Morrigan – Anwynn

Artist: Morrigan Country: Germany Label: Werewolf Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 By the turn of the century, the German (cult) metal band Mayhemic Truth folded and out of its ashes rose Morrigan. It depends on what source you…

Nattehimmel – The Night Sky Beckons [Demo]

Artist: Nattehimmel Country: Norway Label: Hammerheart Records Formats: Demo tape Year: 2022 Although Nattehimmel is a new band, none of its members are newbees, so to speak. Both Botteri brothers are involved, both were co-founders of In The Woods… and…

Coffin Lurker – Foul and Defiled

Artist: Coffin LurkerCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Sentient Ruin LaboratoriesFormats: LP / Cassette tapeYear: 2022 Coffin Lurker is yet another brainchild of Maurice de Jong, an important figure in the Dutch underground metal scene responsible for a hell of a lot bands…

Lord Belial – Rapture

Artist: Lord BelialCountry: SwedenLabel: Hammerheart RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 A somewhat unexpected return. After no less than fourteen years Swedish Lord Belial is back with a new album. With this year marking their 30th anniversary (though quiting and reforming…

Dodenmis – Demo 1

Artist: DodenmisCountry: BelgiumLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2022 Although being in the making for quite some time, Belgian’s Dodenmis finally materialized in 2021 and now comes up with its first demo, simply called ‘Demo 1’. Sprung out of the mind of LQW, known for past and…

Corpsessed – Succumb to Rot

Artist: CorpsessedCountry: FinlandLabel: Dark Descent RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 With Death Metal bands like Abhorrence, Amorphis, Demilich, Demigod, Purtenance, Funebre and Convulse the Finns do have quite a legacy, but around the turn of 2010 a…

Sarvekas – Of Atavistic Fury and Visions

Artist: SarvekasCountry: FinlandLabel: Soulseller RecordsFormats: 12″ EP / CD EPYear: 2020 AA and JL formed Sarvekas in late 2018 and at the dusk of 2020 their first EP release ‘Of Atavistic Fury and Visions’ saw the light through the Dutch…

Khold – Svartsyn

Artist: Khold Country: Norway Label: Soulseller Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 It is strange how some things get into a certain position or context without a logical reason or string of events. Like these Norwegian Black Metallers Khold,…

Therion – Beyond Sanctorum [Re-Release]

Artist: TherionCountry: SwedenLabel: Hammerheart RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 The second part of Hammerheart Records’ Therion reissues, after the great ‘Time Shall Tell’ 12” EP, is the bands’ second album ‘Beyond Sanctorum’. Indeed, skipping their great debut LP ‘Of Darkness…’…

Therion – Lepaca Kliffoth [Re-Release]

Artist: TherionCountry: SwedenLabel: Hammerheart RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 The musical voyage of Therion, that led them from a pure, but atypical Death Metal band to a multi-layered and creative musical chameleon has been spread over four albums, with each…

Therion – Time Shall Tell [EP / Re-Release]

Artist: TherionCountry: SwedenLabel: Hammerheart RecordsFormats: 12″ EPYear: 2022 Introducing a band like Therion seems a little pointless as they are among the most successful bands on the Nuclear Blast roster – for a quarter of a century now. Much of…

Master – Demo 1985 [Demo / Re-release]

Artist: Master Country: USA Label: Xtreem Music Formats: 10″ EP Year: 2020 It is almost impossible and perhaps even morally wrong to leave Master’s legendary 1985 demo-tape out of a series that is called ’10 Inches Of Deathcult’, in which…

Tenebro – L’inizio Di Un Incubo

Artist: Tenebro Country: Italy Label: Xtreem Music Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 After a demo tape (reissued on 7” vinyl by Seven Metal Inches) and a 3-track debut EP which was initially only released on cassette…

Fides Inversa – Historia Nocturna

Artist: Fides InversaCountry: ItalyLabel: World Terror CommitteeFormats: LP / CDYear: 2020 The Italian Black Metal band Fides Inversa doesn’t exactly work at a high pace, but they have consistently improved their craft since the formation in 2006. Their first album…

Adramelech – Grip of Darkness [Reissue]

Artist: AdramelechCountry: FinlandLabel: Xtreem MusicFormats: 10″ EPYear: 2020 Finnish Death Metal, or ‘Finndeath’ as they like to call it, always had something special compared to bands from other countries who had a lively Death Metal scene. They often had a…

Deathspell Omega – The Long Defeat

Artist: Deathspell OmegaCountry: SwedenLabel: Norma Evangelium DiaboliFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 You can safely say that Deathspell Omega is one of the most prolific bands in the current Black Metal scene. Initially releasing more standard, but very good, Black Metal…

Paganizer – Beyond The Macabre

Artist: Paganizer Country: Sweden Label: Transcending Obscurity Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 Ah! Rogga Johansson again found some time to record yet another album, this time with Paganizer. It sometimes just puzzles me how some…

Dark Funeral – We Are the Apocalypse

Artist: Dark FuneralCountry: SwedenLabel: Century MediaFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 What is the point in introducing Dark Funeral? No, there is none. A band that has drawn as much praise as it received rejection. Rejection because the band isn’t matching…

Black Fucking Cancer – Procreate Inverse

Artist: Black Fucking CancerCountry: USALabel: Sentient Ruin LaboratoriesFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 After having released their debut album in 2016 through Osmose Productions, this subtly named power trio from California found a new home at Sentient Ruin…

Incantation – Demo 1990 [Demo / Re-Release]

Artist: Incantation Country: USA Label: Xtreem Music Formats: 10″ EP Year: 2020 What can be said about Incantation’s debut demo from 1990 that hasn’t been said before? It has not only been tape traded a zillion times back in the…

Thanatos – Omnicoitor [Demo / Re-Release]

Artist: ThanatosCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Xtreem MusicFormats: 10″ EPYear: 2020 A series that is called ’10 Inches Of Deathcult’ would not be complete without Hollands’ self-proclaimed initiators of Dutch Death Metal. Though the band was already founded as early as 1984…

Supremative – Goat Blood Communion

Artist: Supremative Country: Spain Label: Crimson Tide Productions Formats: LP Year: 2022 Although I already picked up the reissue of Supremative’s first demo on 7”, which was released by Blood Harvest Records back in 2016, I still had to check…

Acheron – Satanic Victory [EP / Reissue]

Artist: AcheronCountry: USALabel: Funeral Industries / VIC RecordsFormats: 12″ EP / CD EP Year: 2022 There aren’t many American Death Metal bands about which opinions are as divided as Acheron. There’s a lot of haters and a lot of fans.…

God Dethroned – The Christhunt [Re-Release]

Artist: God Dethroned Country: The Netherlands Label: VIC Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 Before God Dethroned gained worldwide fame with their brilliant ‘The Grand Grimoire’ and ‘Bloody Blasphemy’ albums in the second half of the 90’s, for which…

Shape Of Despair – Return To The Void

Artist: Shape Of Despair Country: Finland Label: Season Of Mist Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 Originally formed in 1995 (then under the name of Raven), Shape Of Despair is one of the longest running Funeral Doom bands. Debuting in…

Seep – Hymns To The Gore

Artist: Seep Country: USA Label: Extremely Rotten Productions / Gurgling Gore Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 After an EP, Vomitus, the sole member behind Seep, returns with a full-length album which sees the gore of day…

Vampirea – Vampirea [EP]

Artist: VampireaCountry: BrazilLabel: Depressive Illusions Records / Floppy Tales RecordsFormats: Cassette EPYear: 2022 Obscurity is the keyword here. Vampirea Spawned out of the mind of its sole member (Giuliano Paulin). Started in 2022 and presenting its first self-titled 3-track demo…

Mayhem – Atavistic Black Disorder / Kommando [EP]

Artist: Mayhem Country: Norway Label: Century Media Formats: 12″ EP / CD EP Year: 2021 Mayhem’s latest two albums, ‘Esoteric Warfare’ from 2014 and the latest, ‘Daemon’ from 2019, have divided fans and admirers. Both records are far from easy-listening…

Hearse – Traipse Across the Empty Graves

Artist: Hearse Country: USA Label: Sinistrari Records Formats: CD Year: 2022 Not being aware of their reuniting in 2019, it came to me as a surprise to see Hearse surface with a new release. ‘Traipse Across The Empty Graves’ is…

Asphyx – Crush the Cenotaph [Demo / Reissue]

Artist: AsphyxCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Xtreem MusicFormats: 10″ EPYear: 2020 During the late 80’s and early 90’s the Dutch Death Metal scene had a lot of great bands to offer. Many of those bands recorded full-length albums and gained their fame in their respective careers. But…

Midnight – Let There Be Witchery

Artist: Midnight Country: USA Label: Metal Blade Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 Much has changed since the inception of Midnight. Going from a side-project that was initially only releasing (split) EP’s through various underground labels, Midnight went to…

Terrorizer – Demo ’87 [Demo / Re-Release]

Artist: TerrorizerCountry: USALabel: Xtreem MusicFormats: 10″ EPYear: 2020 During the second half of the 80’s Terrorizer, along with peers like Repulsion, Carcass and Napalm Death propelled extreme music into whole new levels extremity by pushing the boundaries that were thought…

Pyrexia – Liturgy Of Impurity [Demo / Re-Release]

Artist: Pyrexia Country: USA Label: Xtreem Music Formats: 10″ EP Year: 2020 Around the 90’s American Death Metal bands had a real special thing going on. Other than their European counterparts they were much more vile and brutal. Especially New…

Nidernes – Beyond The Gleam Of Nightsky

Artist: Nidernes Country: Portugal Label: Black Gangrene Productions Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 When it comes to Black Metal, Portugal has never been much of a fertile breeding ground. Apart from bands like (very) early Moonspell…

Embrace Of Thorns – The Pantheon I [EP]

Artist: Embrace Of ThornsCountry: GreeceLabel: Iron Bonehead ProductionsFormats: 7″ EPYear: 2022 Quite out of the blue comes this nice 7” EP from these Greek veterans with a career spanning over two decades already. During this long career they have delivered…

Immolation – Acts of God

Artist: Immolation Country: USA Label: Nuclear Blast Records Formats: LP /Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 There are only few bands that have been around for about 35 years and are still as relevant today as they were when releasing…

Doodswens – Lichtvrees

Artist: DoodswensCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Svart RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Anyone with a little interest in the Dutch Black Metal scene must have stumbled upon Doodswens at some point over the last past two years or so. But although it is rather unique to have…

Ygg – The Last Scald

Artist: YggCountry: UkraineLabel: Ashen Dominion / Darker Than Black RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2020 Hailing from Kharkiv, Ukraine, Ygg shares not only their hometown with bands like Nokturnal Mortum or Drudkh, but also their musical roots. For a country of…

AngelBlast – Throne of Ashes [EP]

Artist: AngelBlastCountry: SwedenLabel: Edged Circle ProductionsFormats: 7″ EPYear: 2022 As a two-piece AngelBlast released a 7” in 2019, which marked the start of the band. The three songs on that 7” showcased a band in its early stages, but potential…

Yoth Iria – As the Flame Withers

Artist: Yoth IriaCountry: GreeceLabel: Pagan RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2021 Though Yoth Iria introduced themselves with a great EP (released on 10” and 12” vinyl formats, as well as on CD and cassette) and a split 7”…

Graveland – Hour Of Ragnarok

Artist: Graveland Country: Poland Label: Forever Plagued Records / Inferna Profundus Records /  The Oath / White Wolf Productions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2021 Unquestionably one of the most prolific bands in the Polish underground Black Metal scene is…

Funeral Mist – Deiform

Artist: Funeral Mist Country: Sweden Label: Norma Evangelium Diaboli Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 Like always is the case with Funeral Mist, all of a sudden there is a new album. I was pleasantly surprised by 2018’s ‘Hekatomb’-album, which…