Well, I didn’t expect to hear to AOTY candidates drop in the same week in the same month. Just as Winterfylleth drop their absolute smasher, Hellripper enter the arena with what should go down as a stone cold classic in Coronach, their 4th full length release.
One that squarely tops Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags, an album that has stayed on my personal playlist since its 2023 release and furthered bolstered by catching them live supporting Warbringer in Manchester, cemented them for me as one of the must watch UK bands.
So, I think I can sell this album to you on the strength of one song, and for this I’ve been boring and chosen the opener, Hunderprest. It’s an easy one for me, because it encapsulates everything about them in one place.
So, I think I can sell this album to you on the strength of one song, and for this I’ve been boring and chosen the opener, Hunderprest. It’s an easy one for me, because it encapsulates everything about them in one place.
A thunderous storm announces its start that leads into a frenzied pull off/hammer on sequence. Its in the this initial minute or so where you hear the little melodic touches that drop in during the chaos that make this what it is.
It would be easy I’m sure for them to play it straight like a lot of other bands but they don’t do anything easy. What they don’t do is slow down, its played at speed because they know it has to hit hard and fast.
The lead break is mental, a face melter of the highest order because of the rhythm work that sit behinds it. Both work together to make your head move, absolutely top stuff. And it doesn’t finish there, with an outro that ensures that you stay engaged with this to the end.
I don’t just get black metal from them, the last lead smacks of Iron Maiden, of early Metallica, in the way that both bands used to write their songs as stories with a fully realised start, middle and end. It’s the use of the right chords to make you feel it, and you do, so much so there is another 7 bangers lined up to follow, all super charged and cut from that same cloth where the riff is king.
There is a lot more to this album than just the opener, you can take any track from here and it will become your instant new favourite. This is its strength; there aren’t any weak tracks here. You get the feeling that if an idea didn’t catch fire, it was immediately cast aside.
There is a lot more to this album than just the opener, you can take any track from here and it will become your instant new favourite. This is its strength; there aren’t any weak tracks here. You get the feeling that if an idea didn’t catch fire, it was immediately cast aside.
Take the start of The Art Of Resurrection, a melodic and restrained start and you think hang on lads, don’t hit us with a ballad but it’s a fake out. It picks up its speed and then settles in for the long haul.
You remember I mentioned it’s the little melodic touches deployed here and there that pick this material up? It pervades through this, ensuring that it is anything other than a simple experience. Its about the choice of chords used in each arrangement, they are perfectly curated and then executed in a devastating fashion.
Because of how much I loved Warlocks, I was worried about this but it was for naught. Everything that is asked of it, it does. It brings speed, heaviness the lot. And in the title track, we have a classic. Its an 8 minute epic and is everything we love about metal.
It’s the sort of song that inspires guitarists to play, just for the rhythm parts alone. If there’s opportunity to catch them live at any point, please do so. They are phenomenal live, and this new stuff is magic. I trust that this review has done what it needed to in getting you down to your local shop/streamer/online purveyor and buy it immediately. 10/10
Monsternaut – Approaching Doom (Heavy Psych Sounds) [Rich Piva]
Yes, Kerava, Finland’s Monsternaut is on Heavy Psych Sounds. Yes, their first coupe releases had an El Camino and some very 70s style font on their covers (I think it is an El Camino, the car guys are gonna kill me). But make no mistake, the band’s third record, Approaching Doom, is straight up 90s metal.
Monsternaut – Approaching Doom (Heavy Psych Sounds) [Rich Piva]
Yes, Kerava, Finland’s Monsternaut is on Heavy Psych Sounds. Yes, their first coupe releases had an El Camino and some very 70s style font on their covers (I think it is an El Camino, the car guys are gonna kill me). But make no mistake, the band’s third record, Approaching Doom, is straight up 90s metal.
Yes, we have some fuzz and some riffs and even some stoner grooves once in a while, but this band is closer to Machine Head then they are Fu Manchu. Ok, maybe not, but this record is more 90s metal sounding than anything else, and that is fine by me.
First of all, the El Camino is replaced by a four wheeler made with a giant’s skull. Second, the dude riding said four wheeler. The true example is the thrash-y Bay Area riff that opens up Cold sounds more like Death Angel than anything else, and I am here for it. Evicted is more metal chugginess and continues the darker vibe and themes of the record, with the vocals all about that metal stuff.
First of all, the El Camino is replaced by a four wheeler made with a giant’s skull. Second, the dude riding said four wheeler. The true example is the thrash-y Bay Area riff that opens up Cold sounds more like Death Angel than anything else, and I am here for it. Evicted is more metal chugginess and continues the darker vibe and themes of the record, with the vocals all about that metal stuff.
The title track gives me those same old(er) school metal vibes. The recording of the record sounds so great because it was recorded right to analog, and it is so much better for it. Drain is one of my favorites on the record, and at the right time in history this could have stood up to any heavy rock radio hit of the 1990s. Killer stuff.
Some other standouts are New Order Of Bliss, which is a fun ripper with a cool riff, and the most stoner rock track on the record, Human Stew. The highlight for me is Demon Strikes, which somehow sounds like a more metal Nebula, and boy oh boy does it rip.
Approaching Doom is a great third record for Monsternaut. The recording sounds amazing, the darker, more metal vibe works great, and the songs are strong. Fans of straight up 90s metal and thrash who also love the stoner stuff will eat these ten tracks up and go back for seconds. 8/10
Approaching Doom is a great third record for Monsternaut. The recording sounds amazing, the darker, more metal vibe works great, and the songs are strong. Fans of straight up 90s metal and thrash who also love the stoner stuff will eat these ten tracks up and go back for seconds. 8/10
Axel Rudi Pell – Ghost Town (Steamhammer/SPV) [Matt Bladen]
With 23 solo albums and over 35 years in the business, behind him you could be forgiven for thinking Axel Rudi Pell would be happy to rest on his laurels after all this time, carrying on with what he has done before rather than wanting to innovate and adapt.
However this is definitely not a case of quantity over quality as he’s always there to deliver quality melodic metal. His riffs and solos drive these tracks that range from Rainbow-like rockers, Sabbath stompers (The Enemy Within), metallic ragers, and of course a massive ballads such as Towards The Shore.
However this is definitely not a case of quantity over quality as he’s always there to deliver quality melodic metal. His riffs and solos drive these tracks that range from Rainbow-like rockers, Sabbath stompers (The Enemy Within), metallic ragers, and of course a massive ballads such as Towards The Shore.
His axe slinging joined by former Rainbow drummer Bobby Rondinelli, bassist Volker Krawczak and keyboardist Ferdy Doernberg while long time vocalist Johnny Gioeli brings those pipes you’ll recognise from Hardline, speaking of recognisable Udo Dirkschneider adds his rasp to Breaking Seals.
Elsewhere there’s some power to Holy Water, galloping on Hurricane and your head will bang on Sanity, making for more of that same high quality rocking that Mr Pell has made his living with. There’s something to be said about consistency and with Ghost Town you hear why Axel Rudi Pell has such longevity. 7/10
Rosa Faenskap– Ingenting Forblir (Fysisk Format) [Spike]
There is a specific, modern kind of exhaustion that comes from watching the world you grew up in slowly curdle into something unrecognizable.
Elsewhere there’s some power to Holy Water, galloping on Hurricane and your head will bang on Sanity, making for more of that same high quality rocking that Mr Pell has made his living with. There’s something to be said about consistency and with Ghost Town you hear why Axel Rudi Pell has such longevity. 7/10
Rosa Faenskap– Ingenting Forblir (Fysisk Format) [Spike]
There is a specific, modern kind of exhaustion that comes from watching the world you grew up in slowly curdle into something unrecognizable.
Oslo’s Rosa Faenskap have spent their career documenting this shift, but on Ingenting Forblir (“Nothing Remains”), the tone has moved from poetic observation to a high-velocity, black-metal-fuelled confrontation.
It is a record that manages to be analytically sharp and brutally personal at the same time, proving that if you’re going to scream about dehumanization, you might as well use the most abrasive frequencies available.
The experience hits the ground running with Den Svake Mannen, and the first thing you notice is the sheer clarity of their black metal core. While their previous work toyed with post-rock and prog, this opener is a snot-and-tears jolt of blackened hardcore that sets the mood for the entire album.
The experience hits the ground running with Den Svake Mannen, and the first thing you notice is the sheer clarity of their black metal core. While their previous work toyed with post-rock and prog, this opener is a snot-and-tears jolt of blackened hardcore that sets the mood for the entire album.
It’s a sophisticated bit of aggression that transitions seamlessly into Faenskap for alltid, where the “shove” of their rhythm section really starts to rattle the monitors.
What sets Rosa Faenskap apart from the standard “angry” pack is their fearless genre-blending. Tracks like La Barna Leve and Klarhet I Kaos weave in these sprawling, post-rock atmospheric stretches that feel like a brief, desperate gasp for air before the next assault.
What sets Rosa Faenskap apart from the standard “angry” pack is their fearless genre-blending. Tracks like La Barna Leve and Klarhet I Kaos weave in these sprawling, post-rock atmospheric stretches that feel like a brief, desperate gasp for air before the next assault.
It’s that specific “shimmer” I’ve mentioned in other reviews reimagined through a furnace of Norwegian vitriol. It gives the record a narrative weight that feels properly, painfully epic.
The middle of the album, featuring Bygg Til Himmelen and Famler I Hatet, is where the “analytical” side of the band shows its teeth. The songwriting is knotty and unpredictable, moving through movements that feel like they’re constantly expanding until the room feels too small to hold the friction. The production is spot on. It avoids the high-gloss traps of modern metalcore in favour of an approach that feels true to the bone.
The real heart of the record, however, is the nine-minute finale: Jeg Våkner Snart. It’s a sprawling, ambitious bit of survivalism that finally allows the band to stretch their legs into the more “prog” corners of their vocabulary.
The middle of the album, featuring Bygg Til Himmelen and Famler I Hatet, is where the “analytical” side of the band shows its teeth. The songwriting is knotty and unpredictable, moving through movements that feel like they’re constantly expanding until the room feels too small to hold the friction. The production is spot on. It avoids the high-gloss traps of modern metalcore in favour of an approach that feels true to the bone.
The real heart of the record, however, is the nine-minute finale: Jeg Våkner Snart. It’s a sprawling, ambitious bit of survivalism that finally allows the band to stretch their legs into the more “prog” corners of their vocabulary.
It’s a descent that moves from a contemplative, almost fragile opening into a wall of feedback that eventually just… collapses. It doesn’t offer a “fix” for the systemic violence it describes; it simply stands in the wreckage and refuses to look away.
When the final vibration of Jeg Våkner snart eventually cuts out, you aren’t left with a tidy summary or a sense of closure. Instead, you’re left with that heavy, post-riot silence where the air in the room feels thicker than when you started.
When the final vibration of Jeg Våkner snart eventually cuts out, you aren’t left with a tidy summary or a sense of closure. Instead, you’re left with that heavy, post-riot silence where the air in the room feels thicker than when you started.
Rosa Faenskap have spent this record measuring the exact distance between the world we were promised and the one we actually ended up with, and the result is a beautifully distorted ache. 8/10
The U.S. Military’s Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) was forced to perform an emergency shutdown of their experimental combat-focused AI program after it attempted to weaponize former Cannibal Corpse and current Six Feet Under vocalist Chris Barnes’ pig squeals into a lethal sound beam. Had the AI program successfully executed this plan for a terrifying new weapons system, experts theorize it could have resulted in a global extinction-level event.