Hailing from my native Belfast, Nomadic Rituals play sludgy doom so dark and dense it sounds like it has been buried deep in a peat bog a hundred or so miles south of the city and then dragged, slowly and inexorably, to the surface by a team of unsuspecting musical …
Read More »Kill For Eden – ‘Living On Mars’ EP
Having released their excellent debut album in May – and despite vocalist Lyla D’Souza expecting her first child around the time of release – London quintet Kill For Eden aren’t hanging around with this hard-hitting triptych of an EP. The three songs are fiery and intense, filled with true rock …
Read More »War Iron – Of Prophecy And Alchemy
True underground black metal bands used to pride themselves on a few things: sparse instrumentation, evil vocals, and what used to be termed “basement production”. True to form, but from 2013, we’re introduced to War Iron, a band from Ireland. Their EP, Of Prophecy And Alchemy, plods along in a …
Read More »Superfecta – The EP
London’s Superfecta, formed in 2011, have released their debut EP, a four-song effort titled simply The EP. Drawing influence or ‘mojo’ from bands such as Soundgarden, Alter Bridge, Stone Temple Pilots, or Alice In Chains, the modern rock or nu-grunge band focuses each song on a different classic hook of …
Read More »Bastions – ‘Bedfellows Part One: The Bastard Son’ EP
Bastions are a four-piece band who play unmerciless, in-your-face, hardcore which pulls very few punches and has even less pretensions in its ambition – which is to drive a hole straight through your chest, up through your neck (with the objective of getting this particular part of your anatomy snapping …
Read More »Waves Like Walls – ‘Brain As A Weapon’
What is it with fucking metalcore bands and references to water in their name? It seems to be that one band picks a theme and every other mutha on the scene tries to come up with the least imaginative variation thereupon… While this German five piece may wish their name …
Read More »Kashis – ‘I Welcome You’
Northern Ireland’s Kashis originally planned to call this EP ‘The Monarchy Is Set To Kill’. Now the lead off track, the former titular it is a pleasant blend of post-grunge, stoner and nu-metal which sets up the rest of the release nicely. ‘We Are The Blend’ has some beautiful, poppy …
Read More »Destroyers Of All – Into The Fire
Rare is the band who grasps the concept of ‘storming out of the gate’ with a killer debut that meshes great musicianship, good songwriting, and top quality production. Portugal’s Destroyers Of All offer a left-of-center metal assault, combining technical proficiency with catchy riff arrangements and songwriting, to deliver an incendiary …
Read More »Inhale The Fall – ‘Inhale The Fall’ EP
Cork may be Ireland’s second city but it easily rivals capital Dublin as a hotbed of talent. The latest outfit to emerge from the south-west of the island, Inhale The Fall are a complete contrast to the more well known offerings at the darker, denser end of the spectrum which …
Read More »Acolourfall – Eleven: Eleven
Hailing from the Nottingham/Derby area, young four piece acolourfall describe themselves as “an alternative/grunge-metal band” and assert their musical mission is to “bridge the gap between bands like Sevendust, Neurosis, Downset, Fear Factory, Deftones and a perfect circle”. This debut EP certainly displays most of those influences, and quite a few …
Read More »Axecatcher – Sparks & Spears
Axecatcher are a trio from the town of Limavady, an otherwise innocuous and inoffensive town perched in the north west corner of jolly ol’ Norn Iron which most people tend to find only if they take the wrong turning on the road to the current so-called “UK City Of Culture”, …
Read More »Serpent – ‘Fear’ EP
Serpent are a young – make that ridiculously so – thrash band from the historic market town of Cookstown (best known for its amazing sausages and having the widest high street in the British Isles!), in that part of Norn Iron known as being “west of the Bann”, and therefore …
Read More »The Resistance – Interview with Jesper Strömblad
In 2010, In Flames guitarist Jesper Strömblad quit the band he had formed 20 years earlier, in order to, as he said myself, “fight my demons once and for all” – a reference to his battle with alcohol. Now, two years later, he is back and fighting fit, with a new …
Read More »The Resistance – ‘Rise From Treason’ EP
The name The Resistance may be a relatively new and unknown one to those not “in the know” on the underground scene – but it’s constituent members are certainly no strangers to the extreme metal scene, being, as they are, former In Flames stalwarts Jesper Strömblad and Glenn Ljungström, ex-The …
Read More »Blood Red Shoes – ‘Water’ EP
While not strictly falling into PM’s orbit, last year’s ‘In Time To Voices’ was definitely one of the more pleasant surprises to be unearthed in this particular corner of the planet that is mosh: a mixture of punk, indie and blues very much in the vein of White Stripes and …
Read More »Huron – ‘War Party’ EP
I must admit, it came as somewhat of a surprise: flicking through the PM archive, yours truly discovered that, despite the amount of coverage we have given to Plymouth groove metallers Huron over the past 12 months or so, we’ve actually been somewhat remiss in failing to cast our critical …
Read More »New Age Extinction – ‘A Grand Deception’
The problem with this EP is epitomized at the very beginning of the closing track, ‘Drowning In Atlantis’, when vocalist Stephen ‘Fire Breather’ Caffrey screams out the title as if introducing it on stage… said scream says volumes about the lack of imagination which has plagued metalcore in the recent …
Read More »Borderline Prime – ‘Born From Darkness’ EP
This powerhouse three track EP from Tipperary industrialists Borderline Prime very nearly didn’t see the light of the day, apparently. Following the release of their debut EP, ‘Blacker’, the band originally had intended to follow it up with another of the same, but then changed their minds and decided to …
Read More »Mourning of the Heretic (MOTH) – ‘Wonderer From the Nightly Shore’ EP
Hailing from Londonderry in Northern Ireland, MOTH have built a decent following on the local live scene. Unfortunately they have not been able to transfer this energy and theatricality to tape. There are very obvious My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost and Cradle of Filth influences from the image down to …
Read More »Held by horses – In History
Essex rock band, Held by Horses, were formed in January 2011. A few months later they released their self titled debut EP, and are now ready to release their second EP – “In History”. In terms of live shows, they’ve played gigs with bands such as Missing Andy, Mallory Knox, …
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