ALBUM REVIEW: Jaye Jayle – Don’t Let Your Love Life Get You Down


 

Jaye Jayle is effectively the solo project of Evan Patterson, and Don’t Let Your Love Life Get You Down (Pelagic Records) is his first offering since his divorce from Emma Ruth Rundle — a topic which seems to have informed both the title and the content of this new record.

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ALBUM REVIEW: PJ Harvey – I Inside The Old Year Dying


 

Venerated singer-songwriter PJ Harvey has returned with her tenth album, the first since her 2016 release The Hope Six Demolition Project. This new record is entitled I Inside the Old Year Dying (Partisan Records) and Harvey has once again collaborated with producers Flood and John Parish.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Holy Popes – Holy Popes


 

Formed right before the great lockdown of 2020, Bristol-based trio Holy Popes eagerly put out their debut self-titled album via Man Demolish Records. Having played their first show the week the pandemic hit, one can imagine how much songwriting inspiration has piled up for them since. Each song turns a simple guitar riff into an earworm groove, then sprinkles some noisy chaos onto it for a raucous result you’ll quickly find yourself involuntarily moving to. Couple that with their indignant resistance to capitalism and patriarchy, and you have the very epitome of post-garage punk.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Mortem – Slow Death


Oh, what a surprise it was to get to do a piece on the re-release of Norwegian black metal legends Mortem’s Slow Death! A huge thank you to Peaceville for deciding to throw this one back out there in a two-disc set containing the original recordings along with some of the demos. Included in the release is the original 1989 booklet with an extended band history and some awesome rare images. I am actually finding it kind of hard to pick a place to begin!

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ALBUM REVIEW: Monster Magnet – A Better Dystopia


Monster Magnet probably needs no introduction to anyone who has paid any degree of attention to the alternative rock scene over the last 25 years or more. The band has always been unashamedly and unapologetically rockist in their approach. Largely ignoring scenes such as grunge as they have come and gone, Monster Magnet have managed to pump out album after album of classic heavy rock, and they continue to play to huge audiences. Somehow they have always stood out from the crowd of rock revivalists and “stoner” bands. Whilst the music of many of these retro bands so often feels tired and trite when compared to the 60s or 70s bands they try to copy, they always exuded a special kind of conviction, authenticity and raw power that sets them apart. Maybe this has something to do with (singer, guitar player and only original member) Dave Wyndorf having been born in 1956 and so having actually lived through the 60s and 70s. Either way, the music has always felt just as legitimate and classy as records by Motörhead or Deep Purple.

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Deathkings – Ex Nihilo


I guess Deathkings really missed us since the release of 2016’s All That is Beautiful and decided to do something really nice about it. Being the sweethearts that they are this Los Angeles collective have gifted us a little something in the form a new EP, Ex Nihilo (self-released). And while it’s only two tracks on the shorter end of the spectrum (compared to the usual Sludge/Doom fare) it’s a potent and deadly reminder of what Deathkings is capable of.Continue reading


EXCLUSIVE ALBUM STREAM – Wald Krypta – Nature Enigma


Throwback North American Black Metal act Wald Krypta will release their new full-length album, Nature Enigma, tomorrow via the Eternal Death label. The band plays uncompromising raw kvlt music that hearkens to the early lo-fi days of real true black metal, as opposed to its lesser modern-sounding, too pretty offshoots. Ghost Cult is proud to share the full album stream to you today before it drops tomorrow. Continue reading


Wolvhammer – The Monuments of Ash & Bone


Oh, Black Metal production values, why do you do this to me? I’m not sure if it started with the proto-Black Metal of Venom, or if it’s a holdover of the second wave of that overtook Norway in the early 1990s, but it’s still here with us. It’s certainly all over Wolvhammer’s latest punisher, The Monuments of Ash & Bone (Blood Music).

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Conan Launches New Side Project, DOS, Debut Album Later In 2017


 

Conan frontman Jon Davis has launched a new side project, DOS, termed as a “lo-fi” heavy metal . DOS also features Joe Allen of Kurokuma on drums. The band is heading into Sykhammer Studio now for a 2017 release. Continue reading


Crystal Fairy – Crystal Fairy


Gobsmacking is the word I’d use to describe Crystal Fairy’s newest, self-titled album (Ipecac Recordings). This aural stunner that is the Crystal Fairy album is brought to you by the good people of Teri Gender Bender from Le Butcherettes, Buzz and Dale from The Melvins, and Omar from At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta. Continue reading