Month: July 2019

2019 Albums

Album Review: Rogga Johansson – Entrance To The Otherwhere 8.5 (Melo Death)

July 22, 2019 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

This is a solo project. Now go listen and hold a physical copy of this beautiful artwork, then let that fact sink in. This material is of higher quality than most bands and it’s the result of one prolific madman, Rogga Johansson, whose metallum credits are longer than a receipt from Coles. Check it out for yourself here. All of this experience has culminated in this full force effort, finally eliminating his need for other bandmates entirely. He does everything on this record to great acclaim – his vocals aren’t as trained or technical but it serves its purpose perfectly. Everything on this record is in line with Swedish death metal so if you know you like that then dig into this with wild abandon. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Swallow The Sun – When A Shadow Is Forced Into Light 9.5 (Doom Metal)

July 17, 2019 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

Four years after the release of their magnum opus Songs from the North, a triple album introduced in 2015, and after the tragic demise of Aleah Starbridge (the front man Juha Raivio’s life partner and Trees of Eternity’s lead vocalist) in 2016, the Finnish death-doom giants have returned with an album which leaves no heart untouched. A short while ago, late 2018, a single album was put forward which best depicted the dark depths of their sorrow: Lumina Aurea, a heart- wrenching blend of black and funeral doom with dashes of folk created by Einar Selvik of Wardruna. […]

Art Feature

Australian Heavypedia: Judd Madden (Solo Doom)

July 12, 2019 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

During my process of contacting bands for the Aussie Metal project I had the fortune of coming across the droning and elaborate tunes of Judd Madden. A prolific solo project from Melbourne. I’m used to one man bands in black metal but it feels less common in doom, a genre often demanding the thickest of sounds. Judd Madden not only manages to do this alone, but also often erring on the side of wistful post-metal. He also has exceptional art across his discography so I knew I had to delve deeper into what he had to offer as an individual musician. As it turns out, there’s a lot to explore – even more than the initial Bandcamp page lets on. I’m most familiar with Cosmic Black Wizard Demon Horse Lord (Top left) which should become a quick favorite for many long form doom metal fans. There’s a decade worth of content, all accessible for free. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Disentomb – “The Decaying Light” 9/10 (Death Metal)

July 12, 2019 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

I was surprised by the opener to be honest, I was expecting some pretty standard death with an emphasis on being as “hard af”. There’s quite a bit of motion and emotion to this introduction, leading into some down-tuned guttural grind with often complex and excited guitars. The aggression feels genuine and sometimes even wounded. My exposure to Disentomb is entirely live and local from some time ago, so I’ll have to go back and check out previous releases. This easily stands up to a lot of the work of Full Of Hell or Unique Leader label-mates Ingested, which seem to be the death grind kings at the moment. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Advent Sorrow – Kali Yuga Crown 8.5 (DSBM)

July 10, 2019 zaxrecordreviews

Advent Sorrow are an Australian black metal band that have been going at it since 2009 to moderate amounts of acclaim. They’ve come back this year with their new album titled “Kali Yuga Crown”.

To get more specific they operate out of the niche genre depressive suicidal black metal, or DSBM for short. It’s not a genre I’ve ever been all that into, but granted it is, as I said, very niche – so not a lot of music comes out of it, and the music that does come out of it rarely makes it’s way to the ears of the uninitiated. That being said, this album is a very good gateway into the genre. It incorporates elements of other genres and sub-genres such as atmospheric black metal, 1st wave black metal, and doom. The atmospheric moments come in the form of occasional keyboard flourishes and melodic guitar riffs, these influences are most present on the closing track “Death In Magic Antagonism.” The doom influences can be found on the track “Caesar” which employs these very slow, sludgy riffs. Then on tracks like “Spearhead” and “Wolf & Weapon” you can see more classic and traditional black metal song structure, especially in the drums. It’s like a black metal layer cake. […]