Quest Fest 2026 Preview (Matt Bladen)

Quest Fest 2026 Preview

For the fifth time we don our armour, pick out our favourite accessories from out inventory and hopefully roll a Nat 20 to make sure we arrive at our Quest without too many side missions to throw us off our goal.

The biggest entry into the Quest Fest pantheon, so far, we will one again take to the arena of KK's Steelmill for a day of epic music, that features some of the UK's best and brightest acts from the often overlooked power/symphonic/prog genre, as well as some of the rarest appearances by veteran acts from Europe/RoTW.

This has always been the major attraction for me to pull myself out of my South Walian bog and travel Northwards. So often power metal bands from Europe have tours that consist of London, Glasgow and Manchester, so the chance to able to see them play somewhere a little closer to home has to be taken in my opinion especially if you're an unashamed fan of these genres.

In 2026 the Quest begins again, with a lot of acts I never thought I'd see on these shores, but as always the early day is filled with talent from the Isle Of Avalon.

In a change to last year there's actually a pre-show hosted by The Giffard Arms where Grimgotts, Vanitas and LN will get you in the mood for what's to come the next day. Friday eve is for quaffing ale and making merry, so this year you will have three brilliant acts to make sure that you are prepared for your epic day on Saturday.

Opening the Saturday are Crown Solace who are ill admit are a new name to me but on the back of their single The Martyr & The Flame and the snippets I've heard from the upcoming Northern Skies, Quest Fest will be opening with bang this year, so I suggest you get in early as they could steal 'band of the day'

To follow are Fortune Teller led by the amazing vocals of Theresa Smith, this is somewhat of prog/power/symphonic metal supergroup with veteran musicans that have served time in Metaprism, Reign Of Fury, Shattered Skies and Exists Immortal, prepare for soaring melodies and chunky riffs as you won't need tarot cards to see how good Fortune Teller are.

After this I suggest that any wimps and posers leave the hall, or stay no judgement here. However you should move over to the dungeon area to indulge in the acoustic rendutons from the official Bard who returns with tales and tunes from the legends of the genre.

There's also chances to show off your skillset with the day long Guitar Hero tournament, an area for Crafting and relaxing, Magic The Gathering tables and of course their own set of TTRPG's created for the festival by Fairy Forge.

If you do stay in the hall then get the wrist gauntlets ready for some epic heavy metal from Battle Born who return to Quest Fest and will be brining the macho, heavy metal silliness of bands like Manowar and DragonForce to the festival again, but inspired by The Elder Scrolls as they hammer home their synth driven heavy metal with all the Blood, Fire Magic & Steel they can muster!

From here we head outside of the UK into the International acts that are gracing KK's for this year's Quest and it's German power metal troupe Serious Black that begins out excursion from Avalon's shores. Formed initially as a power metal supergroup featuring members of Helloween and Blind Guardian.

Co-founder/bassist Mario Lochert now leads, a younger and more available line up to take this band on the road, UK prog metal fans may notice Nikola Mijić of Eden's Curse on vocals, and with a new album expected in January, this could be a chance to hear some unheard material along with tracks from their seven (!) previous albums.

Now in the world of power metal there are legends and then there's Masterplan, the first band formed by Roland Grapow after Helloween, he's still their axe slinger to this day, though the rest of the band has gone through changes, they are still held in high regard in power metal circles and don't often get to the UK so it's a bit of an honour to see them play.

With some previous setlists looking like they're drawing most of their set from those first two albums, expect plenty of classics from these veterans as these early evening shows become a tribute to the German power metal scene and really Roland Grapow's influence on it. Study hard power metal nerds there's plenty of lore to unlock here and plenty of epic music to get your fists pumping.

From the Teutonic to the Tunisian, though now based in France, this will be my first time seeing Myrath a band I've been following since their second album and have always wanted to see. Thankfully dreams come true at Quest Fest so they will be brining their Middle Eastern inspired melodic metal to The Midlands, in what may be a shift in sound but will still be as catchy as Freshers flu!

Having moved neared the melodic metal strains of Kamelot and Serenity, Myrath still feature their Middle Eastern elements but they are now fused with orchestrations and lots of synths to appease the modern metal audience, there will be visual and musical feasts from Myrath, with a taste of the North African culture through European power.

As the quest comes to a close, the decision was made to make it a party, a joyous celebration of this anthemic, often silly style of music where Norse Warriors, Pirates, Knights, Mages, Witches, Valkyries, Fairies and Fantasy Creatures come together and escape into a world of huge metal anthems, which is just what All For Metal provide!

A collaboration between German and Italian musicians the headliner incorporate Norse Mythology with songs about metal, and what is a power metal based festival without songs about metal? With a dual vocal assault and plenty of chest beating, macho silliness, All For Metal will be a triumphant way to finish this year's quest as the beverages will flow, the swords and hammers will be raised to the sky and we'll all thank the gods of metal!

What Amie and the team have built over the years is amazing and this year seems to have attracted a lot more attention from my brother's and sisters in the press corps, hopefully they like me will be swayed to embark on subsequent Quests. Whatever they decide, I know that I and by extension you will have brilliant time if you arrive in Wolverhampton this weekend!

Let your hair down, grab your broadsword and lets get Questing!

Reviews: Avulsed, Spiders, Triggertone, 30,00 Monkies (Will Bond, Matt Bladen, Jordan Griffiths & Mateusz Stefanow)

Avulsed - Nordic Embryogenesis (Xtreem Music) [Will Bond]

Spanish death metal merchants Avulsed have served up their new album Nordic Embryogenesis. A pummelling collection of eleven tracks stacked to the brim with punching riffs, deep gutturals and schizophrenic tempo changes. This is old school death metal for old school death metallers.

The opener, Expunging Mortalities (Funebre), has a slow pounding energy, peppered with blast beats, like a Lovecraftian monster awakening from an aeons long slumber. The first dive bombs appear on No Canonization (Carbonized), with breaks in the guitars revealing a beautiful bass tone. Which brings me to the production, it is raw but clear, not over produced but with enough finesse to let each instrument breathe. 

 The ride bell cuts through the high end like a scalpel, while the low end guitars are each giving their space in the mix. The vocals are punctuated with wide panning on longer growls which gives those moments even more depth.

Heroes In Godly Blaze (Adramelech) is a real headbanger with high register riffs and a brutal breakdown, the tempo stays constant, letting the drummer dictate the groove. Spawn Of Flesh (Macabre End) sounds like a monster emerging from the mud, then moves to an almost hardcore two step, this would definitely be the circle pit track. A synth led guitar solo erupts before the monster returns to the mire.

Recantetion Of The Forsaken (Abhoth) opens like a resurrected corpse lurching forward before gathering pace and going into a frenzied guitar solo with perfectly interspersed dual parts. Female Sabbath (Phlegethon) is a speeding flesh ripper, with a drum break that reveals the beauty of the drum production.

The final track Pestilential Mists (Abhorrence) has the feel of an album closer. It leaves more breathing room than the main body of the record, a funereal dirge as the album slopes off into a blackened sunset.

Nordic Embryogenesis feels well bookended by the opening and closing tracks, it is a well ordered record when listened to in full. The production feels alive, letting the rawness of the performances shine. It is death metal played to the limit, feeling like the wheels might come off, but always keeping the beast rolling. 8/10

Spiders - Crystal Eyes (Wild Kingdom) [Matt Bladen]

Swedish rock n rollers Spiders have been listening to a lot of Blondie records while writing Crystal Eyes, vocalist Ann-Sofie Hoyles has studied the phrasing and delivery of Ms Harry and brought a lot of it into their fourth studio record with tracks like the title track, Crystal Eyes. Continuing their sonic evolution, as the band called it their most "collaborative yet".

It's high energy rock with some punk grit, glammy new wave swagger and some garage sleaze that's also very reminiscent of their recent touring partners The Hellacopters even releasing a split with them, the garage punk rock style beating at the heart of what Spiders do as a band, riffs pulled from The Stones and The Stooges (Heart Of Stone), through influences of many of their fellow Swedes.

So Spiders languish in retroism, but are never consumed by it totally, Flying To High for instance could be off a Cheap Trick record while (Doomed To A) Life Of Misery brings balladry with duet that has some lush Phil Spector production values, while Playing With Fire is a guitar masterclass and Loser and A Little Too Late draws from Badfinger.

Spiders mature with their new album, coming from garage rock into a much more rounded sound on Crystal Eyes. 8/10

Triggertone - Bombs Away EP (Self Released) [Jordan Griffiths]

For those of you who are as new to Triggertone as I am, they are an alternative and heavy rock three-piece band from Belfast, and here we have their newest E.P., Bombs Away.

This 4 track EP comes in really strong with Pray, it has strong and meaningful vocals, and also sections of just pure instrumental. The guitar tone, instead of being overly technical, it’s deep, its heavy, it speaks to you and adds onto the underlying meaning of the overall track, the vocals, they’re atmospheric, they’re weathered, serious, and somewhat uneasy for the most part, they tell a story, and they set the stage for it really really well.

The second track, Room 1046, a deliberately mysterious title, and the track lives up to it, making you feel things such as isolation, confinement, and sometimes even claustrophobia, which really pulls you further into the story that this EP invites you into.

Now, we have The Fade, the longest track on the EP, and it comes at you a lot softer than the previous songs, building its atmosphere as we go forward. The vocals are also a massive part of this, getting increasingly more strained as the song progresses. It has an aura of sadness about this song, despite the gradual increase in heaviness, the underlying tone remains. They include a truly beautiful guitar solo towards the 4:05 mark, that brings this track to its climax beautifully.

Ending it off, we have the title track, Bombs Away, which combines the heavy riffs of the guitars and vocals, with the melodic side of the E.P. in a truly worthy ending track of what is already such a great E.P. The more you listen, and reflect on what they have produced here, the more you understand the passion and time that was put into this.

Overall, this E.P. serves as an excellent entry into the discography of Triggertone, and I for one will be adding them onto my musical rotation! 9/10

30,000 Monkies – Super Rebound (Fvn Kult Rekords) [Mateusz Stefanow]

Before I even started my first listen of this album, I had to sit and almost analyse the cover because it is oddly fascinating. Capturing both motion and stillness, a feeling of simultaneous vertigo of falling and elation of rising into the air; it’s curiously mundane yet liminal and difficult to pinpoint what is, for lack of a better term, off about it. This feeling is doubled down upon within the actual songs.

The Gums and Mountainesque 4 have quiet, repetitive segments which are discordant to the pounding sections that border them, ideally matching that curious cover art, the stationary repetition and gentle flow of these sections matches the shadow on the cover, whereas the more pulse-raising drumming and growling vocals are as that car- unsteady and unpredictable in the right way.

Prism Break then brings in groove metal influences, with more prominent basslines, and a dense sludge-like sound that gives the sensation of diving headfirst into liquid concrete, an abrasive drone that doesn’t overstay it’s welcome.

[Horns Wailing], [Siren Singing] are as they say on their respective tins, bringing to mind Negativland’s seminal classic Escape From Noise - initially unpredictable breaks from the previous tracks.

Unsound Hero may be the most experimental song on the album, with clean vocals over jaunty plucked strings invoking a feeling of warped nostalgia, descending into a sludgy mire of distortion, returning to the plucked strings we hear screaming and static crackling in and the sludge elements return once again- Unsound indeed.

By the time the album reaches [Bells Ringing, Tale Meeting] we are welcomed by gentle, you guessed it, bells ringing. Before long, the sound starts warping, the chimes are drowned out by the chunky distorted bass, screams and even louder riffs.

Initially I had very mixed feelings about this album, but my second listen I began to appreciate the Cronenbergian soundscape being laid out before me, and the seemingly jagged, disjointed sections didn’t seem so disjointed after all, so if you don’t like this on your first listen, please give it another try! 9/10

A View From The Back Of The Church: Devin Townsend (Simon Black)

Devin Townsend, The Gate Cardiff, 02.10.26



For a man who spends a lot of his increasingly rare free time attending gigs and having lived in the fair city of Cardiff for nearly twenty years now, this is actually the first time I’ve been to The Gate. For those who have not had the experience, it’s a deconsecrated church in the back streets of Roath, so perfect for a takeaway on the way home afterwards if I wasn’t an old fart who has to watch his calorie intake nowadays. 

As an increasingly arthritic old fart to boot, it’s also not the greatest of venues when it come to comfort. I don’t have an issue standing all night at gigs, but sitting on steely hard Victorian church pews that are clearly designed with no small amount of Presbyterian guilt and penitence in mind is no easy experience, and this is a long show.

That said, the evening flies by…

I am always aghast at quite how many albums the remarkably prolific Mr Townsend has actually created over the decades. 

All told 28 studio albums, 6 EP’s and ten live releases across his various projects (not to mention all the box sets, reissues and compilations needed to exit label contracts) is quite a formidable level of output crossing the genre boundaries every other album and probably only beaten by the late Prince, who had a 17 year head start before his death a decade ago (but may continue to surprise since no-one knows for sure how much unreleased material is still sitting there). 

The purpose of tonight’s performance is to take us on a whirlwind tour of as many of them as possible, linking the range and variety of his music with the deeply personal journey that culminated in the quite sublime The Moth.

I know I’ve barely scratched the surface of his material, having only really listened to his releases from this decade, but the small but dedicated audience here tonight all seem to be familiar with the gamut he runs this evening. 

He’s done these evenings before, and I was curious as to why an artist that can easily pack good sized halls and headline festivals around the world would want to stand there on his own for 2 hours, given the costs involved in going on tour nowadays to play (sold out) venues of less than 500 people for months on end. 

The answer is obvious after a couple of minutes – because he’s absolutely in his element, and his pained emotive delivery touches each and everyone here instantly, which is why the queue for merch during the interval is longer than the one for the loos…

What starts as a very low-key affair, becomes deeply emotional and personal from the get-go. It’s almost entirely an acoustic affair, and despite an array of six strings littering the stage, ninety per cent of the performance is delivered through one hard working acoustic guitar - even when he bashes out the power chords of the most angsty Strapping material. 

The same happens vocally, and although the expectation is that he will stay within the clean tenor range that he’s easily capable of scaling, we get plenty of screams and growls as well and whoever is on the mixing desk clearly knows their stuff in this acoustically unfriendly environment, as the vocal switches and twists he throws out are perfectly presented for the ear of the listener.

Then there’s the banter. If you know Devin Townsend, you will be well aware that as well as being one of the most talented musicians currently walking the boards, he’s also a remarkably quick wit and would put many a professional stand-up comedian to shame. 

Even when things go wrong technically, he manages to turn a five-minute hiatus courtesy of a laptop choosing precisely the wrong moment to present a blue screen of death into a segment that left everyone laughing so hard with him, that it really was just as well that it happened right before the interval. 

When the tech did finally creak into life, it gave us an epic one-man rendition of Lightworker – a track that would have been a challenge to deliver live with a full band on a conventional tour, but he manages it solo with that acoustic effortlessly.

Having gone back and relistened to his live release from a previous one-man tour back in 2019, it’s clear that this is a more confident and seamlessly fluid performance tonight. 

Dealing with pain and emotional discomfort on stage has oft been the artist’s way through, but to do so with such an intense and focussed theme rather than just running through the greatest hits takes guts, and we love him for it. 

I have no idea what comes next musically, and this musical coda to the deeply emotive and autobiographical The Moth does feel like the end of an era. Whatever it is, I suspect it’s going to be absolutely brilliant, because everything else we touched up across the three decades of his output have been.

Full marks simply doesn’t feel quite adequate.. 10/10

Reviews: A-tota-so, Hubris, Cinema Stereo, Forsaken Eternity (Matt Bladen, Mike Bailey, Keith Boswell & Myrto-Panagiota Zacharof)

A-tota-so - I Told You So (bUTTONpUSHER) [Matt Bladen]

The self confessed "silly little band" A-tota-soreturn with another record of genre busting, noise that's alt-rock but not as you know it.

From the fret scrape and jazz drum line of Death Rattle to the dreamy end of Raykens, I Told You So takes you on a sonic journey so full of turbulence that you'd think you were on a Ryanair flight. They released their last album in 2022 and have been ignighting stages across the country before and after that, channeling their stage ferocity into their recordings while never wanting to retread old ground.

With this album the collaborative guest vocalists if album two are gone and album three has a renewed confidence, a refocus of identity and sees guitarists Marty Toner become lead vocalist for the first time. His vocals are just as expressive as his guitar playing, shouting with angst on the jangly post rocker Form Of Mass, while drummer Jamie Cattermole and bassist Chris Marsh, lay down a left field, off-kilter rhythms, though Exit Wounds sees them in more regular patterns.

The record is a bit of downer lyrically dealing with anxiety, depression and grief but attempts to find some sort of solace, though this constant mental battle is so often showcased in these cuts, from the proggy start-stop of aggression of Masks, through the grooving GRLD where the influence of Tool is obvious, while No Tears No Sound, is driven by sense of paranoia.

I Told You So, feels like a reset for A-tota-so, the use of just one voice letting them hone into what they are as band, direct and noisy but also experimental and muted, often in the same bar, a great listening experience for those that appreciate music that's on a tangent of it's own. 8/10

Hubris - White Shores (Self Released) [Mike Bailey]

White Shores is the fifth album by Swiss post-rock band hubris. and is a notable departure in inspiration for this outfit. The previous four albums were inspired by Greek mythology, whereas for this album it was a little closer to home. In the wake of his grandfather’s passing, Jonathan Hohl began writing this album to navigate his grief and loss.

Into this, Hohl pulled inspiration from The Lord Of The Rings – themes of immortality versus mortality and how they were experienced by the different races of Middle-earth – and how there is so much more to that sadness in passing.

The album title White Shores refers to the place many beings return to at the end of their lives, but the song titles refer to an exchange between Gandalf and Pippin. It is an attempt to express the importance of death and loss as meaningful outside of the sadness it has caused – Death Is Just Another Path.

Each track feels self-contained, a meditation on a specific idea, and work through different stages of grief. Much like navigating grief, it is not a clean or precise process, but a process of unearthing themes, revisiting them and moving forward. The sound is organic, the layers of guitar, bass and drum (Matthieu Grillet, Lucien Leclerc and Nathan Gros, respectively) interact, swell and lift to bring the themes fully to life, as well as reflect how community helps process loss through collaboration and the space to process.

While the theme and inspiration behind White Shores is a departure, the music still evokes the ethereal, swelling and subsiding, deeply moving sound they are known for. 8/10

Cinema Stereo - 12:34 (Cargo UK Records) [Keith Boswell]

The Nashville based triumvirate that is Cinema Stereo release their first full length album 12:34 under the Cinema Stereo LLC label on the 2nd October 2026. It encompasses twelve tracks and delivers forty-three minutes worth of high energy, at times almost psychedelic, alternative rock that has its roots firmly embedded in the 60’s and 70’s.

Indeed, the influences of Rush, Led Zepplin and Queen are clear for all to see providing a spine onto which their own brand of musicality is added I have to say at this point that this is not an album I would readily listen to of my own volition and it has taken me at least four spins to really break through the unconscious bias that I sometimes uphold. But boy am I glad I persevered!

Tracks like Flood which is catchy and has a great groove to it immediately caught my attention, similarly Over The Edge has a fantastic intro, it is lively and foot tapping with a great delivery from guitarist Seb Borysek. Undoubtedly this will be a popular crown pleaser during their up-and-coming tour of the UK. The bands most recent single Expectations delivers some excellent melodic vocals from Ian Rayha along with some spacy type interludes harking back to the early days of prog rock but with modern twists throughout.

Rayha’s catchy vocals are once again to the fore in Ride To The Sun which attracted me instantly to this song along with the strong verse hook and prominent keyboards. Proxima is the final song on the album and is possibly my favourite. The beat in the song is very contagious and the guitar licks throughout are very welcomed.

Whilst there are tracks that I enjoy thoroughly on the album there are a small number of songs that don’t quite do it for me. That said I’m sure others will find them enjoyable. A further positive, to the bands credit, is that the tracks are all individual and are reflected in a change in beat, vocal or intensity.

Check this album outs it’s definitely worth your time! 7/10

Forsaken Eternity - Shades Of Existence EP (Rottweiler Records) [Myrto-Panagiota Zacharof]

Shades Of Existence will be of great appeal to fans of melodic/symphonic black metal! Powerful drums, imposing atmosphere due to vocals, guitar solos & keyboards all put into compact songs to keep the attention of the listener high, while also putting attention on the also interesting lyrics as well.

The opening song of the record, Adrift In A Twisted Ethereal brings forward the band’s stigma which is certainly the strong drums, howling vocals exchanging with haunting deep voices, highly melodic and intensive guitars, setting the mood just right for the next track. That next track is Whispers Of The Moon, which has quite an operatic feeling, combining the bands clear black metal attributes with atmospheric riffs & breaks of keyboards. 

From here we have Celestial Witch a song that clearly stands out from the rest, as it combines numerous approaches of what one can consider melodic atmospheric metal. Cleverly using the keyboards to give a notion of space & chaos, with sudden breaks of melody over the rampant drums and guitars. The vocals are really outstanding, joining the listener from the abyss as the album ends with Shades Of Existence, a marching outro song, closing the loop and demonstrating clearly the technical abilities but also the love for dramatic dark atmosphere through dark melody. 

Shades Of Existence is an album that features highly technical, long guitar pieces and at times clear almost sterile sound, With strong influences from the early days of Cradle of Filth , Dimmu Borgir , Gehenna & Children of Bottom (90s era). With the music here and the simple but powerful image of Red Death, can be seen as either dispersing or growing Forsaken Eternity are starting to find their own unique sound in the balck emtal world. 7/10

A View From The Back Of The Room: The Hu (Paul Hutchings)

The Hu / Skáld – The Prospect Building, Bristol, 01.10.26



The last fingers of summer are fading, and autumnal colours fill the trees. Time to brace for the intensity of the early winter tour calendar as gigs fall quicker than horse chestnuts. The first day of October and there’s an excitement in the air as a very healthy crowd gather at the cavernous warehouse in the heart of old industrial Bristol for the return of Mongolians The Hu.

Last seen on UK shores at Knebworth in a baking July for the Iron Maiden extravaganza at Knebworth, they’ve continued to increase their popularity with some I spoke to buying tickets for this show based on their support for Steve Harris and co. My last encounter with them was at the Great Hall in Cardiff almost four years ago. They’ve clearly increased their fan base as the equivalent Bristol show was at the O2 Academy. Tonight they’ve probably increased that number by close to 800-1000.

Before the Mongolians, French outfit Skáld (8) entertain the crowd. Despite being from the land of cheese and wine, their music is predominantly Nordic Folk, based on Norse mythology. They create a great image, with fur wrapped hamanic drums, whilst the band are striking in their imagery. Norsemen (and woman) is certainly the impression.

Great rhythmic structures are the basis of their songs, and they create a thunderous noise whithin the cavernous room, which is already three-quarters full. Heating up nicely, Skáld ease into an extended 40-minute set. They draw from a selection their discography including the very recently released Ørlǫg. The band are spaced across the stage, with ample room for their drums which form the central tenants of their songs. Mainly instrumental, the latter part of the set sees Marie Potosniak take the lead vocals although the use of several foreign languages means you tend to hum along rather than sing with them.

It’s not all banging away of the drums though, with bouzouki and fiddle prominent as well. There’s an intense power that Skáld bring. Very much in the Wardruna, Heilung and Faun camp, there’s a captivating style about the French outfit that makes this a very pleasant and carefully curated support slot. An impressive ovation is well earned.

I was unimpressed last time I saw The Hu (8). Tonight they change my mind; somewhat. They have benefited from many things. The light show is impressive. A big screen with imagery and bruising backlighting make it a challenge for the photographers in the pit but intensely rewarding for those located in the middle and back who benefit from a clearer sound as well as better visuals. It’s a bit of over stimulation at the front but those who have crammed to the barrier are here to roar and cheer as the band rage through a 15-song list that kicks off with Lost Soul, one of eight from latest album Hun.

The band are split into three sections; touring musicians on drums and percussion situated high at the rear, in front of who lurk two anonymous guitarists who hide in the shadows. It’s the front four who take all the attention. The founder four, Galbadrakh "Gala" Tsendbaatar, Nyamjantsan "Jaya" Galsanjamts, Enkhsaikhan "Enkush" Batjargal and Temuulen "Temka" Naranbaatar are slightly less static than last time, although they remain reasonable rooted to the spot for most of the evening.

What has changed most appears to my uneducated ear to be a reduction in the throat warbling and more actual vocals. Sure, there is still plenty of their unique delivery, but there appears to have been a subtle change. I may be wrong. These aren’t my go-to band but their live show has picked up. I think in part due to the visuals, such as on Shadow and Black Thunder, both of which sees intense excitement amongst the crowd.

It’s some of the older stuff that really gets the buzz going though; Yuve Yuve You and Wolf Totem at the end of the set get a huge reception. Inevitably it’s The Trooper that ends the set with the biggest cheer and the large audience leaves happy and slightly blinded. For me, it’s an improvement on last time, and whilst I am not desperate to get back and see them again, their efforts in crowd contact and thicker riff-edged songs are at least bridging the gap a little.

A View From Across The Pond: W.A.S.P & KK's Priest (Rich Piva)

W.A.S.P & KK’s Priest, Peabody Auditorium, Daytona Beach, FL, 23.09.26



I don’t get a ton of cool shows that are an hour or less of a drive away for me, so when WASP announced a “hits” tour in Daytona, with KK’s Priest no less, the 70 minute trek up 95 was going to happen. It’s not that I have ever loved W.A.S.P; they have always been a band I enjoyed, but nothing in their discography is ever going to be on my top lists, but the hits are the hits, and the band at this point has legend status, so yeah, I am going (thanks to the boss for making this happen).

I am way more of a Priest than W.A.S.P fan, normally Judas, but KK’s will work in this case just fine. K.K. Downing can still rip it up, as evident during the hour-long set, consisting of two thirds classic Priest and the rest some KK’s Priest (7) originals. The band was tight, I have never seen Ripper live and he sounded great, and of course, KK. 

Who is not going to love opening the set with You've Got Another Thing Comin'-Breaking The Law-Living After Midnight? I have not spent enough time with the original KK’s Priest stuff, but when you start that way, then go into the trio of Beyond The Realms Of Death-The Sentinel-Victim Of Changes what more could you ask for. This was a fun set and had the potential to overshadow the W.A.S.P set that I have heard whispers about. Fun times.

The W.A.S.P (7) show was way better than I expected. I heard things on past tours about lip syncing, backing tracks, political and religious rants, but this show was straight up “play the hits Blackie”, with only the Jesus-y song Golgotha as part of the encore that even hinted towards anything like that. The set was fun, and for a more casual fan you certainly heard all the ones you would want to. 

I have always loved their cover of The Real Me, and it was cool hearing live, as well as the biggies like Wild Child and I Wanna Be Somebody. The band sounded great, Blackie almost too great, but hey, what more can you ask for at this point. The stage show with the three screens worked as well as the usual Blackie set up. My favorite part of the set was the aforementioned The Real Me into The Headless Children, another track I have always loved.

Overall a fun and entertaining show. The venue is one I have not been to before, and the sound was a tad muffled, but I would certainly go back and check out other shows there, even if this old ass didn’t get home until after midnight. Livin’ after indeed. With the time and the trip to see these legendary performers for what may be the last time for me.

Reviews: Amon Amarth, Butcher Babies, Spirit Possession, Colossloth (Matt Bladen, Keith Boswell, Yasmin Mason & Rick Eaglestone)

Amon Amarth - The Allfather Awakens (Metal Blade Records) [Matt Bladen]

The Vikings Are Coming! Or that's what they would have you believe, but did they ever go away? For me Amon Amarth have been at or near the top echelon of the metal world for a long time, whether it's the massive Viking rows at their shows, the live battles on stage, they have become a must see live act, however many don't mention the music as much.

This is probably become Amon Amarth have found a niche and stuck with it, it's melodic death metal that often edges into power metal, with lyrics taken from Norse mythology. This often means that it can be catchy and folky but equally heavy and brutal, it means that Amon Amarth have become a gateway band for youngsters getting into heavy music.

Which is entirely admirable, however for me, they haven't done anything too different with their music since Twilight Of The Thunder God, so will The Allfather Awakens change that? Well if you just listen to We Rule The Waves, then absolutely not, chuggy riff made for rowing, a stage friendly bounce and easy shout along chorus, it's Amon Amarth 101, which isn't a bad thing but they've got a set full of tracks like this.

Thankfully they do try to make a couple of changes with Upphaf, their first ever acoustic track, translated stanza from poem Völuspá, it's a great but if breathing room that showcase a different side of the band and there's even some throwbacks to their earlier days as the riffs feel rougher and with a bit less shine to them, as if the death is coming back to the melo, or something on Die With A War Cry.

Thirteen albums under their belt, Amon Amarth are at a point where they don't really need to change anything, however with their acoustic track and some of the doomier sides on this album they still can experiment but with The Allfather Awakens, Amon Amarth stick to their undeniably successful Viking metal template. 7/10

Butcher Babies – Night Bloom (Judge & Jury Records) [Keith Boswell]

The new line up from the Butcher Babies is to due release their first album, Night Bloom, since Til The Worlds Blind was delivered in 2023. The ten track album, due for release on the 2nd October 2026, is delivered through the Judge And Jury Records label.

This nu metal band, has taken the opportunity through a reduction in personnel, to deliver a less hardcore edge to proceedings, indeed Heidi Shepherd can be seen as a light wisp of steam above a thick deluge of baseline soup below. The album vocals are often more delicate than previous endeavours although band collaboration still provides a variety of vocal emphasis throughout.

On first listen the album seems very devoid of a great deal of musical individuality when progressing from song to song. The melodies and rhythmic / lead guitar often get lost in the deluge of a pounding, unrelenting baseline. It must of course be mentioned, at this juncture, that the album has a good deal of intensity and attitude which is some way reduced from previous Babies offerings.

Further investigation identifies one or two songs that have individuality and even some chorus hooks to delight the listener. Songbird is one such contrasting track that provides a little respite and delivers some interesting futuristic undertones which reminds me of a science fiction film, very atmospheric and adds to the song’s quality.

A further song in a similar vein, in terms of individuality, is Black Clouds Over Georgia. The guitar playing, coupled with at the emotional lyrics at beginning of this song is a very much needed breath of fresh air, it’s very melodic in nature and I absolutely love it! 

However, this detour from the norm only lasts for 30 seconds at best. Although the lead guitar does make further in roads into the track later on, the song would be much better if more use was made of it, making a good song into an excellent one in my opinion.

For me, this album hasn’t really hit the spot, too much repetition, reliance on a deep baseline and not enough individuality between the tracks has left me somewhat disappointed. This album will appeal to die hard fans and but has left me wanting something different. 6/10

Spirit Possession - Cathedral Speech (Sepulchral Voice Records/Profound Lore Records) [Yasmin Mason]

Black metal meets thrash metal! Hailing from the US, Cathedral Speech is Spirit Possession's third release and my first introduction to the duo's work. Described by their record label 'as their most piercing, deranged, and narratively epic form yet' , I'm definitely intrigued.... but does ithe album live up to its description? Well yes.... I think it does.

Cathedral Speech, the title track, kicks off the 80s horror film vibe immediately. the drums and guitars building in intensity, giving way to a moment of calm, before the pace builds again. Backward Commandments provides a short respite with an instrumental interlude before we're off again. Halfway through Hanged Angels As Patternwalls and I feel like I've been sucked into a black metal vortex of frenetic riffs and demonic vocals, only to be spat back out by the abrupt ending of track 5.

Tracks Second Liturgy (...Impossible Exits...) and Trinity Possessor (...In Ten Thousand Hells) don't disappoint either, alternating between those fast, thrashy riffs and sections which are almost hypnotic in places. The whole album conjures up nightmare vibes. In the best way. At almost 44 minutes long, this is not a short album, yet I'm disappointed when it finishes.

I think it's safe to say that parts of this album would absolutely not be out of place on a 70s or 80s horror film soundtrack. This is an album to listen to in the dark. Turn it up loud, turn off the lights and see where your imagination takes you. It's raw, it's old school and it's great fun.! 8/10

Colossloth - The Transformation And Resolution Of All Opposites (Cold Spring Records) [Rick Eaglestone]

Colossloth has never been a project content to sit politely in any one corner of the industrial underground. For two decades now, Wooly Woolaston has been sculpting noise out of Leicester with the patience of a stonemason and the temperament of a demolition crew, building his tracks not from conventionally played instruments but from samples, loop stations, and a steadfast refusal to follow anybody else's rulebook. 

He has described Colossloth as a one-man experimental outfit with no rules to recording or playing music, and you can hear that philosophy in every grinding, hammering second. What began as long-form guitar drone has mutated over the years into something harsher and more rhythmic, a sound that lurches between suffocating heaviness and passages that seem to rise clean out of the murk, with tribal rhythms and flickers of rave energy wired into its circuitry.

The journey here has been a long and stubbornly independent one. The earliest Colossloth releases date back to 2006, with the first album arriving via Belgium's Doom Structure in 2008 and further outings on Doom Mantra and Dark Meadow before the project found its natural home at Cold Spring in 2015 with Outstretch Your Hand For The Impress Of Truth. Heathen Needles followed in 2017, Plague Alone in 2020, and then 2022's Promethean Meat shifted the dial by introducing sampled live drums for the first time. 

Last year's The Harmony Knife went somewhere altogether more uncomfortable, building an entire album around the writings of Ted Kaczynski. It is a catalogue that rewards the curious and punishes the complacent in equal measure, and it has earned Woolaston a place among the more distinctive voices on a label whose roster reads like a who is who of the esoteric fringe.

Which brings us to album number six for Cold Spring, arriving, fittingly, as the project marks its twentieth year. This time Woolaston turns his gaze to Theta Noir, the enigmatic collective (part art project, part cult, depending on who you ask) preparing the ground for MENA, a goddess born of code. In their telling, her coming is the point at which the boundary between flesh and machine dissolves for good. 

Having spent his last record in the company of a man who wanted to burn the machines down, Woolaston now sits among those who kneel before them, and the title's promise of opposites resolved feels less like a slogan and more like a mission statement. Cold Spring bills it as an "automaton chant of cybernetic worship," and that feels about right. Five tracks, just shy of forty minutes, no filler.

Encoded Divinity is the shortest thing here and wastes none of its five minutes on pleasantries. It works as a threshold rather than a statement, a signal crackling into life as though somebody has tuned a shortwave radio to a frequency that was never meant to be found.

Calculate Your Revolution tightens the screws, leaning on the rhythmic backbone that Promethean Meat opened and hammering it into something cold, repetitive, and relentless. It is here that the concept really takes hold, the loops taking on the quality of liturgy, the sense of a congregation marching in lockstep towards something none of them fully understand.

Awaiting MENA is the record's heart, a nine-minute vigil that trades momentum for anticipation. This is Colossloth at its most patient, letting textures pile up like static electricity before a storm, and it is the track that best captures the unsettling devotional quality at the centre of the concept.

Undertow Atlas is the longest piece at over ten minutes, and the title is an apt one: this is music that drags rather than drives, pulling you beneath the surface and holding you there long enough for the pressure to become part of the experience. 

Then Only Adrift closes proceedings with eight minutes that feel, at least by Colossloth standards, like a cautious exhale. If the album charts a journey from summoning to arrival, this is the aftermath, the moment the congregation looks up and wonders what exactly it has welcomed in. It is a smart place to end, offering no neat resolution despite the title, only the uneasy stillness of a world that has quietly shifted on its axis.

What impresses most about The Transformation And Resolution Of All Opposites is the discipline. Plenty of noise records mistake volume for vision, but Woolaston builds each piece with a clear sense of purpose, and the sequencing, from short opener to lengthy middle stretch and a closing drift, gives the album a genuine arc. 

That said, this is not an entry point for the uninitiated. The pieces are long and dense, and much of the conceptual weight rests on knowing the backstory; go in blind and some of the subtler narrative intent may pass you by. But for anybody already tuned in to the Cold Spring wavelength, the rewards are considerable, and headphones and darkness are very much recommended.

It also feels like a natural culmination of everything Colossloth has been building towards. The drone roots, the harsher electronics, the rhythmic heft introduced on recent records and the increasingly pointed conceptual framing all converge here into what might be the project's most cohesive statement yet. Twenty years in, there is no sense of an artist coasting, only one still asking awkward questions and following the answers wherever they lead.

The Transformation And Resolution Of All Opposites is abrasive, hypnotic and quietly unnerving, a record for an age in which the line between worship and code grows thinner by the day. Play it loud, preferably after dark, and try not to look too closely at the screen afterwards. 8/10

Reviews: Spider Kitten, The Crawling, Karmen Field, Deathcult (Matt Bladen & Mark Young)

Spider Kitten - God Don't Sleep (APF Records) [Matt Bladen]

You're always going to get something weird and heavy from South Wales psychedelic sci-fi doom monsters Spider Kitten and with their new album God Don't Sleep.

They again carry on the psychedelic journey they began on 2016's Ark Of Octofelis, though with this band you can never truly know what to expect as they have shifted through pretty much every genre imaginable, but over the last 10 years these Kittens have now managed to define themselves as a trio with their association to APF Records.

The unholy union of Chi Lameo (vocals/guitar), Chris West (drums) and Rob Davies (bass), God Don't Sleep doesn't carry the names of these players within it, as there's an entire lore around this record, which basically that this is the debut album of a rock group called The Spider Kitten from 1976, who had astronomical fame on the back of it. It's this attention of detail to the conceptual themes that draws you into Gods Don't Sleep and also links thematically to Ark Of Octofelis, but you'll have to check out their social media for all of the details.

The music? Well the music is the focus here, around all of the story that surrounds it this record, really you have to focus on the music from here and if you're going to listen one song from it then wrap your ears around the 20 minute title track described as "Pink Floyd discovering sludge", but the other four tracks here also wrap themselves around your earlobes and pull you into the Spider Kitten world.

Opening with the swirling, psych rock Best Guest Hotel, the fuzz and Sabbath worship crawling in on The Calver as Fast Queen brings the leather clad motorcycle punks and Losers & Fools sees the electronics and synths creeping in like in a John Carpenter soundtrack.

Studio release number 22 from Spider Kitten, keeps the heavy heavy and psych weird, it's a record full of disorientating, crushing grooves, from another multiverse. God Don't Sleep and seemingly neither do Spider Kitten. 9/10

The Crawling - What We Leave Behind (Grindscene Records) [Mark Young]

I reviewed The Crawling's live album back in January (bloody hell) and found it to be one of the most honest releases I'd heard in ages, especially for a live album. It promised a lot and delivered on it too, so going into this I knew that whatever emerged would be authentically them.

A Song To Nurse The Sickness starts us off with a thunderous bottom end and vocals to match from Andy Clarke. It fits straight into what you would expect from them; melody and melancholia in equal measure. The song straddles that death/doom chasm like a modern-day colossus, moving when it needs to, not because that's what everybody else does. It relies on those restrained moments to make the harder ones hit with more force, which they do. This is something they can do with ease, and it's an enviable talent to have.

The second and final track serves as an acoustic reset of Bound To The Negative (Requiem), which first appeared on All Of This For Nothing. Now this is interesting, because it takes that source material and strips it back to the bare metal, leaving it naked before you. I think in lesser hands, doing this would have seen it go down in flames, but it all goes back to the honesty that the band possesses. By shedding its skin they have uncovered a dark beauty within it, and it says all that it needs to say.

And that's that: two songs, two very different approaches, delivered in just 11 minutes. Both demonstrate that The Crawling remain adept at producing extreme music, but the real treasure here is Bound To The Negative. It's raw, vulnerable and sounds like a song that's had its armour stripped away. Fans already know what they're going to get from this band and, despite there being only two tracks on offer, nobody should be feeling short changed. 8/10

Karmen Field - All Demons Have Dreams/ADHD (Self Release) [Matt Bladen]

Grunge/alt/prog rockers Karmen Field manage to take five minutes away from their road dog status (they recently played this full album in Cardiff City Centre), to record their second album, alongside Tim Vincent of Woodcroft Audio who just has The Midas Touch when it comes to bringing out the best in bands.

Entitled All Demons Have Dreams, the acronym ADHD has multiple meanings in what the band do, as a carrying some personal weight that's explored through some of lyrics on this album. However it's also a more general statement about the band themselves who are musical chameleons, the band say it's "like a conversation with someone with ADHD, each song has a different energy"

That's couldn't be more obvious on the record as moment they're Alice In Chains/Stone Temple Pilots style grunge rocking (Speak Of The Devil), the next it's big stoner grooves (Cut The Chord), then some heavy blues and then it's more melodic heavy radio rock (Morgawr), all delivered with a message and some serious musical chops.

From the towering power of Joe behind the kit locking down the low end with Lewis, they can switch between frantic thrashing on Never Found and then psychedelic wanderings of Inhuman. ADHD is the sound of band pushing boundaries, experimenting with what they do for a band; for example the burning feminine rage on Dem Days, guitarist Will getting his rocks off with lots of soloing.

There's political protestations of Under Your Weight, the refrain of "Fuck The Nation" is going to be sung loudly on stages across the UK, Molly's vocals on this record are more daring, showcasing her experience and natural talent, more than on their debut, carrying the emotion and passion here with authority.

Karmen Field's second album All Demons Have Dreams, is a record that draws from varied inspiration of different genres and lyrics that surround flights of fantasy and personal struggles, it's a record that will see them taking their show to bigger audiences very soon. 8/10

Deathcult - Cult Of The Dog (Soulseller Records [Mark Young]

I love that the bio accompanying this release is short and sweet. It's the third instalment in a trilogy that began in 2007 with Cult Of The Dragon, continued with Cult Of The Goat in 2017 and now concludes with Cult Of The Dog. This time we're promised a return to their cruel Norwegian black metal roots, which makes a nice change from the usual claims of being the "most brutal" or "savage" thing ever committed to tape. 

I've no idea what 'Cruel Norway' actually represents, unless it's a Eurovision entry, but what I will say is that this is a cold, frigid release that leans heavily into everything I associate with the genre; insane rhythms, over-the-top vocalisations and those off-kilter melody lines that appear out of nowhere like a dust devil. There's plenty here that fans will recognise as traditional but dig a little deeper and you'll find a set of songs that seeks to rise well above those familiar tropes.

Dogs Of War starts proceedings off and basically sets that scene for the next 45 minutes that roll over you and blasts you with every conceivable black metal hit you can imagine, with Cynocephalus competing that 1-2 whilst dropping the temperature further. Both tracks are pulled together with one thing in mind; don’t let anyone think we have lost a step in the 20 years that have passed since part one in this trilogy. 

The production here is roughened up enough for it to be classed as abrasive without losing any power – the drums (step forth Thurzur) on Author Of Caedes is like an army marching through town and its great to hear metal that hasn’t fallen prey to being overproduced or too polished. I appreciate that some releases sound as though they have been recorded in a shoe box, and maybe that was intentional but this finds that balance between being able to hear what they are playing against accusation of being posers.

There is also a punk undercurrent running through it, they don’t set out to be complicated if its not needed. Eat Broken Glass leans in this direction for its slower parts, and to be fair once they pick that pace up its still relatively simple but above all its memorable, which is key for me. It’s something that is present right through – Striking arrangements played at the right speed at the right time. 

Hyperviolence sees the inclusion of more death growls (which I assume is by Skagg as there is no guests listed, happy to change if needed) which breaks this one up a treat. The tempo management on this one is spot on, its one of those tracks where you are aware that the BPM has dropped but there is still an impetus that drives it forward.

Closing with Imperium Satana, they sign off on a near-victorious rhythmic march before launching back into the upper gears that punctuate so much black metal. Yet again, the arrangements are spot on, introducing transitions at exactly the right moment and keeping the momentum high without becoming repetitive. It's a class set of songs, steeped in the traditions of classic Norwegian black metal while still retaining enough character to stand on its own merits. 

The timelines and labels surrounding the genre will always be open to debate, but if your tastes lean towards that classic Norwegian era, there's every chance Cult oOf The Dog will hit the mark. 7/10

Reviews: Europe, Coldrain, Moon Destroys, Rorcal (Matt Bladen, Jordan Griffiths, Rich Piva & Mateusz Stefanow)

Europe - Come This Madness (Silver Lining Music/Hell & Back) [Matt Bladen]

Come This Madness has been a long time coming, Swedish legends Europe last released a studio album in 2017, Walk The Earth came as part of latter period purple patch the started with 2009's Last Look At Eden. 

That record brought a resurgence in popularity for the band which has seen them reach the heady arena heights of the 80's.

Back then you couldn't listen to the radio without hearing their songs and while now you'll probably just hear these tracks on Planet Rock, Europe still have a very strong following and are more importantly they are still releasing some great music that has a lot less hairspray and pomp and a lot more bluesy hard rock that comes from Led Zeppelin, Whitesake and Deep Purple, here represented by the Title Track.

With album twelve it doesn't look like this is going to change, as One On One and The Cult Of Ignorance are both big rockers, drenched in the organs of Mic Michaeli, that blues base has become more melodic, as of the Europe of today are comfortable with merging their harder edge with the melodic rock beginnings, each track having big grooves from bassist John Levén and drummer Ian Haugland.

As the melodic side seems stronger on this record, showing off the always impressive vocals of Joey Tempest and killer guitar licks and solos from John Norum, while the album also showcases their legacy in the Swedish rock scene having Tobias Forge (Ghost) and Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth) on backing vocals for This Time Of Year and a couple of others.

Produced by Tom Dalgety at RMV Studios and mixed by veteran Mike Fraser, Come This Madness sees Europe return with new music after nearly a decade and brings another set of shining rock diamonds. 8/10

Coldrain - Optimise = Optdemise (Century Media Records) [Jordan Griffiths]

This review also encompasses the fact that this is my very first time experiencing Coldrain. This album, in my opinion, is such an expressive and explosive 12-track journey that completely encompasses you and holds you there, while at the same time, some of the tracks just straight up hit you in the face with their heavy instrumentals. 

The album itself, serves as a showcase of the sheer range that Coldrain possesses, not only as a band, but as the individuals that create the sound that builds the band itself.

There are songs that pull you out of it, and soothe you, but there are the ones that PUNCH you straight in the face! They are heavy, loud and unapologetic. 

Digitoll introduces you to this, while Free Fall delves further into the heavy nature of the album itself, and G.I.A.I.G absolutely RIPS into you. These tracks not only get your head going, but give you the surge of energy required to jump straight into the mosh pit.

Alongside the heavy tracks within the Optimise = Optdemise album, there’s also a number of slower, more heavy-rock-leaning tracks, such as Incomplete, which ends in a beautiful solo guitar riff, really complimenting the vibe of the entire track. 

Then there is Sing, coming in as the tenth track in the album, and it has a much more softer, more mellow vibe than the rest of the album, and really pulls you out of the headbanging, and in a sense helps you reflect on what you’ve already experienced.

While preparing you for the album finisher, being Saviour, Feat. Kenta Koie of Cross Faith, which hits you once again, for a final blow of heaviness, and it finishes this album off extremely well.

I personally feel that Poison and Picture Perfect Hell, while still being excellent additions into this already amazing album from Coldrain, leaves a little to be desired in comparison to the rest of the selection that you have been given. 

However, as someone who is brand new to the world of Coldrain, I found myself thoroughly enjoying this album across the 5-6 listens of this album, and will definitely be adding it into my rotation. 8/10

Moon Destroys - OMNI (Blues Funeral Recordings) [Rich Piva]

The first Moon Destroys record was pretty cool. It seemed to be missing just a little something, but how can you go wrong with anything that former Torche guitarist Juan Montoya is involved in? 

Well, the band certainly found what was missing, and so much more, with Zach Amster from the amazing Denver band Abrams, joining as lead singer and on rhythm guitar, with the results being the gigantic second record from the band, OMNI.

Amster has this next level energy in his singing and playing that has taken this band to the next level. That paired with Montoya’s signature sound and some pretty great songs, OMNI is a huge step up for the band. Some of these songs just rip it up, like the opener, Invasion, and the killer Motion Sickness. 

When the band slows it down a bit the real genius comes out. Kingdom, which you have no choice but to get serious Torche vibes from, is so great, with the chugging guitar and harmonized vocals, putting on full display some of what Amster brings to the table. The guitar effects add so much to the song as well. Killer stuff.

Sowing Stars is like a fuzzy Husker Du song, showing the band’s and Zach’s ability to make a perfect two minute fuzz punk track. But don’t worry, OMNI can be chunky too, like the riff on Missing Wish, which has some AIC grungy stuff and maybe a nod to Local H’s early stuff. Speaking of fuzzy, the riff on Nocturne shakes the room, while the spacy Lost Hearts shows how the band brings atmosphere into OMNI.

The closer gets me every time. It is not often that a cover is what seals the deal for me, but the band’s version of the early sixties song She Cried, inspired by the Birthday Party’s Rowland S. Howard’s version makes me want to cry every single time. 

This is one of the saddest songs I have heard in a while, with Zach's emotion pouring out over the drums and Montoya’s fuzzy tone, this is one of my closers of the year. Love it.

So sometimes a band is missing one thing, sometimes it is big, sometimes it is just a tweak. For Moon Destroys, bringing Zach into the fold and right up front has made all the difference. I love this record, and you will too. Go get OMNI. 

Oh, and also subscribe to the Blues Funeral PostWax series and you will have this amazing record in super cool limited vinyl to blast it throughout your neighborhood. 9/10

Rorcal - Mahre (Humus Records) [Mateusz Stefanow]

Watches, chocolate and banks are not the only notable exports from Switzerland, as Rorcal’s newest release MAHRE proves. Abandoning their former hardcore and drone influences in favour of crushing sludge and a descent into madness and deepening oppression under the weight of dread and darkness with each successive Movement.

Movement 1 has the longest run time at 12:46 minutes, making up just over a quarter of the total album time; this track remains fresh throughout, starting as a melodic track before introducing cavernous screams and growls in the latter 3rd. The guitarwork is grinding and abrasive, like a buzzsaw straight to the skull; the drumming is rhythmic and conjures mental images of heavy boot falls.

Falling deeper into Movement 2, the blackened blast beats are here to stay, and starts with soaring sweeps bringing an evangelical vibe, painting a far grander image; though this is fleeting as we are whisked into further depths.

Sludgy riffs are the name of Movement 3, as the desperation mounts; alternating between crushing fast paced sections, dropping the pace to a crawl, then speeding up again gives this movement that desperation that this album embodies so well.

Movement 4 is the beginning of the end, as all hell breaks loose, placing greater emphasis on the dissonance and breaking down the rhythms to double down on that crushing darkness.

Greater discordance, more broken percussive rhythms and sections of silence, broken by blood-curdling screams and growls crown the peak of MAHRE in Movement 5; the final stone to shatter us, and leave our remains scattered in the oppressive, uncaring darkness.

Overall, this album is a grim journey into a malicious, pounding void, held together by the almost charcoal-like cover art, preparing you for what is to come; don’t sleep on this album. 6/10

A View From The Back Of The Room: Ofnus, Domhain & Adfeilion (Matt Bladen)

Ofnus, Domhain & Adfeilion, The Bunkhouse, Swansea, 26.09.26



The third and final date of trio shows featuring Domhain and Adfeilion, it was the Swansea show that tickled my fancy the most as it also featured Ofnus as the headliner for the evening.

Three bands that dwell in the atmospheric realms of the metal genre, merging extremity with ambience perfectly it was poised to be a brilliant night of music so with the Geophony, playing it was Swansea/West Wales locals Adfeilion who started the evening with their theatrical sound, which now features flute and vocalisations on top of their already dense soundscapes.

We were told by the band that they would performing this particular story for the final time, so their fans gathered close to hear it's recital between the explosions of hybrid electronic post folk metal, it's a heady mix that drives through Rock, EDM, Metal and more, the spoken word passages taking you away to fantasy worlds inspired by Welsh folklore.

For those of us who have been there since the beginning of this saga, I've noticed that Matt (keys/spoken word) seems to become more mad with power with every show, as if the band is the conduit for his ascent to poetic super villainy. In fact the sonic expansion of the band has been an absolute joy to watch, each set adding something new, be it the flute, the vocals, the heavy industrial and even the dance moves!

What comes next I don't know but the next story is to be revealed soon and it will once again write the next chapter of Adfeilion.

Next it's a multi-guitar, dual-vocal driven metal mix from across the water in Northern Ireland as Domhain take to The Bunkhouse stage and fill the room with emotive sound immediately, drawing from their recent debut full length album In Perfect Stillness and it's EP predecessor Nimue, they cut an exceptional figure on stage, delivering some epic music.

For these recent shows Domhain has expanded their line up with Daniel Dempster and Kacper Lewandowski, joining Nathan Irvine to create a triple guitar attack that allows them to replicate their expansive blackgaze on stage the way it is on the record, the rhythm section of Andy Ennis (bass) and Anaïs Chareyre-Méjan (drums) guiding these sprawling songs through their genre fusing as they both provide the conflicting clean/harsh vocals that work in brilliant harmony, almost giving an idea of angle and demon.

I'd wanted to see Domhain since the release of their album and I was not disappointed in Swansea, the always top notch sound of the venue allowing them to deliver their complex style with ease. I hope it's not too long before they come back over the water again.

Speaking of complex, like Domhain, Cardiff's bringers of sad Ofnus also love to play epic song, it allows their atmospheric metal to explore all possible permutations of extreme metal backed by multi-layered string sections for added emotional power. After their last two shows featured Adfeilion's Ben deputising on guitar, Ofnus now had rhythm guitarist Alyn back in the fold.

I'm sure by the second song in their set he was alwaredy regretting the head down, legs wide stance as a new dad but black metal needs that posturing in order for the tremolos to be let loose. Besides Ofnus are such a tight unit that you wouldn't notice any issues unless you'd seen them countless times, and even then I'm not looking, as they shifted the set list around a little from Bristol Extreme Fest, but Ofnus never give a bad show in my opinion.

I've said it before but with Brendan on vocals they seem more savage, their older material having new life breathed into it on stage, matching the intensity it has on record, however the new songs The Last Flight Of Birds and Beddgelert, still sound better each time, as I find more nuance brought by guitarist James and bassist Rich, as you also stand awestruck by Ethan's drumming, which of course always blows the mind during Zenith Dolour.

A trio of the UK's best atmospheric acts all in one place, I definitely chose the right date on this tour, all three need to be seen, so next time they're in your town make the effort to watch them. 10/10