Finland’s symphonic black metal innovators are back with a theatrical odyssey that channels the spirit of 90’s in the form of The Regeneration Itinerary. Coming in with immediate alchemical vibes is the diverse yet thunderous Inertiae, the midway trance elements are really well placed and certainly amplify the heavier tones which spill over into Fornyeise I Tre Akter with a frenzied precision that really leans into some nostalgic elements that have been at the forefront over the bands three-decade career. Chromium Lungs, Bronze Optics continues the charge with dominant drum patterns and sweeping atmospherics whereas The Form And The Formless seems to very comfortable switching between genres and by the time Prophetical Mercury Implement has concluded it’s impossible to deny that …And Oceans have crafted something that will land highly in their discography.
“This is our most experimental album since our comeback,” states Kontio. “It might be considered a continuation of the music we made in the 90s, but the sound has ripened and developed as our individual tastes have broadened, our inspirations subconsciously feeding into the band’s sound, necessitating change. From the very start, this band has encouraged progression and growth.” There is certainly a sense of grandiose throughout The Fire In Which We Burn which as far as production value goes is sublime, swinging back to mid to late nineties experimentation on The Ways Of Sulphur and weaving into I Am Coin, I Am Two effortlessly. The visceral nature of the album’s crowning glory – Towards The Absence Of Light really underpins how solid this album is.
Complimented with throwbacks to such bands like Hecate Enthroned on The Terminal Filter and concluding with the duo of the relentless Copper Blood, Titanium Scars and one final genre splicing soundscape on The Discord Static make the whole listening experience seamless. A blistering return to form. 8/10
Full Of Hell - Broken Sword Rotten Shield (Closed Casket Activities) [Mark Young]
In today’s episode of ‘Apologies, it’s late’ (that’s episode 13 for those keeping score) we say hello to the latest addition to Full Of Hell’s ever-growing list of releases. Broken Sword, Rotten Shield is their latest EP and is a quick 15-minute rascal that has just enough to dig into your skin before it leaves.
It’s a breathless opener with Broken Sword, Rotten Shield showing their grind credentials from the off, drums blasting and vocals from Dylan Walker spat like bullets from a gun. It’s constant, propulsive and is the sort of attention grabber you need from your opening track. We then veer into what I can only describe as Elvis-grind with From Dog’s Mouth, A Blessing. That is probably a stretch on my part, its part Elvis, part Scream in terms of its vocal delivery and sounds like it was recorded in a cave. I’m not sure how I feel about it, but if you look at it from the perspective that it doesn’t repeat the same trick as Broken Sword it works with Corpselight furthering that vibe by going down an Electro-90’s-Game sound and in the space of three songs they have turned the EP on its head. Corpselight isn’t just a thrown together piece, it has an intent and is unsettling to say the least.
Lament Of All Things, with its drone/bend intro riffs is another facet to the EP. It has that lurching, stop/start progression that doesn’t go for speed but uses guitar lines that wrap around themselves which give that impression of forward movement. As with Corpselight, Mirrorhelm brings an 80’s horror film vibe to proceedings and is brief, whilst Knights Oath has a (almost afraid to say it) lightened touch to it, with a lack of ‘heavy’ riffs, its more akin to punk/new wave but with death metal vocals running over the top. It’s ok, but I would have loved more in the style of Broken Sword but what do I know?
To Ruin and The World’s Ending is the end of the road. Starting off in an expansive manner, like their version of a doom song and what’s more it’s a pearler in achieving that particular vibe. What it shows is a band that is practically fearless in doing what they think is the right thing to do when it comes to their music. Does it all work? Well to an extent yes. When you look at the EP it’s a self-contained story that uses different tools to get from A-B. If you go into this expecting it to be full speed ahead from start to finish then you could be disappointed. If you come at it with more of an open mind then it works better and should work nicely as an intro to the band itself. 7/10
Turtle Skull - Being Here (Art As Carthasis/Copper Feast Records) [Rich Piva]
The Australian band Turtle Skull is back with a new line up and new record, Being Here, and it is a poppy psych trip with so much beautiful stuff going on within its eight wonderful songs. I am such a sucker for anything that leans on 60s psych and this record sure does, but it is not just a retro trip, as Turtle Skull brings all sorts of amazing bits to what is one of the best psych leaning records of 2025.
In the promo material for the record, it states Being Here is…” A heavy, heady blend of melody and atmosphere.” I can not come up with anything better than that to describe this record. New member Ally Gradon brings synths to the Turtle Skull crew, and boy does it make a difference. You can hear the difference she makes with her synths and her vocals on the opening title track. There are nods to the Velvet Underground and MBV on this one, and it is a beautiful and floating pop psych gem. I absolutely love the garage-y psych trippiness and harmonized vocals on the fuzzy 60s inspired Apathy.
Full Of Hell - Broken Sword Rotten Shield (Closed Casket Activities) [Mark Young]
In today’s episode of ‘Apologies, it’s late’ (that’s episode 13 for those keeping score) we say hello to the latest addition to Full Of Hell’s ever-growing list of releases. Broken Sword, Rotten Shield is their latest EP and is a quick 15-minute rascal that has just enough to dig into your skin before it leaves.
It’s a breathless opener with Broken Sword, Rotten Shield showing their grind credentials from the off, drums blasting and vocals from Dylan Walker spat like bullets from a gun. It’s constant, propulsive and is the sort of attention grabber you need from your opening track. We then veer into what I can only describe as Elvis-grind with From Dog’s Mouth, A Blessing. That is probably a stretch on my part, its part Elvis, part Scream in terms of its vocal delivery and sounds like it was recorded in a cave. I’m not sure how I feel about it, but if you look at it from the perspective that it doesn’t repeat the same trick as Broken Sword it works with Corpselight furthering that vibe by going down an Electro-90’s-Game sound and in the space of three songs they have turned the EP on its head. Corpselight isn’t just a thrown together piece, it has an intent and is unsettling to say the least.
Lament Of All Things, with its drone/bend intro riffs is another facet to the EP. It has that lurching, stop/start progression that doesn’t go for speed but uses guitar lines that wrap around themselves which give that impression of forward movement. As with Corpselight, Mirrorhelm brings an 80’s horror film vibe to proceedings and is brief, whilst Knights Oath has a (almost afraid to say it) lightened touch to it, with a lack of ‘heavy’ riffs, its more akin to punk/new wave but with death metal vocals running over the top. It’s ok, but I would have loved more in the style of Broken Sword but what do I know?
To Ruin and The World’s Ending is the end of the road. Starting off in an expansive manner, like their version of a doom song and what’s more it’s a pearler in achieving that particular vibe. What it shows is a band that is practically fearless in doing what they think is the right thing to do when it comes to their music. Does it all work? Well to an extent yes. When you look at the EP it’s a self-contained story that uses different tools to get from A-B. If you go into this expecting it to be full speed ahead from start to finish then you could be disappointed. If you come at it with more of an open mind then it works better and should work nicely as an intro to the band itself. 7/10
Turtle Skull - Being Here (Art As Carthasis/Copper Feast Records) [Rich Piva]
The Australian band Turtle Skull is back with a new line up and new record, Being Here, and it is a poppy psych trip with so much beautiful stuff going on within its eight wonderful songs. I am such a sucker for anything that leans on 60s psych and this record sure does, but it is not just a retro trip, as Turtle Skull brings all sorts of amazing bits to what is one of the best psych leaning records of 2025.
In the promo material for the record, it states Being Here is…” A heavy, heady blend of melody and atmosphere.” I can not come up with anything better than that to describe this record. New member Ally Gradon brings synths to the Turtle Skull crew, and boy does it make a difference. You can hear the difference she makes with her synths and her vocals on the opening title track. There are nods to the Velvet Underground and MBV on this one, and it is a beautiful and floating pop psych gem. I absolutely love the garage-y psych trippiness and harmonized vocals on the fuzzy 60s inspired Apathy.
You get even more poppy goodness with beautiful harmonies on Into The Sun as well as some great guitar work. I get more VU vibes with the buzzy Bourgeoisie while we get super fuzzy psych goodness with It Starts With Me. Heavy As Hell could be an excellent Flaming Lips song, and there is no bigger complement in this genre. Every great poppy psych record has a nice slow burner, and that is where Modern Mess comes in, bringing more of those beautiful harmonies. The closer, Moon & Tide, is more like an experience than a song; this is what I want my psych records to sound like in 2025.
Being Here surprised me. I was not expecting to hear one of the best 60s inspired pop psych records I have heard in a long time, but that is what Turtle Skull brings here, and boy am I happy about it. 9/10
Lycanthro - Remnants Of Rapture (Psychomanteum Records) [Matt Bladen]
Canadian heavy metal band Lycanthro follow up their debut in 2021 with second album Remnants Of Rapture, having seen the band at Power Metal Quest Fest I was impressed by the power/thrash/trad metal of this Ottawa foursome so it was with interest that I picked up their second album.
This second record features some guest performances from Laura Guldemond (Burning Witches) and Stu Block (Into Eternity, ex-Iced Earth) so it seems Lycanthro are making waves with the rest of the metal world and don't be fooled into thinking they are a band who just rely on riffs, they have orchestrations, acoustic elements and choirs too, all on display on Iris, a muscular beginning to the record where Lycanthro showcases their metallic howl.
They are inspired by bands such as Savatage and W.A.S.P, but they put both of these bands into the power metal style of DragonForce and Stratovarius, especially when they use the keyboards, like they do on the first song and on the Pirate themed Cry Silver. The speed metal fuel of Blind Guardian's early years coming on Far Beyond The Walls, and while James Delbridge is not Hansi Kursch he has a melodic vocal filled with power and variation, the ballad Prison Eyes, making use of his full range of emotion.
His singing is made even more impressive by the fact he duels throughout with co-guitarist Andrew Stout, see The Great Masquerade, the engine room of Kyle Summers (drums) and Everett Mayhew (bass) pumping the gas on the thrashy In Demon Light or Night Of The Parasite. North American power metal muscle meets European power metal melody, Lycanthro's second album serves both well, great heavy metal from the Great White North. 8/10
Being Here surprised me. I was not expecting to hear one of the best 60s inspired pop psych records I have heard in a long time, but that is what Turtle Skull brings here, and boy am I happy about it. 9/10
Lycanthro - Remnants Of Rapture (Psychomanteum Records) [Matt Bladen]
Canadian heavy metal band Lycanthro follow up their debut in 2021 with second album Remnants Of Rapture, having seen the band at Power Metal Quest Fest I was impressed by the power/thrash/trad metal of this Ottawa foursome so it was with interest that I picked up their second album.
This second record features some guest performances from Laura Guldemond (Burning Witches) and Stu Block (Into Eternity, ex-Iced Earth) so it seems Lycanthro are making waves with the rest of the metal world and don't be fooled into thinking they are a band who just rely on riffs, they have orchestrations, acoustic elements and choirs too, all on display on Iris, a muscular beginning to the record where Lycanthro showcases their metallic howl.
They are inspired by bands such as Savatage and W.A.S.P, but they put both of these bands into the power metal style of DragonForce and Stratovarius, especially when they use the keyboards, like they do on the first song and on the Pirate themed Cry Silver. The speed metal fuel of Blind Guardian's early years coming on Far Beyond The Walls, and while James Delbridge is not Hansi Kursch he has a melodic vocal filled with power and variation, the ballad Prison Eyes, making use of his full range of emotion.
His singing is made even more impressive by the fact he duels throughout with co-guitarist Andrew Stout, see The Great Masquerade, the engine room of Kyle Summers (drums) and Everett Mayhew (bass) pumping the gas on the thrashy In Demon Light or Night Of The Parasite. North American power metal muscle meets European power metal melody, Lycanthro's second album serves both well, great heavy metal from the Great White North. 8/10
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