How The Great Have Fallen is the third album from British metal band Raging Speedhorn, and is the final album with the original vocal duo of Frank Regan and John Loughlin. The first thing to notice is the massive step off a cliff in regards to production. It feels almost like a purposeful attempt to change things up for album number three, but the sad reality is that nearly all of these songs would have…

A poor man’s soup of post-something garbage. Whatever the artistic and stylistic reasons for the seismic shift in genre and sound, it matters not because this album truly and completely sucks ass. Honestly, a head-scratching choice all round. I don’t really have anything positive or constructive to say so I’m just going to leave it at that.

A slow, harrowing, disgusting crawl through a painful set of songs. Like wading through tar, or something. Production seems infinitely worse than both Filth and Cop before it; the sound has this strange hollowness to it; as if you’ve been dealt a catastrophic blow to the head and are listening to this whilst drifting in and out of consciousness. “I Crawled” is easily the highlight here, and the song went on to reoccur several times…

In my eyes, Hypnotize is the only real “missed step” in the original SOAD run. And, it’s not like they came out with a stinker of an album, it’s just Hypnotize struggles to live up to the gargantuan heights achieved by it’s sister release, Mezmerize. It has the exact same production (it may even be the same session, if I’m not mistaken?) and some excellent individual songs, but fails to function on the same level…

Dead Again is a strange one. In some respects, it shows the band coming “full circle”; at least in morphing all of their various styles and ideas over the years together, yet also shows them moving forward at the same time. Dead Again is unlike many of the Type O records before it, and is the first one since Bloody Kisses to feature non-programmed drums (and the first – and only – one to feature…

On this split, Venymysgourvleydh provide us with a dense and claustrophobic black metal experience. The drum programming on this session is so relentless that it’s almost quite suffocating; entering the realms of grind or even gabber with it’s hypnotic and over-the-top barrage of percussion. Underneath however is a morose layer of weeping riffs and wraith-like vocals, which is just lovely, to be honest. Collier d’Ombre are not a million miles away from that same sonic…

We Will Be Dead Tomorrow is everything you could possibly want from a follow-up album. The sound of the band’s debut is built upon and matured into a seriously listenable affair for something that is so dreadfully dark and shouty. From the damnable blasts of “Scrapin’ The Resin” (story of my wasted youth, that) or “Me and You Man”, to the dare I say more introspective numbers such as “Heartbreaker”, We Will Be Dead Tomorrow…

Short version: woman shouts into microphone Long version: The Litanies Of Satan (comprised of two parts) is a harrowing listening experience based almost entirely around the artist’s maddening vocal layering; shouting, screaming, wailing, yelping – you name it! It’s all brought together here in a clattering cacophony of potentially self-indulgent yet absolutely terrifying sound. Of course this came from New York.

I know nothing of this genre or artist so please do not expect an in-depth review. The sounds are quite magical and enrapturing however. As a fan of folk and neo-folk music I can appreciate a twinkling acoustic guitar as much as the next man, but Venus in Cancer is so much more, with additional elements created by far more worldly instruments than my limited knowledge can decipher. Basho’s vocals are like chalk and cheese…

It’s always amazed me that a band that is / was so firmly a part of the British underground was also rather successful with “the kids” at the time. Like, when I was a nipper, there was a bunch of smelly goths in my school a year or so older than me and they all fucking loved Raging Speedhorn. I’d imagine Kerrang! having a lot of “blame” for this, as RS were featured often in…

Really fun and interesting stoner metal that pulls as much from the school of Kyuss and desert rock as it does from the more murky worlds of Doom metal. One thing that really stood out to me about Polar Fleet on the first listen is that the songs are not attempts at 6/7/8 minute monoliths (which often results in boring, dragged out songs in the over-saturated doom world, let’s be honest). The production on this…

UGH! Holy fuck, I slept on this. This shit rips. How do you produce an album that’s so heavy it feels like you are drowning in some sort of tar or sludge and you can barely move, yet this is still nimble and dexterous as fuck? I have no idea, ask fucking Rippikoulu. 30 minutes here of solid, super dynamic and super interesting death metal. Brilliant!

Okay… so this is a thing that happened. I’m not sure what tectonic series of events occurred that set in motion the stack of dominos that tumbled down into this final result, but here we are. This is now! This is the future! Speaking of which… is… is that a cyborg BlackGoat on the cover? Oof marone! Anyway, this is pretty silly but also a lot of fun. It feels a bit strange hearing Goatmoon…

Excellent, almost NWOBHM inspired heavy metal with nice frosty touches that almost reminds me of dodgy 70s exploitation films or the kinda vibes you get from “Magick Metal” (sans the Nazi shit), Treacherous Beast is not a long EP at only 10 minutes in length, but it is terribly catchy (especially the title track). A short teaser of a record that absolutely leaves you wanting to know more about these guys.

Banging! Sounds as sweaty as the basement club you can imagine this playing in (at unfathomable volumes, no less). It’s an alternative lifestyle theme night and you’ve just seen your boss being led around the dance floor on a leash by woman who could be a Mortal Kombat villain. Or something.

Without wanting to be too melodramatic, Happy? is everything I worried that Album would be (yes, the album before this album, which is called Album). Album was so poppy and drenched in a sunny, up-beat 80s production, that I worried it would be the death of PiL’s experimental and weird side. Whilst Album retains PiL’s uniqueness, I unfortunately cannot say the same for Happy?, which succumbs far more heavily to the vices of the 80s…

Fairly clean compared to how I usually like my black metal but this is just my own personal preference rather than a defect; the music on display here is nimble and dexterous and the guitar playing is exciting enough to keep you interested for the whole demo. I wouldn’t go as far to say it’s polished, but the drums have a nice heft to them and the vocals are pretty great too. I’d absolutely give…

Really cool and evocative black metal with excellent synth passages and incredible artwork to boot. The whole package, you could say. For real, this is pretty exciting stuff, and an excellent listen. Highly recommended in my book!

Fogwraith (assuming that they are the first band up) get a bit lost amongst the reeds (or is that within the fog). There’s no clear definition to what they are trying to achieve, but it’s not an unpleasant listening experience. Flagellant are my kind of black metal. Production is natural and raw without being unlistenable lofi garbage, and the drums sound absolutely fantastic. It won’t be the most original thing you’ll hear, but it definitely…

Excellent black metal. Perfect measures of melody and necrotic lofi hell. Matches the horrors of the unknown and the profane darkened secrets of the universe with the more grounded and relatable experience of the simple pleasure of loud music. Entranced together, we must drink of this cup and become ascended. Or something.

I’m almost loathe to say it, because naturally I’d like to think that I would personally prefer more challenging and experimental music, but PiL’s Album – a fairly straightforward and pleasant record in comparison to some of their others – is their best album to date chronologically. The meandering weirdness of the previous records is dialled back, and the songs whilst not particularly traditional in how they are laid out are indeed more streamlined than…

Me: Mom, I really want the new Godflesh record. Mom: No, Linesinwaxxx, we already have Godflesh at home Godflesh at home: (fr though this is fucking excellent, even for such a shameless rip off)

Looking at the cover of this thing you’d expect some sort of Orange Goblin style stoner or biker metal (I am also perhaps used to seeing this sorts of devil women on the walls of tattoo shops which only strengthens that association). Of course, you will not get anything of the sort here. Lords Of Acid are a legendary techno / dance act from Belgium, and Voodoo-U is their second album. This thing rarely lets…

Cold, decrepit, miserable, depressing, tepid, deathly, drab, sorrowful. This is what DSBM should sound like, no? Thankfully, early Xasthur helped set the bar for such hideous, menacing music. Nocturnal Poisoning is a journey through a pit of mourning and unfathomable darkness.

More happy, cheeky chappy punk with naughty lyrics from everyone’s favourite demented sex pests, The Dwarves. As with most records in the latter part of the group’s discography, the vibes vary wildly, from thrashy crossover stuff, snotty skate punk and even silly slicker stuff. There’s also some songs appearing here that were on the previous album, so no idea what that’s about.

This one’s a bit harder to find than it should be in today’s digital and terminally online life, but it’s well worth hunting down. It shows Exploited flexing their muscles a little and exploring some other styles, especially in the ways of postpunk. Of course, this is Wattie and Co we’re talking about here so things still hit hard like walking out in front of a truck on a country road. Speaking of which, my…

It’s almost unbelievable that Dimmu Borgir once sounded like this, if you take the last 25+ years of songwriting into account. This EP possesses a much more “second wave” sound than basically everything else in their discography, including the debut For All Tid.

A surprisingly streamlined and focussed effort from PiL, who have thusfar been getting more and more abstract with each passing studio album. Their 4th does not eschew all of their postpunk weirdness, but the rigid, military-precise backbone of 80s synth pop underpins most of the songs here. The band have had tight rhythm sections in the past, but you could set your watch by this one. John Lydon also has a lucidity to his presence…

Thoroughly enjoyable psych / doom / stoner stuff with very cool artwork. As you would except, this thing meanders all over the place, with lots of guitar solos and spacey musical motifs throughout. Do not expect the wheel to be reinvented, but if you want a solid, well-written and fun album, look no further.

The patchiest entry into the otherwise excellent Dungeons & Catacombs compilation series; III is mostly excellent but is dragged down by a few compositions of questionable quality, as well as a fucking cover of a Christmas song and also a Burzum cover. These entries heavily give the impression that the series is running out of steam and really cheapen what is otherwise a nice little collection of dark dungeon tunes.

Dra Sad II has a totally different vibe from the first, with a much more dreamy and ambient feel. These elements have always been present, but are much more apparent here, especially in the fantastic closing track, the 16 minute “Neghu”. Very inspiring!

After very much enjoying Dra Sad III fairly recently I decided to go back and start at the beginning. The first entry is very epic indeed, like the soundtrack to some very important battle that will decide the fate of the realm, or something. It is also incredibly well produced. It is the perfect soundtrack for grinding out levels in your RPG / MMO of choice.

Wow, what a mess! But truly, such a dark and evil and satanic mess! Shambolic yet endearing in the same way as I suppose Graveland is, minus all of the Viking shit. Drunken, soused, pickled black metal from within the unholy boundaries of Finland.

This album is just one giant breakdown and I am absolutely here for it. The underpinning monolith that is Jah Wobble is very clearly absent, but despite this I would not say that PiL has suffered massively for his absence. Perhaps they are even more meandering and dreamy now than before, but they still do a good job of keeping their maddening songs grounded in a solid bass rumble. I can’t say that the other…

Considering how great the later Beatles albums are, Yellow Submarine seems like a bit of a side step. The records have been growing and growing in experimentation and I suppose maturity for lack of a better term, but Yellow Submarine just seems totally pointless to me, especially considering it’s significance in the overall cultural zeitgeist and image surrounding The Beatles. Granted, a lot of this has to do with the film, but I can’t help…

Imagine my surprise at realising I hadn’t written about this one yet! It’s only one of the most well-known Davis records, it’s no big deal haha Anyway, Kind Of Blue is a legendary record that needs little introduction or preamble from someone of such ill repute as myself. Released in ‘59 however, it is a far cry from the sometimes maddening experimental pieces that would come from Davis and the various incarnations of his band….

Exultation Of Cruelty, seemingly coming out of nowhere (although I hardly keep up with the breaking news when it comes to Finnish black metal), takes the crown for black metal in 2024. It is one of the strongest Satanic Warmaster records ever made, which is pretty fucking exciting considering how long this project has been going for now. Comparisons to Judas Iscariot are apt, but a tad reductive. It still sounds like Satanic Warmaster to…

An interesting blend of metal; a true cauldron of styles and approaches, with a fantastic yet grounded production. It is easy to get lost in the cheese and polish when it comes to making anything power metal adjacent, but Adramelch’s debut stays bolted firmly down to earth. My one personal complaint is about the vocals, which I am really struggling to enjoy, but that’s a personal thing, no doubt. Interesting one, this. I have no…

I’ve been spinning this a lot recently. It’s a fairly excellent slice of black metal, and one that surprises me more and more on repeat listens. I don’t have pages of notes about this, but it’s recommended.

One of the better “off the beaten track” offerings in the “magick metal” world. At first, it comes across as yet another murky entry in the style, but as the record unfolds it takes some surprising twists and turns. The guitar playing in particular is of note; with doomy, stoned riffs and ripping, widdly soloing. Despite this, the production is decidedly low key, ensuring that we remain fully entranced by and firmly Under The Spell…

I’ve come back to Metal Box countless times over the years, but I have never really been able to put my finger on what’s going on here. It walks an incredibly strange line between three things; pop sensibility, post-punk obtuseness, and chill-as-fuck dub. I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be feeling, and that’s ok, but it’s not really helped in allowing me to form some coherent thoughts on what’s actually going on, before…

PiL are a band that has always passed me by. I’m not sure why, as they surely spearheaded the post-punk movement along with other bands from the late 70s, such as Wire. The Fall, Killing Joke, and even Christian Death on the other side of the Atlantic. Sure, all of these (PiL included) would go off on their own paths, but at their gestation, the core of their sound was based on weird and angular…

Skeletonwitch are one of those bands that have always existed on the fringes of my musical periphery (lol), but Beyond The Permafrost is a fantastic record that I vividly remember coming out. It’s a bit “one note” perhaps, and the cover art looks like something a bog standard late 00s Relapse Records doom and or sludge band would use, but the groups potent mix of various metal subgenres really comes together rather perfectly. The standout…

I read on RYM recently someone calling Dwarves “Pro Tools punk” and whilst I think that’s an unfair statement in regards to singling out this band (many, many bands in various genres sound overproduced – modern metal is especially guilty of this), I can’t help but shake that thought when listening to this very latest Dwarves album. The sound is bigger and more expansive here, and the “experimental” elements of their sound are given more…

I’m not gonna lie, I did not have high hopes for this, but The Dwarves Take Back The Night really surprised me. It’s hardly original, but some of the later Dwarves records are abysmal. Not this one. The record hits harder, like everyone involved has had a shot in the arm. Musically, things lean more into thrash / crossover than ever before, and the production is a bit heavier too. Did we need another Dexter…

Christ, this is awful. A lot of this “magick metal” stuff is known for being somewhat less than stellar (it’s part of the charm, oddly), but this record is bordering on fucking abysmal. Musically, it’s not so bad, pretty mediocre but the vocals on this record are incredibly bad. They really drag it down to the point where it’s almost unlistenable. A shame.

A long record, but one that unfolds through different moods and ideas over time, so you don’t really mind the extended playtime. A glorious combination of retro-sounding beats inter-spliced with spacey, dense synth passages. Great atmospheric music.

Came for the dungeon synth, stayed for the incredibly dark and moving atmospheric soundscapes! Holy shit, if there was ever the ideal “music” to accompany some sort of forbidden occult ritual then it would be this. Brilliant!

For all their early reputation and absurd live performances; their sketchy vibe and sleazy attitude… by the time we get to The Dwarves Invented Rock & Roll they have fallen firmly and squarely into the camp of “old punk rockers singing about the same shit they did when they were teenagers.” On one hand, you can commend them for staying true (or returning to their core / root sound and sticking with it), but on…

I love the concept of this album title. Old meets new! Knight meets nerd! Ha! As far as the record goes, the excellent Quest Master blends olde worlde dungeon synth passages with more modern production and beats. The “beats” however aren’t obnoxious or intrusive, and the whole thing blends together extremely well. It seems simple on paper but it warrants multiple listens to truly appreciate the balance.

OK so, if you are able to read that title out without thinking of Groundskeeper Willie then you are a stronger man than me. This kooky, twisted proto-dungeon synth record is a rewarding listen for those who have strayed far from the beaten path. It is however, quite patchy. Some of the later tracks are very rough indeed, but The Shinning Moon (Ackh!) is worth the delve for completionists and historians of this nerdy genre.

Comes across like a long, free-form jam. Production is fantastic for a live record and whilst it’s a touch “meandering” the musicianship is phenomenal. Personally, I will always pick Live-Evil or Agartha from this era, but this is a pleasure to listen to.

A BBC radio session (not a Peel Session but cool to know Dwarves did something like this) on one side backed with a bunch of Blag solo tracks on the other. The Blag solo stuff is proper goofy, not really my thing, but it’s a nice change of pace. I just don’t think it’s aged particularly well. Record sleeve is nice lol

Well, this was fun but I find myself asking that eternal and immortal question: why? Judging by the cheeky intro track, it seems this record is some sort of retaliation to the criticisms levelled against late-90s Dwarves material for being too soft or commercial. Surely then, the way to combat this would be to a.) ignore the haters and do whatever that makes you artistically happy or successful, or b.) write some NEW snotty punk…

Quite possibly the worst Dwarves album? Over time Blag Dahlia’s voice has been morphing into a severely perverted Alice Cooper, but here on Dwarves Must Die the man’s taken a side step into the Fred Durst school of performing “arts”. It’s a weird one! LOL Honestly, what the fuck happened here? Sounds like Good Charlotte and Marilyn Manson got together to write Dwarves songs about smoking crack and fucking bitches. Disastrous! Guest appearances such as…

I’ll be honest, I got into Christine from the English re-release of Titled, so I’m a total normie when it comes to this stuff. However, I can’t help but think the whole album sounds far more pleasant in its original French, so I massively appreciate the inclusion of the bonus disk in the second language. This record, whatever its tongue, is a sparse, somewhat haunting affair; and I don’t mean in the ethereal, ghostly, fragile…

Personally, I find that Sugarfix sits between the two “eras” of classic Dwarves. Oddly, it has worse production than Little Girls but also has more melodic / fully fleshed out songs like what would come after this point. So it’s a weird inbetween, yet also somewhat underwhelming. I can’t say that it’s Dwarves by numbers because that would go against the “transitional period” sound I just mentioned above, but nothing here really jumps out at…

As a Beatles novice, their self-titled double album (or “white album”) is not an undertaking to be scoffed at. Whilst it is long and varied, and sometimes full of perplexing stuff (“number nine… number nine…. number nine…”), I do think it’s the best showcase of Beatles stuff yet, beating our Revolver which currently held my chronological top spot. It reminds me a lot of Sgt. Pepper’s too, in that for all its experimentation, there is…

An excellent collection of tracks and a brilliant place to start with Tarot. Personally, for me, the best tracks come at the beginning (the hat trick of “The Watcher’s Dream”, “Twilight Fortress” and “The Wasp” is unbeatable) but the whole record is incredibly solid and very well produced. Some folks have drawn comparisons to Black Magick SS and whilst I can see that (some passages in particular are very similar) Tarot haven’t a speck of…

Thank Heaven For Little Girls is like someone gave the Dwarves a multipack of Kit Kats. It gave them enough time to think, “maybe we should record the next album in an actual studio” haha – none of the songs here would be out of place on Blood, Guts and Pussy but the production is a fucking MASSIVE step up, making it almost sound like a completely different band. The surf / slide guitar influences…

I struggled with this one, to the point where it took several goes even just to get through it in one sitting. The previous two Beatles albums are my favourites thus far chronologically so I was surprised to find this one such a slog. I got there in the end however, with multiple listens, and was surprised to find that there’s a lot of “classics” here despite the experimental nature of the tracks in general….

Tidy slice of Oi! if I’ve ever heard one. Great, snotty punk with lots of attitude and heaps of energy. 84 has that production sound of an early demo rather than a full length but come on now, it’s punk we’re talking about so we can let it slide. I can’t speak a fucking word of French so can’t comment too much on songwriting but it sounds class and that’s all that matters.

Stylistically different from the rest of the Dwarves discography, as if they hadn’t quite decided what to do with themselves yet. At first it feels quite different but after a while you realise it’s not too far away from their original core sound, especially in production. Sure, things hit a lot harder in the albums that followed this, but Horror Stories kinda sounds like Blood, Guts and Pussy if it was recorded by The Cramps…

This is a complete waste of everyone’s time. It was a waste of Eldritch’s time to make. It was a waste of the label’s time. It’s a waste of my time, and now, via the moments of this review, it’s a waste of yours. Like, why does this guy have such a massive fucking chip on his shoulder? Maybe the problem is you, fam. Ever thought of that?

Holy smokes! What a left turn! Straight off a cliff! Holy fuckski! LOL. If I was the ancient Egyptian god Horus I’d be pretty fucking pissed that my eye was on the cover of this dreck. Does Eldritch even know what it is? Is that what the “vision thing” is? Man probably banged a goth girl once who had it on a necklace or something. Cosmic. Anyway… what the fuck is this? Like, I’m two…

Drugs. That’s how I would describe this: Revolver with more drugs. The Indian instrumentation is ramped up, as is the songs about seemingly random shit. It sounds great, though. Production, again with the silly panning of shit, is off the chart. In amongst the madness there are “regular songs” to keep the album grounded. I’m not sure why the album seems to close with a reprise and then comes back with one more song afterward?…

I don’t really have the vocabulary to accurately and sufficiently convey the more technical details around Mahler’s work and the performance from Barbirolli and his orchestra, so I apologise if this review feels somewhat lacking. Classical, especially in this meandering, bombastic (?) style, is far outside of my wheelhouse. There is, however, a certain way that Mahler makes me feel. I think to say that there is a grandiose nature to these compositions is not…

One of life’s simple pleasures is unearthing “forgotten” gems from the past in genres that you love. Enter Dragons Of Autumn Twilight then, by Casket Of Dreams; a project that has enjoyed something of a second wind in the Covid end times of 2020 onwards. In regards to this 1998 debut however; frosty, minimal synth passages meld with more almost classical style songwriting to really whisk you away to a far away land. I’ve been…

Much more solid than the previous EP. “Walk Away” is like a shot in the arm, but “Poison Door” is probably the better song. The others on the 12″ / compiled version aren’t bad either.

Long-running but otherwise thoroughly enjoyable romp in the barber beats / vaporwave stream of musical consciousness (no doubt you were able to ascertain that from the cover art, though!). This 2022 effort from this prolific project covers a lot of different vibes but works best when at its most treacle-paced. Great chill music.

Being vaguely familiar with Alan Vega (split w/ SunnO))) & Pansonic, old Suicide stuff) I had absolutely zero fucking clue that he ever collaborated with Andrew Eldritch. It wasn’t until searching for the lineup of this “side project” that I learned of his involvement. The goth world is truly transatlantic, eh? So, Sisterhood. I read that this material was originally intended for a Sisters Of Mercy record and was only released as The Sisterhood because…

A fairly drab affair out of what I would otherwise consider a classic era of output from this unusual outfit. Neither of the songs really strike me, at least not in comparison to the other absolute belters this band was releasing in 1983. If you’re lazy, the full 12″ 4 track versions of this and the following single/EP, Walk Away / Poison, is available as a bonus disk to some versions of First and Last…

It’s interesting, because of SOM’s murky and unusual beginnings, I was expecting their commercially successful debut to be much more cohesive and brighter. Alas, their first album is a pit of depressing despair; each song – even if not super slow in pace – oozes out of the speakers like molasses. Eldritch’s baritone is used consistently here, a stark contrast to the yelped or barked Adam Ant but on crack cocaine approach of some of…

Revolver is the best Beatles album to date, chronologically. The sound is warm, even, and whilst the record is chock full of bizarre panning nonsense, the songs are for the most part absolutely excellent. Best track is probably “Eleanor Rigby”, which is iconic as we all know. The only thing that sucks about this is the cover art (like what the Jesus creeping shit is that?).

The double single of “Body Electric / Adrenochrome” bridges the gap between the distinct SOM sound and the early post punk efforts nicely. The bass is much more prominent in these tracks, and whilst the vocals are still manic rather than the sultry baritone of later years, this single is very much an enjoyable SOM release.

Sister of Mercy’s first release centres around the single “The Damage Done” and its associated songs. It’s harsh, noisy post punk but again with that rigid drum machine backbone, which stops things from getting too chaotic. It’s pretty good for what it is, but it isn’t unique and is pretty nondescript. If anything it reminds me of Nick Cave’s first band, The Birthday Party.

“Temple of Love” is much jauntier and up-beat, reminding me of the stuff you’d find on albums like Floodland. It’s a change of pace from the more morose and depressing stuff found on the previous few releases, but with that same trademark rigid drum machine sound. “Heartland” is kinda meh and the Rolling Stones cover was so unexpected for me that I honestly don’t know what to make of it.

The Reptile House is the second EP release from Sister of Mercy, at least chronologically, in early 1983. It is, truly, a masterpiece of dark rock, and reminds me of Killing Joke crossed with Christian Death. The sterile drum machine and prominent bass also reminds me of other dark 80s acts such as Big Black or even Swans (especially with the same baritone style vocals used by both bands) but whilst SOM is perhaps more…

“Alice” and “Floorshow” are both a great start, with the sound of the project in its infancy but also already possessing hallmarks which would continue throughout. They aren’t the strongest tracks by the Sisters, IMO, but the production is highly enjoyable. The re-release of the 1983 12” includes some absolutely fucking fantastic pieces of music, the cheeky “1969” but most importantly the excellent, repetitive, droning, spectral (lol) track “Phantom”, which is easily the highlight here.

A vital exploration of the early SOM singles and EPs, even if it’s missing one or two after 1983. The back to back bangers of Alice, Reptile House and Temple Of Love are reason enough to get into this thing, but the earlier material at the end is also worth checking out for completionists, even if it’s not as good as the first few releases collected here.

Whilst not hitting the heights of the first volume, Artificial Intelligence II is still a fantastic exploration of electronic music in the early to mid 90s. I have to admit that outside of Autechre (and Speedy J from vol. 1) I am not familiar with the artists here. They do however, all work under one unifying theme or banner; the bar of excellence is considerably high. There’s something about AI II that definitely feels its…

Christian Death’s Catastrophe Ballet has, IMO, one of the greatest cover art pieces of all time. I have so many questions about it, and it is also very visually striking. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the music. I appreciate the work of Christian Death and their impact on the scene but honestly, the apathetic vocal style of Rozz Williams (I fully understand that this is the whole point) is so disconnected to the…

Stunning piece of ancient dungeon synth (in relative terms, of course). Surprisingly well put together and orchestrated considering its age and place in the overall gestation of the genre. Fantastic stuff.

I enjoyed the group’s split release with Behrosth but on their debut full length they are almost completely falling over themselves. The various styles at play here in this concoction of “magick metal” (or whatever you want to call it) seem to sit apart from each other rather that come together to make a cohesive whole. That’s not to say that the record is bad; there are a few decent songs here, but generally the…

Absolutely fucking stunning piece of vaporwave, I shit you not. Has all the right ingredients of the genre but has them in THE perfect distillation of quantities… the wobble, the wow and flutter, the cut up nature of the various themes. Expect less in the way of mall music and more in the vein of perhaps Megadrive era game music but being played on a dusty piece of shit cassette player. IDK man I feel…

Black metal just the way I like it, fam. Fucking stinking! Yes, MK sounds like he’s drumming on an industrial-sized tub of full fat mayonnaise instead of a snare drum, but if anything this “rustic” approach to drums adds to the janky, raw nature of this uncompromising assault of the sense. 666 (what a title!) verges on the tropes of war metal ever so dangerously, but retains a smattering of icy cold riffs and precise…

I had originally mistaken this for a full length album, but this appears in fact to be a 70 minute set from Inner-Vation, mixing their own music with that of artists like Subversive, Aural Ambience and Forensics. It is a solid set; gelling beautiful ambient electronics and synthesizers with busy, non-stop “ants in your pants” style drum and bass programming. I can’t decide whether I should sit back and chill, or get up and do…

Falling firmly into the trappings of vaporwave but also being something so much more, the debut from Glaciære showcases a strong grasp on interesting and engaging songwriting. It is perhaps too easy in these circles to rely entirely on chilled nostalgic beats laced with infomercial samples, so when an artist goes above and beyond to conjure genuinely emotionally resonant music in this particular sonic palette, then they can often create something very special, as is…

Very low key, unsettling ambient music (bordering on noise with some elements). I was surprised by how restrained this was, which of course helps enormously in conjuring a sinister and unwelcoming atmosphere. It helps that this is one sold 40 minute track. There is no way to get off the ride. You just gotta make it to the end. Recommended for those who enjoy dark, unsettling soundscapes.

The sequel to the excellent D&C compilation continues in much of the same vein; showcasing a surprisingly wide variety of artists that adopt the “dungeon synth” moniker. I would say for the most part, like 80% of this stuff is really good. There are some moments towards the end where certain sounds / experiments don’t really gel all that well (there’s a song with drums for example, that just kills the vibe entirely), but for…

The award for most demented album cover ever goes to… this guy. LMAO. Seriously though, the first track on this thing is absolutely fantastic. Tangerine Dream eat your heart out! The title track is 18 minutes of absolute instrumental bliss. This would be rated much higher however if it wasn’t for the B-side where ol’ Tezza starts to lose his way in a soup of irritating noises. That first “song” though, holy fuckski; that’s some…

A great evolution from the EP which came the year before. It is a shame that this band did not continue past their debut. The cover is a bit half-arsed, but do not let it put you off. The songs from the EP reappear here in a more well-produced form; it is still frosty, and at moments remind me of Dimmu in the Enthrone… era, but this is the keyboard work’s doing. Production wise, idk,…

Came for the art, stayed for the fragile, frosted tunes. I love it when I find black metal from the 90s that I haven’t heard before. Ishtar has a cold, unforgiving atmosphere and a brittle production on Diabolical Hymns, but these three tracks unfold beautifully over a moderate 25 minute run time. Opening track “Morkrets Furste” dominates the EP but closer “Dismal Paradise” has a lot of promise too. Great stuff.

Another Beatles album that sounds like how I expected the Beatles to sound. I am now in more firmer territory (no doubt before we go off the deep end with the experimental shit haha). This one is very well produced indeed, but personally I preferred the Help! soundtrack which came not so long before this one. Whilst I find the production is more “present” and warmer here, the songs on the previous record were just…

Hibernaculum is a series of re-recordings of old “classic” Earth “tracks” in the “new” (for 2007) semi-acoustic, washed out western / Americana style Earth adopted from say 2005 onwards (or thereabouts). The songs are given a new life here, and it was the right move to put “Ouroboros Is Broken” at the start. For me, I find that track dominates the very early Earth days and it also dominates here. Hibernaculum gets more “droney” and…

Cool shit. Very meditative. It’s got that undercurrent of heavy drones / dense distortion that crops up now and then through the ritual-like folk chants. Pure “Roadburn-core” haha. I’ve had this record on my “check out” list since 2011. 15 years. That’s absurd. Anyway, this review sucks, but the record is pretty cool if you wanna fire up a medicinal cigarette.

I was very intrigued by the genre name of “crime jazz” and that’s what led me to the work of Irving Joseph. I expected smooth, dark, moody pieces that you’d get in noir movies and the likes, and whilst there are elements of that here, Murder Inc. is far jauntier than I anticipated. I feel like I’m watching an animated movie about some city slicker detectives (who are also cats, or something). Instrumentation is brilliant…

Moments of genius meets moments of autotuned garbage. I get it, that’s how it goes in hip hop. Highlight of the record has to be the production. The bass pops on this thing. Absolute props to the main man here for getting that shit locked down. Lyrically the game here is pretty strong but there are moments where I’m left uninspired for rather long passages of time. Honestly, all in all, this is pretty tight,…

As equally parts entertaining as it is pure mad fucking cringe, Donker Mag continues the Die Antwoord journey on its…”path” lol. Production is better; a fuller, fatter sound is the order of the day, and whilst Ninja’s flows still leave you with a bunch of WTF moments, they are generally of better quality here than before. Yolandi sounds great as always.

Darker and more mature than the debut demo in every possible way other than the production. In reality, I wouldn’t be surprised if the same kit was used to record and produce this as the previous demo, but the bass/treble frequencies are more present here as the compositions are fuller. That means less glaringly-obvious wobbly solo instruments, but it does mean that the lo-fi soundstage is dominated by drums, background pads and the like; resulting…