SEPULTURAThe Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart Nuclear Blast (2013)Rating: 5/10 One of heavy music’s most recognisable acts, Sepultura return with their 13th album, The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart. The new album follows a string of progressive extremities based largely on philosophical principles that arguably began with […]

KATAKLYSMWaiting For The End To Come Nuclear Blast (2013)Rating: 6/10 Québec’s deathsters Kataklysm are most certainly veterans of the genre; having formed in the early 90s they’ve been prolific ever since, bringing their aggressive sound to the masses, with Waiting For The End To Come being their 11th full-length opus. Despite belching out so many […]

TIGERTAILZKnives EP Scarlet (2013)Rating: 8/10 It’s been a long hard road for UK glamsters Tigertailz, and proof that not all that glitters is gold. However, with the metal scene very much on a revival trip and countless 80s bands reforming, it seems only right that these guys should come bouncing back. Of course, the official […]

DEATH TOLL RISINGInfection Legacy Self-released (2013)Rating: 7.5/10 Hard to believe that these Canadian death metallers have had to go through the process of two self-released albums in order to draw attention to their talent. Debut record Defecation Suffocation emerged in 2010, despite the fact the five-piece formed in 2002, so it’s been quite a wait […]

BURNING KINGDOMSimplified Avispa (2013)Rating: 8/10 Those of you familiar with late 80s and early 90s melodic metal may recall a criminally underrated New York City band called Tyketto who were fronted by Danny Vaughn. Well, now he’s the new lead vocalist for international melodic hard rock band Burning Kingdom who has just released their third […]

REDS’COOLBad Story Music Buy Mail (2013)Rating: 7/10 It’s not every day you get to hear classic hard rock played by a Russian band, but Reds’Cool is a rather rewarding experience and a band to be taken note of – even more so given that they’ve drafted in the talents of producer Michael Wagener (W.A.S.P., White […]

IHSAHNDas Seelenbrechen Candlelight (2013)Rating: 7.5/10 Emperor and former Peccatum mainstay, Ihsahn, returns with his fifth solo album for Candlelight Records. Entitled Das Seelenbrechen, it is yet another pretty damn indefinable piece of music that leans far more to the artsier, more cinematic side of Ihsahn’s musical personality. If you thought the Norwegian multi-instrumentalist’s previous albums […]

PARADISE LOSTTragic Illusion 25 (The Rarities) Century Media (2013)Rating: 9/10 To celebrate their 25th anniversary the originators of gothic metal Paradise Lost have released Tragic Illusion 25. The album is a collection of bonus tracks, B-sides and covers as well as the re-recordings ‘Gothic 2013’ and ‘Our Saviour 2013’. Additionally, the band offer a new […]

MONOLITHEMonolithe IV Debemur Morti Productions (2013)Rating: 5.5/10 When I tell you that the fourth doom-laden, grief-stricken instalment from French band Monolithe is just one track that clocks in at three minutes short of an hour, I can guess that some of you may switch off from this review, but others among us may be frothing […]

MONSTER MAGNETLast Patrol Napalm (2013)Rating: 8/10 For stoner rock veterans Monster Magnet, their tenth studio album brings back the healthy bit of psychedelic 60s garage rock that the space cadets staked their claim on in the 90s. Hailed as a return to form, Last Patrol is certainly getting a lot of much deserved attention for […]