Blindead’s third album Affliction XXIX II MXMVI is one of the most underrated classics of the 2010s. The Polish band’s sound was bigger than its fanbase, tragically, but that didn’t stop them from releasing an ambitious concept album whose stars aligned in both sound and lyrical themes. Rooted in the enigmatic and mammoth style of post-metal, the grey world it painted with broad sludge brushstrokes portrayed the experiences and perceptions of a child with ASD: “The shape of a city stood in the grayness, like a charcoal drawing sketched across the waste” (“Dark and Gray”). Alongside titles like Amia Venera Landscape’s The Long Procession and Dirge’s Elysian Magnetic Fields, Blindead was included on a long list of post-metal deep cuts that lay below the decade’s surface.

In spite of the laziest band name, Blindead 23 is the reincarnation of the act, this time armed with a star-studded lineup. The core of long-time guitarist Mateusz Śmierzchalski (aka Havoc, former Behemoth guitarist from 2000-03) and vocalist Patryk Zwoliński, Blindead 23 is rounded out by drummer Pawel “Pavulon” Jaroszewicz (known for his time in Vltimas, Vader, and Decapitated) and guitarist Roger Öjersson (known for his time in Katatonia). After the relative fizzle of Blindead’s final post-metal/alt rock albums Absence and Ascension, and the outta left field punk swansong Niewiosna, Blindead 23 returns to its roots with a tried-and-true blend of post-metal hugeness and hardcore intensity, sounding right at home with the likes of Rosetta, Neurosis, and Mouth of the Architect. First LP Deuterium is a love song to post-metal, a welcome return that won’t turn too many heads – but it’s the riffiest and the dirgiest post-metal that is both overlong and extremely promising.

Blessedly, the Blindead 23’s riffs are truly a force of nature, amplified by Öjersson’s soulful trademark melodies. The opening “Immersion” suite offers you a front-and-center attack that showcases the intensity and range – chuggy riffs and ominous melodies collide in formidable intensity. The more intense portions take on a nearly mechanical, death metal-bordering heaviness thanks to choppy staccato chugs and cold atmospheric tricks (“Immersion II,” title track), while solos and cleans inject the necessary humanity to keep them from wallowing in industrial aloofness (“Immersion I” and “II,” “Wither,” title track). Other tracks happen upon a more hardcore-inspired approach, chaotic movements, and shifty rhythms recalling the likes of Black Sheep Wall and Knut (“Worst Laid Plans”), Jaroszewicz’s drums laying a foundation of shifting sands.

The fifty-four-minute runtime is both a blessing and a curse for Blindead 23: while it allows them the breath to explore all their facets, it drags on the slower moments to a snail’s crawl. While the more hypnotic and dirgelike pieces can be bolstered by an eerie atmosphere (“Immersion II”), they have the potential to drag on for way too long and rob the band of the intensity they have effectively established (“Wither”), and even good tracks can feel a few minutes too long (“Worst Laid Plans”). While range is the name of the game, a few tricks feel too out-of-left-field, such as the bluesy and twangy plucking or jazzy melodies (“Toward the Dark”) or a surprising optimism that clashes with the overall darkness of the debut (“You Are the Universe”). However, this is not Blindead – it’s Blindead 23 – and it’s better that a band explore all avenues instead of just playing it safe.

Deuterium is the sound of a band hungry for the return, but not to the way things were. Already, a revolving door of contributors make Deuterium a distinct sound compared to 2024 debut EP Vanishing, and it shows in a solid output that sounds like the veterans they are. While the inconsistency is jarring and the sprawl leads to the excessive runtime, individual star power with an immensity greater than the sum of its parts graces the Polish juggernaut in an exploration of all avenues. An embarrassment of riches awaits them. Deuterium may not be their magnum opus, but it’s the prelude for Blindead 23.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Peaceville Records
Website: facebook.com/blindead23
Releases Worldwide: April 22nd, 2026

Yup, it’s late, and I don’t even feel bad about it. Because, once again, no promo, no stream, no nothing from the lovable assholes that are Nocturno Culto and Fenriz. Who would even write a review at this point? You don’t care. I don’t care. And Darkthrone certainly don’t care. Well… because I sorta care. Just a little.1 Mostly I care because I wanted to see if the band could bounce back after their dreadful 2024 release, It Beckons Deez Nutz…………. Though the band has been chasing “pre-historic” metal since their significant shit at Hate Them and Sardonic Wrath, one can only assume Pre-Historic Metal is meant as a definitive homage to the ways of the olde.2 Which means, half of the staff (and most of you) have already moved on to your hip, new-wave shit—sucking back a Truly and trying to hold your vape like you’re fucking Humphrey Bogart from The Maltese Falcon.3 I guess I’m the only one with balls around here.

Anyway, this new, ear-splitting opus from Darkthrone does indeed explore even more of the classics, ranging from Maiden gallops to Mercyful Fate guitar play and hair metal groovery—the good stuff. The stuff before Zack Morris and gang ruined fashion, music, and my life.4 With that, even come shifts that are new to the band. Like, having rocking, accessible grooves that you could put on the radio. Just kidding. Idiots. But you’ll be surprised by some of the arrangements and the slickness of the songwriting. The other thing Pre-Historic Metal has over many of the band’s previous releases is… RIFFS. Lots and lots of fucking RIFFS. Do they all work? No. Do they tend to blend? Yes. Do they still kick ass? Also, yes.

To open the album, “They Found One of My Graves” borrows some inspiration from Kill ‘Em All-era Metallica, delivering some hooking licks that transition only when the urge for Motörhead-meets-Mercyful Fate-isms takes hold. The result is the funnest song on the record, and perhaps one of the grooviest of the band’s career. “Siberian Thaw” is another with that big, fun energy. After the instruments gently fade in, the song alternates between mid-paced chuggery and waist-deep murkery. The best part comes around the middle, when everything falls away and is replaced by eerie effects and a stellar bass lead. I’m not sure I’ve heard such prominent bass work on a Darkthrone album before, but they should do it more often.

Following “Siberian Thaw,” “Deeply Rooted” takes many of its predecessor’s doomy, damning qualities and pushes harder against Pre-Historic Metal’s outer walls. Adding some melody to the mid-paced groveling, the song creates an ascending character that only climbs higher as it progresses. Like the previous track, “Deeply Rooted” has a definitive moment of stoppage before more Metallica vibes kick in and the band goes flying. Continuing with this ridiculous continuity that has existed since Soulside Journey and only recently carried on, the album closes with the fourth part of “Eon.” Unlike the rest of the album, “Eon 4” is far more Darkthrone in approach. It contains classic tremolos and a black metal edge. When Fenriz’s absurd vocals arrive, they somehow feel far more fitting on this song than on others. But, as with the rest of the album, the moment you think you’ve settled in, everything around you changes. This time, the 1980s hit you like a fucking brick as the band hammers out one of the most headbangable licks on the record. Toss in a horse chase of galloping energy, and you have a winner in “Eon 4.”

While the instrumental, “So I Marched to the Sunken Empire,” is mostly unnecessary, it does point to a time when it seemed like every metal album had at least one. And even though the title track sounds like tired, overdone Darkthrone, with its ugly chord bends and even uglier Fenriz vocals,5 it still contains a killer lick on the back-end that’ll have you growing out your hair.6 Pre-Historic Metal is exactly as described. It’s a journey back in time, delivered through the eyes of two metal titans that have been doing this shit for forty fucking years.7 And the result is one of the most straightforward the band has produced. Keeping the weirdness to a minimum and letting the riffs shine throughout. With a respectable master that lets all things surface at the right time, Pre-Historic Metal is one of the best Darkthrone records of this era.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: ALAC
Label: Peaveville Records | Bandcamp
Websites: facebook.com/darkthroneofficial
Releases Worldwide: May 8th, 2026

Mortem return with new album "Mørketid," arriving in July via Peaceville Records.
Details: https://metalinsider.net/new-music/mortem-reveal-details-for-new-album-morketid-set-for-july

#Mortem #BlackMetal #PeacevilleRecords #Mayhem #MetalNews

Sigh – I Saw the World’s End – Hangman’s Hymn MMXXV [Things You Might Have Missed 2025]

By Grymm

Before we start… yes. Yes, we received I Saw the World’s End – Hangman’s Hymn MMXXV on time back when it was released this past June. There was a debate behind the scenes whether a complete remake of Sigh’s seventh full-length from 2007, Hangman’s Hymn, justifies a full-length review. At the end of the day, newer, current bands and releases that were created in 2025 needed precedence, and thus a remake of a classic album, one that many feel didn’t necessarily need one, took a backseat. In doing so, many people slept on it and decided to move on. Which would be a shame, as not only does I Saw the World’s End sound a hell of a lot better than the original, it improves upon it in almost every aspect.

What Sigh mainman/bassist/vocalist Mirai Kawashima possessed in 2007 was a plethora of ideas and a hunger to see them to fruition. The Mirai of 2025 still possesses those qualities, but also now has a backing band to see them come to life, and the results are a jaw-dropping improvement. Former guitarist Shinichi Ishikawa and former drummer Junichi Harashima weren’t slouches when Hangman’s Hymn was originally released, but current guitarist Nozomu Wakai and session drummer Mike Heller (Malignancy, ex-Fear Factory) bring so much more to the table creatively. The revamp of “Me-Devil” sees Wakai turn the chorus from a straight-ahead thrash riff to a near-blackened assault. His solos are also a massive departure over Ishikawa’s, soaring as opposed to just being a placeholder.

And Heller? Seriously, just listen to “Introitus/Kyrie” of 2025 and compare that to the original. While the original kept a straight-ahead marching attack, Heller’s variety, speed, and skill elevate the song, with rolling tom flourishes, blasts, and fill after glorious fill highlighting Kawashima’s songwriting genius. Elsewhere, his near-militaristic take on “The Memories as a Sinner,” combined with Wakai’s shred-tastic soloing, turns the song into a much meaner tune. In fact, what both men bring to the reworking of Hangman’s Hymn is such a vastly superior improvement that showcasing a few examples was difficult, when they’re all impressive.

It doesn’t hurt that the Lasse Lammert production cleans things up where they’re needed (especially in the bass and live brass instrumentation), and beefs things up where necessary (the drums and guitars). The vocals of Kawashima and his wife, Dr. Mikannibal (who joined just after the original was released), also cut through with alarming clarity and focus, often playing off each other’s delivery. Sure, some of the original’s hiccups remain (I’m still trying to wrap my head around Kawashima’s impish Baby Ms. Piggy-like vocals in the choruses of “Inked in Blood,” but I recognize that that’s a Me Thing), but everything else answers why Kawashima would choose to rework an album that’s already a classic in many people’s eyes. While I loved the original, I Saw the World’s End is several notches above it; it’s frightening. After all, I would take this over a poorly-produced, massively downgraded redux any day of the week.1

Tracks to Check Out: This really is a “sit and absorb” kind of album, so sit and absorb it, will ya?

#2025 #AvantGardeMetal #FearFactory #HangmanSHymnMMXXV #ISawTheWorldSEnd #JapaneseMetal #Malignancy #Pallbearer #PeacevilleRecords #Sigh #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2025

Anathema - Pentecost III

The album artwork is a 1891 painting by Frederic Leighton called "Perseus and Andromeda".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus_and_Andromeda_(Leighton)

#Peaceville #anathema #metal #90sMetal #doomMetal #90sMusic #PeacevilleRecords

https://www.metalsucks.net/2025/11/30/sigh-release-special-30th-anniversary-edition-of-infidel-art/

#Sigh #InfidelArt #BlackMetal #AvantGardeMetal #30thAnniversary #MetalReissue #JapaneseMetal #PeacevilleRecords #ZombieTerror #VinylCollector

Novembre – Words of Indigo Review

By Owlswald

Melancholic is the word that best describes the atmospheric sound of Italy’s Novembre. Existing in the dark corners of doom and death metal since their origins as Catacomb in 1990, the group—spearheaded by brothers Carmelo and Giuseppe Orlando—adopted the name Novembre in 1993, spending over three decades fusing their emotive sound of metal aggression and classical composure. Despite being largely underrated, their output includes the acclaimed cornerstone, Novembrine Waltz (2001), and the progressively leaning Materia (2006) and The Blue (2007). Following a prolonged hiatus—and the crucial departure of Giuseppe Orlando—2016’s URSA provided proof of life. While the album had enough trademark characteristics to appease many (like Grymm), it failed to impress me, raising my fears that the Novembre I once loved was gone. The burden of proof now rests on their ninth LP, Words of Indigo, to prove these longstanding veterans still possess their romantic magic.

If you liked URSA, it’s likely you will love Words of Indigo. Despite the nine-year break and additional lineup shifts,1 fresh blood has instilled a dynamism and richness that was missing on URSA. Novembre’s outstanding musicianship explores territories both old and new, delivering phenomenal guitar leads with the group’s familiar romantic passages. Buttery, soothing textures and serene melodies are often undercut by moments of calculated aggression. These elements interlace death, power, rock and doom to build a sonic architecture of musical contrast, constantly ebbing and flowing between tranquil plateaus, cinematic sweeps and energetic torrents. Carmelo Orlando’s mumbling vocals remain prevalent, though they frequently adopt a darker and heavier identity, his blackened rasps matching Novembre’s waves of death metal aggression. Among the rich instrumental additions of piano (“Statua”), saxophone (“Your Holocene”), church bells (“Chisea dell’alba”) and acoustic guitar (“Intervallo”), Words of Indigo evokes an Enslaved-meets-Anathema synthesis, containing considerable depth and a classic sensibility that pays homage to their Italian heritage.

Driven by gloomy, foreboding melodies juxtaposed with transcendent bridges of beauty and serenity, Words of Indigo is a complex emotional landscape, dynamic and rich in its sculpting. “Statua” washes the listener in a sea of layered, solemn progressive tones before its gorgeous, piano-driven end grants a necessary homecoming. “Neptunian Hearts” balances black intensity with beautiful resolving melodies—including one of the best guitar solos on the album—while “House of Rain” uses a brooding vibe, a midpoint solo and beautiful contributions by Ann-Mari Edvardsen (The 3rd & the Mortal) to fuel its delicate crescendo. Even lengthy instrumental “Ipernotte” shifts rapidly from technical tapping and thundering double-bass to a dystopian, crestfallen tone, its chaotic ending mitigated by a percussive and underutilized flamenco guitar. The combined guitar work of Alessio Erriu, Federico Albanese and Carmelo Orlando is arguably Words of Indigo’s engine. Their leads paint a diversely progressive palette of virtuosic shredding (“Brontide”) and Fallujah-like atmospherics (“Sun Magenta”) to flashy power tapping and bright harmonics (“Your Holocene,” “Brontide”), elevating Novembre’s songwriting to the next level.

Faithful to its roots, Words of Indigo retains some of Novembre’s familiar challenges: a tendency toward sonic conformance and Orlando’s persistent use of his signature mumbling vocal technique. As with URSA, the album suffers a bit from mid-point fatigue, as tracks tend to coalesce toward the center, causing my appetite for the remainder to wane. Though not a deal breaker, Words of Indigo’s track sequencing also struggles, presenting as separate pieces rather than a cohesive whole. Minor production choices, such as the unnecessary fade-out/fade-in ending of “House of Rain,” compound this segmentation. However, Words of Indigo is certainly better paced than its predecessor, with a superior variety of tempos, vocals and instrumental additions that help keep the songwriting interesting. Finally, Orlando’s characteristic delivery—highlighted on tracks like “Sun Magenta,” “Post Poetic,” and “Your Holocene”—remains divisive, directly eroding the vitality of the songwriting by distracting from the superior instrumentation.

Words of Indigo marks Novembre’s definitive return following yet another long hiatus and lineup change and it delivers on nearly every front. It’s dynamic and richly textured, weaving the group’s familiar characteristics into a sonic tapestry defined by compelling, adventurous guitar leads. While clunky at times, Words of Indigo signals a new phase for Novembre, successfully positioning them not just as underappreciated doom and death metal mainstays, but as artists intent on consistently reimagining their core identity. This complex, nuanced emotional landscape absolutely warrants your attention and has firmly rekindled my intrigue for what is hopefully to come.

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Peaceville Records
Websites: novembre2.bandcamp.com/music | novembre.co.uk | facebook.com/Novembre1941#
Releases Worldwide: November 7th, 2025

#2025 #35 #Anathema #Catacomb #DoomMetal #Enslaved #Fallujah #ItalianMetal #Nov25 #Novembre #PeacevilleRecords #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #The3rdTheMortal #WordsOfIndigo