august burns red - guardians

august burns red is one of those bands which constantly deliver. however the last two records felt a bit dull to me. not that they have been bad quality wise but i felt like the sensation had worn off. anyway, with this album they returned to form although they didn't change the recipe. they simply wrote a pretty damn good album.

of feather and bone - sulfuric disintegration

i am new to of feather and bone. i became aware of them when profound lore announced the pre-order for their new record "sulfuric disintegration". the colour vinyl went before i even checked out one song. so when the band came around the corner with this self-released die hard tape housed in a vhs case, i couldn't possibly say no.

just look how much detail went into this release. from the alternate cover art for the tape cassette, over the button/patch/emanel pin/sticker/poster to the "death metal" sticker on the vhs cover - everything is so well thought out and nicely crafted. one of the coolest packaging for a physical release i have ever seen.

spectral voice - eroded corridors of unbeing

this is death/doom perfection right here. i waited quite some time for my copy to arrive from dark descent records but it was well worth the wait. musically this brings you right into the darkest void of unbeing you can(not) imagine and aesthetically, i mean, just look at that galaxy merge vinyl...

astralborne - at eternity's end

boy, what a goddamn good melodic death metal album. riff for days, melodies for months and music for years or so... flys a bit under the radar it seems but if you have the chance to get your hands on this, i recommend to pick up astralborne's beautiful debut full length "at eternity's end" right away.

spirit adrift - enlightened in eternity

the new spirit adrift arrived with high expectations of mine. after thorough spins i can say that they were not fully met. there are some real pearls among the tracks but also a few pretty generic songs. they lost a bit their sense of mystery in favour for more straight up classic metal structures. doesn't appeal to me too much. anyway, still enjoy this record. this is an eu version by century media. 2020.

end - splinters of an ever-changing face

ok, i didn't see that coming. i didn't know end before all the pre-order hype went down at some point earlier this year. i checked them and secured me a copy but it wasn't until it finally arrived and i gave it proper spins, where i realised the greatness of this angry as fuck metallic hardcore babe. go check it out, is my only advice. closed casket activities. 2020.

afterbirth - the time traveler's dilemma

boy, this tech/prog death metal band from new york left me craving for more with their latest album "four dimensional flesh". thus i needed the debut and predecessor as well. it wasn't too difficult to get a hand on a copy of "the time traveler's dilemma" for a decent price. musically this is on par with "four dimensional...", if not better. unique leader records.

mastodon - medium rarities

obviously no one needs this compilation. the one exclusive and new song is generic mastodon stuff and the rest is, well, b-sides. despite it being pretty pricey, i still wanted it and found this at a store which had it for a little lower price tag. i am a fan-boy like that and took it. nice pink marble vinyl.

cro-mags - near death experience

the second installment by back on black in this little cro-mags re-issue series. "near death experience" was the follow-up to "alpha and omega" and was released in 1993 via century media. i just love the cover artwork and musically it is one of my favourite cro-mags record as well. back on black. 2020.

cro-mags - alpha and omega

the cro-mags have a new album out this year and i completely missed the boat. at least i have been right on spot for these re-presses of "near death experience" and this one here, "alpha and omega". gatefold sleeve and grey vinyl by back on black. 2020 (originally released by century media in 1992).