Category: news

Album Review: Temic – Ceiba

Reviewed by Oli Gonzalez

Three years since their blockbuster debut “Terror Management Theory”, prog metal’s newest super group are back with their sophomore release “Ceiba”. Featuring members (current or ex) of Mike Portnoy’s Shattered Fortress, Haken, Shining, and Devin Townsend, this truly does have a feel of prog royalty! Prog Radio described “Terror Management Theory” as “having the potential to innovate and redefine the boundaries of progressive rock and metal”. Can “Ceiba” begin to realise the band’s lofty potential?

In short, yes. Yes it can! Resoundingly yes! “Terror Management Theory” was great from a technical perspective but lacked that human emotion and felt all too ‘proggy woggy’ in parts. Technical for the sake of it. However, “Ceiba” has toned this down and really dialed into that all crucial human feeling.

Vocalist Fredrik leads this charge, asserting himself very early on in ‘Ashes’ with jaw-dropping operatic style performance! His voice is simply mesmerising! All sitting on top of a punchy tight as hell rhythm section, bone crunching guitars, all making way for the synths to add a melodic focal point alongside Fredrik. ‘Beyond The Voice’ takes a different turn, where the distorted guitars yield and the mood is introspective, ambient, where the tactical spaces and silence say more than any notes could. This also gives Fredrik all the room he needs to showcase the tender nature of his voice. Though make no mistake, they can turn up the intensity dial during the blistering choruses! Yep, all accusations of TEMIC being too overly polished and technical can be firmly extinguished. Especially with the powerhouse that is ‘Ceased To Be’. This will move you in more ways than one. Especially with the infectious and instantly memorable chorus! If not, you may just be a robot!

‘Broken’ is a much quieter, calmer 4 minute passage that either gives you some much needed time to lower your heart rate and catch your breath, or slows down the momentum of the album. Depending on who you ask. Though things pick up again in the 9 minute epic that is ‘Casting Stone’. Fredrik’s voice, the synths, the crunching guitar and bass, the complex polyrhythms; everything that makes TEMIC so incredible are on full display here with the lights on bright and the production getting the best out of them. Hell, you can find these elements in pretty much any song! Have fun, play a game, pick one at random and see how quickly they’ll win you over!

We spoke about emotion. Let’s examine ‘Alone’. Just listening to these on the nose lyrics can turn the most stoic individuals into a crumbling quivering mess!

I know that I feel so alone
I don’t want to feel this way, I’d rather feel nothing at all

Either you’ll be moved by this, or you’re lying. We can all relate to that feeling, surely! If that doesn’t get you, the absolute face melter of a guitar solo will! No fancy noodling, just good old fashioned riffs delivered with blistering tones and dripping in raw human sentiment!

Is “Ceiba” too long? Maybe. 66 minutes in length feels ambitious, and can feel like a challenge to get through. Forty five minutes feels like the sweet spot for albums in this day and age. Equally, TEMIC aren’t taking any half measures and are throwing everything into “Ceiba”. That, you must respect.

On October 2nd 2026, the world is going to be introduced to a new force in the world of progressive metal!

For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.

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Here it is. My first repeat customer. Last April, Italian five-piece Game Over blindsided me with their sixth LP, Face the End, a love letter to ’70s and ’80s horror flicks and coast-to-coast prime-era thrash. Even with some uneven songwriting, a refreshed lineup helped them carve out a newly honed sound that balanced thrash’s timeworn genre tropes with a punchy, aggressive energy that hit all the right notes. Well, color me surprised again. Just a little over a year later, Game Over returns with their seventh album, When Darkness Falls, and a first glance suggests we’re in for more of the same. Anytime a band releases albums in such quick succession, though, I get wary. Will the songwriting suffer? Is this a case of having too much material for their own good? Will it bring the same fun factor as Face the End?

When Darkness Falls picks right up where Face the End left off, offering a heaping plate of thrash comfort food. It’s the kind of thrash made for tearing around town in your beat-up van with the stereo cranked and a case of cheap beer rattling around in the back. These tracks are stuffed with enough sing-along gang vocals and high-octane energy to get any metal fan to pump their fists in time with the riffs. Game Over pull from both ends of the classic thrash spectrum. “Fight For Your Mind” and “Two Souls One Flesh” channel strong Testament vibes, while “Break Away” does its best early Exodus impression with its “Toxic Waltz” swagger. Elsewhere, Anthrax’s East Coast party atmosphere roots “Scream It Out” and “Self Denied,” balancing their aggression with a sense of fun and accessibility. And while the horror-themed lyrics are tropey as hell, they fit Game Over’s approach so naturally that it’s hard to hold any real complaints.

Game Over’s brand of thrash is almost guaranteed to be a blast live, but its familiarity underscores both When Darkness Falls’ strengths and its limitations. The quartet writes solid, entertaining material that hits exactly where it aims, yet it rarely pushes beyond the safety of the genre’s borders or tests how far their sound could stretch. Outside of “What Fate Brings” and “Curse of Strahd,” as well as closer “Command to Die” which drags somewhat in energy and songwriting, the album’s tracks are appealing and well executed, but so safe that they raise questions about the group’s appetite for evolution. A few calculated risks here and creative detours there could have elevated When Darkness Falls to the next level. Still, the old saying “a classic never dies” applies. Game Over know how to deliver and across the record’s brisk 33 minutes I found myself often nodding along, swept up in the abrasive riffs and infectious energy of “Scream It Out,” “Fight For Your Mind,” “Self Denied” and “Two Souls One Flesh” without a care in the world.

Game Over continues to run through vocalist Danny Schiavina, who remains one of the band’s strongest assets. Shifting effortlessly between gritty and menacing roars (“Beneath the Ground,” “Curse of Strahd”) and the soaring, Belladonna-esque proclamations of “Break Away,” Schiavina gives When Darkness Falls a dynamic spine and is a force to be reckoned with. He leans less on his higher register here than he did on Face the End, and he’s not pushed quite as forward in the mix as I would have liked, but his performance suits the heavier, more direct approach of the songwriting all the same. The gang vocals also add punch and immediacy, even though they are overutilized. Now the sole guitarist after Alessandro “Sanso” Sansone’s departure, Luca “Ziro” Zironi, comes armed with a formidable ax, firing off power chords, relentless down-picking, and sharp solos that fuel When Darkness Falls with brute force.

When Darkness Falls delivers exactly what it sets out to do. It’s a familiar platter of loud, well-executed thrash served with enough charm and muscle to satisfy the loyal denim faithful still craving the nostalgic bite of olde. After two very similar records in such close succession, though, I’m hoping Game Over develops some new tricks because that’s what ultimately keeps When Darkness Falls from reaching greater heights, and at this point, we know the cut of these Italians’ gib.

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Rating: Good
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Scarlet Records
Websites: gameoverofficial.bandcamp.com | gameoverofficial.net | facebook.com/GameOverThrashMetal
Releases Worldwide: September 18th, 2026

The post Game Over – When Darkness Falls Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

Album Review: Dissimulator – Artifice Dissolves

Reviewed by Sam Jones

Dissiumulator’s announcement regarding their upcoming album snuck up on me but I’m mighty excited to see what these tech death/thrash boys from Montreal, Quebec, have cooked up for us. Formed in 2021, Dissimulator take the technical aspect of their sound seriously, originally through their 2021 Warped Demo before realising their potential come the release of their debut full length: 2024’s Lower Form Resistance, an easy standout for that year. Curiously my mind was reaching towards what a follow up to that record would look like and once October 2nd rolls round so will everyone else. Sporting the same roster as Lower Form Resistance, Dissimulator seem poised to take us on another cyber trip, once more backed by 20 Buck Spin, as their technical element takes us to the very limit of the stratosphere.

I took to the production here very easily, for Dissimulator have really honed their sound into something ruthlessly fast yet far from overpowering. Even with the strongly technical element their sound throws out its strangely accessible to listen to; newcomers could approach this record more freely than they could with their last I feel and yet I know from listening that the band have not lessened their technicality. If anything they’ve gone even further with the technicality however it feels interwoven with the overall songwriting so completely one can’t separate the two facets. There’s no instance where the songwriting provides track development with some technical playing on the side to draw people in, they’ve become fused one and the same. With that said, their performance is never so technical they they seem vying towards a particular crowd.

Following on from the production, the band have enabled their bass and drum work to prosper greatly all the while limiting actually how loud they’re presented on record. Listen keenly and you’ll be dazzled at just how fast their basslines are playing at; the sheer speed their bass flies with is stunning and will have you honestly gawking. Speed has been Dissimulator’s crowning strength, their ability to merge rampant tempo with technical playing will keep many invested with this record, and yet it manages to stay within its designated location. Neither bass nor drum work herein tries to break out of their assigned positions but that doesn’t stop their impact from being felt. The bass drums are huge and one can feel their strength at every given moment though you feel the after effect of the kicks. Usually this would see the bass drums taper off into the void with a minimised presence, but owing to the mix Dissimulator’s drums feel present due to how they merge with the bass.

The way Dissimulator write riffs to so effortlessly contain and showcase their technical edge was a driving force behind their last record’s success, and thusly has it been replicated here too. We’ve covered how the band fuse their songwriting with that technicality so it’s not as jarring when the band do break out into wilder territory but, it’s the pace at which they flit in and out of varying degrees of riff complexity and proceed playing as if it were the sole and natural thing they could do in that instance. You’ll be listening to a sequence maybe thirty seconds long and in that timespan the band have thrown maybe seven unexpected moments laced seamlessly. Given their tracks have push six and seven minutes long it guarantees audiences will be continuously entertained and thrown off by anything Dissimulator promise. With that said, there are a myriad of pieces that will have you applying the stank face without difficulty. Dissimulator are here for technical playing yes but they always remember you want it heavy, and on that front they always provide.

It’s perhaps an odd thing to say but I appreciate the vocals for being the extreme, growling force they are without them feeling too harsh on the ears. They’ve certainly been given a particular standing in the mix for whilst the riffs play away the vocals are always front and centre when the two are on stage at the same time. They’re aggravated and possess a scathing impact like fingernails furiously scraping on sandpaper and yet they feel smooth as they hit the record and, by extension, yourself. If this was a choice through the mix it was well though if since the band are already playing rapidly with songwriting relentlessly hellbent on cleaving your brain twixt. It’s that one allowance of comfort, like placing a velvet pillow on a gypsum bed.

In conclusion, Dissimulator prove Lower Form Resistance was no fluke. Artifice Dissolves demonstrates the band’s unique stance on technical death/thrash metal is here to stay and is an integral part of their identity. I think many will look on this record and know it as amongst their top releases for the year; at every turn Dissimulator provide unconventional licks and instances where the guitar work comes alive all the while ripping our sinews asunder with basslines and drumming bursting with savagery. This is all accomplished without the band having to slam their songwriting into your face to get you paying attention; they never try and exaggerate the technical quality their music has. They allow their sound to exist as it is on record and you are left to decide on its quality. All in all, Artifice Dissolves is a shredding experience, one that will have you coming back over and again for that familiar rending sensation.

For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.

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(written by Islander) This collection of recommended music will be much shorter than yesterday’s. We’ve got a visitor coming to the house any minute now, and after that I’ll be heading across Puget Sound to join friends in watching our beloved Seahawks play another team named for a bird, one that wouldn’t stand a snowball’s […]

The post SHADES OF BLACK: POLDERHAAT, BONJOUR TRISTESSE, SERPENT, ÜBERCHRIIST appeared first on NO CLEAN SINGING.

Album Review: Firtan – Helios

Reviewed by Oli Gonzalez

Black metal. A genre full of pretenders and wannabe’s. Every now and then though, a band comes along and shakes the very fabric of the genre to the core and breathes invigorating new life into it!

Enter Firtan!

Hailing from the deepest, darkest depths of Germany – a hotbed and breeding ground for quality black metal – Firtan unveil their 5th album “Helios” via AOP Records. A label that’s handled the releases of Ellende, Heretoir, Finsterforst, and many others within the last year or so. Now Firtan can join that lineage!

Just listening to “Helios” makes you think that Firtan have observed the black metal masses, and walked in the opposite direction in crafting an instantly recognisable sound. Forget the numerous references to Satan that became boring in the late 90s and mindless blast beats. Firtan’s sound is composed of multiple layers that’s as complex as it is challenging. The rhythmic foundations are set in a tighter, more bludgeoning series of grooves, though drummer David can up the ante when required and send the BPM count well over 200 with a series of vicious double kick rallies. When joined by bassist Oliver, the rhythm section is locked in and the thunderous rumble acquired, like during ‘Ambrosia’.

Phillip leads the vocal attack not in a series of KVLT shrieks, but rather a much deeper demonic growl! Sounds standard right? Well this is where things start getting more interesting. He’s joined by violin player and backing vocalist Klara, whose calming resonance provides a wonderful beauty and the beast style, and allows you to fully appreciate the bleak darkness and intensity of the music. She adds a sense of urgency and emotional weight to the already intense and infernal atmosphere, especially in songs like ‘Solis Currus’. Here, the band demonstrates an understanding of atmospheric music and building tension. Heaviness doesn’t always come from overwhelming your listeners with crushing tones and all-out fury. No, you need to let music breathe, sometimes with the notes you’re not playing just as important as what’s being pumped through the speakers! Firtan understand this.

Though this less is more approach doesn’t necessarily apply to the album’s overall composition. See, 63 minutes run time feels like an investment at time, especially given some songs hover well over 5 minutes, with ‘The Hierophant’ clocking in at 11:42! Nobody would be mad at Firtan for dropping a song or two. With that being said, they certainly can’t be accused of short-changing you or half-assing this record. Absolutely not! In fact, “Helios” is one of those records that rewards long term investment and listening. If you stick it out to ‘Shadows of a Dawn’, you’ll be rewarded with a wonderfully opulent number whereby the drums, bass, distorted guitars and Phillip’s growls are removed. Instead, it’s just the lush acoustic guitar melody anchoring the song’s rhythm. Klara is promoted to lead vocalist here, with her simply gorgeous voice being given all the time and attention it needs to fully shine, whilst the violin takes over as melodic focal point when she takes a break. Yes, a totally unexpected find, but I am not complaining one bit!

Now, I’m not normally a fan of covers. But when Firtan have taken a song – in this case ‘Man Of Iron’ by Bathory – and completely reimagined and reengineered it fully in their image, then they’ve won! Do as many covers as you want!

That sums up Firtan really. A band you should expect the unexpected from. Black metal fans craving something that goes against the grain and showcases a wholesome new twist on the genre will be more than satisfied with “Helios”. Firtan will satisfy any craving for intense atmospheric black metal with a folk twist!

For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.

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The Swedish hard rock band’s first full statement is out digitally now

Swedish Hard Rock band Black Blood Sthlm release their self-titled EP, marking the band’s first structured release after their debut single “Avalon.” The EP is available digitally now!

Listen to the EP here: 

https://bfan.link/black-blood-sthlmep

Featuring four tracks, “In The Wind” (watch the video), “I Know You Believe,” “Fallen Angel” and “Holy Man”, the EP brings the band’s identity into clear focus. After introducing themselves with “Avalon” and following with the singles “In the Wind,” “Holy Man” and “I Know You Believe,” Black Blood Sthlm now present the full picture: a band rooted in classic Hard Rock, shaped by experience, and built around songs rather than formulas.

The focus track of the release is “Fallen Angel,” a slow hard rock ballad that opens a more emotional side of the band. Placed within the EP, the song gives the release a different weight and contrast, showing how Black Blood Sthlm can move beyond the straight hard rock attack while still keeping the same sense of purpose, musicianship and identity.

Black Blood Sthlm were formed by four musicians who have lived through different chapters of the Scandinavian rock and Metal scene from the inside. Their roots reach back to 1970s Hard Rock, but the approach is direct, song-focused and free from nostalgia. The sound is built around guitars, voice, rhythm section and arrangements working together with one clear objective: the song.

The band features Matti Alfonzetti on vocals, one of Sweden’s most respected rock singers, known for his work with Jagged Edge, Bam Bam Boys and Skintrade. On guitar, Stefan Bergström brings his long-standing experience from Skintrade, as well as collaborations with Baltimoore, Zinny Zan and Martina Edoff.

Behind the drums is Johan Kullberg, whose career includes Lion’s Share, Zan Clan, Therion and session work with HammerFall during extensive world tours. Completing the line-up is bassist/vocalist Jarmo Lindell, who has worked with Cloud Circus, Andreas Johnson and has also released material as a solo artist.

With this EP, Black Blood Sthlm move beyond the first introduction of “Avalon” and open the next phase of the project. It is a release born from musicians who know the language of hard rock from the inside, but who still approach it as a living form: something to be played, written and brought to the stage with conviction.

Black Blood Sthlm – track-list:
1) In The Wind
2) In Know You Believe
3) Fallen Angel
4) Holy Man

Contacts:
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In the early 1990s, power ballads touted by bands with big, flammable hair were beginning to lose their currency and grunge hastened its demise.

But music wasn’t the only thing undergoing a metamorphosis; the alternative comedy movement that bubbled underground during the 1980s finally reared its head; one-liners were out and the energised, socially-conscious style of Bill Hicks turned him into a cult figure. Shows like The Simpsons, Beavis And Butt-head, The Kids in the Hall and much of MTV appeared to delight in destroying the stereotypes of traditional sit-coms, sketch and chat shows. It’s easy to look back with cynicism now, but those days felt like a brave new dawn.

Even the high gloss excess of Hollywood wasn’t immune from the rise of alternative culture. Directors such as Kevin Smith (Clerks), Richard Linklater (Slacker, Dazed And Confused) thrived during the first half of the decade, shooting low budget yet eminently quotable movies that captured the zeitgeist.

Quentin Tarantino became the most talked-about director following the release of his self-penned 1992 debut Reservoir Dogs and its even more successful follow-up, Pulp Fiction, two years later.

Despite masterminding two classic films, it could be argued that Tarantino’s definitive work was a script that he sold in order to help finance his debut film. Natural Born Killers – later adapted and directed by Oliver Stone – remains as relevant, shocking, unique and brutally hard to watch 28 years on.

Inspired by the likes of bank-robbing couple Bonnie and Clyde and the hyper-violence of Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 classic A Clockwork Orange, Tarantino wrote a script about Mickey and Mallory Knox, two lovers who embark on a killing spree across New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada.

After Tarantino failed to raise the $500,000 needed to produce the film himself, he sold his work for $10,000. The script, now the property of Warner Bros., found its way onto the desk of Platoon and JFK director Oliver Stone. Impressed with the premise of the movie, Stone saw Natural Born Killers as a straight-ahead action film, something, he said, “Arnold Schwarzenegger would be proud of.”

As Stone and his associates David Veloz and Richard Rutowski began rewrites of the script, they couldn’t help but be affected by the endless images of chaos and violence broadcast on American television at the time: the footage of Rodney King being beaten by police which led to the Los Angeles riots of 1992, the O.J. Simpson murder trial (he was later acquitted), the FBI’s televised handling of the Waco siege, and even the media surrounding Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding’s attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan all helped to shape Stone’s vision for his adaptation of Tarantino’s Natural Born Killers script.

Stone was both shocked and disgusted by the media’s coverage of these events and believed that they’d both exploited and perverted the course of each incident in the pursuit of ratings. As such, the tone and purpose of the movie changed dramatically to what he claimed was a “viscous, cold-hearted farce on the media.”

Due to its preoccupation with the media machine, much of the movie leans on many of the tropes and stylistic similarities of popular culture. The bizarre, stylised tableaus and fast-paced energy of prime MTV was clearly a big influence, as were the brash, bold, multi-coloured, sensory overloads used in TV ads from that time. There were nods to violent B-movies, and he employed the use of shaky, hand-held cameras which informed the reality show TV show Cops and footage on the growing number of rolling news channels.

Yet the most shocking scene is where Juliette Lewis’ Mallory is seen at home with her father in a parody of 1950’s style sit-coms, featuring a brilliantly grotesque turn by legendary US comedian Rodney Dangerfield. As Dangerfield abuses, insults and threatens Mallory, the use of a clap track and canned laughter horrifically juxtapose the violence onscreen. It’s one of many tricks that Stone uses throughout the film to unnerve, confuse and shake his audience, with Natural Born Killers superbly prodding and antagonising the channel-hopping, detached and emotionally desensitised audience he believed would watch his film.

Natural Born Killers’ casting is superb across the board. Woody Harrelson, then known as the naive barman Woody in Cheers, was utterly unrecognisable as Mickey and brought a previously unseen, unhinged menace to his character. Lewis was already seen as something of an enigma after her role in the 1991 remake of Cape Fear, but amplifies the unpredictable yet childlike danger present in Mallory. Meanwhile, Robert Downey Jr, Tom Sizemore and Tommy Lee Jones all appear to have entered a scenery-chewing competition in the best possible way during their memorable supporting roles.

As if the movie wasn’t already dripping in 90s cred, Stone added a cherry on top when he asked Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor to produce the soundtrack to the film.

“I got a call from Oliver Stone’s people saying that he’d used some of my music in the film, and would I want to check it out and see if it’s something I would approve of,” Reznor explained in a 1994 interview. “I approached it with a bit of scepticism because I’m not real keen on using my music in films – I think it’s kind of a cheap tie-in. But anyway, I went and saw this movie, an edit of it, and it just blew me away. I thought it was amazing, on a multitude of levels, and the use of music was really interesting.”

“As fate would have it, they were talking about the soundtrack coming out on Nothing, my label, and I said, Well, what would the soundtrack be? Because there isn’t a real soundtrack, and there’s about 70 pieces of music in the film… So I suggested to Oliver to try to turn the soundtrack into a collage of sound, kinda the way the movie used the music, and have edits and dialogue, and make it interesting rather than just have a bunch of previously released music. And he looked at me, and said, ‘That’s a good idea. Do it’.”

Reznor’s edit included the likes of Leonard Cohen, L7, Dr Dre, Bob Dylan, Snoop Dogg, Patti Smith, Patsy Cline, Lard and his own band. It proved to be a masterstroke. The curated soundtrack underpins the demented nature of the film; one minute you’re getting aurally battered by Lard’s Forkboy, then soothed by Patsy Cline’s Back in Baby’s Arms. The film was already perfect for the frustrated 90s generation, but the soundtrack made that link undeniable. It jumped into the Billboard Top 20 and went on to sell half a million copies in the US alone.

Even with four minutes of cuts made to Stone’s original edit to secure an ‘R’ rating in America, the film courted much controversy upon its release and was faced with protests by moral arbiters.

Reviews were mixed. The Washington Post’s Hal Hinson said the movie “doesn’t make it as a social criticism” and instead referred to it as “bloody, pulpy, excess”, while Janet Maslin of The New York Times criticised the film for being “enamoured of their [Mickey and Mallory’s] exhilarating freedom”.

Tarantino himself disowned it, saying, “I hated that fucking movie”.

The film was banned outright in Ireland and released in the UK in February 1995 after a delay caused by so-called “copycat killers” in the US and France, the highest profile of which was the case of two teens who, the night after watching the movie alone, travelled between Mississippi and Louisiana, stopping to shoot two people, killing one and leaving the other paraplegic. Over a dozen crimes have been linked to the movie since.

Over the years, our access to such violence has been even easier to obtain, and so the criticisms that Natural Born Killers addressed almost three decades ago have become even more prophetic, as society’s obsession with violence remains, now with added noise from social media.

Since its release, the movie has garnered a cult following more understanding of Stone’s intentions. It felt forward-thinking, groundbreaking and supremely dangerous, and more than three decades on, it carries the same impact. Regardless of when you first experienced it, Natural Born Killers remains one of cinema’s most enduring and visceral pieces.

EP Review: The Crawling – What We Leave Behind

Reviewed by NAME

2026 has been a busy year for The Crawling! A brand new live album in early 2026 gave us a glimpse into their crushing live sound, which comes to Bloodstock Winter Gathering this December! Until then, we get a glimpse of what the Northern Irish power trio have been up to in the studio in the shape of “What We Leave Behind”.

Only two tracks? This is going to be short and sweet. Right?

WRONG!

Short definitely, but certainly not sweet. See, The Crawling have never been a band to polish their sound in bells, whistles and other fancy studio magic. Whilst they recorded the drums at The Parlour Recording Studios (if it’s good enough for Napalm Death and The Haunted, surely it’s good enough for The Crawling), everything else was kept in house. Whilst this meant reduced access to the latest high tech recording equipment, The Crawling’s sound doesn’t need it. In fact, when trying to capture that bleak melancholic sound, it needs to feel raw and cavernous.

They shoot right from the hip with ‘A Song To Nurse The Sickness’ with five and a half minutes of death-doom glory. Whilst blazing lead guitar offers occasional glimpse of melody and hope, there’s an unmissable sense of dread and melancholy which shrouds the overall sound in suffocating clouds of darkness! The pace is low and bludgeoning, capturing that doom metal undertone. This delivers on their promise of being for fans of Swallow The Sun and for anybody else who likes their metal packed with piercing crushing riffs and a slice of despair.

Following on from my recent dive into Emma Ruth Rundle’s post-rock discography, heavy music isn’t always about crushing distortion and guttural vocals. Sometimes it’s that emotion that hits you like a freight train and the raw unfiltered honesty. Now, ‘Bound To The Negative (Requiem)’ is essentially a re-imagining of their older work. Whilst that original version had those elements in spades, this re-write is different. Very different. Stripped back with distorted guitars and growled vocals a distant memory. Even the drums are absent, leaving the clean guitars to pull double duty in providing a melodic pillar as well as anchoring the song’s rhythm. Any drums would crush the fragility of Andy’s vocals, and also the piano and string tandem that make an appearance later in the song. Yep, that stripped back minimalist approach leaves plenty of space to interpret the gut wrenching mournful taste of the lyrics whilst leaving space for reflection and contemplation. After all, isn’t that really the aim of heavy music?

Whilst other heavy bands hide behind layers of distortion, what The Crawling deliver does not need to be concealed beneath illusions of heaviness. “What We Leave Behind” is a blistering punch to the gut that leaves you nowhere to hide!

For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.

The post EP Review: The Crawling – What We Leave Behind appeared first on The Razor's Edge.

Say Now is a British pop group composed of Amelia Onuorah, Maddie Haynes, and Yssy Salvanera. They’ve been releasing crystalline pop since 2023, and on Friday, they returned with their new single, “Met my match,” executive produced by PinkPantheress. Maestro The Baker, Oscar Scheller, and Count Baldor also worked on the track.

The post Say Now – “Met my match” appeared first on Stereogum.

Album Review: Spirit Possession – Cathedral Speech

Reviewed by Sam Jones

One rising act that many have taken notice of has been Spirit Possession, the two-piece black metal act out of Oregon, United States, whose particular brand of visceral extreme metal has not gone unnoticed. Formed in 2019 the band released their first Demo a year later, soon succeeded by their debut self-titled album that did well to introduce audiences to their sound. But it was their 2023 sophomore album, …Of The Sign, that catapulted Spirit Possession unto extreme metal’s gathering plethora of rising names, with critical acclaim and a swarm of fans joining their midst. Last year saw them release a Compilation but come October 2nd this year, Spirit Possession shall unleash their third full length work: Cathedral Speech. I’m really curious what these guys do here as they go three-for-three alongside Profound Lore Records, preparing to whip out another slab of black metal that only they manage to conjure. Let’s find out.

If Spirit Possession’s unique glance on black metal wasn’t already apparent, the opening to this record depicts that difference immediately with spectral riffs seemingly torn out of an 80s speed record before morphing into something cinematic. The guitar tone adopted is thin, paper thin, yet I think that does the job of pulling you in. Not only are you curious by the tone applied but that thinner and visceral sound grants the songwriting a lethality that may not be present in other releases nearer the time. In addition the thin tone pulls audiences in that much further if only to get a better understanding of what’s the songwriting takes them. Whatever happens, fans will be engaged from start to finish, awash in slicing, chopping riffs, conveying you across with knives and saws aloft.

Since Spirit Possession is only two guys performing all music on album, the end product naturally feels more DIY than other black metal acts would be. Black metal, by its nature, has always championed that raw soundscape and Spirit Possession are certainly carrying that torch. I can envisage many older black metal fans taking to this record especially given how old school the band hold themselves as, applying their efforts towards honing a sound hearkening Bathory’s earlier releases. It’s rather unique though as you’ll receive moments of tapping solos within songwriting where the blackened aesthetic isn’t necessarily apparent, but given the direction they take you down with each track, it feels apt. If anything, Cathedral Speech has more in common with Venom and Midnight than it does with your typified black metal in 2026.

Another aspect Spirit Possession achieve on record here is immersion. No, this is not atmospheric immersion or the cementing of any feasible scale; this is immersion by submerging you into every track they perform. With every track bar one being a longer affair, the band have plenty of opportunities to keep you invested and going with their performance, yet whilst they evidently play fast it’s never so fast that you can feel the track audibly running along. The record is always at your side, ensuring you know what’s happening and that each shift in the songwriting is cohesive and laid out. Spirit Possession effectively grant you the query of how long you wish to go on for but, since their songwriting is so entertaining, why would you want to dip out? It therefore allows you to really ease yourself into each track, to give them weight and presence; there’s never an instance where a track feels lacklustre nor unimportant to Cathedral Speech’s running. What has been included has been so for essential purposes for to remove any one wold be to alter the feeling this record provides entirely.

Spirit Possession are not what you’d deem technical with their playing nor their songwriting, and yet their performance on record certainly hints they might be moving in that direction. When you listen to a sequence, pay attention, for that section is about to alter into something else very quickly whilst retaining the vibe of the track in question. That’s a very difficult feat to pull off because you need to keep audiences entertained and glued in whilst keeping your songwriting endlessly moving and in such a way that feels natural too. It extends to the drumming too which is excellent as not only are bass drums firing nearly all the time but the blast beats, the kit overall, are forever alternating from what you had earlier to what you have now; it’s rare to hear the drums persistently dish out the same beat and even then, in a split second, they may perform something left-field and keep you wondering what just happened.

In conclusion, Cathedral Speech is a real oddity in black metal this year. It retains the signature Spirit Possession sound where the two guys are writing and playing what they want but it can’t say for sure whether they’re looking to experiment here or if this is a direction they’re seeking to undergo. As aforementioned this record has more in line with Venom or Midnight, injecting blackened speed metal into their stabbing and razor-sharp soundscape that gives their changing songwriting a peculiar though fluidic identity. It manages to always shift and transform whilst remaining quintessentially Spirit Possession. I think many will take to it and be content with the band’s decision but I think this might be a record others will need to warm to. Regardless the band are on to another winner here.

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