Category: Metal

Blackened Death Metal Metal Blade Records Release Date – May 2nd 2025 REVIEW BY SMUDGE SMITH Hate have been around since 1990 but changed their name to Hat in 1992. Hailing from Warsaw, Poland they have been pretty prolific in their output since then. Having never heard any of their previous albums [more…]

Stoner/Sludge Self Release Released – May 17th 2025 REVIEW BY SMUDGE SMITH Mudfinger are a German stoner/doom power trio who formed in 2014. They released their first album ‘Psychonaut’ in 2018 and this is their sophomore effort. ‘Trinity’ opens on some huge easy guitar lines to warm up before the riff gets [more…]

Gothic Rock Independent Release Released – Early 2025 Blax are Italian and were one of the bands that caught my eyes and ears on my visit to Masters Of Rock last year. They played early on the main stage to a fast-gathering crowd, having played the second the year before, and they [more…]

Speed/Thrash Metal Independent Release Released – April 26th 2025 Desolator hail from Southampton and were formed in 2010. They didn’t hang about and released a demo in 2011 then a full length in 2013 and an EP in 2014 as well as having a track on a Sony compilation ‘Speed Kills 7’ [more…]

Thrash Metal Reigning Phoenix Music Released – May 23rd 2025 Review By Smudge Smith for Jace Media Music I’m always interested when a band re-record their back catalogue using the latest technology along with new members. Onlsaught have done just that with a selection of from the albums made with singers, Sy [more…]

Reviewed By Ian Walker for Jace Media Music Prepare for a seismic shift: Royale Lynn has arrived. With her scorching debut album Black Magic, released June 27 via Epitaph Records, this “small-town metalhead” transcends expectations, forging a fierce alt‑metal-hard‑rock hybrid that will crush charts and hearts alike. From the moment the first riff [more…]

Written for Jace Media Music by Ian Walker In the ever-evolving landscape of heavy music, few bands have struck as singular and seismic a chord as The HU. Fusing traditional Mongolian throat singing, ancient instrumentation, and metal with sweeping ambition, their genre-defying “Hunnu Rock” continues to evolve in groundbreaking ways. With the [more…]

Stoner/Psych Majestic Mountain Records Released on May 9th 2025 Review By Smudge Smith Oh yes, Kal-El are back with a storming, righteous, red-hot, hunk of stoner/psych straight from the outer reaches of the universe. Kicking off with the title track which is over nine minutes of mid paced joyous groove that literally [more…]

Review By Ian Walker Emerging from the depths of England’s metal underground, Baelfyr are the kind of band that strike fast and hit hard. Their latest single “At the Mercy of a Vain God”—taken from their upcoming debut EP Empowered by Hatred, due August 8th—doesn’t just mark them out as a name [more…]

Review By Ian Walker When Paleface Swiss released Cursed in January 2025, the modern metal landscape shook under its weight. A volatile, deeply emotional Nu-Core masterwork born in isolation and crafted with absolute precision, the album didn’t just connect—it detonated. Now, the band returns with Cursed: The Complete Edition, a towering 14-track [more…]

Review By Glen Parkes If you’re not already tuned into the Calva Louise universe, now’s the time to jump in headfirst. With their latest single Impeccable, the genre-hopping trio push their explosive sound further into the future—delivering a high-octane shot of storytelling that’s part metal opera, part sci-fi thriller, and 100% Calva [more…]