achieve.

From the first moments of Frozen To The Core, you can hear that AmongRuins are band who want to prove that they can hang with the big boys. That first track is a slow burner, the clean atmospheric guitars leading to chugging riffs and guttural vocals as orchestrations crest in the background. The keys playing vital role in the increasing competition between the blistering death blasts of A Symphony Of Loss and Chained and clean melodies that come in the solo sections that come on Red Divine and the modern heaviness of Night Mother.

There are more guests with George Prokopiou (Mother Of Millions/Poem) adding vocals to the dramatic Open Wounds, where AmongRuins go further down the prog path, which they can do with relative ease. While Christianna of Elysion joins on Into The Flame, blurring the lines between Melodeath and the symphonic/power metal sound. Both singers countering each other and merging well and adding to the already excellent vocals of AmongRuins. 

If a style of melodeath where they don’t always follow the rules but respect their influences sounds like a bit of you then I suggest welcoming the Advent Of Chaos. 8/10

Leatherhead - Violent Horror Stories (No Remorse Records)

Mercyful Fate, Overkill, Helstar and early Queensryche, Greeks Leatherhead owe a lot to these bands. With Violent Horror Stories they take lyrical inspiration from 80's schlock B-Movies and Video Nasties, framing them with some razor sharp speed metal.

Signed to No Remorse Records this is the second full length album from Leatherhead and while they don't mess with the formula too much of their debut album and their EP, they double down on the aggression here fitting the horror metal sound, Dreamcatcher for instance begins with a creeping bass before the frantic gallops kick in to a constantly shifting rhythm.

Through screaming vocals, plenty of rough and ready, gallops and drum beats along with dive bomb happy guitars, Leatherhead rip through Thrashers such as Summoning The Dead and Incubus while Children Of The Beast and Something Evil (This Way Comes) has a flair for the dramatic, the hope theming strongest here.

Clean the head of your VCR, put it in and press play, these are Leatherhead's Violent Horror Stories. 7/10

Reviews: Belzebong, Bizarrekult, Darklore, Trauma Ray (Spike & Rick Eaglestone)

Belzebong – The End is High (Heavy Psych Sounds) [Spike]

Ever had that feeling where the world is ending but you’ve found a really comfortable sofa? That’s the vibe here. Poland’s premier purveyors of the "green abyss", Belzebong, have returned with The End Is High, and frankly, it’s a total relief to hear a band that still understands that if you haven't got a decent riff, you haven't got a leg to stand on. No vocals. No frills. Just monolithic, instrumental stoner doom that moves with the glacial, sticky inevitability of spilt treacle.

I've been listening to this stuff for ages now, and most bands forget that "slow" doesn't have to mean "boring." These lads? They get it.

The opener Bong & Chain is a ten-minute lesson in tectonic movement. It’s got that thick, fuzz-drenched tone that makes your actual skull vibrate, properly cavernous stuff. I found myself wondering if they’d recorded it inside a hollowed-out mountain, but knowing this lot, it’s probably just a very expensive pedalboard and a lot of patience. It’s relentless. It’s heavy. It’s the sonic equivalent of being slowly buried in warm ash.

Then you get 420 Horsemen, which aside from having a title that’s a bit of a wink and a nudge is a masterclass in the mid-paced groove. The solos on this one are genuinely surprising; they sort of swirl around the heavy lifting like psychedelic sparks in a dark room. It’s got a mammoth feel that far outweighs its five-minute runtime.

Is it revolutionary? Probably not. But does it hit the spot when you want to feel the floorboards groan? Absolutely.

Hempnotized and Reefer Mortis (again, the names are what they are) keep the pressure high. The former leans into a more hypnotic, repetitive trance that might actually be dangerous if you’re operating heavy machinery. There’s a simplicity to what they do that has to be admired, it’s honest music for people who appreciate the low-end frequencies that turn your internal organs into jelly.

Perhaps the production is a tad too clean for the real "crust" enthusiasts, it’s got that professional Heavy Psych Sounds sheen but the sheer weight of the compositions keeps it grounded. It’s an album for the final procession. If the world is going to look like a burnt-out husk, at least we’ve got a decent soundtrack for the journey. 8/10

Bizarrekult – Alt Som Finnes (Season Of Mist) [Rick Eaglestone]

Bizarrekult returns with Alt Som Finnes — a third studio album born from personal crisis, searching introspection, and an unflinching desire to confront all there is.

The opening track Hun wastes absolutely no time — a seething wall of crazed riffs and blistering howls that very much establishes the template for what follows. This feels like a genuine statement of intent that maintains the elements that have seen Bizarrekult carve out a fiercely individual niche within the Norwegian post-black metal scene.

Blikket Hennes finds the album hitting its stride early — the all-consuming darkness of a guilty conscience rendered in dense, buzzing riffs and a vocal performance that cuts like broken glass — this right here is quintessential Bizarrekult. 

This is exactly how Roman V. has maintained his status as one of post-black metal’s most intriguing figures — this has not been a quick rise but a well-measured campaign of deeply personal, quality craftsmanship that is very well executed and more importantly, authentic. The guest contribution from Yusaf “Vicotnik” Parvez of Dødheimsgard is an absolute masterstroke here — his soothing cleans breaking through the murk with an almost spectral grace that you simply have to hear to fully appreciate, nothing short of stunning in how effectively it reframes everything around it.

Avmakt serves as a brief but necessary intensity shift — surging and seething in a fight for control before losing power entirely amidst melodies that fall then fade like dying pinpricks of light — and what an introduction it is to Håp, which features devastating dynamic shifts with a searching, meditative quality that alongside some brilliantly executed melodic progressions ticks all the boxes for me. 

This is why I consider Avmakt the album’s absolute highlight. The most relentless and aggressive delivery follows with Drøm, which features a stunning multilingual dimension courtesy of Lina from Predatory Void — her vocals adding a layer of haunted desperation that elevates the track considerably.

Verdens Verste brings the album back to where it had been previously, again using a wealth of dynamic shifts which on this occasion delves more into the post-metal ambient passages, but again the power, gut-wrenching rawness combined with atmospheric depth is certainly a cocktail that Bizarrekult delivers so well. The riff style here is particularly inspired, managing to feel both familiar and ferocious.

Tomhet has a nice, bleakly cathartic vibe overall, but the darkness is never too far away — and remarkably, this closer breaks new ground as the first Bizarrekult song sung in English, with Kim Song Sternkopf of MØL lending additional vocal textures. If you’ve been following the post-black metal movement, I don’t think you would disagree that this would fit in perfectly alongside the genre’s modern classics — the passages where the clean vocals wash over the underlying heaviness are just so well developed and executed with precision.

It is wave upon wave of searingly crafted riffs all wrapped in a ball of unbridled Norwegian post-black fury, tempered by genuine vulnerability and collaborative brilliance. Every layer given space to breathe but none allowed to diminish the crushing cumulative weight of the whole.

A searingly personal and devastatingly expansive post-black metal triumph. 7/10

Darklore – The Great Elven War (Self-Release) [Rick Eaglestone]

Seven years on from their debut The Evil Of Man Brisbane's blackened fantasy collective Darklore are back drawing from fantasy worlds so vivid you half expect to find yourself picking up a sword before the first song with The Great Elven War.

Opener The Hunting Grounds does not ease you in – it announces Darklore with total authority, marching tempos and orchestral grandeur arriving together in a way that sets the tone for everything that follows. By the time the riff locks in properly you are already committed, and at nearly nine minutes it earns every second.

Then comes one of the pre-release singles and easy to see why Descendants Of The Pale Moon is the story of fallen knights resurrected by a mysterious elven priestess and sent back to reclaim what was taken from them, and the music absolutely matches the drama of that concept. Soaring symphonics, aggressive guitar passages, and a colossal chorus that captures the march toward destiny. If you need one track to convince a friend of what this band is about, this is your first port of call.

At over nine and a half minutes The Beast Of Beauclair this is the album's longest track, and it absolutely justifies the runtime. Those Witcher 3 influences the band have spoken about are all over this one – there is a dark, morally complex quality to the atmosphere that makes it feel like a story being told rather than just a song being performed. The dynamics shift throughout with real purpose and the payoff when it finally arrives is enormous.

Told from the perspective of Sauron himself as the hunt for the One Ring begins anew, Servants Of Sauron is the most direct and punishing track on the record. It is lean, relentless, and full of imagery of fire and shadow and conquest that the band deliver with absolute conviction. The shortest track on the album and it hits like a hammer – a future festival favourite without question. 

This is followed by The North Remembers, a colourful centrepiece for the album and one of the most melodically rich tracks Darklore have written – it opens with light keyboards before the drums get going and carries that sense of momentum all the way through. There are Game Of Thrones echoes in the title, and you can feel them in the atmosphere, a kind of political grandeur sitting beneath the metal fury. It runs headlong into the next track and the sequence works brilliantly.

Horns Of The Buffira is a full-throttle delivery that puts a grin on your face and demands you turn it up. There is a looseness to the energy here that feels almost celebratory before the album enters its final third, and it works as a vital bit of breathing room before things get truly epic.

The album’s title track The Great Elven War is truly the centrepiece the album has been building toward. This is the song the band describe as their own original mythology – a saga of conflict, courage, and conquest – and it is quite simply phenomenal. Tempo changes arrive with real dramatic purpose, the orchestration swells to genuinely cinematic heights, and by the time it ends you realise you have been completely swept up in it.

The closer, Wrath Of The High Heavens finishes things off in the most utterly mesmerising fashion. Wrath Of The High Heavens does not coast on what has come before it – it pushes again, demands again, and the end section in particular is the kind of thing you find yourself replaying immediately because you cannot quite believe what you just heard. It sends you back to track one without hesitation.

Overall, The Great Elven War is a triumph – not just as a piece of fantasy metal, but as a body of work on their own terms. Laden with fantastical realms & riffs. 8/10

Trauma Ray– Carnival (Dais Records) [Spike]

Anything with a note of “shoegaze” on it and I’m here for it. This is my thing. And this thing from Trauma Ray works. As a background there has to be a specific kind of creative gold that can only be mined when a band is tired, anxious, and stuck in a room together for a frantic window of time between tours. 

For Fort Worth’s Trauma Ray, that window opened in the summer of 2025, right as the success of their debut Chameleon was threatening to turn them into permanent residents of the van (thanks to getting this to review I check out the debut and it too is epic - spoiler alert). The result is Carnival, an EP that feels less like a collection of songs and more like a disorienting trip through a deserted amusement park which is fitting, given the photography that adorns the sleeve.

It’s a record that understands the "shimmer" of shoegaze, but it’s anchored by a heavy, subterranean pulse that owes as much to Birmingham 1970 as it does to Reading 1991.

The experience begins with Carousel, a wordless, unsettling threshold of static and downcast strums that serves as a warning: the lights are on, but nobody is home. It’s the perfect primer for Hannibal, a track that contorts the band's anthemic power into something slithery and genuinely "evil." There’s a distinct 90s grunge friction here, a nod to the sludgy, druggy textures of Dirt-era Alice in Chains, layered over power riffs that feel properly physical. It’s a study in teenage angst and rejection, delivered with a weight that suggests the band has stopped trying to be polite.

The surrealism peaks with Méliès. Named after the French illusionist and cinematic pioneer, the track cuts between heavy, sludgy chords and a skyward chorus that feels like waking up from a nightmare only to realize the "real" world is just as abstract. Uriel Avila’s lines about making up realities to avoid the truth hit hard, backed by a production that allows the "dream state" to feel every bit as massive as the "scary" sections.

For those who like their fuzz with a side of tectonic movement, Funhouse is the EP’s heart. As self-proclaimed "Sleep-heads," the band drops the BPM to a doom-metal crawl, utilizing sparse guitar work and a call-and-response outro that feels like a tug-of-war between two fractured states of mind. It’s slow, it’s sticky, and it’s wonderful.

The disorienting lights of the carnival finally bloom on the closer, Clown. It’s a jolting, pummelling finale that features a knotty, synthy lead guitar squall. It’s a sonic tribute to the "tragic happiness" of Robin Williams, synthesizing the technical complexity of 90s cult favourites like Failure with the omnipresent wash of Loveless-style feedback.

What makes Carnival truly epic, however, is the "Black Sabbath heartbeat" sitting right underneath the shoegaze fuzz. It’s a record of five musicians absorbing their darkest subconscious corners and expanding them into something formidable. It’s moody, it’s cerebral, and it is a total masterstroke of disorienting, high-velocity gloom. 9/10

Bloodstock Metal To The Masses Interviews: Manumit - West Heat #3 The Bunkhouse, 01.03.26

Interview With Manumit - West Heat #3 The Bunkhouse, 01.03.26



1. Please introduce yourself for anyone who may not know you. Tell us a little bit more about you as a band. 

Hello. We're Manumit a metal electronic six piece with heavy guitars, bass, drums and two vocalists doing dynamic clean and screams. Based in and around the Bridgend area. We released a debut album way back in 2014 which had 4 singles feature on Scuzz TV, Metal Hammer among other platforms. After a long hiatus, we returned with a new EP called 'Reditus' in 2024 and have since been working on a follow up album.

2. What made you want to participate in the Metal To The Masses South Wales 2026 campaign? Have you had previous experience? Or is this your first time?

M2TM is a fantastic opportunity for bands of all types of genres to play great shows and grow their audiences. It's also a nice way to develop a network of friends in the music scene. It just so happens to have an amazing grand prize if your band is fortunate enough to go all of the way. Nearly every member of Manumit has taken part in M2TM previously in different bands.

3. M2TM is all about supporting your local scene. How important is the local scene to you as a band?

The local scene is integral to up and coming acts. If there wasn't an active music scene, then growing a fanbase for your music would be far more difficult. It's important to both the bands and fans of the scene to keep it active and thriving. Fans can do that by actively turning up to shows and buying bands merch.

4. We have a slightly different set up this year with Heats/Quarters/Semis taking place at Bunkhouse & Green Rooms. Have you played the venue before or is this your first time? Are you excited to get on those stages?

Both Bunkhouse and Green Rooms have great stages and great vibes. The venues both have great grassroots history and give opportunities to bands like ourselves to play. We will be gracing the Bunkhouse stage for this year's competition and we're more than excited to do that.

5. What are your expectations from being a part of M2TM? 

For us, it's just a great opportunity to play. Creating music in a studio is obviously amazing and integral to what we do. But, the real buzz is working together on stage and bringing that music to life. It also feels amazing to bring that music to new listening audiences which is what will happen through Metal 2 The Masses.

6. What would getting to our Day Of Wreckoning final and the possibility of playing Bloodstock Festival 2026 mean to you?

Getting to any final of any competition is amazing. And we'll be extremely fortunate if we do. If we don't, it's because there's a better band who deserved it on the night. The grand prize is a dream come true and any band that gets to do it will have the best time.

7. We encourage all the bands in M2TM to try and check out the other bands, who are you most looking forward to? Who should your fans also try to catch?

There's a whole wealth of amazing bands to check out every year. I'd recommend giving Scratch One Grub, Inscape, House Of Hosts, Risperidrone a listen!

8. Tell us in five words why people should come and see your band?

You will want to mosh

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Reviews: Ponte Del Diavolo, De L'Abime Naît L'Aube, Slaughterday, Bloodred (Spike)

Ponte Del Diavolo – De Venom Natura (Season Of Mist)

There is a specific, cold-blooded elegance to the way the Italian occult scene handles its darkness. It’s never just about the noise; it’s about the theatre, the grime, and the lingering scent of incense in a room that hasn't seen the sun in decades. 

Ponte Del Diavolo emerged from Turin with a tag they call "blackened post-punk," but their second full-length, De Venom Natura, proves that they are far more interested in the "blackened" side of the equation than most of their contemporaries. Following a relentless two-year stint on the road that saw them haunt stages from Roadburn to Inferno, this new record feels like a band finally realizing that their uncommon architecture, specifically that dual-bass setup is their greatest weapon.

The record opens with Every Tongue Has Its Thorns, and the intent is clear from the first vibration. It’s a six-minute immersion in tension, where Erba del Diavolo’s wave-tinged vocals act as a flickering candle in a very large, very dark room. The dual-bass assault of Khrura Abro and Kratom creates a low-end frequency that feels properly tectonic, allowing the guitars of Nerium to dart around like shadows. The addition of Sergio Bertani’s theremin and Andrea l'Abbate’s programming adds a layer of sci-fi dread to the gothic grime, making the whole thing feel like a transmission from a different, bleaker dimension.

The collaborative spirit of the record is where it truly finds its teeth. Spirit, Blood, Poison, Ferment! features a guest trombone spot from Francesco Bucci (Ottone Pesante) that provides a brassy, apocalyptic funeral march energy. It’s a masterclass in building a "flaming core" of sound without ever losing the rhythmic pulse provided by Segale Cornuta.

You can hear the growth in the songwriting on the Italian-language tracks Lunga Vita Alla Necrosi and Il Vleno Della Natura. There is a raw, dynamic pulse here that refuses to settle into a standard doom-crawl. Instead, it moves with the nervous energy of early 80s post-punk, but with the vocal delivery of someone who has spent far too much time reading the darker corners of the Necronomicon.

The centrepiece of the record is the sprawling, near-nine-minute Delta-9 (Δ9). It’s a monolithic bit of songwriting that features Vittorio Sabelli on bass clarinet, adding a woody, subterranean texture to the usual blackened churn. It’s dense, immersive, and allows the specific "venom" of the instruments to breathe without becoming a muddy mess. It’s interesting that the addition of instruments you don’t associate with this genre really takes it up a level.

Silence Walk With Me brings in Gionata Potenti (Omega/Nubivagant) for a bit of acoustic guitar and vocal support, offering a moment of fragile, atmospheric beauty before the record hits its final, surprising threshold. The closer is a cover of Bauhaus’s In The Flat Field, and it’s a stroke of genius. It’s the sound of the band acknowledging their lineage while simultaneously dragging Peter Murphy’s ghost through a black metal furnace. It’s aggressive, disrespectful in all the right ways, and a perfect final shrug toward the light.

Is it a comfortable listen? Not even slightly. De Venom Natura is a record that demands you inhabit its shadows. It’s delivered with a level of professional, blackened confidence that suggests Ponte Del Diavolo are no longer just a "cult" secret. They are the new architects of the Italian gloom. 9/10

De L'Abîme Naît L'Aube – Rituel: Initiation (Hypnotic Dirge Records)

This took a couple of listens to dial my thoughts into what’s actually happening here. There is a lot going on. So let’s get after it.

Most "atmospheric" bands treat the term as an excuse to hide a lack of ideas behind a wall of reverb. De L'Abîme Naît L'Aube (DANA), however, uses atmosphere as a physical medium. Emerging from the Valais region of Switzerland, this six-piece has spent the last few years refining a sound that they describe, quite accurately, as a "mystical initiation." Their debut full-length, Rituel: Initiation, is a 52-minute journey that blends an essence of folk, bits of tribal rituals and other levels of transcendental vocals with more aggressive margins of post-black metal.

The record is structured around five expansive movements, and it doesn't bother with a polite introduction. Une Pleine Absence clocks in at nearly twelve minutes, establishing a progressive blueprint of suspended calms and sudden, violent tempo shifts. The vocal interplay here is nothing short of extraordinary; you have the high-pitched, blackened screams of Sébastien Defabiani clashing against shamanic throat singing. 

While Fantine Schütz provides a folkloric, enchanting female counterpoint. It shouldn't work, it sounds like three different centuries fighting for space but under the direction of DANA, it feels like a cohesive, ancient dialect. The vocals for me were the parts that just made this album, this is like a blender of genres producing something greater than it’s parts.

The guitars of Dominique Blanc and Kilian Caddoux are heavily indebted to post-rock, layering airy textures and soaring leads that elevate the compositions out of the "abyss" promised in the band's name. On Un Sanctuaire De Cendres, the 13-minute centrepiece, the rhythm section maintains a minimalistic, hypnotic pulse that allows the "theatre" of the song to breathe. It’s here that the band’s signature gong punctuates the key moments, sealing the ritualistic aspect of the music with a metallic resonance that lingers long after the note has passed.

It’s a record that understands the value of silence just as much as it understands the power of the blast beat. 

Le Vertige D'une Descendance continues this trend of "long-form" storytelling, moving through a series of crescendos that feel genuinely earned rather than just mathematically calculated. After the brief, four-minute respite of Une Première Epiphanie, the record reaches its climax with Une Absolue Présence. It’s a final, 11-minute shrug toward the light, a track that manages to feel both transcendent and grounded. It successfully navigates the "Abyss to Dawn" transition of the band's name, leaving the listener in a state of captivated trance.

Is it a demanding listen? Hell Yes it is, I think I listened to this at least 4 times just to level set. Rituel: Initiation requires you to commit to its pace and its unconventional vocal palette (again the vocals are amazing). But for those willing to step into the circle, it offers one of the most unique and immersive experiences in modern post-metal. This isn't just a debut; it’s a fully formed vision from a band that clearly understands that the best music is often a ceremony. 9/10

Slaughterday – Dread Emperor (Testimony Records)

There is something deeply reassuring about the way Slaughterday approaches death metal. While the rest of the world is busy arguing over sub-genre prefixes and technical wizardry, this duo from Leer has spent sixteen years perfecting the art of the morbid, mid-paced chug. 

Dread Emperor, their sixth full-length, arrives with the kind of "death metal nobility" pedigree that you only get from veterans like Jens Finger (ex-Obscenity, Temple of Dread) and Bernd Reiners. It’s an album that understands that the real power of the genre doesn't come from speed alone, but from the friction between a crushing doom-crawl and an outbreak of total, unadulterated brutality.

The record opens with Enthroned, and immediately makes its presence felt. It’s thick, gritty, and possesses that "no triggers" honesty that acts as a healthy antidote to the over-polished state of modern deathcore. By the time the record moves into Obliteration Crusade and Rapture Of Rot, you realize that Slaughterday haven't just stuck to their Autopsy and Massacre-worshipping roots; they’ve refined them. There’s a melodic sensibility lurking beneath the filth, haunting choruses that stick in your brain long after the last blast beat has subsided.

Lyrically, the band has pivoted away from simple tentacle-horror tropes. While the Great Old Ones still haunt the periphery, these monsters have been repurposed as metaphorical ciphers for the hardening of modern society. It gives tracks like Astral Carnage and Subconscious Pandemonium a weight that goes beyond the typical gore-obsessed tropes. It’s "intellectual" death metal that still manages to sound like it was recorded in a damp cellar during a thunderstorm.

The title track, Dread Emperor, is the record’s tectonic heart. It’s a monolith of tension-building, where the guitar work switches between soaring, cosmic leads and the kind of bone-shaking riffs that anchor the entire Northwestern German scene. It’s a stark, effective reminder that you don't need a nineteen-minute concept piece to describe the end of the world, you just need the right frequency of fuzz.

The back half of the record, The Forsaken Ones, Necrocide, and the aptly titled Dethroned maintains a relentless momentum, refusing to offer a single moment of respite. The experience is then capped off with a cover of Protector’s Golem. It’s a brilliant final nod to their heritage, delivered with a level of aggression that proves the duo still has plenty of venom left in the tank.

Is it a revolutionary departure? No. It’s exactly what the fans want: perfectly executed old-school death metal with a wicked, cosmic twist. Dread Emperor is an essential document of survival for anyone who still values a beating death metal heart. 8/10

Bloodred – Colours Of Pain (Massacre Records)

There is a persistent, hardening shell forming around modern society, a shifting of truth until it becomes as malleable as clay, and it is exactly this friction that this album documents. 

Bloodred has always been a project defined by a singular vision, but Colours Of Pain feels like the moment that vision finally stopped looking at the genre’s horizon and started looking inward. Self-released and unapologetically nonconformist, this is a record that uses the vocabulary of blackened death metal to write a very personal, very uncomfortable letter about the state of the world in 2026.

The collaboration with Alexander Krull at Mastersound Studio remains the structural backbone here, but there is a noticeable grit to the guitars and bass, that prevents the production from becoming too "polite."

The record begins with Ashes, a track that serves as a smouldering preamble to the title track, Colours Of Pain. It’s here that you notice the return of Joris Nijenhuis on the drums; his precision provides a mechanical, almost industrial heartbeat that allows the riffs to sprawl. The title track isn't just a display of force; it’s a canvas for the lyrical themes of shifting boundaries and the "enemy-making" machine of modern discourse.

The centrepiece, Mindvirus, is where the record truly flexes its muscles. There’s a blistering solo that cuts through the thick, rhythmic churn like a lightning strike.

The band’s decision to move toward more personal lyrics pays dividends on Heretics and A New Dark Age. These aren't just fantasy tropes; they are reflections on a society that is accelerating toward an uncertain conclusion while its empathy hardens into something unrecognizable. The music matches this intensity, moving between high-velocity blackened thrash and the kind of mid-paced, crushing weight found on Death Machine.

By the time the record closes with Resist, the intent is clear. Bloodred hasn't just made a death metal album; they’ve made a document of defiance. It’s an honest, unvarnished look at the "flexible truths" of our era, delivered with a level of professional craft that justifies its place in the upper echelons of the independent scene. It’s a heavy, thoughtful, and ultimately necessary bit of noise for anyone who feels the same hardening of the world that they describe. 8/10

Reviews: Domhain, Michael Monroe, Rollerball, Avalanche (Matt Bladen & Rich Piva)

Domhain - In Perfect Stillness (These Hands Melt) [Matt Bladen]

Northern Ireland has some awesome bands in the extreme metal genre. Many thrilling mixtures of various genres all brought together with a distinct humanity and Celtic mysticism. Domhain are categorised as a post-atmospheric black metal band, a mouthful for sure but accurate as they create a potent concoction of blackgaze, post and atmospheric black metal that allows them to sail to musical shores that many black metal bands can't.

Consisting of players who all come from long tenured groups in their scene, they have been creating their own niche as a band for a few years now with an EP in 2023 that featured noted cellist and extreme metal collaborator of choice Jo Quail and a spilt EP with Ephemeral in 2024. What sets Domhain apart from so many of their peers is that sense of sorrow, odes to the natural world that ring true with Irish folk traditions including vocal harmonies and cello/strings.

It's music to lose yourself in and with their debut full length Domhain want you to do just that, let the music embrace you, Una Tarra Ci Hé opening the auspices with ghostly vocals and cello from drummer Anaïs Chareyre-Méjan before Talamh Lom breaks the stillness with tremolo picking from guitarists Nathan Irvine and Ashley Irwin, launching the album proper with blasts coming from Chareyre-Méjan as the bass of Andy Ennis guides the shifting rhythms.

It's a sprawling, intense style of black metal where cinematic soundscapes take the place of raging raw aggression, the opening of Footsteps II adding clean vocals and delicious harmonies from Andy and Anaïs, this one builds layers added every time the riff repeats, gothic overtones driven by guitars that balance melodic moments with distorted riffs, here the band are joined by John Wilson on piano and Raul Andueza on cello, to create a colossal mid-album epic.

You could make comparisons to the likes of Primordial and Darkest Era, as they certainly share musical and cultural identities, heck on the title track they even share members as Sarah Fielding provides ethereal vocals against the harshness of this doom-laden black metal track. The gargantuan sound of the record coming from Chris Fielding at Foel studios, culminating in the Opeth-like mastery of My Tomb Beneath The Tide, the multifaceted vocals really in effect to create fantastic harmonies in the introspective moments when the black metal flurries subside.

In Perfect Stillness is an incredibly polished, mature and emotionally powerful debut full length from Domhain, post, atmospheric, black, doom, call it whatever you want, it’s brilliant music from a band with a serious skillset. 9/10

Michael Monroe - Outerstellar (Silver Lining Music) [Rich Piva]

If the shit that went down in the 80s that destroyed Hanoi Rocks never happened they very well may have taken over the world. But it did, and here we are, with Michael Monroe pumping out another solid solo record of his fast-paced hard rock with touches of glam and punk that made Hanoi Rocks so special. The tracks on Outerstellar are enjoyable, but not all necessarily memorable.

The record sounds good, if maybe leaning towards a bit over produced, like a lot of the older rockers seem to be drawn to these days. His band is solid, with some guys he has played with for decades to the point you can hear how tight they are. The songs are good, but there are twelve tracks, which is a couple too many, but there are some keepers. 

My favourite is the ripper Precious, with Monroe doing his snottiest rock star thing that he does so well. This has Hanoi all over it, with the big chorus and glam but punk vibe. Dig the harmonica too. Black Cadillac is a fun song with some nice guitar work and Monroe’s voice sounding great. Others I dig include the up tempo opener, Rockin’ Horse, and the what could have been ballad Glitter & Dust.

If you dig Monroe’s solo work you will dig this. I would not start here, but Outerstellar is a solid effort. When he leans into his roots, he really still has it. But, please, after listening to this, go listen to anything by Hanoi Rocks you can get your hands on. 7/10

Rollerball - Submarine: Beneath The Desert Floor- Chapter 9 (Ripple Music) [Rich Piva]

I have said it before and I will say it again, Ripple Music, the best label in heavy underground rock, is doing us all a solid by re-releasing/repressing amazing, out of print records for us all to enjoy. 

One of the catalogues that Todd has picked up is from Australian stoner rockers Rollerball, an underappreciated band except by those who know. Let’s hope more and more people join that club, given Ripple gave us all the gift of their 1999 classic Lost In Space as Chapter 5 of the amazing Beneath The Desert Floor series. Now, with Chapter 9, more Rollerball goodness in the form of their 2009 album, Submarine.

Submarine is the band’s last album, and you can hear a maturity of the group from their debut EP Lost In Space that I mentioned above. Also, it’s amazing. The song Seasoar is so great. It is the perfect interception of classic rock and stoner rock, at times sounding like a stoner Doobies or Allmans. Just killer stuff. 

The violins on Your Lullaby are so great, bringing such an American Southern Rock vibe to all the other Rollerball goodness. This album is an end to end banger, like all the Rollerball stuff, but Run Aground into Tame Existence is probably my favourite part of the record, because it rips, should be a prototype for bands who want to play killer, memorable, stoner rock, and does QOTSA better than QOTSA. Amazing stuff.

I once again bow to the master of heavy rock, Todd Severin, for bringing us this lost classic on wax for the first time in a long time. Check out Submarine, all things Rollerball, and the other eight chapters of the amazing Beneath The Desert Floor series. 9/10

Avalanche - Armed to the Teeth (MGM) [Matt Bladen]

If you were one of the many that will be heading to Aussie rockers Airbourne on their up coming UK dates, then if you want a bit more rock n rolling, get in early to catch fellow Aussies Avalanche.

Formed by husband and wife duo Steven Campbell on vocals/bass, and Veronica ‘V’ Campbell on lead guitar. Joining Steven in the rocking rhythm section of these powerful pub rockers, are Bon Lowe on drums and rhythm guitarist Blake Poulton, So what do they sound like? Well AC/DC on Armed To The Teeth and Down For The Count, Rose Tattoo on Going For Broke and tourmates Airbourne too. I’d also throw out some names in the UK rock revivals of the 2000-2010’s with Tokyo Dragons, Black Spiders and others on The Hand That Feeds and On The Bags Again.

It’s shameless, it’s saucy and skilled, taking a lot of talent to sound this easy. With the full force drive of Campbell, Poulton and Lowe carrying tracks such as Ride Or Die, Steven can also deliver that sneering vocals while his wife channels Angus with leads and solos that will get you salivating. Armed To The Teeth is their debut record and it gives them a 12 song arena ready resume, a belly full of beer and blues, sweat drenched riff slinging and solos ready for your air guitar.

Recorded 90% live, with all the fire of a band ready to do battle with Airbourne every night, their amps are turned up to eleven, Avalanche are Armed To The Teeth on their debut album. Play at full volume for maximum effect. 8/10

A View From The Back Of The Room: MØL (Alex Swift)

MØL, TAYNE & Cold Night For Alligators, The Exchange, Bristol, 17.02.26

MØL only came on to my radar a few weeks ago – I have always characterised myself as someone who adores melodic black metal when it’s performed well! Without intending to start an argument over genre specifics, acts in the vein of Saor and Defheaven have crafted some of my favourite richly melodious and detailed black metal albums. However, I’ve never felt truly immersed in the scene. My tastes tend to skew towards alternative and progressive metal styles, only occasionally wandering into the more sonorous aspects. As such, I always appreciate acts who introduce me to new dimensions within the genre.

Opening tonight’s proceedings is Cold Night For Alligators (7) Their combination of complex instrumentation and soaring clean vocals allows them to speak to the side of our headliners fanbase who appreciate intricate melodies, and theatrical scale. Frontman Johan Jack Pedersen confesses to feeling unwell, and yet there are no signs of that in his performance, which is animated and impassioned. Admittedly, the songs and melodies have the tendency to blur into one, and there’s an argument that the attempts at dynamic contrast feel generic and lacking in any distinct identity. On its own terms however, this is an impressive opening set.

TAYNE (6) are intriguing, if not to my tastes. It would be cruel and describe them as “a worse Nine Inch Nails”, even if they are proudly influenced by industrial metal. Sharp electronic textures are contrasted against down tuned guitars. There’s a seething quality to these songs which sets them apart from the vivid creations of our opening and headline acts. The experimentation, and ability to combine divergent soundscapes is fascinating, even if I struggled to latch on to their style emotionally.

Translated from Danish, MØL (9) means ‘moth’. Performing a form of metal know as blackgaze, throughout their set, the band gracefully flit between the ambient, vibrant textures of shoegaze and the visceral extremes of black metal. It’s a combination which is immersive and leaves the audience in awe of the technical skill, and the multifaceted compositions. I mean that literally as well as figuratively – this is an audience who are there to observe and appreciate, perhaps setting them apart from a typical metal crowd.

That however does not prevent frontman Kim Song Sternkopf from selling the hell out of these songs through his performances. I’d be tempted to use the word cliché to describe his raised hands clutched into claws, and his wielding of the mic stand like a weapon, if not for how entertaining his stage presence proves! He even spends the penultimate song Jord in the crowd, further endearing him to the audience and allowing us to feel a closer emotional connection to the show as a whole!

MØL’s tight eleven song setlist spans songs from across their three albums, from the distinct black-metal stylings of their debut to the more expansive experimentations of Diorama, to the deeply melodic swerves of new album DREAMCRUSH. Each member performs with absolute precision, proving that the set has been rehearsed to within an inch of its existence. And yet, the set never feels sterile or self-indulgent, showing that these performers have learnt how to keep an audience enthralled and are committed to that art, in spite of their ever-evolving skill as musicians. 

“Thank you for choosing to spend your Tuesday with us, and not sitting at home” Sternkopf says at one point during a monologue about the value of human connection. In the case of songs this aggressively beautiful, experiencing them live adds a whole new dimension to both this genre and to live music as a whole!