Album review

2019 Albums

Album Review: Mental Cavity – Neuro Siege 8.6 (Death/Grind)

November 24, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

Do you like death metal? Do you like hardcore? The easy answer to both of these questions is fuck yes! And so you’ll quite enjoy this dark and gritty stomper of a release from Australia. We can’t make any kind of music without throwing a thick layer of sludge on it and that makes me really bloody happy. It’s the cheese of music, you can put it on almost anything. Considering there’s already the presence of hardcore and death metal stylings, this album is basically like locking a bunch of random neighbourhood dogs in a room that’s just got a grimed up tarp on the floor. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Golden Core – Fimbultýr 8.5 (Stoner Doom)

November 23, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

Fimbultýr is a dazzling lofi blend of stoner doom, hard core, death rock and a bunch of stuff. It’s an incredible work that hits just right.This is the right mixing levels for the genre, it’s an older more analogue sounding fuzz. It’s very much the Electric Wizard school of doom and it’s of the highest grade. There’s also grunge and post rock elements that are used effectively, making Fimbultyr an overall engrossing record that should not be overlooked by doomers looking for a harsher longer buzz. […]

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

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

Album Review: Toluca – Soras 8.3 (Post Black/Screamo)

November 13, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

This year has been incredible and if you’ve been reading for a bit now then you’ve seen me become increasingly excited about metal over the course of 2019. I was starting to think it may slump then I started getting some really good submissions from very talented bands putting out music towards the end of the year. Death Metal, black metal and hardcore have been insane this year and so has sludge but until today I didn’t realise I was missing something that I fondly remember having last year – A solid and true to form post hardcore album in the visage of bands like Boss-De-Nage or Birds In Row. Toluca offers an experience equally eloquent and abrasive from the lands of Russia with their new album Soras. Out November 29th via Tokyo Jupiter Records. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Unfathomable Ruination – Enraged And Unbound 9.5 (Brutal Death)

November 12, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

Well this is a hit, there’s death metal for the whole family on Enraged and Unbound, the dad and uncle that still listen to The Big 4 and Morbid Angel, the the older son who likes it a bit more technical, and the youngest of the children becka with the Disentomb tee who likes it fucking dank and filthy. It has guest vocals by death metal growlers Julien Truchan from Benighted and Sven de Caluwé from Aborted. The album art is a work made by the incredible Eliran Kantor. This album is like the heisenberg recipe of pure death metal and it comes out November 22nd on Willowtip Records. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Holy Serpent – Endless 10 (Stoner/Gaze)

November 4, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

Endless is straight up ‘the shit’, that’s the most important fact of this review. It’s an album that has made me swoon like few others this year and it’s not exactly that metal or heavy. It is however, perfectly suited to the current climate of stoner rock and doom, bringing something quite zesty and refreshing, a fusion of fuzz, alt rock and doom rock. I’m hearing influences from Type O Negative and My Bloody Valentine, it’s super inspired and engorged with energy despite the doomy tempo. They nailed it musically and in terms of doom aesthetic – something Australia has been refining for some time now. […]