Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Originally featured on the soundtrack to The Hangover II (of all movies), 'Black Hell' from Misfits mastermind and all round evil Elvis curmudgeon Glenn Danzig finally comes to vinyl for its first time ever in both 12" format and in the form of this limited orange splattered 7" (just in time for spooky season). Featuring 'Thirteen' on the flipside (originally appearing on Danzig 6:66 Satans Child whilst made abundantly more popular by Johnny Cash's cover version), this is a perfect little slice of sultry, macabre wax to get the Halloween ghouls doing their best hoedown.

Review: Th eighth full-length from former Misfits horror-crooner Glenn Danzig's solo project/band served as their first LP to not carry a number, following 777: I Luciferi which angled itself as the closing work of that initial seven volume sequence. Originally released in 2004, Circle Of Snakes continues the descent of Danzig into a rawer, more abrasive form of metallic leaning gothic hard rock, with a notable lowering of vocals in the mix in order to elevate the churning jaggedness of the instrumental rumble. Continuing to eschew the more industrial programming of previous Danzig entries and echoing the stripped back approach of 'Danzig 1' and the increased heaviness of the aforementioned Luciferi, the album would also mark the first appearance of Tommy Victor of Prong on guitars, helping to aid the audible malevolence and ultimately leading to one of the strongest contributions to Danzig's latter day 21st century output.

Review: Released first round time in 2002, Danzig's 777: I Luciferi is a step away from the programmed industrial influences of the two albums that preceded it in favour of a return to the metallic, rawer sound that helped Glenn Danzig stand apart from his horror shadowed punk beginnings. Now, more than 20 years on, this reissue is a reminder of Luciferi as a high watermark in the later work of one of the most controversial figures in metal, punk and hard rock.

Review: The long-gestating follow up to 1992's initial instalment, Black Aria II would finally arrive in 2006 after years of discussion from Misfits/Samhain horror-punk visionary Glenn Danzig, and further his exploration into the cavernous realms of modern classical dark ambience. Conceptually based around Lillith, the first wife of Adam, the material here is far more minimalist and starker than its gothic predecessor, while utilising a more varied array of instruments on top of the pre-established organ and strings, with more Eastern sonic influences to conjure a mercurial vision independent of the preceding volume. Complete with eerie chimes, chants and esoteric lamentations, the project marks one of Danzig's most intriguing works when compared to, say, his Elvis covers compilations, and offers a transportive, biblical, haunting narrative delivered almost exclusively via instrumental atmospherics and insidious gloom.

Review: Originally released in 1994, Transilvanian Hunger would serve as the fourth full-length from one of Norway's true black metal sons Darkthrone, who are often mentioned in the same frosted breath as Mayhem, Emperor, and Burzum (with controversial figure Varg Vikernes himself even penning the lyrics to four cuts on this very album). The band's first LP to be recorded as the duo of Nocturno Culto and Fenriz (a line-up they've maintained ever since) following the departure of Zephyrous the year prior, the project is often heralded as the final instalment of their quintessential trilogy beginning with 1992's A Blaze In The Northern Sky, and 1993's Under A Funeral Moon, while the year of its release also saw the sentencing of Burzum's Vikernes for the murder of Mayhem's Euronymous, marking an incredibly tumultuous time in the second wave Norwegian Black Metal scene that saw the genre garner exposure for all of the worst, yet macabrely fitting reasons. Celebrating its 30th anniversary, this reissue comes on a limited "corona" black and white smash vinyl.

Review: One of the most vital projects to come out of the nineties Norwegian black metal scene, 'A Blaze In The Northern Sky', marked the full transition of Darkthrone into the malevolent force they would become renowned for. With seminal genre classics such as, 'In The Shadow Of The Horns', and, 'A Pagan Winter', many would argue that the duo of Fenriz and Nocturno Culto have been even more intrinsic to the scene than the likes of Euronymous of Mayhem or Emperor's Insahn. Regardless of where your frosted allegiance lays, this 30th anniversary edition grants a pristine rethread of a cold, raw, unfathomable beast of Carpathian horrors.

Review: With 2021's Infinite Granite taking a sharp left turn into the realms of hazy, luscious dream-pop, eyes have been pointedly fixed on San Francisco blackgaze heroes Deafheaven ever since, with many of their fanbase pondering where to next? The answer is their highly anticipated sixth full-length, Lonely People With Power, which finally showcases the band freed from all creative restraint and audience expectation, marrying their equal and effortless understanding of black metal malevolence and shoegaze ethereality, even allowing frontman George Clarke to make full use of his recently discovered vocal range. Howling shrieks and delicate crooning weave around one another on the euphoric heft of 'Heathen', whereas 'Magnolia' offers up one of their most succinctly black metal cuts to date, radiating with the caustic aura of Emperor's more proggy latter-day output. Forgoing their usual post-rock penchant for a small number of tracks all clocking in at approximately ten minutes, the numerous cuts (12 in all, marking the most of any Deafheaven album to date) prioritise instantaneous delivery on their most sprawling and musically diverse collection yet, fusing their harshest and most accessible sonics into one monumental victory lap touching upon everything from black metal to shoegaze, dream-pop, thrash, post-rock, emo, screamo and post-punk.

Review: Following on from 2021's hard left turn into dream-pop territory on Infinite Granite, San Francisco blackgaze legends in the making Deafheaven return with a work that they've always been striving towards. Their sixth full-length, Lonely People With Power, takes lessons from the saccharine shoegaze of their previous outing and injects it directly into the veins of their heaviest material since 2015's New Bermuda, culminating in a deft balancing act that finally combines vocalist George Clarke's shrieking, inhumane howls with his recently discovered crooning lilt, exuded as such on the beautiful warring of styles that is 'Heathen'. Elsewhere, 'Magnolia' provides a cataclysmic beast of proggy black metal akin to latter-day Emperor whereas 'Doberman' goes full euphoric blackened shoegaze reminiscent of 2013's breakout sophomore triumph Sunbather. Striking a unique chord between their equal and effortless understanding of black metal malevolence and the ethereality of cinematic post-rock, the album sees a notable trade off from their their usual smaller collection of lengthy, grandiose tracks that all clock in at over ten minutes a piece in favour of a more varied, yet succinct and instantaneous batch of cuts, 12 in total, marking the most that any Deafheaven project has ever offered.

Review: San Francisco blackgaze auteurs Deafheaven offered a sharp left turn on 2021's Infinite Granite, which saw the band embrace a fully-fledged dream-pop sound complete with lush, gentle vocal cadences from enigmatic frontman George Clarke, known primarily for his shrieking, inhumane howls. Returning with their sixth full-length Lonely People With Power, the band seek to finally strike a balance between their equal understanding of black metal malevolence and ethereal shoegaze beauty, trading their usual penchant for small collections of lengthy, post-rock indebted ten minute plus tracks in favour of more instantaneous delivery, spread out across 12 individual pieces (their most on any project to date). Ranging from their heaviest and most straightforward black metal work on 'Magnolia', to the blackgazing familiarity of 'Doberman' to the seamless fusion of styles exuded on 'Heathen', which makes ample use of Clarke's now fully elaborated vocal range, marrying his caustic screams with fragile crooning, this is where Deafheaven have seemingly always been striving to land, it just took them a few albums of experimentation to get there.

Review: Originally released in 1995 and celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Symbolic would serve as the sixth (and originally intended final) full-length from Floridian death metal pioneers Death. Following on from 1993's Individual Thought Patterns, the work has become highly regarded and often perceived as the band's most intricate and culminative display of their tech-death wizardry, largely due to its use of acoustic and clean guitar tones, dissonance, arpeggios, and "Egyptian" style melodies, while mastermind Chuck Schuldiner would reimagine his guttural bellows in a more gritted teeth shout akin to hardcore punk. With lyrics touching upon topics including political corruption, surveillance and class consciousness, the cerebral messaging married to such intricate, progressive, nigh on unsurpassable musicianship would simultaneously feel like a far cry from the gore-obsessed brutality of old, yet the natural route the legendary act would ultimately take their heady vision.

Review: The mid-90s were a time of immense change for the death metal scene, strongly linked to the endless progression of the genre's most vital pioneers Death, who in retrospect, appeared to be reshaping, retooling and expanding the genre for their current and future peers in real time. Having already switched out the lyrical gore obsessions of their early material for the socio-political ponderings of 1990's Spiritual Healing, before turning to more opaque, introspective ruminations on their superbly technical, progressive death metal opus Human in 1991, a two-year gap would occur (a lengthy creative respite in terms of their prolificacy) before the arrival of 1993's Individual Thought Patterns. During this time, metal drumming legend Gene Hoglan (Testament, Fear Factory) would enter the mix along with King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque, and this newly refurbished line up would continue to build upon the virtuosic hyper-technical prog-death blueprint of Human, but with a major increase of oppressive, metallic menace, leading many to consider the work to be Death's most mercurial balance of artistic complexity and vicious heaviness.

Review: Disguised as the soundtrack to a pulpy, violent Grindhouse reimagining of Easy Rider, the third full-length from instrumental psychedelic doom-groovers The Death Wheelers rides engine bellowing down fictitious highways on beastly motorcycles, conjuring visual aesthetics without a single word uttered. Following on from their pummelling self-titled 2015 debut and 2020's cinematic-storytelling breakout, Divine Filth, their latest opus Chaos and the Art of Motorcycle Madness trades retrofitted fuzzed out blues solos with heaving heft and sludging machinations, while remaining poignantly restrained by a devoted purpose to their signature brand of classic doom-psych mayhem.

Review: No matter what type of project Deftones followed up their career-defining White Pony with, it was destined to disappoint at least some of their devout fanbase. Originally released in 2003, the band's self-titled fourth effort would mark their final collaborative project with iconic producer Terry Date (until reuniting for 2020's Ohms), while notably eschewing much of the "nu-metal" residue that still clung to their sonic makeup. Embracing elements of trip-hop and post-metal, while directly linking the group to the "are they or aren't they shoegaze?" debate which has loomed overhead ever since, the album has seen a steady reassessment from lacklustre follow up to underappreciated gem. With any luck, this reissue should continue to help highlight the cause as cuts such as 'Minerva' still soar with triumphant yet sultry hypnotics while 'Hexagram' serves as one of the heftiest cuts in the band's canon. It didn't even need an additional title. This is simply Deftones, and it still slaps two decades on.

Review: Some 19 years later (and not a moment too soon) this great compilation from Nu Metal legends Deftones is seeing its much-needed repress - with an added remastering to sweeten the deal. A tough record to find at a stomachable price for a while, 'B Sides & Rarities' is full of acoustic versions, demos and covers of the likes of The Smiths, Cocteau Twins, The Cure and - most amusingly - Sade. 'Wax and Wane' is a severely underrated cover, a wicked interpretation filled with punchy guitars and, of course, Chino Moreno's mastery of blending metal and new wave vocals. The most popular of the tracks on offer here is, without doubt, 'Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want', their cover of The Smiths' 1984 B-side to 'William It Was Really Nothing' . It's a rollercoaster of a cover, with a wild guitar solo and filled with the same rumbling, underlying sadness that made the original such a staple. Who doesn't love a melancholic metal song?

Review: If you're going to re-release a Deftones album with stacks and stacks of bonus material, including remixes by artists ranging from The Cure's Robert Smith to Squarepusher, then White Pony was always going to be a solid choice. First unveiled in 2000, the band's third album marked a major turning point in their career and sound, bringing in far more experimental ideas to the already-alternative metal of their early output.

Two decades on and the original work still holds up to significant scrutiny - the kind of scrutiny bands like Deftones are used to, having created legions of highly obsessed fans during their time on the road and in studios. What makes this revisitation so compelling, though, are the bits and pieces that weren't included with the record first time round, which should keep you busy for quite some time.

Review: Physical pro-printed magazine of interviews and art prints, QR mix from Janet Davis, Tape from Devil's Gateway with O-Card sleeve Art and A3 Poster from Francesco Goats.

Review: Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson is back with his first solo album in nearly 20 years. The Mandrake Project is the singer's seventh studio solo album in total and the most long awaited too. 'Afterglow of Ragnarok' was the first single released prior to the album and received a great response for the song's heavy sound and catchy chorus, while another single, 'Rain on the Graves', sees Bruce delivering a narrative style of lyric not a million miles from Maiden's 'Rime Of The Ancient Mariner'. This Deluxe Edition comes in gatefold on 180-gram vinyl 2xLP.

Review: Originally released in 2004, Miss Machine would serve as the revitalised sophomore effort from mathcore visionaries The Dillinger Escape Plan. Following the departure of original vocalist Dimitri Minakakis after their groundbreaking 1999 debut LP Calculating Infinity, and their collaborative Irony Is A Dead Scene EP with Faith No More/Mr. Bungle/Fantomas vocal absurdist Mike Patton, the band would enlist the hulking, feral Greg Puciato, a frontman with a far more intense shriek than his predecessor while also coming from the school of Patton's eccentric dynamism with his expansive range. The resulting work would chart an entirely new course for the collective, with Puciato retaining his presence throughout their next five full-lengths, while the newfound balancing act between dissonant, mind-melting polyrhythmic hardcore and avant-garde industrial jazz-prog, would become their future sonic playground. Yes, much of the Dillinger Escape Plan identity was carved out before Puciato's arrival, but Miss Machine is often cited as the album where all of the jagged, oddly shaped pieces finally fit into place.

Review: In the mid-90s while the hardcore punk scene witnessed both an influx of more melodious acts as well as those injecting the scene with as much metallic bite as possible, few could have been prepared for the utter assault on the senses The Dillinger scape Plan were cooking up. Often cited as the one of the pioneering acts in the mathcore subgenre (combining the unhinged intensity of hardcore with the compositional dexterity of math rock), 1999's Calculating Infinity is still regarded to this day as one of the most uncompromising, impenetrable, and challenging debuts in alternative, punk or metal. Their only full-length with original vocalist Dimitri Minakakis before his departure and subsequent replacement by the admittedly much more dynamic Greg Puciato, and pre-dating their experimental collaborative EP with Faith No More/Mr. Bungle mastermind Mike Patton; the material here does little to offer any sonic respites of glitched out synth ambience or even a melodious hook. Rather, it lays down a highly complex blueprint of odd time signatures, polyrhythms, dissonant breakdowns, jazz freakouts and caustic vocal howls that would inspire an entirely new wave of outsiders who felt hardcore and metal just weren't vicious or experimental enough on their own merits.

Review: Originally released in 2012 and serving as the sequel to 2000's The Very Beast Of Dio greatest hits compilation which boasted choice cuts from the metal/rock icon's first six studio albums and live EP, Vol. 2 picks up right where its predecessor left off, covering the final four of the ten Dio full-lengths - Angry Machines (1996), Magica (2000), Killing The Dragon (2002), and Master Of The Moon (2004). Naturally devoid of peak prowess anthems such as 'Holy Diver', this collection is for the completionists, die-hards and those who actually paid enough attention throughout the years to mark the endearing amount of emotion and care that went into all of the output Ronnie James Dio would put his name on, all the way up his final years.

Review: Originally released in 1991, the debut full-length from Swedish death metal entity Dismember has gone on to be considered one of the most crucial early documents of the Scandinavian scene. Coming at a time where the American wave of acts such as Cannibal Corpse were slowly beginning to form their gory brutal vision, and differentiating itself with a more cosmic and fluid approach, the LP was long locked in label limbo before an overdue repress could finally materialise courtesy of Nuclear Blast. With many often mentioning the band and project in tandem with acts such as Entombed, it's worth noting that their at the time drummer Nicke Anderson handled almost all lead guitar duties for the Dismember debut.

Review: Based out of Melbourne, Australia, Takiaya Reed (better known as Divide & Dissolve) is a one-woman monolithic force of industrial-tinged, neo-classical leaning instrumental doom metal. Originally a duo, 2023's fourth full-length Systemic marked the first effort from the project following the departure of percussionist Sylvie Nehill (of M?ori and White-Australian heritage), with guitarist/saxophonist Reed (of Tsalagi and African-American heritage) embarking on a solo venture from there on out. Her second singular display of overtly political, droning sonic dread comes in the form of Insatiable, which coalesces mercurial beauty with bombastic abrasion, almost as if sonically illustrating the warring of mindsets active in our collective conscious. From drawing ire back in 2018 for their controversial music video for 'Resistance' which featured spitting and spraying urine-coloured water on monuments of colonial figures such as Captain James Cook and John Batman, Reed has made it clear ever since that their punishing instrumentals are designed with the artful intention of "decolonising, decentralising, disestablishing, and destroying white supremacy", which she makes overwhelming ends to accomplish without a single word uttered.

Review: First released in 2012, Broken Bones would serve as the 11th full-length studio effort from glam metal-tinged Los Angeles hard rockers Dokken. The first album in the band's entire tenure to not feature drummer Mick Brown due to scheduling conflicts (replaced for the recording sessions by studio drummer Jimmy DeGrasso), as well as their only work to feature bassist Sean McNabb (Quiet Riot, XYZ, Queensryche), the album served as follow up to 2008's Lightning Strikes Again while initially perceived as a swansong due to the major decade-long gap until 2023's Heaven Comes Down. Packed to the brim with triumphant riffage and soaring choruses, it may not entirely capture the Dokken magic of old but still delivers a retro-fitted 45 minutes of classic-style cuts with its standout track easily being their unique rendition of Jefferson Airplane's 'Today'. Reissued for Record Store Day 2025 on super cool and artwork complimentary blue & black splattered wax.

Review: Don Dokken returns 11 years after the divisive Broken Bones album to give people much more of what they want. Fans of Dokken, and all things Dokken-esque, will likely attest with open armed honesty to the fact they're here for some insanely oversized riffs and classic, polished driving heavy metal, and it's safe to say that Heaven Comes Down delivers on those counts. Then it throws in a load more. While very much sounding like a time capsule back to the heyday of this sound, this isn't to suggest there has been no progress, development, or evolution. As critics pointed out when this hunk of wail and muscle landed, the eponymous frontman is arguably at his most laidback on this record, and vocals are used not just to provide a focal point in between all that shedding, but also as a complement to other elements making up some pretty complex arrangements.

Review: Denver, Colorado progressive metal outliers, Dreadnought, deliver their most expansive, tranquil and rewarding work to date with their fifth full-length, 'The Endless'. Following on from 2019's, 'Emergence'; the melting pot of sonics intrinsic to all past releases has never coalesced with such organic beauty; meandering its way through blackened folk, post-doom and lush swells of subtle ambience. With lilting vocals guiding these meditations on grief, strife and the endless search for contentment, through conflicting sonic states of being, from brash and aggressive to peacefully serene, Dreadnought have not only elevated their own dynamic to incomparable levels, but crafted one of the most unique, rewarding and transcendent metal projects of 2022.

Review: Yet another addition to Rhino Records’ Start Your Ear Off Right series hears a reissue of prog metal band Dream Theater’s fifth studio album and first ever concept album. A sequel to the thrillingly titled Metropolis-Part I: The Miracle and the Sleeper, this record builds an intensive recollective sonic theatre out of the mosaic themes of memory and depersonalisation. Themed around the subject of a young man undergoing past life regression therapy, the record is a compelling, initially psychotic howl into the night, and yet it proves an ultimately integrative, recursive experience, adding themes of murderousness and prophetic fate.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Yet another addition to Rhino Records’ Start Your Ear Off Right series hears a reissue of prog metal band Dream Theater’s fifth studio album and first ever concept album. A sequel to the thrillingly titled Metropolis-Part I: The Miracle and the Sleeper, this record builds an intensive recollective sonic theatre out of the mosaic themes of memory and depersonalisation. Themed around the subject of a young man undergoing past life regression therapy, the record is a compelling, initially psychotic howl into the night, and yet it proves an ultimately integrative, recursive experience, adding themes of murderousness and prophetic fate.

Review: Via a distinctive blend of death metal, doom metal and ambient, Dream Unending's music inspires thoughts of rapture, intensity and the sublime, as though we're gazing into a colossal form much greater than ourselves. Comprised of Tomb Mold's Derrick Vella and Innumerable Forms' Justin DeTore, the result of their kinship is sinister, gloomy, arpeggiating and guitarry, and contains screams so guttural they could usurp the thrones of god-kings. Coming to limited red, orange and blue splatter vinyl LP format, this one isn't to be missed.