2019 Albums

2019 Albums

Album Review: Crusadist – “The Unholy Grail” 7/10 (Death/Thrash)

November 23, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

A solid name combining the ideas of violent holy crusades and pure human sadism, Crusadist are a Chicago based death metal band with a helping of thrash influence. Their debut LP The Unholy Grail is generally a modern style of death metal but with the old school thrash metal hooks. It’s here that people may divide, depending on how they feel about thrash metal in general, personally I find it to be a stagnant genre that brings a lot of repetition to this album. Others may say it brings more groove to the album. In reality, it’s likely to be somewhere in between with the solid mixing and recording evening it all out. It’s an interesting album either way and a hearty independent release, check out the new lyric video for the track “For Blood And Conquest” below. The Unholy Grail drops on black friday 2019 (29th November). […]

2019 Albums

Microdose: À l’Ombre d’Héméra – En Route Vers Le Grand Vide (Post Metal)

November 21, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

En Route Vers Le Grand Vide is a really tight post metal EP from Qeubec, Canada. As I often do with releases that complex me in some way, I’ve gotten some insight from the bands drummer Dieter who shed some light on the meanings starting with their name, “À l’Ombre d’Héméra means in the shadow of, so it literally means in the shadow of daylight.” says the drummer, “We think it fits well with the music because we try to play with contrasts, hard and heavy, but also fragile and breakable.” […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Wandar – Zyklus 9 (Black Metal)

November 19, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

Zyklus is an outstanding black metal record that not a lot of people have heard over here and I’m honestly surprised. The quality and creative direction are both high end and it’s presented eloquently. Wandar are a German band who have been around since 2006 putting out music independently. I received the cassette from indie tape bistro Repose Records earlier this year and it has since become one of my favorite tapes. It’s also out on Vinyl, very recently actually. I’d recommend this to any black metal fan, especially those I see on social media growing weary of post-black releases this year. Wandar encompass most forms of black metal and won’t bore you about it. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Oak – Lone 8 (Death Doom)

November 18, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

Is this Treebeards band? The vocals deadset sound like they’re coming for a colossal fucking tree. I shit you not. OAK are a death doom duo from Portugal and this is Lone, their debut LP featuring the artwork of Paolo Gerardi. There’s a strong presence with OAK that I think has carried over from their experience writing black metal songs in the band Gaerea. While it is certainly death doom, it is sometimes coated in black influence – particularly the song structure and vocal execution. Lone will be a memorable late year release many doom heads will take with them into 2020. […]

2019 Albums

Microdose: Xeno Ooze – Parasligm Shift (Grindcore)

November 17, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

Xeno Ooze are a unique new force in the grind underground. They formed in 2018 – making this their very first LP, but you couldn’t guess that just from listening. I love the level of vocal commitment on this album, it’s a hardcore style that sounds super throaty. It plays well the trebelled out mix of lofi grind and sludge riffage. It’s also a lot of fun, something important for any grindcore album no matter how bad ass the covers get. […]

2019 Albums

Micro Dose: Earth Eater – Immortal (Deathcore)

November 16, 2019 zaxrecordreviews

Earth Eater are a pretty eclectic deathcore group, they tackle several styles, but it all comes together very well. That is probably pulled off due to the overall talent of all the members here, everyone is obviously extremely proficient with their instruments. There are parts of this that sound like slamming deathcore, and technical deathcore, and even metalcore, the track “Longclaw” even brought in some classical instrumentation. It’s produced very well, it sounds immaculate.

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2019 Albums

Eternal Rest – The Picture Of Hatred (Death Metal)

November 16, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

Brisbane has been coming out with some pretty awesome metal lately and Eternal Rest are no exception to this. Their third album The Picture Of Hatred has a lot to boast about for a band from such a humble part of the world (arse end of Australia, I’m here too so I can admit it) such as having this release on the American label Gore House Productions, album art from french artist Remy Cooper and being mixed by the iconic Dan Swano (what?!). With this in mind you might be imagining something quite fancy or even melodic… Yeah nah, this album is filthy, often finding itself on the grind side of death. There’s a sense of nihilism and discomfort, so naturally I enjoy it. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Scargzlot – Wolf’s Atonement 8 (Black Metal)

November 16, 2019 zaxrecordreviews

Here in the states and surrounding countries, winter is coming on. Hell, depending on where you are, you might already be getting the brunt of it. With winter comes changes, like the weather, and the holidays, and the very distinct difference in mood, atmosphere, and aesthetic. I find black metal to fit winter quite well, so naturally I jam a lot of black metal around this time of year. […]

2019 Albums

Microdose: Ploughshare – Tellurian Insurgency (Sludge/Black)

November 14, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

Well that was unsettling. Ploughshare play a fucked kind of black/death/sludge metal that will make you feel physically unsafe even in the comfort of your own home. Tellurian Insurgency is their brand new EP through Aussie label Brilliant Emperor and it releases on the 29th of November. Not an album for the easily scared, if this is you, then turn your radio back on and continue listening to Kyle and Jackie-O, you clicked the wrong social media link. Happens to the best of us. […]