2020 Albums

2020 Albums

Album Review: Serpent Column – “Kathodos” 8.5/10 (Black Metal)

November 2, 2020 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

Upon first listen, I’m immediately reminded of the first time that I listened to some of the “catchier” tracks off of DeathSpell Omega’s Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice. There’s a lot of dissonance and discordance going on in this album and Theophonos – the sole member of Serpent Column – delivers it in full dose on this album. In fact, he goes perhaps even one step further by starting the opening track “Departure of Splinters” in what sounds like the middle of a song, like changing dials on a radio station and hearing the tail-end of a really cool Black Metal song. Then, in comes a funky head-bobbing rhythm with some off-kilter drums and a toe-tapping beat. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Fumarole – “Valley Of Ten Thousand Smokes” 9/10 (Stoner Doom)

October 17, 2020 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

Brisbane’s Fumarole have been around since 2018. They dropped the “Mountain” EP in 2018 and have released 3 singles leading up to the ambitious concept album “ Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes”. The album was recorded and mixed by Scott French of Lovestreet Studios, Gold Coast. Mastered by Haldor Grunberg of Satanic Audio in Poland, this is a great sounding album that excellently captures the live prowess of the band and is dripping in classic stoner goodness. Got a light? […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Enslaved – “Utgard” 6.7/10 (Black Metal)

October 10, 2020 hardalbumreview

Among all the albums I was looking forward to, Enslaved’s new release was one of the very top. I have profusely enjoyed their works, old and new alike, well mostly the older ones and maybe E excluded, but Utgard, in short, was far from satisfactory and way below my expectations bar. Don’t get me wrong. Utgard IS Enslaved, but it is not the Enslaved we, the old fans, want. They have kept an overall tinge of their true Norwegian Progressive Black Metal nature, but this new sound is so distorted and contorted that makes you question the band’s current trajectory. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Gloom – “Awaken” 8.1/10 (Gothic Metal)

September 23, 2020 hardalbumreview

The twenty-year-old Gothic band from Slovakia, Gloom, has recently published their third studio album titled Awaken. I certainly hope that with this album, they begin to awaken their artistic instincts and produce more music in the future. It is true that gothic music has long passed its 80s and 90s prime, and been largely replaced by similar genres of symphonic rock or symphonic metal, bands like Gloom still capture the essence of this dramatically melancholic and lovelorn style and keep the candle lit in this darkness. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Ewigkeit – “23” 7/10 (Stoner/Prog)

September 23, 2020 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

A lot of fun right here, well, it’s short due to being an EP but what’s there is a very fun stoner love letter to the 70s. The thing that really ties it together for me, is the fact that it’s themed around my favorite books of all time, the Illuminatis! Trilogy. I’m used to a lot of whacky themes that are far more common than people realise (particularly in stoner), but I’ve yet to see any Discordian representation as of yet. If you’re in the know, then you’ll have fun cherry picking this release for references, artwork included, which draws upon Discordianism’s love of gratuitous symbolism. Be prepared for the most I’ve used air quotes in an article. […]