music

2020 Albums

Album Review: Voidfire – Ogień Pustki 7.5 (Black Metal)

January 29, 2020 Noob Heavy admin

Voidfire are coming into the scene strong with a well presented debut album entitled Ogień Pustki, and it is a concept album “based on the theme of finding artistic inspiration in emotional suffering” according to the band. Immediately the most eye catching thing is the mysterious artwork, this time skipping Lewandowski and going straight to the source, a licensed piece from Zdzisław Beksiński made in 1976. It’s a bloody strong artwork to have and will surely find the band stuck in the minds of many this year. The sound on hand here is some tight melodic black metal for lonely hearts, with a kicking drum for marching into the gloom. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Thy Catafalque – Naiv 8.7 (Avant Garde)

January 25, 2020 Noob Heavy admin

When confronted with the ambiguous genre tag of avant garde I toss aside all expectations because it can either be a complete waste of time or something glorious and I have no way of knowing which way it’s going to go. Naiv is in the latter category, bringing a rejuvenating sound that has an interesting swing to it. It only took the second track to make me fall in love. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Grey Skies Fallen – Cold Dead Lands 7.5 (Death Doom)

January 18, 2020 Noob Heavy admin

The first thing which is worth mentioning in this album is its artistic cover. I am totally in favor of bands actually taking artwork into serious consideration and GSF is a band worthy of praise for their meticulous choice of album covers which are of esthetic value. This piece is a dark and sort of fantastical image of a land of doom. The shadowy and blurry atmosphere in which some human silhouettes and an obelisk are barely visible on top of some coastal rocks has created a nightmarish sight. It is indeed a glimpse into a cold dead land. Thumbs up to the artist Travis Smith, who has previously worked with giants like Death, Katatonia, Amorphis, Iced Earth, Anathema and Opeth, for creating yet another superb work of art. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Novembers Doom – Nephilim Grove 8.3 (Doom Metal)

December 9, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

Nephilim Grove marks the American death doom giants, Novembers Doom’s 30th anniversary. Indeed, an infrequent feat (at least these days) to celebrate. Thirty years of firm, ferocious and fanciful activity, breaking necks as well as breaking hearts. Having been released on November 1st, the album insinuates, all so subtly, the symbolic capacity that it possesses: the quintessence of the band’s career or their next step on their path… or maybe simultaneously both? […]

grindcore

Australian Heavypedia: Abu Ghraib (Grindcore)

November 24, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

I encountered Abu Ghraib on the Metal Archives while first scouting for this project and their band photo was so funny and endearing I ended up saving it “for later” which I guess is now because they’ve recently released a massive grind album that surpasses even their sublime memery in ability and entertainment value. There was no sign of this beast earlier in the year with just a demo to their name and hardly an online presence but now I’m convinced they are going to be huge, well, as huge as grindcore can get in this country. […]

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

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: 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. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Rings Of Saturn – Gidim 10 (Deathcore)

October 28, 2019 Noob Heavy admin

Rings Of Saturn have been around for a bit perfecting their insane brand of techno death metal, and with this latest album they prove they can soar alongside current titans Infant Annihilator and Cattle Decapitation. 2019 keeps upping the vocal game and setting an insane standard that most just can’t compete with. Add an overgrown child prodigy of a guitarist and you’ve got the essence of RoS, it’s excessive… and fancy. Utilizing brutality with finesse rather than toxic bravado. I’ve heard so many albums try to reach this peak but fall short, so it’s not without pause that I consider this one of the greatest tech death works of like… the decade? Imagine if Dragonforce was good. […]