Diaries of Doom

If you like your metal extreme, you need to listen to Patiently Waiting For Wonderful Things. With perhaps the most visceral release from the UK this year (yes, even up against Napalm Death), CMA have crafted an energetic blast of refined anger that shines with tongue-in-cheek humour and fantastic musicianship.  Cathedral of Porn kicks down the door with a crossover thrash swagger before absolutely destroying the rest of the analogous room with blast beats so quick they'll break your neck. You Smell Expensive slows down the tempo ever so briefly, but only so the track can stamp on your head effectively. Swirling bass notes and searing vocals proceed utter chaos of the highest degree. The two opening tracks set the stage incredibly well for the EP: this is going to be a white knuckle ride through grindcore, but leaning heavily into the hardcore punk elements that give a fantastically fresh feel to the release.  Maximum Bastardry ups the ante with sing along hooks and punchy, pe...

Three years beyond the acclaimed Asheran comes this new EP from Scottish progressive/post-sludgers Dvne. Asheran is little short of a masterpiece - how on earth could the band, now expanded to a quintet with the addition of keyboardist Evelyn May, build upon this? With the Omega Severer EP, their answer seems to be more progressive, expressive and bloody impressive as they hint at new music to come and nod to the past. The ten-minute titular track indicates the direction that their upcoming 2021 album will take, and 'Of Blade and Carapace' is a re-recording of a song from their Aurora Majesty EP. Let's dive in...  'Omega Severer' opens with soft ambience and a moody chord sequence before going into heavier territory, with Dvne's tasteful sense of light and dark becoming apparent early on in this song, as strong as has been demonstrated on their previous work. The sludgy riffing is reminiscent of Mastodon or Baroness in their earliest days, although the song we...

Another new track from Puresonic Outcasts in what’s been a busy year (despite everything going on in 2020), ‘Chasing Shadows’ is an instrumental that still manages to show off their songwriting chops and sense of atmosphere. If you don’t know who PSO are, you can read about them in my last review of theirs ( at this link ) – it’s only been a month since ‘Demonised Masses’ came out.  A bass-led intro opens the track amid an ominous wind effect. It gives the opening a calm tranquillity, but with a clear sense that it’s building up to something. The tension is certainly psychedelic, with a desert rock-style quality to it.  There are no distorted guitars until almost two minutes in, and upon their arrival you hear them grind away under the same pattern as if a sleeping giant is about to wake. And when the giant finally awakens, PSO unleash a headbang-y riff that grooves like early 90s Pantera, but has the trippy atmosphere of bands such as Tool. This song is clever for the way tha...

October's a great month, right? It's spooky season, summer has well and truly gone for another year, and it's only a matter of time before we start having 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' assault our ears as we go for the weekly shop. Hang on, maybe 'great' wasn't the right word. Who's ready for Lockdown 2? October had some stellar releases, though, from the likes of Spirit Adrift, Enslaved and Pallbearer in other countries. I've tried to stick to our homegrown bands over here in the UK this time round. If you like it noisy and extreme, I've got three great picks for you. Venom Prison – Primeval (death metal/hardcore) – Prosthetic Records  Not entirely a ‘new’ release, but the repackaging and re-recording of their first two EPs from 2015 (‘Defy the Tyrant’ and ‘The Primal Chaos’) along with two new tracks. As it turns out, though, this has worked well for Venom Prison – the older songs have truly been done justice with the improved recording...