








Reviews
Sodom – Out of the Frontline Trench
By drbunnig / 16th November 2019
It was about a year ago now that I was putting pen to paper whilst musing over Sodom’s EP Partisan, which was to be a taster for a forthcoming album....
Avatarium – The Fire I Long For
By drbunnig / 10th November 2019
Avatarium started as another string to the bow of doom metal master Leif Edling, who has been instrumental in creating some of the most renowned albums in the genre. The...
Crystal Viper – Tales of Fire and Ice
By drbunnig / 3rd November 2019
Poland has had a wealth of talented metal bands break through over the past few decades, and for my money, there’s been none better than Crystal Viper. Despite a weaker...
Nile – Vile Nilotic Rites
By drbunnig / 22nd October 2019
A little over 20 years ago, death metal pantheons Nile first broke through, shaking the foundations of the genre with a unique mix of brutality and Egyptian influenced instrumentation. The...
Mayhem – Daemon
By drbunnig / 18th October 2019
Mayhem are one of the world's most renowned black metal bands, although some will say that their status is as much to do with the actions of their members in...
Silvertomb – Edge of Existence
By drbunnig / 10th October 2019
This has been a long time coming. The metal world has been starved of Kenny Hickey ever since the release of the solitary Seventh Void record in 2009 and the...
Shadecrown – Riven
By drbunnig / 5th October 2019
Finland has a long and storied history with melodic death metal, dating back to the early '90s when the likes of Sentenced were putting their spin on the style. Many...
Dragonforce – Extreme Power Metal
By drbunnig / 29th September 2019
Truth be told, I did not expect Dragonforce to survive as long as they have done (and I’m probably not the only one). I thought the loss of Roadrunner’s backing...
Insomnium – Heart Like a Grave
By drbunnig / 27th September 2019
Insomnium took the boldest step of their career with 2016’s concept album Winter’s Gate, which was comprised of one 40 minute track. The gallant move paid off, being well received...
Excalion – Emotions
By drbunnig / 12th September 2019
Excalion were one of the great underrated power metal acts of the 21st century, with a trio of albums between 2005 and 2010 that showcased a maturity and craftsmanship beyond...
Sonata Arctica – Talviyö
By drbunnig / 2nd September 2019
Finland’s Sonata Arctica won the hearts of power metal fans the world over with a string of well received albums in the late ‘90s / early ‘00s, before embarking on...
Destruction – Born to Perish
By drbunnig / 6th August 2019
For a lot of veteran metal bands, there seems to come a time when they start to curb their experimental instincts and settle into a safer groove, where their creative...
Sorcery – Necessary Excess of Violence
By drbunnig / 4th August 2019
Whilst Sorcery’s ascent in the extreme metal scene coincided with the resurgence of the Swedeath style around the start of this decade, the group are actually old hat at this...
H.e.a.t – Live at Sweden Rock Festival
By drbunnig / 16th July 2019
Swedish hard rock sensations H.e.a.t have come a long way in the last decade or so, and their appearance at Sweden Rock in 2018 consolidated their ascent to the top...
Abbath – Outstrider
By drbunnig / 7th July 2019
Even before his less than harmonious exit from Immortal, we had seen what Abbath had to offer outside the constraints of the black metal legends he’d fronted since their inception....
Marianas Rest – Ruins
By drbunnig / 31st March 2019
Finland is rightfully known as one metal's most productive countries, and one of the genres it excels at is melodic death / doom. Six piece Marianas Rest are a relatively...
2004- 50 Years Of Metal
By Stephanie Ingram / 26th March 2019
Nightwish Once “Once” was Tarja's last album with Nightwish and boy did they make an impact with this one. Not only did “Nemo” become such a well-known hit in...
2003- 50 Years Of Metal
By Stephanie Ingram / 26th March 2019
Children of Bodom - Hate Crew Deathroll Finland’s premier melodic death metal group started a mini revolution within their genre in the late 1990s, drenching the movement’s trademark...
2001-50 Years Of Metal
By Stephanie Ingram / 26th March 2019
American Head Charge- The Art Of War This album was released in 2001.The album's name was influenced by a Chinese book called 'The Art Of War' and was...
2000-50 Years Of Metal
By Stephanie Ingram / 26th March 2019
Linkin park - Hybrid Theory It’s almost impossible to talk about the early 00’s metal scene without bringing up the sub genre of Nu-Metal. Hybrid Theory was the...
1998- 50 Years Of Metal
By Matthew_Brooks / 24th March 2019
This year nu metal continued to dominate the mainstream, but plenty of bands from the next massive scene, metalcore, formed including Atreyu and Bullet For My Valentine. We've got albums...
1999- 50 Years Of Metal
By Stephanie Ingram / 20th March 2019
Limp Bizkit - Significant Other Now unfairly derided by many as a novelty and a joke, Limp Bizkit were once one of the biggest bands on the planet, and...
1995-50 Years Of Metal
By Stephanie Ingram / 19th March 2019
Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side Beginning life as a speed metal outfit in the ‘80s, German power metal legends Blind Guardian began to find their...
1994- 50 Years Of Metal
By Stephanie Ingram / 19th March 2019
Korn-Korn Atop a shimmering ride cymbal and gradually building dissonant chords, Jonathan Davis’ mighty bellow asked us if we were ready. And whether we were or not, the...
1993-50 Years Of Metal
By Stephanie Ingram / 19th March 2019
Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses Roadrunner Records’ first album to receive platinum certification, Bloody Kisses saw Type O Negative break away from the thrash / crossover roots...
1992- 50 Years Of Metal
By Stephanie Ingram / 19th March 2019
Cannibal Corpse - Tomb of the Mutilated Courting controversy the world over with their graphic cover art and explicit lyrical content, cynics may attribute Cannibal Corpse's ascent to...
1990- 50 Years Of Metal
By Stephanie Ingram / 19th March 2019
Pantera- Cowboys From Hell When the Glam Metal version of Pantera decided to ditch the hairspray and turn to full time shredding, the metal world had an enormous...
Nightrage – Wolf to Man
By drbunnig / 15th March 2019
There was once a time that Nightrage could have laid claim to being a bona fide supergroup. The presence of Greek guitar wizard Gus G and vocalist extraordinaire Tomas Lindberg...
1988- 50 Years Of Metal
By Stephanie Ingram / 14th March 2019
Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II Two of the most influential and important power metal releases ever issued, the Keeper albums (originally planned as a...
Battle Beast – No More Hollywood Endings
By drbunnig / 11th March 2019
Bringer of Pain was a big record for Battle Beast. Having acrimoniously parted ways with founder and main composer Anton Kabanen prior to the writing sessions, the pressure was on...
1985- 50 Years Of Metal
By Stephanie Ingram / 11th March 2019
Possessed - Seven Churches In the autumn of 1985, US four piece Possessed issued what would become a landmark release in heavy music. Considered by many to be...
Skeletoon – They Never Say Die
By drbunnig / 4th March 2019
Self confessed ‘nerd metal’ group Skeletoon formed from the ashes of Helloween tribute group Jack-o’-Lantern in 2011. Led by founder Tomi Fooler, they fired out two albums of highly melodic...
Children of Bodom – Hexed
By drbunnig / 25th February 2019
For many Children of Bodom fans, 2015’s I Worship of Chaos was a step down from the marvellous Halo of Blood, which was seen as a return to form after...
Black Therapy – Echoes of Dying Memories
By drbunnig / 19th February 2019
There appears to be a very healthy melodic death metal scene blossoming in Italy. Perhaps it has been there a while and I never really knew. Either way, ignorance is...
Delain – Hunter’s Moon
By drbunnig / 17th February 2019
The final part of a trilogy that began with 2016’s Lunar Prelude EP, Hunter’s Moon’s purpose is two fold: to close this particular chapter of Delain’s career, and to look...
Rotting Christ – The Heretics
By drbunnig / 12th February 2019
Perhaps the most prominent group to emerge from the Greek metal scene, Rotting Christ have been steadily working away for over three decades. The song-writing flair of frontman Sakis Tolis,...
Avantasia – Moonglow
By drbunnig / 6th February 2019
A new album from Tobias Sammet is a cause for great excitement, particularly since the stunning return to form that began with 2014’s Space Police that cast off the minor...
Malevolent Creation – The 13th Beast
By drbunnig / 16th January 2019
Malevolent Creation have had to suffer their share of trials and tribulations during their 30 year career, the most recent of which was a mix of the professional (the mass...
Lahmia – Resilience
By drbunnig / 8th January 2019
It’s taken seven years for Italy’s Lahmia to follow up their rather splendid debut, Into the Abyss. Their highly melodic, gothic tinged death metal was like an intricate, extreme take...
Swallow the Sun – When a Shadow Is Forced Into the Light
By drbunnig / 6th January 2019
It was just over three years ago that Swallow the Sun (StS) issued the hugely ambitious triple album Songs from the North. That the quality of the project matched its...
A Pale Horse Named Death – When the World Becomes Undone
By drbunnig / 5th January 2019
A new year is typically seen as a fresh start... a chance to cast aside the troubles of the prior 12 months for optimism and hope. Along rides A Pale...
Soilwork – Verkligheten
By drbunnig / 2nd January 2019
For many years, I thought of Soilwork as the lesser of the top tier Swedish melodeath groups from the burgeoning scene in the ‘90s. They struck me as a jack...
Johnny Gioeli – One Voice
By drbunnig / 4th December 2018
With one of the finest voices the rock and metal genre has to offer, Johnny Gioeli has been enchanting audiences worldwide for a quarter of a century now. Whether it’s...
Seven album selections for Ozzy’s 70th birthday
By drbunnig / 3rd December 2018
One of the godfathers of heavy metal and the self proclaimed prince of darkness, Ozzy Osbourne, celebrates turning 70 this year. To recognise this landmark, I have plucked seven studio...
Metal Church – Damned If You Do
By drbunnig / 1st December 2018
Metal Church are a long established institution of the US heavy/thrash scene. Despite a number of highly regarded albums released in their prime, they never seem to have got the...
Cadaveric Fumes / Skelethal – Heirs of Hideous Secrecies (split)
By drbunnig / 24th November 2018
Skelethal and Cadaveric Fumes have been kicking around the French death metal scene for 6-7 years now, but only have a single full length between them (Skelethal's Of the Depths...),...
P.O.D. – Circles
By drbunnig / 8th November 2018
My familiarity with P.O.D. is largely based around their hit laden, multi-platinum smash Satellite, as well as the odd song from the albums that preceded and followed it. The rap-rock...
Sodom – Partisan
By drbunnig / 3rd November 2018
With their 40 year anniversary not too far off, long running thrash giants Sodom are showing no signs of slowing down. During that time, the band has traversed down various...
Red Dragon Cartel – Patina
By drbunnig / 26th October 2018
I may as well get this out of the way: I’m a big fan of Jake E Lee. I was hooked from the first time I heard his scything riffs...
Afire – On the Road from Nowhere
By drbunnig / 21st October 2018
There was only one detail in Afire’s press release needed to draw me in. Upon learning that former Sentenced guitarist Sami Lopakka was involved, I knew I wanted to hear...
Soulfly – Ritual
By drbunnig / 16th October 2018
I seem to be losing track of what exactly Max Cavalera is up to. Last year we were treated to the fourth Cavalera Conspiracy record, and in the midst of...
Skálmöld – Sorgir
By drbunnig / 11th October 2018
It was a little more than two years ago that I came across Skálmöld when tasked with reviewing Vögguvísir Yggdraslis for this very station. It’s to safe to say I...
Hatesphere – Reduced to Flesh
By drbunnig / 6th October 2018
Denmark’s Hatesphere are a perseverant bunch. Under the stewardship of guitarist Pepe Hansen, the Danes have been plugging away under various guises since the ‘90s, with a steady stream of...
Outre-Tombe – Nécrovortex
By drbunnig / 29th September 2018
I’ve never made any secret of my affection for old school Swedish death metal. Any time a band revs up those rust ridden buzzsaw guitars and proceeds to carve ear...
Chthonic – Battlefields of Asura
By drbunnig / 26th September 2018
Metal fans with a keen ear may have noticed the emergence of a thriving Asian scene in the past few years. Truth be told, this ‘emergence’ has been going on...
Behemoth – I Loved You at Your Darkest
By drbunnig / 22nd September 2018
What surely has to be the most hotly anticipated extreme metal album in many a year is upon us. Having wowed critics and fans alike with 2014’s The Satanist, Behemoth...
Revocation – The Outer Ones
By drbunnig / 18th September 2018
Revocation have long been chipping away at their tech death template, continually reworking and refining it on their quest to produce a genre benchmark. With close to twenty years and...
Grave Digger – The Living Dead
By drbunnig / 12th September 2018
There are few bands in the metal scene who have been active as long as Grave Digger. The German heavy metal icons, led by Chris Boltendahl, have been playing under...
Deicide – Overtures of Blasphemy
By drbunnig / 8th September 2018
Sometimes there’s no more sobering indicator of the passage of time than realising how much has drifted by between album releases. It doesn’t seem too long ago that I was...
Krisiun – Scourge of the Enthroned
By drbunnig / 4th September 2018
The concept of brotherhood is likely stronger in Krisiun than it is for almost every other metal band out there. For almost the entire duration of their career, the Brazilian...
Interviews
Blog
Seven album selections for Ozzy’s 70th birthday
By drbunnig / 3rd December 2018
2018 – 10 of the best albums so far
By David Steed / 20th July 2018
Bands at Download 2018 you (maybe) haven’t listened to
By David Steed / 13th May 2018