Funebrarum – Beckoning the Void of Eternal Silence Review By Steel Druhm

New Jersey’s marshlands and hospital waste pits have long concealed one of America’s best death metal acts. Formed in 2000, Funebrarum leaked from the Garden State with a sound steeped in early 90s acts like Incantation and Immolation. Their Beneath the Columns of Abandoned Gods debut was a cavernous, monolithic ode to all things extreme and vile. Though it was crushingly heavy, there was a deft hand at work compositionally that made it all go down like greased tripe. It’s a classic of the death metal genre that, for whatever reason, never seems to get the respect it deserves. After 2009s excellent The Sleep of Morbid Dreams, the band went into a kind of extended hibernation, rising only occasionally to drop splits and EPs every few years, the last of which arrived in 2016. After 16 long years (and 10 of complete inactivity), they finally rise from the grave and deign to release a new full-length upon the world with Beckoning the Void of Eternal Silence. The good news is that multi-instrument wizard Phil Tougas of Worm, First Fragment, EXXÛL, and 50 other bands is on board to provide extra fretboard-busting insanity. After such a lengthy absence, what can one expect from Funebrarum? Will their usual caveman cavern-core antics still feel as terrifying and oppressive in this new age of death? Let’s drag the Jersey swamps for answers and dead mobsters.

After an overlong intro that sounds like it was stolen from a late 90s symphonic black metal album, we get dropped into the title track, which starts out equally moody and ominous before eventually shifting into cavern-core pummeling and blasting. Once this occurs, references to Incantation and Cruciamentum are inevitable, but this is a mellower beast with a lighter vibe to the music, as a classic 90s death metal gallop surfaces again and again amid stretches of doom slog and hyper-blastery. Guttural death vox and crazed blackened screams dot the landscape, and newish axe Sam Osbourne (ex-Undergang) joins Phil Tougas in dropping classic death leads and exploring other melodic spaces when solo time arrives. It’s a convincingly heavy, dense song, and it feels fairly inspired. Some of the momentum gained here is lost during the nearly 7 minutes of follow-up “ša nagba amāru,” which opts for a doomier direction and ends up a bit less convincing and forceful despite some interesting guitar work and appropriately dark moods. A big moment arrives with “Into Dark Domains,” where some of the classic Funebrarum energy sparks into being. It offers nods to classic 90s death platters like Onward to Golgotha, and some pieces even remind me of early grind days Carcass.

“From Rotting Burial Shrouds” delivers an immediately satisfying, few-frills beat down of foaming-at-the-mouth caveman death, and I love it, but it makes me wish for more lead pipe intensity from the rest of the material. And while nothing here could be labeled as wholly bad or filler (minus the short mid-album interlude), not every song puts the pimp hand down and bashes my brain into mind jelly. Penultimate track “Turning the Stones of Torment” is fairly generic and doesn’t do much for me. The nearly 9-minute finale, “The Whispering Cathedral – Epilogue,” is also underwhelming. It has interesting moments and segments, but by the 6th minute, I’m ready to settle my bill and check out. At 49 minutes, Beckoning feels significantly longer, and there’s noticeable bloat on several tracks that weigh things down in unfortunate ways.

There’s a garbage truck full of raw talent involved in the making of this album, even without the contributions from Mr. Tougas. Charles Koryn (Ascended Dead, ex-Ghoulgotha) is an impressive drummer, and he supplies a steady stream of gallops, blasts, rolls, and fills that keep things moving and shaking. Daryl Kahan (ex-Disma) is a true throat terror, shaking the ground with phlegmy, repellent croaks, and harsh screams. He sounds very inhuman and very reanimated. Now add the Tougas factor, and the guitar work goes from wow to WOW. The man can play and play he does. The only criticism I’d make is that some of the fretboard gymnastics make the vibe shift from death metal to melodeath and cause the album to feel less rancid and diseased.

I wasn’t expecting to see another album from Funebraum, and while I’m happy to have it, I’m a bit let down that it doesn’t approach the heights of their established discography. It’s definitely good with very good moments, but after so long in the void of eternal silence, it’s hard not to expect MOAR. I suppose part of the problem is that what they’re doing here has now been done so many times before, so some of the shock and awe has worn off. Still, there are loads of quality noise to be found for the patient death heads. New Jersey still has some disgusting tricks up its sleeve after all, besides Newark. Worth a loud blast, then go and visit their early stuff post-haste.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Pulverized Records
Websites: funebrarum-death-metal.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/funebrarumofficial | instagram.com/funebrarum_official
Releases Worldwide: May 29th, 2026

#2026 #30 #AmericanMetal #Autopsy #BeckoningTheVoidOfEternalSilence #Cruciamentum #DeathMetal #Funebrarum #Incantation #May26 #Review #Reviews

The Fifth Alliance – Stenahoria Review By Thus Spoke

Stenahoria roughly translates to “sorrow” in Greek, a fitting title for The Fifth Alliance’s fourth full-length, which centers on the “shared human experience of sorrow, fear, and confinement.”1 The Dutch group—appropriately a five-piece—are in some sense starting anew despite their longevity, with a new vocalist, Natalya Thelen, and a new drummer, Peter Scheffer. In another sense, they are unchanged and remain a slightly morbid-leaning2 post/black/sludge entity armed with viciousness and vivacity. A seven-year interval is not nothing, however, and The Fifth Alliance show aspects of themselves that diverge in more ways than one.

Stenahoria feels strikingly heftier than prior releases. The Fifth Alliance lean harder into sludge and occasionally stoner (“Battle of Barnet”), with long riffs caked in feedback. The heaviness is of a weightier, battering sort, approaching Pilori at its peak (“Phoenix”), never forsaking the blackened influence that sees tremolos shiver violently against the crunching backdrop and drums erupt out of their crawl. There is also a slight tilt in favor of clean vocals, lending the groovier, smoother passages a Chelsea Wolfe air. Like her predecessor, Natalya provides both the sung and the screamed narration, and her range is impressive, her harsh vocals particularly potent. But her cleans take center-stage in roughly equal measure, a more grounded presence that works in tandem with the blunter edge of the riffs and denser rhythms for an oddly fortifying experience.

The Fifth Alliance create just as much of an atmosphere with their new approach, and it’s one full of feeling. The way “Phoenix” explodes into existence with a maniacal roar had me grinning from ear to ear, and this passionate vitriol is what drives some of Stenahoria’s best moments. Powerful singing morphs into burning screams layering over one another, escalating with the pitch of the guitars (“Benandanti,” “Jakob”). This translates to the instrumentation, which matches the intensity by tipping over into blackened-death-coded tumult led by frenetic tremolos and wild percussion (“The Fool…,” “Jakob”). The drumming in general is stellar in this regard,3 restlessly shuffling and adding layers of dynamism (“The Fool….,” “Battle of Barnet”) even in the quieter sections, where a lesser band or performer in the subgenre would be content with simplicity. Rhythm plays into the power of the vocals and riffs just as much as it does the percussion when Stenahoria reaches its apexes. It heightens the mournfulness and drama of the suddenly descending melodies (“The Fool…,” “Jakob”) as they stutter and surge in step with cymbals and emphatically-delivered lyrics. It propels the punch of repeated lyrics, sung then roared over and over (“Phoenix,” “Benandanti”). It creates groove and rippling energy throughout.

It’s only a few missteps that hold Stenahoria back, but they’re not all trivial. The Fifth Alliance have a tendency to weaken a great song with an aspect that doesn’t serve it, usually the insertion of cleans or a more post-hardcore or stoner vibe between the driving melodic and otherwise stirring soundscapes (“Phoenix,” “Benandanti,” “Jakob”). In drifting towards a cleaner sound, the group are evidently experimenting, and it does often pay off, but the diversion into full stoner—save very final movement—”Battle of Barnet” four-fifths of the way through remains at odds with neighbours “The Fool on the Hill” and “Jakob,” where these elements are much better integrated and are quite dull in comparison. More egregious to some will be the clean vocals themselves, which possess a polarizing, half-shouted haughtiness I personally could only forgive on the all-round brilliant centerpiece “The Fool on the Hill,” where their chestiness runs seamlessly into the catharsis of the screams and fantastic compositional climaxes.

Over repeated listens, Stenahoria won me over to the point where I truly enjoyed it in spite of my personal distaste for the singing and its uneven brilliance. The Fifth Alliance don’t rewrite the rulebook, but they have reinvented their sound to a degree and with overall success, maintaining their heaviness and adding depth. If this is the start of a new era for the band, they have a solid future ahead.

Rating: Good
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Tartarus Records | Breathe Plastic | Ardua Music
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: May 29th, 2026

#2026 #30 #ArduaMusic #BreathePlasticRecords #ChelseaWolfe #DoomMetal #DutchMetal #May26 #Pilori #PostMetal #Review #Reviews #SludgeMetal #Stenahoria #StonerMetal #TartarusRecords #TheFifthAlliance

Sabotør – Første Aksjon Review By ClarkKent

Among the foundations of heavy metal are resistance and counterculture. Thus, it makes sense that a young Norwegian band, Sabotør, decided to create a record regaling tales of the Norwegian resistance against Nazi Germany. This period birthed the term Quisling as synonymous for traitor when Vidkun Quisling attempted to take Norway down a path of Nazism. The Norwegian resistance thwarted his plans by using tactics such as an underground press, “ice fronts” that served to alienate Germans from Norwegian society, and anti-Nazi jokes meant to make the Nazis look foolish. It wasn’t all non-violence, either. They managed to sink a German cruiser called the Bluecher.1 This all sounds like great material for an album, and I’m only saddened I don’t speak Norwegian to understand what these lads are singing about. While I don’t know the words, I can appreciate the music as raucous, fun, and a little deranged.

True to its themes of resistance, Første Aksjon (roughly translated as first action or first strike) features a collection of old school abrasive punk/thrash tunes sure to stir the rebel in you. The raw, high-energy sound brings to mind Kill ’em All era Metallica, and opening song “Jerngrepets Inntog,” could almost be a lost track from that classic debut. There’s a hunger and passion that echoes those early Metallica years, and it brings a freshness and earnestness to the music. I also hear some early Kvelertak, and Sabotør cites the obscure Brocas Helm as a major influence. Like any good resistance movement, the music is unpredictable yet incessantly energetic. This means non-stop riffs, solos, and blasts of the snare drum. Sabotør are not above hooks, with a catchy chorus that appears out of nowhere on “Skyggens Frekvens” and makes you want to sing/shout along with it. Rasmus Strømberg also catches listeners off guard with sudden leaps into vocal harmonizations that just add to the catchiness (“Jerngrepets Inntog”, “Sabotør,” “Flagget”). In all, Første Aksjon is pure fun.

The musicians display a show of raw power and passion that makes Første Aksjon constantly exciting. Strømberg’s deranged vocal performance leads the way. He mixes the abrasion of Kvelertak’s Ivar Nikolaisen, the mania of Sergeant Salsten (Deathhammer), and even some touches of a young James Hetfield, particularly those pre-pubescent screeches. He screeches, shouts, screams, and growls through more than 30 minutes of intense music, and that’s not all. He has an entertaining cadence that proves him to be a superb raconteur. He’s full of surprises, turning the speed to 11 on “Brente Jords Taktikk” and then turning in a raucous bit on “Jevnet Med Jorden” where he sounds like an auctioneer speaking in tongues. The other musicians also contribute to the mania, particularly drummer Mathilde Solemdal. He ensures a non-stop energy with his frequent snare hits, cymbal blasts, and frenetic blast beats. Guitarist Andreas Remmen provides a semblance of sanity with controlled yet energetic riffs. He provides plenty of melody, thrashy riffs, and even some cool arpeggios (“Flagget”).

The only thing holding Sabotør back is the production. This is an instance where the high DR score (12) seems at odds with how the record sounds. In some ways, it sounds great, with crisp and clear instrumentation, including the bass. The lower quality of my promo copy probably contributed to my sound issues. I found the album to be on the quiet side and had to turn the volume up to hear it properly. However, the snare tone is too loud, and its incessant presence proves a headache. While the brief album length makes for easier repeat spins, the mix will make you want to give your ears a rest before long. There are a couple of other distracting bits, including a section on “Flagget,” where a plane engine sounds more like rumbling flatulence. While the rawness is appropriate, Første Aksjon could benefit from better balance in their mixing.

As Sabotør’s own bit of first action, Første Aksjon proves to be an impressive debut. As the Indiana Jones flicks demonstrate, it’s fun to defeat Nazis. These guys continue that tradition, while also demonstrating the effectiveness of resistance in the face of authoritarianism. Sabotør also exhibit the joy of listening to hungry young musicians who just want to play what they love. There’s plenty to love here, and plenty to look forward to as these musicians mature in their songwriting.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 12 | Format Reviewed: ~165 kbps mp3
Label: Dark Essence Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: May 8th, 2026

Show 1 footnote

Thanks to Wikipedia and a website on the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the info. ↩

#2026 #30 #BrocasHelm #DarkEssenceRecords #Deathhammer #FørsteAksjon #HeavyMetal #Kvelertak #May26 #Metallica #NorwegianMetal #Punk #Review #Reviews #Sabotør #ThrashMetal

Albion – It Was In The Month of May I Review By Mystikus Hugebeard

Sorry, but I can’t resist: It was in the month of May that I sat down to review the newest album by the British folk-rockers Albion, titled It Was In The Month of May I.1 This gaggle of self-declared whippersnappers blew this reviewer away with their 2024 album Lakesongs of Elbid. What started as an unassuming filter piece grew on me more and more to the point it made my (and my co-conspirator Killjoy’s) end-of-year list. Albion’s timeless, joyful folk-rock music has enjoyed constant rotations in the Hugebeard tower since then, and so a new album has been a hotly anticipated affair. Now that it’s in our hands, has Albion continued their trend for quality?

For those unfamiliar with Albion, they play a flute-heavy, wistful sort of progressive folk-rock that draws an obvious comparison to Jethro Tull and reminds me a great deal of Big Big Train. For those a little more familiar, it’s worth mentioning that It Was In The Month of May has somewhat toned down the already limited metal crunch that graced Lakesongs of Elbid. Rest assured, this is no criticism, as this album remains energetic and adventurous in all the right ways. The opening prelude, “Mis Mai,” followed by the first true foray into the album’s essence, “The Green Knight,” demonstrate Albion’s sonic strengths right out of the gates. “Mis Mai” highlights the dulcet pipes of Joe Parrish-James as he lathers the song’s Welsh lyrics in decadent velvet, while “The Green Knight” starts the album in usual Albion fashion with grandiose flute melodies explored atop galloping guitar strumming.

What I love about Albion’s music, and what they maintain in It Was In The Month of May, is a sense of effortlessness. The music is fun, it’s accessible, it’s breezy, it’s comfortably warm and full of well-crafted little moments so crisp and yet so obvious it almost makes you wonder how no one else thought of it first. The pub-rock verse of “Down With The Hero” and the epic call-and-response between the flutes and guitars in the middle of “Calan Mai” come especially to mind. In the album’s longer songs, Albion are quite eager to just let the music run free through the meadow in spacious explorations of riffs and solos, but it never feels aimless. The melodies of “The Green Knight” and “Eldest” in particular see the guitars and flutes bounce merrily along in an endless up-and-down like the rolling hills stretching before you as you prepare for adventure. The closer, “Calan Mai,” is the longest at ten minutes, but even at its most unrestrained, the song’s melodies wield graceful finality in a way that always feels satisfying.

It Was In The Month of May is almost 20 minutes shorter than its predecessor, Lakesongs, which makes for an overall cleaner listening experience. However, the album’s pacing does waver a little by over-saturating the latter half with lower-energy tunes. I really quite love “Hymn to Elbereth,” as it has this gently twisting nature to it that happily makes me think of Glass Hammer, but it’s misplaced between the otherwise pleasantly acoustic “She Is The River” and the ballad “Cherry Hill,” making for an overly languid sequence of songs. “Cherry Hill” in particular leans a bit too heavily on chorus repetition for its six-minute runtime. Still, the album ends on the right note with “Calan Mai,” and there are no other noteworthy structural issues or damaging patterns affecting the album. However, I simply must mention the “la-da-da’s” and “doo-do-do’s” in the chorus of “Down With The Hero.” I don’t mind vocalizations at all and they work perfectly well as little interstitial passages like in “Eldest,” but I find it to be a heavily misguided choice for them to carry the chorus of the album’s most upbeat song.

It Was In The Month of May is warm, adventurous, inviting, and once again, and I simply cannot stress this enough, extraordinarily British. While this album never gripped me quite like Lakesongs of Elbid did, the final word on this review is nevertheless one of eager positivity. Albion is a band I tend to think of no matter the musical flavor I’m looking for, and It Was In The Month of May only furthers that trend. This is music that is just so pleasant to listen to, no matter the day, and there are some damn good bangers to be found here for any fan of folk, British rock, or prog.

Rating: Good!
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: FLAC
Label: Self-Release
Websites: official | facebook | bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: May 26th, 2026

Killjoy

In the year 2021, I unexpectedly became acquainted with the debut EP of a very special folk rock group from England. The potential that Albion showed on Pryderi was immediately obvious, and I longed for more. My wish was granted in 2024 by the whopping 70-minute full-length debut Lakesongs of Elbid, for which my esteemed colleague (and now review partner), Mystikus Hugebeard, wrote a splendid filter piece. Albion has wasted no time since then, here to regale our ears again with cheery tunes. It Was in the Month of May seeks to honor the magical time of year when spring sunsets and will soon cede to warmer temperatures.

Albion’s music is wholesome for the soul, whispering to the part of human consciousness that yearns for carefree meadows and being in nature. They primarily achieve this through the exquisite pairing of flute and guitars (both acoustic and electric). This, of course, invites comparisons to Jethro Tull,2 although Albion perhaps hews a bit closer to folk music. Take, for example, the beautiful acoustic guitar fingerpicking and Welsh singing3 in “Mis Mai.” Further, Albion plays a more modernized style of rock than Jethro Tull. “Down with the Hero” is a rousing, ultra-catchy pub rock number and the guitarwork in “The Green Knight” is elaborate, sounding like a slightly slower and proggier Dark Forest. The way that Albion harmoniously blends the old with the new is genuinely refreshing.

It Was in the Month of May similarly succeeds in striking a balance between humble and epic. In both the quiet and upbeat moments, there is an air of unassuming regality. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that Albion composed a pair of songs about Tolkien’s characters Tom Bombadil and his wife, Goldberry. “Eldest (Tom Bombadil)” contains gorgeous guitar and flute swells evoking endless verdant hillsides, as well as a Celtic folk-influenced jig reminiscent of Tuatha de Danann or Braia. “She Is the River (Goldberry)” is entirely acoustic and percussion-less (save for hand claps), with sunny guitar strumming and pleasantly poetic lyrics. Continuing with Tolkien subject matters, “Hymn to Elbereth” features vocal harmonization by Joe and Rhiannon Parrish-James which is as fair as the elves who Frodo, Sam, and Pippin overheard singing these very words in The Fellowship of the Ring. Rhiannon adds her voice to Joe’s at various other times throughout the record, and I would love to hear her take center stage in the future.

Overall, It Was in the Month of May is sharper and more focused than its predecessor. As much as I loved Lakesongs of Elbid, opening with a 9-and-a-half minute instrumental track didn’t help it find its footing. “The Green Knight,” the first full song here, isn’t much shorter but its structure is more disciplined, never wavering from its gallant, galloping theme. The other 8+ minute songs, “Eldest (Tom Bombadil)” and “Calan Mai,” also mostly justify their lengths, although the latter feels a bit meandering towards the end. But the larger issue with “Calan Mai” has to do with the track that precedes it. “Cherry Hill (Maya II)” hits like a lullaby, which might have been okay if it were 3 minutes instead of 6, so it ends up stifling the momentum leading into the ornate concluding track. I do appreciate that, with a total runtime of 52 minutes, It Was in the Month of May is easier to listen to in one sitting.

It Was in the Month of May is great for drifting away and forgetting one’s troubles for a while. The uplifting compositions are easy on the ears while offering bountiful details to uncover during return visits. “Cherry Hill (Maya II)” is the main thing holding it back from unqualified greatness. That said, if Albion continues refining their songcraft at this pace, the next album will surely shatter our score safety counter. So, kick back and enjoy time outside with loved ones. It Was in the Month of May is an excellent way to ring in summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

#2026 #30 #35 #Albion #BigBigTrain #Braia #BritishMetal #DarkForest #FolkMetal #FolkRock #GlassHammer #ItWasInTheMonthOfMayI #JethroTull #LakesongsOfElbid #May26 #ProgressiveRock #Pryderi #Review #Reviews #TuathaDeDanann

Restless Spirit – Restless Spirit Review By Steel Druhm

When one thinks of Long Island, stoner doom may not be the first musical variant that comes to mind. Restless Spirit have been out to change that since 2015, dropping several EPs and 3 long players of massive, weighty music with toes in the pools frequented by Mastodon, C.O.C., and The Sword. 2023s Afterimage was a great album crushed beneath a disastrous production that made enjoyment nigh impossible. Now comes their self-titled 4th album and a bit of a course correction. It’s a lighter, more rocking effort with a sense of brightness and wistfulness embedded in the burly, beefy sound. It’s still something entirely well-suited for a biker bar, but what Restless Spirit does is put them in the same ballpark as acts like Clutch, Fireball Ministry, and Freedom Hawk, and just in time for summer sun and outdoor beer drinking. How could that be a bad thing?

The things I love about Restless Spirit are still here, as opening track “The Burning Need” ably illustrates. It’s slick, bluesy, hard rock in the vein of C.O.C. with big riffs and feedback backing up Paul Alosio’s big, soulful bellows. It’s groovy, crunchy stuff with balls aplenty and a chorus that really pops and sticks in the craw, and you’d be forgiven for thinking this came from some southern crew rather than 3 guys from New York. The goods keep coming on “Hallowed,” which is a bit more spacey and moody, but the hooks are there, and the riffs do most of the talking, as they should. There’s a vintage Monster Magnet vibe in its DNA, and the guitar work is quite agile and interesting, with moments of introspective melancholy effectively stirred into the brew. “Desolations Wake” is a big moment, taking a rocked-out, rowdy approach to entertainingly punchy places with hard-charging guitar work that reminds a lot of Freedom Hawk. It’s got enough machismo to put extra hair on your nethers and make you want to punch a boulder. This one is heading right to my fun in the sun playlist with a bullet.

Unfortunately, not everything Restless Spirit attempts is a home run, and while nothing here is bad, cuts like “Red in Tooth and Claw” feel a bit more generic and safe. While the nearly 7 minutes of “Time and Distance” pass pretty well thanks to the powerhouse guitar work and forceful vocals, it does feel a bit overlong by the end. The nearly 9-minute closer, “Phantom Pain,” features a 70s psych-rock flavor that reminds me of Wino’s solo material, and the laid-back, emotive guitars pair well with the rougher, heavy riffs. But the length isn’t entirely justified, and by the 6th minute, things start to feel too stretched out. At just over 40 minutes, tracks like these make Restless Spirit feel longer than it really is, despite a good amount of interesting ideas and solid performances across the board. On the good side, the production is vastly better than last time, feeling warm and bright. The guitars have the proper weight, and the drum sound is satisfyingly deep.

The center of the Restless Spirit universe is Paul Alosio. His riffs and emotive fretboarding provide the foundation for everything, and he’s quite adept at crafting powerful, sinuous leads that grab your attention. Since this kind of music lives and dies by the riffs, he’s the prime mover, and move you he will as he dabbles in 70s rock and borrows from the expected wellsprings like Black Sabbath and Kyuss. He pairs his leads with an effectively rough but melodic vocal approach, and he’s at his best here, delivering with gravitas and soul. Marc Morello backs him up with thick, fat basslines that rumble and quake in all the best ways, while kitman Jon Gusman pounds away with abandon and a keen sense of groove. This is a talented trio, but their mostly good works get partially undermined by occasionally inconsistent writing and a bloat outbreak on the album’s ass-end.

Restless Spirit is a lesser creature than Afterimage and Blood of the Old Gods, but when it hits the mark, it will leave a deep impression on your ears. It’s worth checking out though, and I’m still a big believer in what the future holds for Restless Spirit. Talent abides, and spirits lurk endlessly, after all. Hail the Isle of Long!

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Magnetic Eye
Websites: restlessspirit.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/restlessspiritny | instagram.com/restlessspirit
Releases Worldwide: May 8th, 2026

#2026 #30 #AmericanMetal #CorrosionOfConformity #DoomMetal #FreedomHawk #MagneticEyeRecords #May26 #RestlessSpirit #Review #Reviews #StonerRock

100 of the Most Loved Photos on Street Art Utopia Right Now

These are the 100 photos currently sitting at the top of Street Art Utopia’s ongoing Top Images collection. Get ready for a visual feast! This collection features the very best murals, sculptures, and clever street interventions. These are the images that stop people mid-scroll and demand a second look. It is a mix of emotional public art and perfectly timed moments that celebrate pure creativity. This roundup is for everyone who loves surprising ideas and unforgettable outdoor art. From […]

https://streetartutopia.com/2026/04/19/100-of-the-most-loved-photos-on-street-art-utopia-right-now/

Crimson Glory – Chasing the Hydra Review By Steel Druhm

Crimson Glory hold a special place in my own personal Metal Hall o’ Fame. I was a huge fan of their 1986 debut with its classic Queensrÿche-style and larger-than-life energy. Midnight immediately became one of my favorite vocalists, and I was dazzled by the way the band took classic metal idioms and made them feel so grand and elegant. 1988s Transcendence took their sound even further, getting proggier, heavier, and more epic in scope. This is the album that essentially invented the progpower genre. At that point in time, the band seemed poised to achieve amazing things and conquer the metaverse. Then they dropped Strange and Beautiful in 1991, and the wheels came off the Glory cart hard. To call that album a dumpster fire of a sellout is an understatement, and it still makes me wonder what the holy fuck the band was thinking when they released it. It’s on par with Celtic Frost’s Cold Lake, Metallica’s St. Anger, or Krokus’ Change of Address, and it will forever live in infamy as a career killer. Unsurprisingly, the band fell apart after that, with Midnight departing for good, leaving disgruntled fans to reflect on what might have been. The band attempted a jump-start in 1999, but Astronomica was nowhere near the quality of the early albums, and the band sank back into self-inflicted oblivion. 26 years later, three of the original members are attempting a new comeback with Chasing the Hydra. The cynic in me wondered why they’d even bother. They created 2 all-time classic metal albums, and nothing they do now could come close to rivaling them. With great expectations as their eternal enemy, it’s much more likely they’d only diminish the luster of their stellar releases. Still, the naive teen in me hoped for a miraculous rebirth of the band I still love. Where does Chasing the Hydra fall between those polar opposite scenarios? As you might expect, somewhere in the middle.

Aided no doubt by a set of very low expectations, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Chasing the Hydra. Obviously, it can’t touch the classic albums with a 100-foot Poke Em Pole, but it’s effective, entertaining progpower with enough of the classic Crimson Glory sound to trigger nostalgic reminiscing. Opener “Redden the Sun” is aggressive and urgent as new vocalist, Travis Willis, shows off his impressive collection of pipes. The guitarwork from OG Ben Jackson and new axe Mark Borgmeyer is fluid and technical, and the song itself is decent, though it gets a bit scattered. The title track opens with the lead riff from Transcendence classic “Red Sharks,” which is either cool or cornball, I can’t decide. The song sounds more like something off Sanctuary’s debut than Crimson Glory, but it’s good nonetheless, although Willis overdoes it at times. The first real winner comes with “Broken Together,” which sounds enough like vintage Glory where you could imagine it appearing on the early classics. Wills sounds so close to Midnight as to be unsettling, and the whole package has that same strange power the old albums did. “Angel in My Nightmare” is a sprawling epic that plays out like a pastiche of “Lonely in Love” and “Azrael,” and it takes you on an interesting voyage through the various eras of the band (wisely excluding Strange and Beautiful). It’s a bit too long, but the goods are delivered.

“Indelible Ashes” is another success story, sounding like the love child of 80s Crimson Glory and Rage for Order era Queensrÿche. Wills moves between Midnight and Geof Tate homage vocals, and this is another cut that feels like the logical successor to the Transcendence material. “Beyond the Unknown” is another win where Wills shifts tone to sound almost exactly like Lance King, and the chorus sounds like essential Pyramaze. The only song that doesn’t really gel for me is “Armor Against Fate,” where the writing gets too herky-jerky and proggy, jettisoning transitions to skitter from idea to idea. Even then, it isn’t bad, and the chorus sticks in the head. At 47 minutes, and with most songs in the 4-5 minute frame, Chasing the Hydra ends up an easy spin with a nice ebb and flow.

A lot of the success of Chasing the Hydra comes down to the vocal magic of Travis Wills. Yes, the guy can emulate Midnight, which is no easy feat, but he doesn’t spend the entirety of the album trying to be a clone. He shifts tones and styles to suit the material and generally does a bang-up job elevating the solid-to-above-average material. Ben Jackson and new axe Mark Borgmeyer do a great job decorating each song with the right mix of burly riffage and pretty, ethereal harmonies, never drifting too far into Cheese Meadows. There’s a surprising amount of scrotal power on some of these tracks, which offsets the lighter moments.

If you ran into me at a drunken New Year’s Eve shindig last December and told me I’d be giving good reviews to Metal Church and Crimson Glory in 2026, I’d have denounced you as a fool and a charlatan. Here we are, though, and I underrated Metal Church! Chasing the Hydra is the album we should have gotten in 1991. It may be 34 years late, but better that than never. The Glory days may not be behind us after all. I hope that somewhere in the Great Beyond, Midnight is smiling.



Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: BraveWords
Websites: theofficialcrimsonglory.com | facebook.com/crimsonglory |
Releases Worldwide: April 17th, 2026

#2026 #30 #AmericanMetal #Apr26 #BraveWordsRecords #ChasingTheHydra #CrimsonGlory #HeavyMetal #Pyramaze #Queensryche #Review #Reviews #Sanctuary

Foetorem – Incongruous Forms of Evergrowing Rot Review By Alekhines Gun

I am writing this review with tequila and lime salt still oozing out of my pores. My eyeballs each have a different heartbeat, and I am honestly amazed (if not a little disappointed) that I began the day with my pants still on. And yet the call of the promo pit continues, as I was shaken out of my birthday-shenanigans-induced stupor by the smell of gorilla breath outside my lion’s den, and something rancid chucked at its entrance. The Ape being pleased post-album release usually means great news for hopeful bands and an increased labor for those under his watchful and merciless eye, and one peep at this moldy art spelled out the whole mission statement from the get-go. Denmark’s Foetorem are a very young outfit, having just penned their sole demo last year1 before unleashing their debut full-length Incongruous Forms of Evergrowing Rot on the unsuspecting masses. I hope you’re hungry, because we’ve got some leftovers from rotsgiving waiting for you!

Foetorem specialize in a refreshingly energetic breed of death/doom. Blasts feature aplenty, but are typically used as points of transition or introduction/outro to songs. Most of Incongruous Forms of Evergrowing Rot operates on second and third gear, with the sustained open chords you’d expect often molding into mid-paced chugging savagery. Indeed, if you’re a sucker for mid-paced chuggathons, this will be a euphoric experience for you as the overwhelming backbone of most of the songs rely on such a trope. Imagine the most downtempo moments of Cannibal Corpse with a lot of atmospheric high-trem plucking for atmospherics and run through some extra fresh grave soil—something between Phobophilic and SEDIMENTUM—and you have a good idea of what’s waiting. The high note musings are a great addition, giving whiffs of melancholy and gloom to the proceedings, which might otherwise threaten to be an overly simplistic sound with their engaging melodies (“Mors Viaturis – The Death Traveler”) before collapsing into the next jackhammer assault.

Incongruous Forms Of Evergrowing Rot by Foetorem

And boy howdy, jackhammers are aplenty. Despite the relative simplicity of the approach, a great deal of thought has gone into each arrangement to keep one concrete-burrowing assault after another fresh and engaging. “Tapestries of Misery” commands with a gripping 6/8 time signature and a whiff of unexpected SKRONK, while “Oozing with Pustulent Fluids” keeps burrowing into the earth’s crust with a classic Vader riff played at half speed while drummer Geistaz keeps things engaging with an ever-shifting focus between creative bass fills and high-hat ting-and-tangs. His drumming is part of what keeps the Foetorem recipe so engaging (“Rebirth in Morbid Disgust”) as no chug sounds exactly the same despite the band drawing so deeply from what is a usually very narrowly defined well.

If you’re about that chug life, the death here is excellent; the only real stumbling block comes from some of the doomier elements. Foetorem have improved on the Sanctuarium formula of sandwiching their blasts and chugs between sudden slowdowns, but there’s no escaping that some moments are real momentum killers. “Oozing…” drops down to bare-minimum quarter note walks lacking any weight to carry the empty space, while “Decay of the Flesh” throws in some harmonized leads that don’t quite overcome the lack of progression in the songs. Not every doom element is poor, by any means, but it happens enough to degrade decompose Incongruous Forms of Evergrowing Rot” to an album more memorable by its moments than by the wholeness of its songs. And yet, those highlights are plenty, and it’s great to hear when the band really stick the landing, like in album finale “Peeled Face Mask”. This is a contender for the top of the song pile, with the most ruthless chugs, groovy riffing, great doomy moments, and even a major dollop of leads sounding pulled from Gates of Ishtar.2 This track shows the band have a great grasp of what makes their sound a success, and more of this across the whole body of work would lead to a real RotM contender.

Incongruous Forms of Evergrowing Rot is less an excellent debut and more an excellent debut. It shows a band with a clear purpose and musical vision, but a vision not free of warts and rough edges. When it hits, though, it hits. Foetorem have erupted from the grave, covered in fluid and mold, ready to make their deathly mark on the world. With enough force to change cave structure and a grasp of atmosphere beyond their youth, the band have announced their presence in style, and I believe the best is yet to come for their cemetery anthems. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get myself some coffee and some food. Preferably, something a little extra raw and rotted…

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Everlasting Spew Records
Website: Album Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2026

#2026 #30 #CannibalCorpse #DanishMetal #DeathMetal #DoomMetal #Foetorem #GatesOfIshtar #IncongruousFormsOfEvergrowingRot #Mar26 #Phobophilic #Review #Reviews #Sanctuarium #Sedimentum #Vader

Osmium Gate – Cannibal Universe Review By Alekhines Gun

Of all the discouraging and difficult elements contributing to people having appallingly bad taste not being into metal, the biggest sticking point has got to be the vocals. As inoffensive as we might find, for example, vintage Dave Vincent (Morbid Angel) or early Possessed, going all the way back to the genre roots, casual listeners find themselves appalled by what started out as gravely growls and has evolved into full retching and intestinal spew. While desensitization through repeated listens is the obvious solution, some bands solve the problem wholesale by eschewing vocals at all. I’ve been let down lately by some of my favorite genres, and while perusing the almost picked-clean promo pit, my eyes were caught by a bit of a rare tag around these parts: “Instrumental black metal.” Osmium Gate have arrived with a platter devoid of any vocals, a curious name, and some gorgeous artwork to emphasize the atmospheres within. Let’s strap in for a carnivorous adventure!

Cannibal Universe is a melodic release, heavy on atmosphere and beauty filtered through the requisite heavy sheen. Though ostensibly described as black metal, the overall production and tone sidesteps fuzzed-out tropes or crystalline polish with a sound more reminiscent of modern death metal but utilizing black metal composition techniques. This imparts a thicker flavor to the requite snare-and-bass trem heavy riffing (“Booming Dunes”, “Blood Rain”) while adding extra brass knuckles to some atypically chug-heavy movements (“Waters of Natron”). A heavy focus on sustained open chords for big mood and pathos is a major tool in Osmium Gate’s wheelhouse, with slower, emptier sections that feel tailor-made for amphitheater reverb rather than the blistering assault typically found in blackened wares.

Cannibal Galaxy by Osmium Gate

Instrumental music needs to have a dollop of “busyness” to justify the lack of vocals, and at their best Osmium Gate have the chops to get the job done. “Sailing Stone” features a fantastic spot of noodlage where a lead runs interlocked with a separate rhythm for a full and complex emotive experience. Cannibal Universe spots a decent amount of such highlights, where fun leads and overlapping time signatures summon the spirit of Scale the Summit or Plini. Fret not, the occasional thunderous blast or vintage Intervals chug is never far away to remind you that there’s nothing “post” about this album. Title track “Cannibal Universe” throws everything into the kitchen sink, sculpting doom-tempo’d plods into an avalanche of chord progressions which immediately scale back into a dollop of Odious Mortem melody with infinitely better production. But the real climax comes in mid-album cut “Nacreous.” This is the jewel of the album, running a wistful, melancholic lead under blast beats, which are worked in more atmospheric conjuncture with the slow-moving melodies. Such a highlight is an easy contender for song of the year, channeling genuine catharsis and summoning up enough feelings to bring some mist to even Tyme‘s crusty, battle-hardened eyes.

It may be a strange critique given the genre, but the only real stumbling block facing Osmium Gate is that not all the songs warrant an instrumental presentation. There’s no cut across this album that is bad, and much that is quite enjoyable, perfect for stargazing or late-night drives under the moon. But the band’s insistence on using large open chord structures across the album leaves a great deal of unbusy, open space where I found myself instinctively expecting vocal lines to fill the void. These particular cuts (“Waters of Natron”) aren’t definitively poor in any real sense as much as feeling incomplete, with the chord structures telling a partial story and lacking a sense of fullness elsewhere in the album. Bands like Animals As Leaders and their ilk nail the instrumental presentation by ushering the listener from one passage to the next without leaving any space for extra flair, where literally and metaphorically the music does all the talking. Here, Osmium Gate make real effort and grasp the goal more than once, but not consistently across the album. Tellingly, the tracks that throw off such restrictions are the least traditionally black metal sounding, as it’s when the songs sound the most typical that they sound the most unfinished.

Still, I’ve enjoyed my time with Cannibal Universe as a nice detour from my usual brutal and blackened fare. There’s genuine chops and promise here, and you owe it to yourself to at least listen to “Nacreous”. Osmium Gate have offered up a delicious platter of melodic black metal with limitations entirely surmountable. I’m not necessarily encouraging them to go out and get a vocalist (though I have no doubt they’d be capable of making a good album with one), but to push their songwriting to match the highlights here across an entire platter. Nevertheless, this album has moments worthy of note and any lover of instrumental metal should find something worthy of interest to be devoured…

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Release
Websites: Album Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: March 13th 2025

#2026 #30 #AmericanMetal #AnimalsAsLeaders #BlackMetal #CannibalUniverse #InstrumentalMetal #Intervals #Mar26 #MorbidAngel #OdiousMortem #OsmiumGate #Plini #Possessed #Review #Reviews #ScaleTheSummit #SelfRelase

Lion’s Share – Inferno Review By Andy-War-Hall

Some bands need no introduction; somehow, Lion’s Share do. Hailing from Sundsvall, Sweden, guitarist Lars Chriss and keyboardist Kay Buckland formed the group in 1987 and, between 1995 and 2009, cranked out a smattering of respectable, high-octane heavy metal records before seemingly falling off a cliff. Lion’s Share were never condemned to obscurity,1 but they never reached the level of acclaim their fans believe they deserved. Now, seventeen years after 2009’s Dark Hours, Lion’s Share attempt to swing back with Inferno, something Chriss claims as “the strongest, heaviest and most focused Lion’s Share record of our career.” There’s a lot working against Inferno: seventeen years between albums could either stoke the flames of ambition or see them snuffed out, and vocalist Nils Patrik Johansson most recently came off a plain bad solo record in War and Peace. But can Lion’s Share overcome these challenges and stumbles to claim the throne they deserve with Inferno?

Lion’s Share raise their Inferno through the ancient metal magiks of the early 80s. Ruled by the riff as first envisioned by the likes of Exciter, Diamond Head, and Dio, Inferno sneers at any notion that heavy/proto-thrash doesn’t deserve consideration this side of 2000. For the most part, Inferno’s throwback nature proves engaging. “The Lion’s Trial” evokes Dio’s “Holy Diver” with its dramatic synth intro and anthemic structure, while “We Will Rock” teeters the line of homage and plagiarism of Dio’s “We Rock,” borrowing heavily from its chorus riff and vocals. Inferno flirts with select 90s innovations, like Primal Fearesque power metal in “Live Forever” and “Another Desire” and brooding groove in “Pentagram” and “Baptized in Blood,” which catches similar waves as Bruce Dickinson’s The Chemical Wedding. The only break from the formula is closer “Run for Your Life,” which blends doom riffs with symphonic elements and full-on hair metal sleaze into a ridiculously fun package. Inferno sees a band that doesn’t just mimic the sounds of old but realizes them authentically.

Lion’s Share sound spry as ever on Inferno. Vim drives Inferno, bestowing it great volumes of speed (“We Will Rock”), brawn (“Pentagram”), dirt (“Another Desire”) and drama (“Run for Your Life”). Inferno’s biggest surprise is Johansson, who sounds simply robust, and his Dioisms feel more like a feature and less like a caricature than on War and Peace. I think because Lion’s Share is riff-centric, NPJ doesn’t have to carry the material himself and put too much pressure on his voice. When Inferno does call on him to take the lead, the results range from the strained hiccup of “Live Forever” to the chest-pounding victory of “The Lion’s Trial.” But the highlight of Inferno is Chriss’ soloing, which evokes the gnarly excess of Vivian Campbell and Eddie Van Halen in their shreddy melodicism. Lion’s Share may have been away from the studio for some time, but age doesn’t seem to have taken its toll on Inferno.

Lion’s Share don’t do much you’ve never heard before, but Inferno is just too fun not to feel like a total victory. There’s little bloat on Inferno, bar some over repetition on “Chain Child” and “Live Forever,” and the mix is clear and dynamic enough for what Lion’s Share do. The hooks are massive without being overbearing: I’ve been humming “Baptized in Blood” and “The Lion’s Share” all week, and “We Will Rock” escapes the knock-off label with a ridiculously catchy verse all of its own. Inferno’s lyrics are silly but delivered so convincingly it rarely comes off as corny but more tongue-in-cheek: when “We Are What We Are” calls for a heavy metal revolution, or NPJ describes himself as the “Anti-Social Warrior” on “Inferno,” I laugh with Lion’s Share. Overall, Inferno crackles and rages with simple heavy metal goodness.

Lion’s Share are so easy to root for, and Inferno proves why. Good songs, good performances, excellent solos, and an undying allegiance to their craft make Inferno a blast all around. With how good “Run for Your Life” turned out, however, it makes me wonder if Inferno could’ve ascended beyond mere enjoyability if Lion’s Share went in more adventurous directions in their songwriting. But there isn’t a whiff of pretension on this thing, and I get the sense that this is exactly the record these guys wanted to make. Lion’s Share are probably not going to take the world with Inferno, but if you like your metal loud, beefy, and dated circa 1981, it’s just the record you want to hear.



Rating: Good
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mps
Label: Metalville Records
Websites: lionsshare.org | lionsshare.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/lionsshareband
Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2026

#2026 #30 #BruceDickinson #DiamondHead #Dio #Exciter #HeavyMetal #Inferno #LionSShare #Mar26 #MetalvilleRecords #NilsPatrikJohansson #PowerMetal #PrimalFear #Review #Reviews #SwedishMetal