Finnish death-doom metal pioneers, Swallow The Sun return from the darkest crevices with their eighth album ‘Moonflowers’. The new offering is the follow-up to their chart-topping Finnish Grammy-nominated 2019 album ‘When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light’. ‘Moonflowers’ remarkably manages to turn up the emotional heaviness expected from the quintet. The album’s artwork added to this grim sentiment as guitarist and primary songwriter Juha Raivio created it using dried up flowers he collected along with his blood to paint the moon, making the image both tragic and elegant, much like their music.
Finnish black metallers emerge from the darkness after twenty-three years of silence with their highly anticipated and long overdue fourth album ‘Angel Of Carnage Unleashed’. Forged in 1993, Darkwoods My Bethrothed quickly gained a following with their 1995 debut ‘Heirs of the Northstar’, followed by the sophomore album ‘Autumn Roars Thunder’ (1996) and its sequel ‘Witch-Hunts’s (1998). 2021 sees their mighty return with their new offering and the addition of Tuomas Holopainen on keyboards as a full member and Kai Hahto as a session drummer, both of whom reside in symphonic metal act Nightwish.
The creative force that is Auri features Finnish singer Johanna Kurkela and Nightwish’s keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen and multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley. Although they formed in 2011, it wasn’t until 2018 that they unveiled their debut self-titled album, which showcased their ethereal sound. Now with their sophomore release, ‘Auri: II – Those We Don’t Speak Of’, they are back to enamour us once more with their unique and wondrous music.
Austrian melodic black metal act Harakiri For The Sky have made quite an impact within the atmospheric post-metal scene since their formation a decade ago and gained a dedicated following as a result of this, now they are back with their highly anticipated fifth album and follow up to 2018’s critically acclaimed record ‘Arson’ with ‘Mӕre’. Mӕre is a malicious demon from folklore which creeps in and sleeps on people’s chests during the night, causing breathlessness and anxiety. This state and concept seem more appropriate than ever given the crisis in the world currently and this new release acts as the perfect incensed soundtrack to that chaos.
Seattle punks Dragged Under have announced their first tour of the UK. They will be supporting The Ghost Inside on the metalcore titans incredible sold out comeback show on 3rd July 2021 at the O2 Academy Brixton, London before heading off on a run of shows calling through the Key Club, Leeds, the Asylum in Birmingham, the Star & Garter in Manchester and the Camden Assembly Rooms in London before finishing at 2000 Trees Festival on 10 July.
Silver tongue devil, a heavy metal/blackened thrash metal band hailing out of Dallas Texas. They are bringing forth this song previously released on their album Pax Satanica. Right away, Blood Drenched Sex Magick (BDSM for short, going forward in this review) is like a kick straight to your teeth. It’s up front, it’s loud, it’s your face, and it’s intense from start to finish. A very vocally driven song, it reminds me a lot of an earlier song of theirs “Greyest of Skies” with how the lyrics are brought out and how the song itself unfolds. There is an energy in this song that isn’t very common, and it’s easy to get lost and get drawn in when listening which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Dark Art Conspiracy 
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