Now Playing

[Thorn]

Cryptic Shift - Overspace and Supertime 9/10
Four listens on one day and given the exorbitant length of this thing that's some serious life hours given over to trying, still, after six months, to successfully navigate this labyrinth. And still wondorously lost.

Sorcery - Blood Chilling Tales 8/10
Recorded in just four days at Sunlight, this for me is an unsung gem of Swedish Death Metal.

Beyond Creation - Algorythm 7.5/10
Last from their trio of records to date saw the Canadian mavericks really pushing the prog envelope, maybe a little too much tecnichal ecstasy for me but pretty stunning nonetheless. New single out earlier this year yet no news of a new album. Eight years is a long time  but they're seemingly happy to tour the 15th anniversary of their debut this year.

Warfect - Spectre of Devastation 7.5
Blind pick up, liked the cover, aggressive Swedish Thrash from 2020 that reminds me of The Crown at times. Definitely would go in again on these guys.

Moonspell - Far From God 7/10
New Moonspell, always a mandatory purchase here even if they occupy somewhat of a space space musical plateux these days. No peaks or troughs then across these 42 minutes but the dark ,sombre beauty of Moonspell remains intact and Fernando in particular is on top form, his rich, sonorous vocals sound as good as ever.

Tulus - Morbid Desires 7/10
Stylistically erratic, veers from mid tempo BM with added flamenco guitar to big, bluesy Sabbath riffs with added harmonica but I quite enjoyed this new one from the Norwegians. They bemoan their lack of status within the scene but album covers like these aren't going to put them on the radar of rank and file Black Metallers and their music is probably too adventurous anyway. Probably too late now to pick a style and stick to it.

[open face surgery]

Cryptic Shift - Overspace and Supertime 9/10
Four listens on one day and given the exorbitant length of this thing that's some serious life hours given over to trying, still, after six months, to successfully navigate this labyrinth. And still wondorously lost.

As it happens, I finally gave this a listen earlier. Wild stuff. A lot to take in but sounds great.

[Thorn]

It is, I don't know if I'll ever get my head around it which is incredibly frustrating but enticing at the same time.