We enter 1999, a year where the Greek gothic / death metal squad Septicflesh release their fifth album, "Revolution DNA". This one is a funny one because it took them three different covers (the original, the 2005 reissue and then the 2016 re-reissue) to finally settle on an album art that doesn't look like absolute ass. Past this comical note, it's also the first album since their demo in 1991 to feature an actual drummer and not programmed drums; the honor belonging to one ... read more

I'm glad to see I wasn't wrong and Nemophila, like clockwork, is putting out a release in January for the third year in a row. This time, it's just an EP: but contrary to their usual color scheme, this one is gold (the AOTY cover is the one for the Limited Edition, which contains an entire second CD comprised of their best tracks and what looks to be one unique, '鬼灯 [Hozuki]').

Five tracks for a quarter of an hour are what you can find in Nemophila's ... read more

With their first Century Media album raking in unprecedented success, selling over 130 thousand copies in Europe alone, the Dutch goths had an idea to make their follow-up somewhat of a companion piece to "Mandylion". Flowing into more experimental and atmospheric fields, the melodies encased within "Nighttime Birds" are a bit different than "Mandylion's" designs. While it's still a gothic / doom album, there's a bigger feel of progressive metal ... read more

On my path down Crywank's discography, I found a most curious compilation: "Embarrassing Early Recordings". I already knew all their other albums and projects, but this one eluded me. The minimalistic, yet appealing cover betrays its title; why is this collection of 16 demos embarrassing? Well, turns out when James Clayton himself says "I embarrassingly americanized my voice to try and emulate my favourite musicians, and I'd record with different people through ... read more

I'll be honest, I thought I already covered this album before. But alas, I have not. Fozzy is a weirder one for me. Truly formed in 1999 when Rich Ward met Chris Jericho, the wrestler, after a WWF show on Texas, it was but a cover band made by whoever was available and Rich Ward called Fozzy Osbourne before this meeting. This event led to the band assembling and after a couple back and forth sessions and what have you, Jericho joined as a permanent frontman under the moniker Mongoose ... read more

From a new Portuguese artist to the kings of the country, this is my long-awaited moment where I talk about Ornatos Violeta's second and final studio album (there's still a compilation album released in 2011 I will talk about some other review). To say this album is a monument is not enough: truthfully, "O Monstro Precisa de Amigos", tl. "The Monster Needs Friends" is an album so important and intrinsic to Portugal's rock history it transcends music. It is a ... read more

With the turn of the decade, a lone Portuguese teen decided to convert his self-described "vertigo from the lack of one's purpose" into a tangible outlet. Aided by his immense love of space and his talent in the musical field, Indigo Dias self-releases his debut album in 2021 and it quickly became a project worth keeping an eye on. This is Dispirited Spirits resumed: a very enjoyable space rock assembly with influences from art, indie and post-rock and later on, Midwest Emo. I ... read more

Now here's a name I haven't touched in a while. Last time I reviewed Sigur Rós, it was their second release, "Ágætis Byrjun", and it was the very first 90 I ever gave on this site, on February 2024. Now, almost two years later, I've given another twelve 90+ scores and even one perfect 100. What choice do I have but to make "( )" my 14th 90?

Eight officially untitled tracks (though the band had the courtesy to grant them alternative names ... read more

After "Hellbilly Deluxe", Rob Zombie was a busy man. Composing soundtracks for games, writing and directing movies that never released and even designing a haunted attraction for Universal in 1999, it was clear he was finding success with his solo career. This naturally culminated with his second album, "The Sinister Urge". On the previous review, I said I couldn't really decide which one was the better album. On one hand, I find "Hellbilly" to have some of my ... read more

Recommended by @Elynescence. Also it's my 500th review.

I do not know Paleface Swiss. Nor, I think, I will want to know them after this EP. I've seen the commentary surrounding this release, which has been sitting atop my homepage for a while now. I see the user scores and read the reviews. And thus, I am confident I can break them down into two categories: the ones that criticize it because it is a derivative project that does not build, improve or add anything to the previous ... read more

Recommended by @LinkyDinky.

Dream pop / Experimental hip hop artist Baxter Morton, known as B. Morton, debuts in late 2025 after an EP with "ROCKET SCIENCE". As expected, it's the artist itself that tossed this my way (or at least, I infer it's the artist as everyone got this recommended by the same user and it was them who added the album to AOTY). Nine tracks, one of which is titled in Cyrillic, make up for a decent experience that only lasts for 24 minutes. For ... read more

Recommended by an IRL friend.

It's time to address the recommendations I've piled up since the last time, at last. Starting off we have one directly from a friend of mine I've mentioned on some reviews as the one that introduced me to some of my favorite bands like Swallow The Sun, but also others like Rotting Christ, Septicflesh, Softcult, Leprous and re-ignited my love for Paramore. Now that he's on his metalcore phase, marked by a couple bands but the most important ... read more

After their success with "For the first time" and announcing its follow-up "Ants From Up There" slated for the next year, they unexpectedly released at the very end of 2021 a limited EP. This is "Never Again", a cover EP containing four tracks, two of which from ABBA. Though limited to 1500 copies and never getting a streaming platform release, this hasn't stopped it from being posted online. Ironically, I didn't struggle finding this one nor its sequel, ... read more

Italian technical death metal (though they became more symphonic death akin to Septicflesh as time went on) crew Fleshgod Apocalypse are a band I don't hear often about. It's one that I've added to my fold somewhat recently and thus haven't had the full pleasure of discovering them in their entirety. While I enjoy the likes of "Veleno" and "King", I couldn't tell you much about their earlier material. Today, we're rectifying that.

Formed in ... read more

In this second week of 2026 comes the first new release I'm covering: Alter Bridge's self-titled. Coming off of 2022's good release "Pawns & Kings", AB oversaw Tremonti and Kennedy pursuing their solo career a bit more and also an unexpected Creed reunion. Now, four years later, their good time is here to stay for another hour.

The alternative metal titans open with 'Silent Divide', a brazen hard rock track whose vocals dictate a slower pacing. It reminds ... read more

From one AOTY darling to another: this is the time to speak on MF Doom. Known outside as Daniel Dumile, the iconic rapper and hip hop superstar is that unavoidable name when one speaks of hip hop and jazz rap. Even a metalhead as I must bow my head to the supervillain. Obviously notorious for his Doctor Doom inspired persona, I'm going to exclusively talk about MF Doom - not King Geedorah, Madvillain, Metal Fingers, Viktor Vaughn nor Danger Doom. I know "Madvillainy" is often ... read more

It's time to venture into one of the most influential bands alive, not only in its own alternative rock genre, but in music as a whole. I couldn't be talking about any other band but Radiohead. Founded in 1985 in Oxfordshire while the members attended an all-boys private school, they used their music room to rehearse, play sessions and whatnot under the name "On A Friday". Yorke quickly became the songwriter, but it's said they all picked instruments in order to ... read more

Ah, Nightwish. A staple of the iconic symphonic-power metal combo, the Finns sprung to life in 1996 when seasoned keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen grew fond of the idea of helming his own project whilst sitting on a campfire with friends. From here, the music took the shape of some acoustic mood music self-written during his army time. Though this is not what "Angels Fall First" turned out to be, you can still sense that feel the year after when it came out.

Originally, it was released ... read more

Here we are, once again, talking about a band the world has forgotten about. Now, this is my second review of them which means I don't have to talk about the horrendous debut LP and instead focus on better tidings. After a couple of plays with Incubus, their Californian brothers and often the source of comparison and subsequent critique for "imitation". This attracted Island Records, which added them to their fold in 2000. What I also found curious is at this point, they had a ... read more

Finnish / Greek supergroup Aeonian Sorrow decide to do the short step and release more or less a continuation EP of their debut funeral doom album "Into The Eternity A Moment We Are", which came two years prior in 2018. "A Life Without" could barely be called an EP with its fairly large runtime of 36 minutes despite only featuring four tracks, but such is the path of a doom metal band.

Starting with 'The Endless Fall Of Grief', the deep growls, fundamental to ... read more