Artificial Silence – Hollow Drift Review By Twelve

Many bands don’t make it past the first album (many more don’t make it there at all). Maybe that’s why we’re so big on sophomore releases here? It takes a lot to release your debut, to go through that harrowing process, to inevitably be told by some guy on the Internet that your music sucks, and then go off and do it again. So, before we even get to the review, kudos to Artificial Silence, a progressive metal band and the subject of today’s article. Having released their debut, Negative Space, way back in 2018, the U.S. trio is back with an album that promises to be both proggier and newer than the last. But kudos do not translate into rating ’round these parts. How does the actual music sound?

Artificial Silence are a progressive metal band. I know I said that already, but I need to emphasize that Hollow Drift is all kinds of proggy—it’s got a reasonable level of heaviness, but it also features moments of cappella singing (“The Shadow”), a sudden violin solo (“Paradise”), and one song that inexplicably makes up half the runtime of the album (“Hollow Drift”). It also makes excellent use of a piano, which happens to be one of my favorite things in metal. Yes, there is a whole lot of prog happening on Hollow Drift, reminding me at times of Ayreon and Southern Empire—an album that succeeds or fails by its ideas and the grace with which it executes them. A headbanger this is not, but the scope of what Artificial Silence have made here is impressive. It helps that it sounds great; I really can’t remember the last time I’ve heard bass sound so good in a new release.

Unsurprisingly, then, there is more than enough variety across Hollow Drift for it to be engaging and enjoyable. “Tidal Lock” is unquestionably the heart of the album, a gorgeous, melancholy epic with a supremely emotional core that makes great use of the singers, piano, and keys. It swells to a simple yet lovely tremolo riff towards the end that encapsulates what Artificial Silence do best: simple, straightforward ideas executed with conviction and layered on top of each other to make great music. “Paradise” also does this well; for the most part, it’s a straightforward number that really comes alive in its final third—the piano and bass go wild, competing for speed and space, a violin joins the fray, and the Karevik-esque singing (Kamelot) becomes grander, more sweeping—it suddenly feels like an epic that ends too soon.

Of course, I have to mention the title track; in the forty-eight-minute album, “Hollow Drift” is twenty-four of them, and it contains some of Hollow Drift’s best moments and its one weakness. First, the good: over the first ten minutes or so, “Hollow Drift” establishes a serious, brooding atmosphere that feels great after the lighter and melancholic tracks that precede it. It blends expertly in and out of a cabaret-esque routine, the kind of silly-but-also-serious move I would expect from Diablo Swing Orchestra. It also features some of the heaviest moments on Hollow Drift. Unfortunately, it is simply too long. The last ten minutes grasp at ideas but never really take hold of one long enough to build the thread. There are two false stops that both feel like they “should” be the end, and despite many listens, I can’t quite remember exactly how this strong album closes. It feels like Artificial Silence were going for a grand finish from a story perspective, but I just don’t find the music holds up. This is a shame, especially because when it holds up, it really holds up! “Hollow Drift” features grandiose, epic, and fun music that recommends it highly anyway.

I could—and would really like to—go on. There’s so much to say about Hollow Drift and Artificial Silence that just doesn’t fit into the word count. For example, the vocal lines in “Fear and Retribution” are upbeat enough to evoke early aughts US pop rock—I can’t help but think Panic! At the Disco when I hear it. There’s so much going on here, and while I wish the title track had just a bit less in it, I love the myriad other ideas that make up Hollow Drift. It is a very enjoyable listen, one I plan to return to many more times.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: ~260 kbps VBR mp3
Label: Self-Release
Websites: artificialsilence.bandcamp.com | artificialsilence.com | facebook.com/artificialsilenceband
Releases Worldwide: June 12th, 2026

#2026 #35 #AmericanMetal #ArtificialSilence #Ayreon #DiabloSwingOrchestra #HollowDrift #Jun26 #Kamelot #PanicAtTheDisco #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfRelease #SouthernEmpire

Khemmis – Khemmis Review By Steel Druhm

Back in 2015, an unknown band from Denver called Khemmis came out of nowhere and clobbered me with their massive Absolution debut. It was a shrewd and crafty mixture of classic doom, stoner, and sludge idioms, and I ate it up greedily. They came back the following year with an even bigger, better opus called Hunted, and it looked to all the world as if Khemmis would be joining acts like Pallbearer and Crypt Sermon as the vanguard of an American doom revival. 2018s Desolation saw the band inject loads of epic and trve metal into the sound, and it worked, but felt less stellar overall. 2021s Deceiver pushed this concept even further, loading down their long compositions with 80s metal influences, losing more of the doom cred they’d developed over their crucial early releases. It felt as if Khemmis were drifting away from what made them so thrilling, much as Pallbearer did, and they too would end up lost at sea if things continued this way. With this negative trending in mind, I approached their eponymously titled fifth album with a gnawing sense of dread. Would this signify surrender to the forces of diminishing recordings, or would they make a push to reclaim the lofty heights of Absolution and Hunted? With teeth clenched, I pressed play and prayed for Mojo.

It turns out, Khemmis is a partial return to what we heard on Desolation, but with some crucial differences. Firstly, the songs are all much shorter and tighter, with only one cracking the 6-minute mark. Secondly, their blending of classic and epic doom with trve and traditional heavy metal and blackened influences feels more carefully thought out, and it flows better than it did on Deceiver. The songsmithing is also vastly superior this time. Most importantly, they haven’t lost sight of the fact that they’re a doom band at heart, despite this being a more “accessible” sound for them. Opener “Invocation of the Dreamer” runs from black metal aggression into classic heavy metal and onward into doom without becoming disorienting. It’s an engaging, entertaining song from start to finish, and it will remind you of roughly 20 other acts as it shifts tempos and genres in smart, interesting ways. There are even hints of Archspire in some of the neo-classic guitar noodling. “Corpsebloom Garden” is a dead ringer for Crypt Sermon, and it works as an epic doom sonnet despite the occasional death vocals, which add a nice edge to the otherwise forlorn clean singing. “Grief’s Reverie” keeps the epic doom coming with an uptick of trve badassery, and the death vox shares space with a kind of radio-ready vocal style from Phil that’s unexpected but cool.

The best stuff comes later on, with my personal favorite being “Beneath the Scythe.” This is doom for those who want the classic style married to the trve in never-ending holy headlock. It adroitly conjoins classic doom and heavy metal with just enough chest-thumping badassery to win me over. It’s a legitimately great song and one of the band’s best. “Carrion King” starts with scathing, blasting black metal before settling down into a sort of mellow doom with upbeat clean vocals, only to mutate into absolutely crushing death-doom. There are some harsh, gruesome moments here that reek of Triptykon, re-establishing the band’s doom bona vides. Closer “Benediction Tones” is classic doom with moments of upbeat, poppy vocals that could be on a YES album, and it shouldn’t work, but it definitely does. At a trim, muscular 42 minutes, Khemmis glides by effortlessly and demands replays.

As ever, the Khemmis formula depends on Ben Hutcherson and Phil Pendergast successfully beguiling us with killer riffs and memorable vocal exchanges. Phil improves as a singer with every release, and some of his most gripping, poignant moments occur here. He drifts from wounded sadboi to burly trve metal and hits into AOR at key moments, all effectively rendered. Ben provides nasty death roars and guttural spewings and plays the rampaging beast to Phil’s morose beauty. Guitar-wise, they deliver a lot of killer moments too, with somber, melancholic leads and harmonies rubbing against blackened mania and death-doom when they aren’t engaged in 80s metal gallops and NWoBHM noodling. It’s a heady mix, and it all hangs together because the writing is sound and focused.

While Khemmis doesn’t bring the band back to the glory days of Hunted, it does find them righting the ship and sailing in the right direction. In fact, the album glides right between the Very Good and the Great with no song feeling like a letdown. I’m very relieved to see Khemmis back in the black with a release I enjoy from start to finish, and this will be getting mucho airtime over the next few months. Mojo listens to his faithful apes!

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Nuclear Blast
Websites: khemmis.bandcamp.com | khemmisdoom.com | facebook.com/khemmisdoom | instagram.com/khemmisdoom
Releases Worldwide: June 12th, 2026

Lavender Larcenist

Over a decade ago, I made a concerted effort to get into doom metal. Like many of my fellow writers, sitting down to delve into new genres or artists is a favorite pastime. So, I bought myself a copy of Decibel Magazine’s special edition issue that focused on their top 100 doom metal albums and dove right in. Needless to say, I fell in love, and one of my favorites to this day is Khemmis. The band’s brand of doom was immediately captivating, with Phil Pendergast’s echoing, enveloping vocals and sword-and-sorcery-as-metaphor lyrics. They remain a staple in my household to this day, and their 2016 magnum opus Hunted is one of my all-time favorite records. Now they are back after a five-year gap with their eponymous album, Khemmis. Typically, a self-titled release signals a change in direction or the solidification of a trademark sound, but is this record a new lease on life for Khemmis or a creative stumble for an incredibly consistent doom metal staple?

Contrary to our Simian Sovereign (lashings forthcoming for this difference in opinion), I found Deciever to be one of Khemmis’ best records, and their trademark sound was still as affecting and pervasive as ever. The last thing I expected was a reevaluation of their endeavors, but as an artist myself, the war against creative stagnation never ends. I fully understand why the band would want to branch out, and while Khemmis isn’t a sea change in the way some acts completely reinvent themselves, it feels markedly different than anything they have previously done. The doom is toned down significantly, and the heavy metal is dialed up, while a not-insignificant number of death and borderline power metal influences have seeped in. Big choruses anchor each, while the roaming guitars and drawn-out tones of previous records are all but missing. There are no thirteen-minute epics, and the majority of the tracks follow the lines of songs that were previously one-off pace-breakers, such as the indomitable “Three Gates” or the bouncing “Isolation”.

Khemmis is straightforward as far as the band’s previous records go. The album bleeds together on the first few listens, and songs tend to follow the same flow and general pacing. It falls into the trap of being stuffed with mid-paced rockers, making it hard to differentiate between listens without really digging in. While not immediately grabbing, Khemmis begins to show its strengths with repeated spins. Tracks may all be mid-paced and conceptually repetitive, but every one is incredibly solid to downright great. Only one chorus stuck out to me as grating; “Gilded Chambers” is an all-around solid song with a ripping opening riff and great melodies, but the chorus reminds me of power metal or even something like Boston, ripped straight from the annals of classic rock. Ultimately, it is campy, and the backing harmonic vocals send it into the stratosphere of cheese. The track isn’t bad, but just not to my taste, especially for Khemmis.

Longtime fans like myself may be left wanting for the doom epics of olde, but there is no shortage of great music on this record. Outside of the album’s repetitive pacing and some odd stylistic choices, there is very little to complain about. “Invocation of the Dreamer” is classic Khemmis and an immediately gripping song that features incredible work on the low end instrumentally and vocally from Ben Hutcherson. Production throughout is solid if a little safe; everything has its place, and the bass is a highlight, but there is little range from song to song. For a self-titled record, I was hoping for more creativity and bombast from a band that has so many great records under its belt. Khemmis, like the production, is very safe. While not breaking the mold, it does stand as a testament to the band’s ability to write catchy, melodic death doom. “Grief’s Reverie,” “Beneath the Scythe,” and album closer “Benediction Tones” are highlights outside of the aformented opening track.

While Khemmis slightly disappointed me as a superfan, I was able to move beyond what I wanted from the record and fully appreciate its more focused approach. Khemmis doesn’t reach the heights of previous releases, but it is still a very solid album that straddles the line between heavy metal and death doom, making for a listen that is immediately more approachable than their previous records but less rewarding as a result. It seems like Khemmis wants to move away from their traditional doom metal trappings and lean into more arena-driven, heavy metal tracks, and for a band with their talent, the sky is the limit.

Rating: Very Good

#2026 #35 #AmericanMetal #CryptSermon #DoomMetal #HeavyMetal #Jun26 #Khemmis #NuclearBlastRecords #Pallbearer #Review #Reviews #SpiritAdrift

Fires in the Distance – Circadian Promise Review By Thus Spoke

Not many bands can craft as characteristic an aura as Fires in the Distance. Their dreamy melodicism yet grounded weight lend their music an instantly recognizable and powerfully uplifting tone. Debut Echoes from Deep November already shimmered with the promise of something special, and 2023 sophomore Air Not Meant for Us more than made good on this promise, gliding effortlessly into my top 5 for that year. At this point in a band’s career, one might start to fear a slip in quality—a complacent settling into an easy and familiar groove—where the magic fades a little. One might, but in my case, this was somewhat eclipsed by the glittering stars that filled my eyes when Circadian Promise appeared on the horizon. Returning to the paradigm of mental health, rendered through the imagery of flight and freedom, Fires in the Distance console even the most timorous of hearts and deliver once again.

Everything uniquely great about Fires in the Distance is back on full display in Circadian Promise, and more besides. The sparkling arias of keyboards gain strength on the backs of soaring lead guitars and the steadfast heft of bass and drum. Synths subtly decorate the soundscape with just a touch of drama. Dynamic, steady tempos propel you forward. But Fires in the Distance don’t rest in the surety of this admittedly winning formula. New vocalist Brendan Hayter1 uses his savage screams to inject a new intensity to the heaviness and amplifies already stirring passages with hearty cleans—first of their kind for the band. The keyboards also see a renaissance of sorts with extended moments in the spotlight (“Lightless Days of a Songless Bird,” “Once the Silence Takes Your Place”), and solos stretch further towards the epic (“By this Time Tomorrow”). This evolution remains entirely natural. Whatever fierceness seizes the percussion or harsh vocals, the music remains easily compelling and distinctively rousing. Similarly, the singing never pushes songs even close to the saccharine boundary; their emotionality is perfectly pitched.

Fires in the Distance set a high bar with their previous work, but somehow Circadian Promise clears it. The music demonstrates a mature exploration of tension and contrast, shifting slightly away from doom and back towards melodeath, playing with the duality of clean and harsh vocals, folding the fragile and the fierce into potent progressions. Songs might use an ardently sung bridge to allow a melancholic theme to provide tangible closure (“Of Radiance and Levitation,” “To You, the Author of my Fade”), or show vulnerability beside a heavier counterpart to the rhythm and melody (“Once the Silence…”). Just as much emotion comes from the ardent screams that ring over turbulent drums (“Once the Silence…”) or rise in tandem with tremolo-picked or swiftly arpeggio-ing riffs (“Lightless Days…,” “Agonal Dreaming”). Every refrain is just as deceptively simple, memorable, and lovely as ever, but with the increased dynamism, they shine still brighter. Layered transitions through synths and piano (“Lightless Days…,” “By This Time Tomorrow,” “Once the Silence…”) seamlessly weave movements together. Fluid, energetic drumming shapes the soundscape with bolstering fills and assertive rolls into steady, sweeping ascents (“Of Radiance…,” ), rocky climbs (“Once the Silence…” “Agonal Dreaming”), and endless onward glides (“By this Time Tomorrow”), metaphorically embodying their themes. As a result, they hit harder and stick longer.

Circadian Promise is also made more compelling by its structure. Almost the same length to the second as Air Not Meant for Us, it uses its time better, eschewing instrumental interludes and long intros and crafting long songs with assured builds (“Of Radiance…”, “Lightless Days…”), moving reprises (“To You,…” “Agonal Dreaming”), and thrillingly layered evolutions (“To You…,” “Once the Silence…”).2 “Lightless Days…” is possibly the only candidate for a trim, weakened slightly by its itineracy. Whilst being in many ways more dramatic and heavy than prior releases, it’s simultaneously more reflective thanks to a slight lilt in the tunes and openness in the cleans, and some fantastic keyboard-centred passages, integrated beautifully into the metal (“Of Radiance…,” “By this Time Tomorrow”). This heightened reflectiveness also shows up through Fires in the Distance’s substitution for pithy Christopher Hitchens with the rather more introspective Alan Watts (“By this Time Tomorrow”) in the role of sampled British intellectual.

To those who previously felt Fires in the Distance’s brand of melodeath too airy to be impactful, Circadian Promise may be the album that shows you the light. Bolstered and tempered with a more striking heaviness and passionate cleans, the characteristically stirring beauty of the melodies sings louder and warmer than before. Circadian Promise fully becomes its concept as its powerful pieces coalesce into a fortifying tonic you surely can’t resist, lifting your spirits, and Fire in the Distance themselves, up into the stratosphere.

Rating: Excellent
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Prosthetic Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: June 12th, 2026

#2026 #45 #AmericanMetal #CircadianPromise #DeathMetal #DoomMetal #FiresInTheDistance #Jun26 #MelodicDeathMetal #ProgressiveDeathMetal #ProstheticRecords #Review #Reviews

Stuck in the Filter: March 2026’s Angry Misses By Kenstrosity

Rain has started to leak into the ducts as Spring gets wetter and wetter. While I’m away, vacationing in a nice, dry, cloudy place, my minions are drenched and miserable. As it should be! But I’m still keeping tabs on their progress. Just because I’m having a great time somewhere else doesn’t mean these louts don’t have a quota to meet!

And meet their quota they shall, if only barely… BEHOLD!

ClarkKent’s Sci-Fi Soundbites

Epigram // Obsolescent [March 6th, 2026 – Self Released]

Combining the melodic black metal of Thulcandra and Dissection with the symphonics of Fleshgod Apocalypse and SepticFlesh, Epigram dropped a tasty little morsel with their debut, Obsolescent. The trio from Los Angeles puts on a spirited performance that borders on thrash. Tim Cauley’s display on the kit is a dominant force as he furiously blast beats his way from one song to the next. He turns “Wrath of Betrayed” into a piece of blackened thrash and proves tireless across Obsolescent’s 27-minute runtime. The lively vocal performance of Luis Echevarria adds further to Epigram’s charm. His low growls may seem underpowered, but his delivery is energetic and fun. He’s also the source of the symphonic instrumentation, via synths, though this aspect is secondary. Sure, there’s some choral chants (“Myrmidon,” “The Usurper’s Throne”), strings (“Hour of Gods”), and other vaguely symphonic sounds, but Epigram is most focused on the blackened melodic stuff. Shadi Absi throws together some great riffs, particularly on “Empires,” a work of pure black ‘n roll. The showstopper is “Hour of Gods,” with some sweet riffs and terrific energy. This song alone makes Obsolescent a worthy spin. Rounding out the musicians is Sanjay Kumar (Inferi, Wormhole), who plays solos on “Wrath of Betrayed” and “No Sin.” This is a promising debut for an eager new band.

Kal-El // Astral Voyager Vol. 2 [March 20th, 2026 – Blues Funeral Recordings]

Sporting the greatest band name of all time, Kal-El have been blasting listeners with stoner doom since 2012. Astral Voyager Vol. 2 is the follow-up to last year’s Vol. 1, and these pyschedelians’s seventh album overall. It’s been seven years since Witches of Mars was unfairly pummeled by a Kryptonian frog, and now I’d like to do the band justice by rescuing them from our filter. On this astral voyage, you get the pleasure of listening to six songs and 42 minutes of laid-back stoner tunes with plenty of fuzzy riffs—perfect for cruising around the cosmos. Their riff-centric approach puts them in the Black Sabbath camp, and the riffs on the likes of “Juno” and “The Prophecy,” which has a “Children of the Grave” vibe, are tons of fun. Further cementing the Sabbath comp is the vocal performance of Ståle Rodvelt, who carries a resemblance to Ozzy in his delivery. Longer cuts take more exploratory routes, akin to Sleep, yet still feature plenty to get your head bobbin’. “Asteroid” opens up with some sweet riffs that sustain its near eight-minute frame, while “The Nine” will still have you singing along in the final of its ten minutes. 1 So if you are in the mood for something chill that won’t put you to sleep, something that has the riffs without the risk of elevating your blood pressure, you should spend some time with Kal-El.

Thus Spoke’s Tectonic Treat

Bong-Ra // Esoterik [March 20th, 2026 – Debemur Morti Productions]

Not having received promo, it was only upon visiting DM’s Bandcamp page while writing up Aversio Humanitatis that I realised Bong-Ra had released another album. Asked whether Esoterik would be leaning more into enigmatic doom or spiky industrial electronica, the shapeshifting Bong-Ra said “yes”. The music is built on layers of dense, gritty atmosphere undulating with bass, breakbeats, and distorted riffs. Vocals are maintained from Black Noise—half-spoken snarls blurred by noise, shifting between blunt tunefulness (“Serpentine Helix”) and gargling venom (“Machine Halo”)—but at least half of the space is devoted to the purely instrumental psychosis. The saxophone is back, adding bizarre elegance and chilling eeriness in equal measure. Sometimes, Esoterik seems to be pitting its sultry and acerbic natures against one another; that chamber jazz side can take one by surprise (“Pleasures of the Flesh,” “Duality of One”), sandwiched as it is between a more punishing industrialism, but Bong-Ra just about gets away with it. This could be down to Esoterik’s efficiency in establishing (new) grooves—rhythmic and stylistic. Opener “Harmony Cloak” dispels misgivings on its skittering electronic oddity with a chorus that strikes a stylish balance between melody and dissonance; “Machine Halo” later follows in its stride. It’s an album that earns its moniker, right down to the particular spelling, and is worth the dark diversion it requires.

Grin Reaper’s Kooky Curios

Surturian // II – Hessian Spears [March 13th, 2026 – Crawling Chaos]

A German thrash band named after the legendary fire giant and guardian of Muspelheim? And on their debut LP, they launch an unrelenting, venomous assault filled with sticky riffs and bopping bass grooves in under forty-five minutes? Sign me up! Surturian plays thrash that smacks of early Testament and Metallica fused with the epic melodies of latter-day Kreator—hell, vocalist Tim Krogull reeks of Mille’s rancorous vocals, even though his name hews closer to a Voivodian disposition. In addition to thrash influences, Surturian calls upon Maiden’s signature gallops (“Cimmerians Wrath”) and anthemic melodies (“⁠Night Stalker,” “Do What Thou Wilt”), inculcating a lofty grandeur throughout II – Hessian Spears. Further fanning Surturian’s flames, the outfit navigates a varied landscape that imbues each track with its own character while never straying too far from their core sound. Hard-hitting offensives (“Blood Witchery”), slinky licks (“Night Stalker”), and oddball songwriting (“Beneath a Dying Sky”2) unite into an album I’ve regularly returned to since discovering it. If you’re feeling unSurtain, take it from me—it’s always a good time for some Hessian aggression!

Barn // Crucibles [March 24th, 2026 – Self Released]

Thanks to a certain dude/guy in the comments section, Crucibles didn’t slip past me undetected. Despite their dubious band name, Barn dropped a humdinger slab of tech death back in March that oozes with references to Unquestionable Presence (Atheist), Focus (Cynic), and, to a lesser extent, Decrepit Birth.3 There are even moments that echo more subdued moments from recent Sallow Moth releases (“The Serpent’s Perpetual Shed”). Staccato bursts of guitar, pinch harmonics, and buttery, fretless bass glissandos epitomize what Barn offers, and they spread it thick and chunky all over Crucibles’ sixty-five-minute runtime. Rustic name notwithstanding, Barn’s latest sounds like a sci-fi adventure, supported by track names like “Black Hole Lens” and “Cymatics.” The fretless bass especially helps with the futuristic aesthetic, frictionlessly gliding through gusts of abrupt, otherworldly guitars that buffet tracks from all angles. Barn rarely offers reprieve during their unconventional onslaught, but tracks like “Forbidden Fruits,” “Cymatics,” and “The Defeater” achieve such heights that I don’t find myself needing one. In short, these Boise boys warp listeners to a different dimension on Crucibles, and though it runs a tad long, I haven’t been deterred yet from lighting up this Barnburner.

Dionysiaque // La Tourbe des Rêves [March 27th, 2026 – I, Voidhanger Records]

Dionysiaque dispenses a bizarre derivative of doom on La Tourbe des Rêves that’s sure to be equal parts captivating and divisive. Reaching into the bag of tricks defined by Cathedral, Black Sabbath, and Candlemass, Dionysiaque’s sophomore album lumbers and chugs with classic rock-inspired leads and firecracker songcraft that I find utterly enthralling. Songs like “Aaron,” “Hate Fruit,” and “The Two Headed Boy” spotlight Dionysiaque’s plaintive guitar wails, contributed by L.B. and Bruno Penserini, along with their savvy balance of somber atmospheres and rousing melodies. Buoying the guitar tandem, bassist Lethal lays down frolicking, fabulous thunder via absorbing countermelodies while drummer T.H. looses potent fills and rolls throughout. Soaring atop the instrumentation are N.C.’s unorthodox vocals, which will almost certainly be the sole determining factor in listeners’ ability to engage with La Tourbe des Rêves. His delivery recalls that of Mayhem’s Attila Csihar at his most operatically deranged, never lacking conviction yet occasionally overpowering and ostentatious. Still, I appreciate and enjoy the commitment to the unhinged performance, and although dialing it back a little would make Dionysiaque’s latest more accessible, I’ve come to love La Tourbe des Rêves without apology. So don’t be afraid to let a little love into your heart—go get debauched with Dionysiaque’s aphrodisiac.

Creeping Ivy’s Pandemonic Pleasure

Mammon’s Throne // My Body to the Worms [March 13th, 2026 – Hammerheart Records]

In advising his fellow fallen angels—recently expelled from Heaven—to turn Hell into a competing kingdom, Mammon projects that All Demons will ‘work ease out of pain / Through labor and endurance.’4 Satan doesn’t heed this advice, but the third LP from Mammon’s Throne arguably does. On My Body to the Worms, this Australian five-piece inflicts pleasurable pain upon metaldom via five filthy slabs of sludgy death-doom (plus two instrumental reprieves). Mammon’s Throne conjure Hooded Menace, Temple of Void, and (old) Worm in their proclivity for plodding tempos, swampy riffs, and gravely howls (“Elixir”). The album is also a labor of love for classic (death-) doom à la Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, mixing gothy croons, ascendant melodicism, and haunting piano into the band’s sinister stew (“Every Day More Sickened,” “At the Threshold of Eternity”). Though the listener does need some endurance, as three of the five non-instrumentals hover in the 8–9 minute range, the record flows fluidly across an easy 42 minutes. If you ever wondered what metal in league with Mammon might sound like, give My Body to the Worms a spin.

#2026 #AmericanMetal #AstralVoyagerVol2 #Atheist #AustralianMetal #AversioHumanitatis #Barn #BlackSabbath #BluesFuneralRecordings #BonRa #Candlemass #Cathedral #CrawlingChaos #Crucibles #Cynic #DeathDoom #DebemurMortiProductions #Decapitated #DecrepitBirth #Dionysiaque #Dissection #Doom #DoomMetal #DutchMetal #ElectronicMetal #Epigram #Esoterik #ExperimentalMetal #FleshgodApocalypse #FrenchMetal #GermanMetal #HammerheartRecords #HoodedMenace #IVoidhangerRecords #IIHessianSpears #IndustrialMetal #IronMaiden #KalEl #Kreator #LaTourbeDesRêves #MammonSThrone #Mar26 #Mayhem #MelodicBlackMetal #Metallica #MyBodyToTheWorms #MyDyingBride #NorwegianMetal #Obsolescent #ParadiseLost #PsychedelicMetal #Review #Reviews #SallowMoth #SelfReleased #SepticFlesh #Sleep #SludgeDoom #SludgeMetal #StonerDoom #StuckInTheFilter #StuckInTheFilter2026 #Surturian #SymphonicBlackMetal #TempleOfVoid #Testament #ThrashMetal #Thulcandra #Voivod #Worm

Elder – Through Zero Review By Samguineous Maximus

Elder sits at the top of their field, a rare heavy band with a genuinely singular sound that has earned both widespread critical acclaim and a massive, devoted audience. The Massachusetts-to-Berlin transplants have conquered the world with their brand of long-form, psychedelic stoner rock, which effortlessly evokes the hypnotic sprawl of 70’s prog and fuses it with towering, fuzz-drenched guitar work. Elder cemented their greatness with the riff-forward stoner psych of Lore (2015) and the pensive doom/prog of Reflections of a Floating World (2017), but stumbled a bit with the more straightforward Omens (2020). 2022’s Innate Passage was never covered here, but it proved the band still had plenty of creative momentum, embracing mellotron-laced atmospherics and expansive prog excursions without losing the crushing guitar work at the heart of their appeal. Now, four years later, Through Zero arrives with early singles hinting at an even deeper dive into synth-heavy textures and cosmic reflection. Does Through Zero serve as another worthwhile addition to the Elder catalog?

Through Zero features many of Elder’s trademark mannerisms, but complicates their stoner inclinations in favor of more amorphous soundscapes that prioritize dynamics. Elder still deploys bombastic, fuzzed-out riffs and complex, interlocking rhythms and melodies, but they’re buoyed by longer stretches of calming, golden age Yesisms and introspective krautrock-flavored wanderings. Compositions don’t move between various parts as much as they unfurl seamlessly and organically, with meditative, odd-meter loops giving way to crushing guitar theatrics and emphatic hooks, all while maintaining an immaculate sense of psychedelic contemplation. While Elder still sounds like they’ve bottled the rare moments of transcendence that arise in the best of freeform jams, their songwriting now feels more intentional, grounded by a firm sense of contrast and a consistent push-and-pull that comes across as carefully patterned rather than formulaic. The band showcases a nuanced take on the classic and effective “soft/loud” paradigm, as tracks weave effortlessly between quiet deliberation and crushing grandeur, each shift serving to heighten the eventual climax of dizzying catharsis. This allows the stunning conclusion of songs like the title track and “Sight Unseen” to stand alongside the best Elder moments, rivalling the peaks of “Sanctuary” or “Illusory Motion” in resounding splendor.

Of course, these sonic journeys are only able to soar so high due to the strength of the individual parts and performances, with Elder’s veteran chemistry shining through across every facet of Through Zero. Elder truly move as one cohesive unit, main axeman and vocalist Nick DiSalvo leading the charge with jubilantly clean, single-note runs and multifaceted heavy guitar explosions (“Sigil to Ruin”). Behind him, the rhythm section follows perfectly in step, allowing complex patterns and grooves to coalesce into something instantly familiar. DiSalvo’s vocals are still the least impressive element, but he leans far more into an ethereal John Anderson tenor, using his voice to emphasize notable passages rather than to dominate them. Synthmaster and second guitarist Mike Risberg has been with the band for years, adding nuance to the longform meanderings and accenting powerful crescendos. On Through Zero, he’s given much more room to leave his mark. A song like “Capture/Release” demonstrates the added depth the Tales From the Topographic Oceans style synths can add, beginning with a stunning electronic shimmer and playful plinks and ending with a searing keys solo that serves as the cherry on top of an already impressive riff-fueled finale.

For all of its intricate musicianship and circuitous compositions, Through Zero is a remarkably easy record to get lost in. Despite 5 out of the 6 tracks approaching the 10-minute mark, no moment or motif overstays its welcome, and every crescendo feels earned. Elder themselves took part in the production and mixing process, and their attention to detail is evident in the record’s rich analog warmth that never sacrifices modernity. From subtle cymbal washes and gentle synth pulses to towering distorted guitar tones, every sonic peak and valley feels carefully placed, giving the music an unexpectedly serene quality. That sense of tranquility reaches its apex on the closing track, “Blighted Age,” one of the shortest and most subdued pieces in Elder’s catalog. Eschewing the monumental builds that define much of the album, the song unfolds as a contemplative acoustic meditation, bringing Through Zero to a quietly reflective close.

In many ways, Through Zero feels like the album Elder have been building towards across their storied career. It blends the psychedelic riff-porn of Lore and Reflections with the atmospheric synth prog of Innate Passage and even sharpens its approach with the more discernible structures of Omens. More importantly, it captures the sense of wonder and transcendence that has always made Elder special, delivering some of the most rewarding music of their career in the process.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Blues Funeral Recordings
Websites: beholdtheelder.com | facebook.com/elderofficial
Releases Worldwide: May 29th, 2026

#2026 #40 #AmericanMetal #BluesFuneralRecordings #DoomMetal #Elder #May26 #ProgessiveMetal #ProgressiveRock #PsychedelicRock #Review #Reviews #StonerMetal #ThroughZero #Yes

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

Old Moon – Home to Nowhere Review By Kenstrosity

April is commonly known in many parts of the Northern hemisphere for bringing on the rain. It’s often a chilling kind of rain, bringing temps down and diffusing light such as to create a gloomy, but not uninviting, atmosphere. This year, it seems the rain came late, falling heavily into the first weeks of May, thus extending that cloudy aesthetic into the warmer months as they creep in. Enter Oregon’s Old Moon, a melancholic melodic black metal quintet whose sound perfectly fits this muggy season, and their upcoming debut LP, Home to Nowhere.

To those familiar with the sadboi side of the metal spectrum, Old Moon will sound quite familiar. Combining Insomnium with more atmospheric acts like Skyborne Reveries or Skyforest, but produced with the warmth of Izthmi, Home to Nowhere is diffuse and cinematic in its melancholy. Like much of the black metal scene, blast beats abound, but thankfully, there’s quite a variety of patterns, deathly and doomy that break it up—even going so far as to explore a gothic rock swagger at key junctures (“Obsidian”). A deep roar trades blows with higher placed rasps to complement Old Moon’s smooth and gradual shifts from sweeping melodeath riffs, weeping leads, and trem-picked atmospherics. Familiar pieces all, and in concert they bring great comfort to these ears.

It’s a shame that Home to Nowhere’s production conspires against that comfort at every turn. The biggest culprit of my woes in this space are the drums, which are placed so far forward in the mix, and adopt the sharpest possible tone for snare pops and bass kicks, that each hit registers as moderately annoying to mildly painful. You may think this an exaggeration, but a song like “Distance,” which flows gently and with the grace of a swan, succumbs entirely to those drums. “My Name is Death” similarly suffers, but its more aggressive songwriting and confrontational vocal mixing helps to offset the imbalance somewhat. Compounding the issue, Home to Nowhere’s boomy engineering offers no modulation in any instrument to give quiet moments breathing room or dramatic swells a sense of growth or depth. As a result, the whole furrows the brow as I struggle to relax into these songs and enjoy its musicality.

Once I did manage to accept Home to Nowhere’s production and move past my frustration with it, I finally began appreciating Old Moon’s songwriting. While nothing here is so exciting and fresh as to bring them into the same conversation as genre icons like Insomnium, songs like “Creations Undone” and “Distance” showcase a beautiful array of mournful melodies and gothic drama. Not to mention “Creations Undone” features one scorcher of a black metal riff that comes out of absolute nowhere and raises the hairs on my neck. Other songs like “A Rest to My Name” and “My Name is Death” boast strong ideas and compelling melodicism, but in their case, the whole feels underbaked. Even after nearly six minutes, I find myself wondering where the rest of “A Rest to My Name” in particular went as it fades to black. Thankfully, opener “Between the Stars” and the title track make up some of that missed potential with well fleshed out motifs that, while on the longer-form side at seven-minute territory, resolve into satisfying conclusions.

In sum, Home to Nowhere is a decent record with some very strong ideas, marred by a punishing production (that still somehow scores into double-digits on my DR meter). With softer drum tones, less volume,1 and a more nuanced mix that allows quieter moments to shine alongside more intense ones, Old Moon could find much greater success in future efforts. Until that time, best to look elsewhere for a melancholy pall to go with that April May rain.

Rating: Disappointing
DR: 11 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: M-Theory Audio
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: May 8th, 2026

#20 #2026 #AmericanMetal #AtmosphericBlackMetal #HomeToNowhere #Insomnium #Izthmi #MTheoryAudio #May26 #MelodicBlackMetal #MelodicDeathMetal #OldMoon #Review #Reviews #SkyborneReveries #Skyforest

Periphery – A Pale White Dot Review By Samguineous Maximus

Over a decade removed from the djent boom of the early 2010s, stylistic flagbearers Periphery have settled into a comfortable routine, periodically regrouping from side projects and business ventures to release a new record every few years. Cracks in that formula began to show on 2023’s Periphery V: Djent Is Not a Genre, where the compositions started to feel both formulaic and scattershot. Their new release, A Pale White Dot, is their first non-numbered album since the two-part Juggernaut (2015). It seems intended as a departure from their established release pattern and a chance to reconnect with a more instinctive, creatively driven approach written from a “top-down” perspective shaped by themes of isolation and loneliness. Periphery remains one of my favorite bands (even if I find myself stuffed into the occasional AMG locker for this opinion), and I’m always excited by the prospect of their technically minded, melodic, and smartly written take on progressive metalcore. By centering this record around a more focused concept and shedding some of the expectations attached to their numbered releases, can this league of extraordinary “djentlemen” deliver another satisfying dose of syncopated brilliance?

As Juggernaut did for Periphery I and II, A Pale White Dot streamlines the maximalist hyper-technicality of Periphery III–V in service of its concept, even if that comes at the expense of what once made the band so compelling. Periphery helped define the 2010s metalcore formula of “djent riff + soaring clean chorus + breakdown,” a blueprint that would eventually shape modern heavyweights like Sleep Token and Spiritbox. Their music could pivot seamlessly between dizzying guitar acrobatics and polished melodic hooks without sacrificing momentum, turning even the most familiar structures into sprawling narrative journeys. A Pale White Dot is the first record where this strength fades into the background, with a diminished presence of the “pure-riffery” and progressive elements the band is known for. With a few exceptions (the psychotic opening riff of “Malevolent” or the bombastic bridge of “Everyone Dies Alone”), a set of shorter songs is largely held together by straightforward chugs and massive vocal-forward choruses. Periphery still sounds like themselves, but the overall shape of these songs is far closer to run-of-the-mill “Octanecore” than ever before. For the first time in their career, it feels like Periphery is merely iterating on popular sounds, rather than pushing them forward.

I’d describe the songcraft on A Pale White Dot as frustratingly competent. Periphery clearly knows what they’re doing every step of the way, and the band still finds ways to inject personality and variety into familiar formulas, even as their material sounds increasingly more generic. As always, the musicianship is absurdly sharp across the board, and once you acclimate to his squeaky pop cleans, vocalist Spencer Sotelo proves to be an essential ingredient in this polyrhythmic pie. His delivery feels more powerful than ever, shifting effortlessly between varied harsh vocals and emphatic arena-ready hooks. “Mr. God” and “Subhuman” land as earth-shaking djentcore bruisers, but beyond this, each track demonstrates a surprising diversity of moods. Subdued, vocal-driven tracks erupt into blackened tremolo passages (“Obsession”) or ludicrous mid-song breakdowns (“Carry On”), while songs like “Talk” and “Heaven on High” recapture the band’s classic sense of breakneck momentum, swerving between entertaining djent, crushing breakdowns, and massive refrains. Despite these turns, the whole package feels decidedly safe. The different song sections arrive with predictable timing, and certain chorus chord progressions/melodies begin to feel so familiar that some climactic moments lose their impact, especially when a weaker hook like “Unlocking” fails to justify the buildup.

Whereas my favorite moments on past Periphery records tend to come from huge, cathartic climaxes, some of the strongest passages on A Pale White Dot instead lean into understated nuance. “Blackwall” follows in the footsteps of “Silhouette” from Periphery V as a synth-pop-leaning earworm, but its most compelling moment is an expansive IDM-influenced middle section where synth washes and digital percussion fully take over. The titular closing track is another quiet highlight, built around a delicate acoustic guitar melody wrapped in subtle electronic atmosphere. There are other standout sections, like the wisteria-tinged progression of “Neon Valley’s” chorus or the emotional guitar solo of “Everyone Dies Alone.” These highs serve as memorable moments that anchor repeat listens, even if no single track quite reaches the heights of the band’s very best work.

A Pale White Dot is an album that’s easy to admire on a craftsmanship level, but hard for me to connect with. Periphery remain highly accomplished musicians and effective songwriters. As a fan of their style, there are still plenty of moments and tracks to enjoy throughout. At the same time, this record marks a noticeable streamlining of their sound, trading much of their trademark progressiveness and technical intricacy for more straightforward material that sits closer to contemporary metalcore than much of their earlier work. It’s far from bad, but I’d be hard-pressed to pick it over any other Periphery album.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stream to end all streams
Label: 3Dot Recordings
Websites: periphery.net | facebook.com/PeripheryBand
Releases Worldwide: May 15th, 2026

#25 #2026 #3DotRecordings #APaleWhiteDot #AmericanMetal #Djent #May26 #Metalcore #Periphery #ProgressiveMetal #ProgressiveMetalcore #Review #Reviews #SleepToken #Spiritbox

Psyclops – Bound to Burn: Melody of the Martyr Review By Andy-War-Hall

Psyclops—Portland, Oregon’s progressive metal genre-benders—have some nerve coming my way. I know in my heart of hearts that in writing “their” new record, Bound to Burn: Melody of the Martyr, they committed psychic plagiarism against me and stole the progressive death metal concept album I outlined years ago. A sun-baked Earth struggling to survive? My set-up! A wanderer searching for hope and imbued with religious allusion? My protagonist! A chance encounter with a water deity that brings them to a wellspring of pure, untouched water? More or less my idea! Psyclops just cut out my cannibal gangs and digs against Elon Musk, the hacks. Admittedly, they commissioned a comic book to coincide with Bound to Burn, which I didn’t think of…but very well could’ve!1 I was just waiting to get good at music before recording it, you bastards!2 But in this egregious act of unmitigated gall, does Psyclops’ Bound to Burn rip me off effectively and enjoyably, at least?

Psyclops just make prog look easy on Bound to Burn: Melody of the Martyr. Taking a page from the Rush playbook, Psyclops play technically demanding and rhythmically dense progressive music in the vein of Between the Buried and Me and Opeth while keeping their songs mostly immediate and accessible. The three-song “Consequences” segue sees Psyclops bouncing between odd, frantic rhythms while sounding as natural as if it were all 4/4, while the “Manifest” trilogy showcases Bound to Burn’s most diverse guitarwork that dazzles without devolving into wankery. “Presence from Beyond” and “Clarity” see awkward vocal intervals and off-kilter riffing, respectively, that make for effortless earworms, and “Begin Anew”‘s guitar arpeggios sound symphonic in a very understated way while rocking out in an uncomplicated fashion. Further, Psyclops swing with some heft with juiced-up, low-end heavy riffing and punchy drums highlighted on the “Indomitable” segue and a crushing death vocal presence established in opener “The Explorer-Errant.” Heavy and catchy, technical and immediate, Bound to Burn is bound to please most any prog fan.

Psyclops’ knack for lean, diverse songwriting brings home the bacon. At thirty-three minutes, Bound to Burn has a story to tell and Psyclops hustle between movements and songs without wasting time on interludes or masturbatory noodling. Crystalline, clean, and plodding doom guitars on “The Explorer-Errant” give way to jagged, Xoth-like riffs and solos on “Consequences I. The Instinct to Survive,” while “Manifest I. Seeing Is Believing” opens the segue with Devin Townsend-like harmonies and progression, only to close out with “Manifest III. The Ouroboros Chorus”‘s Thank You Scientist swinging prog goofiness. The spirit of Mastodon haunts a lot of Bound to Burn as well, particularly in the moody, Crack the Skye-like trippiness of “Presence from Beyond” and the Emperor of Sandesque rock soloing closing out “Manifest II. Warranted Transgression.” Psyclops package all of these influences, moods, and approaches in a way that feels totally cohesive and trimmed of all excess. Bound to Burn is here for a good time, not a long one.

With Bound to Burn: Melody of the Martyr, Psyclops constructed the Anti-Playlist Album. Singled out, individual tracks on Bound to Burn don’t hold up, bearing truncated runtimes and rarely sounding whole alone. But taken altogether, Psyclop’s singular vision comes through. Bound to Burn establishes character motivation quickly and effectively with “The Explorer-Errant,” conflict soon after with “Consequences II” and “III,” and a call to action with “Clarity” that carries Bound to Burn’s plot smoothly right to the end. “Manifest III” and “Begin Anew” feel somewhat rushed in closing the album, and Psyclops could’ve spent more time in those songs to drive it home, but that’s Bound to Burn’s only pacing hiccup. Song transitions are completely seamless on Bound to Burn; with how natural every movement flows into the next, Psyclops could have designated the whole thing as one song, à la Crimson or Winter’s Gate. Simply, Bound to Burn cannot be appreciated or enjoyed fully without being taken in as a whole, and Psyclops facilitates that fact with perfect narrative flow and sequencing.

Psyclops are on my ever-expanding shit list, not because they stole my album but because they did it better than me. Way better. Bound to Burn: Melody of the Martyr is an adventurous, refreshing, and forward-thinking work of music and fiction sure to please prog fans of every stripe. Psyclops hit quick, hit hard, and left me wanting more in the end. Bound to Burn isn’t perfect, but there’s very little to complain about either. But the sequel better have some cannibal gangs.3

Rating: Great
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: WAV
Label: Self-Release
Websites: psyclopsmusic.com | psyclopspdx.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/psyclopspdx
Releases Worldwide: May 22nd, 2026

#2026 #40 #AmericanMetal #BetweenTheBuriedAndMe #BoundToBurnMelodyOfTheMartyr #CoheedAndCambria #DeathMetal #DevinTownsend #Mastodon #May26 #Opeth #ProgressiveMetal #ProgressiveRock #Psyclops #Review #Reviews #Rush #SelfReleased #ThankYouScientist #Xoth

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