ALBUM REVIEW: Voyager – Fearless In Love


 

For many who tuned into the Eurovision Song Contest in May, Australian entrants Voyager were just another fun, novelty rock act. Crowd-pleasers with wild hair and even wilder grins, the Aussie five-piece were still a markedly different proposition to the previous hard rock and metal participants in the completely serious competition reserved strictly for European countries, featuring absolutely no politically motivated judging whatsoever.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Blackbraid – Blackbraid II


Flowing down from the Adirondack Mountains in New York, just as the rivers do, Blackbraid returns with the second chapter, Blackbraid II (self-released). Created by Sgah’gahsowáh, Blackbraid quickly took the black metal world by storm with his stunning self-titled just last year that mixed atmospheric black metal with indigenous American mythology and history.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Tjære & Lil Snus – NikotinTapen


Norway’s very own Sandvika and Finnmark-bound newcomers Tjære and Lil Snus have been doing an impeccable job in representing a consistent branding of an anti-authoritarian death cult that is against bogus, ingenuine, mass-produced capitalist systems in the industry. They strongly aspire to show people who understand their values and what they’re aiming for and to advocate what they stand for.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Saint Karloff – Paleolithic War Crimes


 

Norwegians Saint Karloff formed in 2015 and their debut full-length All Heed the Black God followed in 2018. The latest album Paleolithic War Crimes (Majestic Mountain Records) comes as something of a bittersweet release following the sad loss of bassist and founding member Ole ‘Karloff’ Sletner in 2021 (RIP). The writing for this record had started in 2019 with Ole very much on board and to quote the band ultimately, “reflects a band in transition and exploring new paths, but at the same time it retains that proper heavy Karloff-vibe.”

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ALBUM REVIEW: Khanate – To Be Cruel – Sacred Bones Records


 

Seemingly coming out of the blue — like the sudden emergence of a horrible memory buried for years — drone doom supergroup Khanate returns with To Be Cruel (released digitally on May 19th and on physical formats on June 30th via Sacred Bones Records) the group’s first album since 2009’s Clean Hands Go Foul. Shrouded in secrecy prior to its release, To Be Cruel delivers three tracks and 62 mins of harsh, cold, sparse, experimental sounds fit to ruin any good day.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Demonstealer – The Propaganda Machine


 

One of the most influential figures in the constantly evolving Indian metal scene, vocalist and guitarist Demonstealer (aka Sahil Makhija) is probably best known for fronting progressive technical death metal act Demonic Resurrection. Since 2000, Makhija has been integral to the growth and development of a metal scene in a country not exactly renowned for its metallic input. Not just via his music and the establishment of India’s first designated metal recording studio, a record label (Demonstealer Records), and metal-centric festival (Resurrection Festival), but by creating Headbanger’s Kitchen, the world’s first heavy metal cookery show. Because why not.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Acid King – Beyond Vision


 

Beyond Vision (Blues Funeral Recordings) marks Acid King‘s fifth full-length album to date and its thirtieth anniversary as a band since their formation. It’s also the follow-up to 2015’s overlooked Middle of Nowhere, Centre of Everything album which Lori referred to in a recent interview on Conan Neutron‘s Protonic Reversal show with a hope of reissuing it at some point. Fingers crossed.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Søstre – Søstre


Bergen, which is located in the heart of southwestern Norway, is widely known for producing an army of all-around great bands in the extreme metal scene – Borknagar, Enslaved, and Immortal, to name a few. Being the home of the renowned Norse sonic warriors Wardruna as well, there are almost always exciting things to look forward to in the Bergen scene. One of them is definitely the newest self-titled release by the up-and-coming psychonauts Søstre!

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ALBUM REVIEW: The Levellers – Together All The Way


 

Like Status Quo did with their unexpectedly good Aquostic I and II albums in 2014 and 2016, British Folk Rock band The Levellers are remodelling hits from their back catalogue for their latest self-released album Together All The Way. This is a spiritual sequel to their 2018 album We The Collective, but instead of acoustic versions, they have stripped everything back to a more traditional folk sound.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Necropanther – Betrayal


 

Deviating slightly from the science fiction themes of their first three albums, magnificently named Colorado thrashers Necropanther base their latest record, Betrayal (Self-Released), on a combination of Walter Hill‘s 1979 seminal classic The Warriors and Xenophon‘s Anabasis, the ancient Greek story from which The Warriors was originally adapted.

 

Having previously chosen The Terminator, Dune, and Logan’s Run for inspiration, the science fiction element might have been pushed somewhat into the background on Betrayal but the dystopian landscape of cult cinema remains firmly in focus. A story about a small group having to fight their way across enemy territory to get home is prime pickings for thrash metal and Necropanther don’t let the opportunity slip.

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