Diaries of Doom

Obligatory end-of-year post. 2021 has been a year I won't look back on fondly, with a pretty constant series of personal challenges - not least because of the pandemic - but there's been plenty to remember for all the right reasons, such as the big family reunion at Bloodstock, seeing some of my friends again for the first time in ages, and all the fun band-related stuff I've done with Alunah and Slump. If you follow the blog closely, you might have noticed I've had to take a complete break from posting for the last couple of weeks. Trying to balance running this blog with two bands, other music media platforms and working full-time to pay the bills as a side gig can be a lot sometimes, and burnout's no joke. It's been good to take time away from the music side and enjoy the festivities with my family lately. Only time will tell what '22 will bring, but the standard of music releases only seems to get better at the moment. If the stars align then both of my ...

 Midlands death metal/deathcore mob Djinova have finally unleashed their debut EP to the world. Two years in the making, it follows their slow but steady ascent within underground extreme metal circles, culminating with a slot on the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock a couple of years ago. Recorded at Initiate Audio and Media, it showcases the band - currently operating as a quartet - and the material that has helped them to get where they are with that extra bit of studio polish, with the slick production doing the four songs justice, covering all corners and eras of the death metal genre. There's something for every death metalhead on Apocalypsis Infinitum . 'Ingest the Gospel (Preach the Disease)' wastes no time in setting a tone of brutality, with tremolo-picked guitar riffing, ugly harmonic dissonance and a glass-shattering scream before the song has even really begun. With a melodic undercurrent in the chorus, illuminated with dizzying bass work from Scott, this serves as...

Black Country crossover thrashers Big Black Eye are one of my favourite live bands in the Midlands at the moment.  Since concerts returned, they've been working hard, playing at all sorts of events, including supporting the iconic Cockney Rejects. If that wasn't enough, they're sharing a bill with Discharge next year. Not bad, eh?  At the Scruffy Murphy's 20th Anniversary weekend event the other week, I was fortunate enough to get an advance copy of their new EP, recorded at Access Creative College in Birmingham. It'll be out soon, although I'm not sure when, so you'll have to take my word for it - for the time being - that it's a banger from the first minute to the last.  First track 'Hyper Violent' rips through your speakers with a thrashy guitar riff, setting a heavy vibe instantly. Stabs from the bass and drum cymbals before the song's drop give a really nice vintage-sounding feel from the off, before it kicks into an energetic punk beat ...

Northern Ireland's Puresonic Outcasts return with a vengeful new single, ahead of an upcoming six-song EP. 2020's 'Reflections On This Present Condition' introduced the quartet to the world, before 'Demonised Masses' and 'Chasing Shadows' came out in the second half of that year. These singles saw PSO step the heaviness up a notch with thrashy chugging, clearly evolving from the stoner-punk style of their first EP. 'Desecration' is another step in this direction, with their heaviest material to date... You can just tell that this new release will be an absolute corker. A short burst of feedback gives way to a vicious guitar riff, setting the scene as the Outcasts jam out over it. It threatens to snap your head clean from its neck as you listen along. As they drop into a simpler, punk-infused section that has flavourings of Slayer around the late '80s, Martin's snarling vocals sound more savage and guttural than they ever have done, matchi...

  On this day in 1971 - 50 years ago - Alice Cooper released the much-beloved 'Killers'. Today, Pale Wizard release their first instalment of tribute albums titled 50 Years Later - with eight (or twelve, on the CD/digital releases) handpicked artists from the UK doom, psych and stoner rock circles paying homage to Killer and Alice Cooper in their own way. Tracklist: 01. Green Lung – Under My Wheels 02. The Grand Mal – Be My Lover 03. Sergeant Thunderhoof – Halo Of Flies 04. Ritual King – Desperado 05. 1968 – You Drive Me Nervous 06. Trippy Wicked – Yeah, Yeah, Yeah 07. Mos Generator – Dead Babies 08. Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell – Killer 09. Alunah – I’m Eighteen (Bonus Track) 10. Suns Of Thunder – Billion Dollar Babies (Bonus Track) 11. Possessor – Muscle Of Love (Bonus Track) 12. Sound Of Origin – Sick Things (Bonus Track) Alunah - I'm Eighteen (live in London, July 2021) - featuring two Diaries of Doom contributors Lead single for this release is The Grand Mal tackling...

 Preston trio Callus return with A Breath of Flesh Air , two and a half years on from Hogpocalypse and the Through Blood, Sweat, Piss and Pain EP in 2017. Recorded at Foel Studio with Chris Fielding from Conan back in February, you notice the stunning album artwork (created by Ryan Hancock) and wonderful song titles such as 'Cinderstella' and 'Sludge Guzzler' before you even hit the play button. It's enough to draw anyone in... I had seen the name 'Callus' on a few bills prior to seeing them in concert for the first time at Badgerfest in Manchester a few weeks ago. Their confident brand of progressive sludge metal has hints of Mastodon, Boss Keloid, Dvne and the like, but with an aggression and directness that nods unashamedly to acts like High on Fire. In the live arena, their downtuned riffs and energy absolutely crush, with a dual vocal attack that gives extra dimension and layering to their thick sound - which, somehow, only comes from three musicians....

  Named after the Overkill song and formed back in 2007 in East Anglia, Elimination released a couple of albums and toured with the likes of Evile and Gama Bomb before taking a hiatus in the mid-2010s. Echoes of the Abyss  is now Elimination's first full-length in a decade. Announced in the summer, Elimination treated attendees at Dayfest in Ipswich to a full runthrough of the album shortly before a very last-minute performance at Bloodstock a couple of months ago. Echoes of the Abyss is a thrash album, no doubt, but with nods to all sorts of differing styles of metal throughout. It's full to the brim with melody, aggression and raw talent. More importantly, it shows an evolution and maturity in the band's sound compared to their earlier work.  A creepy, clean guitar intro sets the tone with wailing, distant leads that eventually make way for the big drop into 'Disciples of the Beast'. Elimination progress into a glorious thrash riff, but its sense of melody is undo...