323: BLOODMOON

Today an album was released titled ‘Bloodmoon: I’. The album is being presented as a Converge album, but is actually a collaborative piece from Converge, Chelsea Wolfe, frequent Wolfe collaborator Ben Chisholm, and Cave In/Old Man Gloom/Mutoid Man/basically everything member Stephen Brodsky. The result is an entirely other beast than Converge, and that’s why I …

320: RINUWAT

Combining traditional Southeast Asian instrumentation with extreme metal, Karina Utomo, Rama Parwata and Mike Deslandes have come together to form the incredible Rinuwat. Their debut album, ‘Dua Naga’ (released just last week), is an atmospheric and enthralling 40 minutes. There are moments of somewhat unsettling calmness, with traditional Javanese elements giving the music a transportive …

284: KORDHELL

When Mick Kenney of Anaal Nathrakh and Make Them Die Slowly turns his attention to phonk-style hip hop and lofi beats, the result is unsurprisingly epic and spooky all at once. Kordhell is Kenney’s outlet for this type of music (as well as a continuation of the character he played in MTDS). Bringing those some …

276: SILVER LAKE by ESA HOLOPAINEN

Esa Holopainen is the lead guitarist and primary songwriter for Finnish metal royalty, Amorphis, so it should come as no surprise the man is a talented musician. With Silver Lake, however, Holopainen really flexes his talents, working with a roster of hugely talented and iconic vocalists and creating an amazing album of standout tracks. While …

270: CROSS BRINGER

Cross Bringer are a new band out of St. Petersburg who have made a truly breathtaking entrance with their debut album, 2020’s ‘The Signs of Spiritual Delusion’. Clocking in at just under half an hour, the album is an unmitigated triumph of dynamic, atmospheric black metal. With lush soundscapes offering texture and the occasional respite, …

238: BANSHEE

My immediate thought the first time I heard Banshee was ‘Oh, I bet someone, somewhere, is irrationally pissed off by this.’ Banshee is Rachel Knight, and her music is near impossible to label, but fuck it, let’s try. With a combination of trap beats and spacey yet so sinister melodies, there are some loose similarities …