Grond – Worship the Kraken
If this balance of aggression, speed and groove doesn’t get your blood pumping you must be dead.
Dusius – Memory of a Man
With shades of many types of metal like Folk/Viking to Extreme/Death all the way to an almost progressive feel, this band shows they’re very well rounded and have many more stories for us all to hear.
Bill + Phil – Songs of Darkness and Despair
Covering the gamut from straight stoner rock to gorgeous psychedelic interludes, Songs of Darkness and Despair comfortably bridges the gap between both.
Sweat Lodge – Tokens For Hell
Tokens for Hell is groovy, cosmic music with a very Black Sabbath feel. Except it’s on acid.
Doctor Livingstone – Triumphus Haeretici
To understand the album, give yourself an hour plus where you can sit and absorb the entirety without interruption. Your patience and effort will be rewarded with an album remarkable in its dark passion.
Arduini/Balich – Dawn of Ages
The album delivers torrents of guitars, deluge after deluge of roar and wail, with riffs that are more often engaging and accessible than dizzying and speed-driven.
Fen – Winter
My favorite albums are ones that present a cohesive vision and Fen have certainly delivered this in spades.
Tumourboy – Damaged System
Listening to Damaged System, released in early 2016, was like taking a trip to the 1980’s only without the stone-washed denim and Aquanet hair.
Black Anvil – As Was
With their fourth full length release As Was, Black Anvil is fast becoming the US answer to Enslaved (as a huge fan of the latter, this is not a comparison I make lightly).
Sunlight’s Bane – The Blackest Volume: Like All The Earth Was Buried
This album may be the darkest cleansing fire I have ever witnessed.