Back catalogue: Metal

Review: The story goes with this one that a collective of seasoned musicians came together and discovered a rare camaraderie. With no hesitation, they poured their everything out onto tape and the results are now presented here on this one-sided and etched 12" under the title Better Lovers. Out features former Every Time I Die members Jordan Buckley on guitar, Steve Micciche on bass, and Clayton "Goose" Holyoak on drums with frontman Greg Puciato on vocals and Grammy-winning producer Will Putney. The music is dense metal with walls of sound washing over you and full of big guitar riffs, guttural vocals and dark energy.

Review: "Murky Tech Death" was how one critic thought best to describe Blood Incantation. It's not hard to hear what they meant on this 2015 EP from the death metal outfit. It's riff-y but in a mathematical and angular kind of way, with nods to futurism also evident in the lyrical themes that look skywards, beyond the stratosphere, and into the great unknown which humankind still can barely reach due to the limitations of our own technological forward march.

There are moments here so complex the art of listening itself becomes something of an exact science - the lead guitar crescendos of 'Obfuscating The Linear Threshold' for example. Or the rhythmic propulsion of 'Hovering Lifeless'. The result is a masterclass of heavy, doom-y noise that packs musicality and drama into all four tracks.

Review: BIG BRAVE's music epitomises what has been called 'massive minimalism,' with layers of textural distortion and feedback accentuating its weight and frayed edges. Their artistry blends traditional folk techniques with a modern deconstruction of guitar music, all of which is evident in the new album A Chaos Of Flowers, which is a follow-up to their fierce 2023 album Nature Morte. Lyrically, the songs delve into vulnerability, isolation, and co-existence in nature and guitarist and vocalist Robin Wattie drew inspiration from poetry by female-presenting artists, exploring alienation's impact on the psyche. This record is a testament to the band's ability to evoke intense emotions through minimalist yet powerful arrangements.

Review: Caputing the band in live action during the early 80s, Black Sabbath's Born In Hell is culled from the short tenure of former Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan as lead vocalist, after the departiure of Ozzy Osbourne's replacemennt Ronnie James Dio. Therefore, among the run through the Brum band's overwhelmingly legendary back catalogue there nestles a very Sabbath take on 'Smoke On The Water'. Of course, the biggest selling-point here is simply Sabbath doing Sabbath, very loudly, although not quite as loud as the crowd's reaction at various points of the show. Not least Tony Iommi's insane solo as 'War Pigs' refuels in preparation for its monumental climax, worth the price of admission alone.

Review: RECOMMENDED
How can heavy metal-ers not get excited about this one? While sporting a pretty serious price tag, this Super Deluxe edition of Black Sabbath's seminal fourth album is certainly one for the collectors, who will delight in the 11 additional studio recordings featured in the huge amount of bonus material here, which include snippets of studio dialogue, false starts and more rough around the edges nuances that bring the work to life.

As for the LP itself, it was something of a landmark moment in the band's journey - shifting the intensity and ferocity up at least three gears and then sticking a brick on the throttle to hold it in place. Perhaps Mojo's take on things puts it best; ""If booze and dope had helped fuel Sabbath's earlier albums, Vol. 4 is their cocaine ... Despite their spiraling addictions, musically Vol. 4 is another ambitious outing". Enough said.

Review: 1975's Black Sabbath album, Sabotage, was written at a time when the band were caught up in an ongoing legal battle with their former manager. That is what gave the album its title and no doubt fuelled some of the more abrasive and angry tracks. The newly remastered reissue is now paired with a complete live show that was recorded during the band's 1975 tour. Of the 16 tracks, 13 have never before been released. As well as a special new booklet with further fan delights, two extra tracks feature on a bonus 7" with artwork that replicates a rare Japanese version of the single.

Review: Captured at the Electric Circus in Lausanne, Switzerland on 29th April 1970, this live collection serves up a lightning in a bottle performance from the gargantuan metallic gods Black Sabbath, recorded directly in between their seminal self-titled debut LP and their genre-defining sophomore effort Paranoid. Featuring a set of cuts from these two aforementioned LPs, such as the epic 'Behind The Wall Of Sleep' and fan favourite 'N.I.B.', there's an undeniable, palpable sense of historic urgency when experiencing Ozzy and co unveiling anthems such as 'War Pigs' and 'Fairies Wear Boots' to first time ears, a full five months before these studio versions would be available for home digestion in September of that year.

Review: Recorded at the California Jam at Canada's Ontario Speedway on 6th April 1974, this live collection features metallic pioneers Black Sabbath almost a year into the promotional run for their acclaimed fifth full-length Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Featuring an absurd, retrospective fan-pandering set made up of all the essentials from 'War Pigs', 'Paranoid', and 'Iron Man', to later yet equally integral deep cuts such as 'Sweet Leaf' and 'Children Of The Grave', this set was originally released as part of a 2xCD set but now comes home to wax for the diehards who were there (and the younger generations who wish they were) to experience in all of its illustrious, fuzzy, bombastic, macabre glory.

Review: Taken from a performance at the Asbury Park Convention Hall in New Jersey on August 5th 1975, this live collection from pioneering metal granddaddies Black Sabbath came during the run for their often overlooked sixth LP Sabotage and boasts a set that simultaneously amplifies some of that project's most choice cuts such as 'Hole In The Sky', 'Symptom Of The Universe', and 'Megalomania', as well as some of their most essential bangers from 'War Pigs' to 'Iron Man' to 'Paranoid'. Originally part of a double CD set, this live album finally receives its own personal vinyl home, and offers a time capsule fly on the wall earful of the fathers of psych, doom, sludge (etc.) at the height of their drug-fueled, incomparable, sonic world domination.

Review: There's arguably few modern bands pushing and expanding the confines of death metal like Denver, Colorado based genre provocateurs, Blood Incantation.

Combining intricate tech-death stylings with psychedelic, prog-rock passages all awash in sci-fi hues led to 2019's 'Hidden History of the Human Race', landing on several end of year lists.

The much anticipated follow up, 'Timewave Zero', is a purposeful 180 from their formula, eschewing vocals, riffs and malevolence for ambient, synth-based science fiction psychedelia akin to latter day Tangerine Dream.

It may seem a perplexing departure, but one the group have envisioned since prior to releasing their 'Starspawn' debut in 2016. Continuing to carve out their own path, and craft a solely unique vision may lose some riff-raff semi-fans, but those willing to follow Blood Incantation on their ever unfolding cosmic journey, have just been handed the keys to the unknown.

Review: Mathcore pioneers, Botch, signed to acclaimed label Sargent House (home to Deafheaven and The Armed), earlier this year with the driven home fact that it was solely with the intention of reissuing their short yet seminal discography. It turned out to be utter lies as the band have since performed a recent secret reunion show, and unveiled the blistering return single, 'One Twenty Two'. The reissue of their magnum opus,' We Are The Romans', has been a criminally overdue process, with the frenetic project heralded as a genre cornerstone as well as a primary influence on names such as Converge and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Complex, aggressive, and caustic in oppressive measures, this is an essential for any fans of hardcore, metal or the most abrasive forms of the ugly nexus where the two intersect and clash.

Review: Welsh hard rock band Budgie never quite reached the highs of some of their peers by still did plenty for the evolution of their own particular musical niche. The were often said to be a blend of Rush's progressive styles and the more direct and dark heaviness of Black Sabbath. At the heart of the band was Burke Shelley's vocals - famous for their high-pitched banshee style - and despite being commercially unheralded, they have been mentioned as an influence by the likes of Iron Maiden, Van Halen and Queens of the Stone Age. This live show from LA in the late 70s catches them in electrifying form.