KAPUTTH - Brocken (EP Review)

Release Date: March 27th 2026. Record Label: Fucking Kill Records. Formats: DD/Vinyl.

Brocken - Tracklisting

Brocken

Members

Vocals - Tobias Ralf Robert Hüttmeyer

Guitars - Adrian Lorenzo Waldemar Seifert

Bass - Salvatore Giallo

Drums - Lanthir Lörp Saibøt

Review

Funeral Doom/Sludge Metallers KAPUTTH return with their latest EP entitled Brocken. This is a singular seventeen minutes track which continues the great work they captured with their epic 2024 debut album “i”. This is a very slow-paced track which oozes ICE-COLD atmospherics which delves into areas of Psych, Prog and Post-Metal techniques. There is a certain fantastical storytelling element to this record which comes across the cinematic style of music that KAPUTTH incorporates into the overall theme of Brocken. 

The vocals from Tobias Ralf Robert Hüttmeyer are from the extreme metal world with his brutal style of harsh growls and non-descriptive grunts. I would say I understood about fifty percent what he was singing within this EP and that’s a good thing. As this gives an air of mystery of what’s being said or I could be showing my advanced age now. Though, the music itself is stunning that delicately balances Post-Rock melodies and aggressive Sludge Metal surroundings. There’s some classic instrumental solos being played along the way which reminds of certain film scores and video game soundtracks. You’ll know when you hear it.

However, for the most part, KAPUTTH move themselves to this glacial cinematic sound that transforms into a highly meditative style of Post-Black Metal with the emphasis on slowly played melodies and levels of progressive depth from beginning to end. Despite the slow paced nature of it all, KAPUTTH are superbly heavy and create their own great style of music that makes you feel this track was on slightly longer. 

The ambient textures and sullen sludgy guitars have quite an organic and personal sound which the band have called “FUNERAL MOUNTAIN DOOM” and that’s a great description. There’s an old school flavour to the band’s creative vision and whilst it may be quite different it’s also absolutely daring in its own right.

Brocken is part of a split 10 inch vinyl release with another singular superb EP from Experimental Sludge Metallers KOLLEKTIV RAUMORDNUNG called "Selbstbefriedigung in the Temple Plains”. That record is vastly different to Brocken but is also worth checking out.

However, this is my review for Brocken and KAPUTTH have delivered the goods with this outstanding and highly charismatic release.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

KOLLEKTIV RAUMORDNUNG / KAPUTTH - "Selbstbefriedigung in the Temple Plains / Brocken" is available to buy now on DD/Vinyl via Fucking Kill Records.

Links 

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Gorilla Warrior - Destroyer (EP Review)

Release Date: March 22nd 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD.

Destroyer - Tracklisting

1.Destroyer True 02:56

2.Summon Ape 06:08

3.Slow Crawl Towards Death 08:16

4.Blood, Ice And Steel 03:28

5.Burn The Crown 06:49

Members

Guitars & vocals: Eetu Heikkinen

Drums: Tuomas Ojala

Bass: Olli Heikkinen

Review

Destroyer is the debut EP from Doom/Sludge Metallers Gorilla Warrior and the record more than lives up to its name with the band creating heavy and pummelling grooves from the very start. You can hear influences such as High On Fire, Mastodon, -(16)- and EyeHateGod. The violent vocals have a great violent touch which allows Gorilla Warrior to UNLEASH HELL ON EARTH from the opening beats of the excellent opening track Destroyer True. From this moment on, the music is played at a super fast pace for the most part with Gorilla Warrior expanding their musical horizons to play a sludgy style of LOW & SLOW instrumental passages within the next two tracks of Summon Ape and Slow Crawl Towards Death.

Gorilla Warrior perfect their brutal AMPLIFIED sounds with the music becoming more melodic and quite primal with small elements of Thrash and Black Metal starting to form. There’s a lot going on within Summon Ape with Gorilla Warrior expanding their own brutal musical style for a harsh destructive atmosphere. The vocals are primal growls and harsh screams but they’re quite easy to understand which is always a good thing. The record does start with small bouts of PROGRESSIVE energy which adds to the overall great mix of different styles of music the band have created here.

With a heavy alliance of LOW & SLOW sounds allowing the sickest and heaviest parts of the record to form on tracks such as Slow Crawl Towards Death and Burn The Crown. This is music perhaps better suited to the dedicated follower of the Doom/Sludge Metal scene rather than a casual listener. As the EP does throw up some EXTREME grooves along the way which I adored even more. 

The EP sounds excellent throughout with intense production values having a violent raw aesthetic for Gorilla Warrior to thrive upon. Destroyer is a superb EP for Gorilla Warrior to introduce themselves to the underground Doom/Sludge Metal community. If you want a record that is violent from the offset and never lets up with an avalanche of PISSED OFF sounds to lose yourself in then DESTROYER is the record for you.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links 

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YAAK - YAAK (EP Review)

Release Date: January 01st 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

YAAK - Tracklisting

1.The Witch 06:12

2.Sing me to sleep 04:07

3.Parasites 05:07

4.WAR WAR WAR 03:34

5.Surrounded 05:39

Members

Arni Lundberg - vocals

Daniel Grzegorczyk - guitar

Przemysław Gomuła - guitar, backing vocals

Zuza Klauda - bass

Miłosz Czerwonka - drums

Review

Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metallers YAAK release their self-titled EP which features a sludgy aspect of Punk Rock into the mix. The record starts with an outlandish attitude with the music having a weird stop/start aspect and the vocals moving from clean vocals to harsh DEATH based growls. I will admit the whole sound does take a few moments to fully get used to especially within the opening track The Witch. I even expected a straightforward style of Doom/Stoner Metal with YAAK coming from the infamous Polish underground metal scene. 

So it’s to YAAK’s credit for delivering their own great blend of music to release as their debut EP. Their record does have a twisted DESERT METAL sound which allows the band to move between the more extreme aspects of the underground STONER scene. There’s some great levels of AMPLIFIER DISTORTION and FUZZY REVERB along the way with YAAK offering a demented audio experience along the way.

YAAK take influence from the likes of WEEDEATER, BONGZILLA, HIGH ON FIRE, KYUSS and FU MANCHU when the blackened Desert Rock themes fully start to arrive within the excellent second track of Sing Me To Sleep, though only if KYUSS or FU MANCHU sold their souls to LUCIFER themselves. It’s an intriguing concept and YAAK fully sells that premise superbly well and to the best of their ability.

The remaining three tracks of the EP allows YAAK to travel further along the Stoner Metal highway with deafening levels of deceptive BLACKENED FUZZ and DOOM METAL only amplifying their overall sound. The vocals become even more pissed off on tracks such as Parasites and WAR WAR WAR. The production values are great for the most part with a few raw sounding moments but I feel those aspects are intentional to allow YAAK to hammer home the heaviest and aggressive grooves for the listener to fully experience. 

YAAK’s debut EP  is a wicked interpretation of the modern Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal scene that does want me to hear more as when the band focuses on a more riff-centric sound they play some truly great sounds of their own making.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links 

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Doubtsower - The Past Melts Away With A Sneer (Album Review)

Release Date: November 28st 2025. Record Label: UBAii / Unbidden Audio: Formats: CD/Digital

The Past Melts Away with a Sneer - Tracklisting

The Past Melts Away with a Sneer

 

Lineup

All tracks written, performed, recorded, produced & mixed by Matt Strangis

Review

The Past Melts Away With A Sneer is the fourth full length album from one-man Blackened Doom/Sludge Metal collective Doubsower and this is my first experience with Matt Strangis’s highly disturbing and nihilistic creative alter ego. This record is full of gloomy visions and harsh sonic landscapes that moves within the areas of Industrial Metal, Funeral Doom, Post-Metal, Post-Rock and Horror Movie Soundtracks for an album that is highly unusual and brilliantly eclectic at the same time.

Doubtsower has gained a lot of great praise from the musical underground scene and it’s not hard to see why as Matt is very passionate about making music across the wider musical spectrum. As Matt plays bass in doom merchants "Pantheist", and also produces experimental electronic music under the alias "Kyam". The whole atmosphere is creepy with Doubtsower playing heavy amounts of warped FUNERAL DOOM soundscapes that’s wrapped around a ton of disturbing ELECTRONIC beats which does take time for the “REAL” metallic movements to appear. 

Matt teases and scares the hell out of the listener with expertly placed soundbytes and sound effects that amps up the tension. Doubtsower feels inspired by the highly controversial and deeply uncomfortable horror movies of European and Asian cinema. This record isn’t watered down by any means with the slow-paced Black Metal grooves merging into heavier slices of violent ELECTRONICA and INDUSTRIAL beats with extreme vocals to match. 

Though, Matt does show a keen sense of melody within the more restrained Post-Rock and Post-Metal passages that appear from momentarily within the album. The record’s main strength is it’s gloomy and highly unapologetic production style which has a real core DIY PUNK ethic running throughout and with the amazing Greg Chandler (from legendary funeral doom band Esoteric) handling mastering duties, this is one record that not only dares to be different within the realm of Funeral Doom but actually rewrites the rule book.

This is a singular forty nine minute track with Doubtsower showcasing one of the best extreme records to emerge from within the UK and WELSH underground metal scene in quite some time. The level of dedication and technical ability that Matt plays on this album is simply astonishing to listen to and to make me emotionally invested for an album such as this is no small feat.

Expect The Unexpected with The Past Melts Away With A Sneer as this is as close as to perfection you’ll ever hear in the world of Experimental Doom Metal.

Words by Steve Howe

The Past Melts Away With A Sneer will be available to buy digitally and CD via Unbidden Audio

Links

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Doom Metallers MESSA Unveil “The Dress” Video/Single From Forthcoming New Album The Spin

Photo by MESSA

“The Dress” is the latest single from Italian doom metal conjurors MESSA. The stunning new track, which includes a trumpet solo by Michele Tedesco, comes off the band‘s forthcoming new full-length, The Spin, set for release on April 11th through Metal Blade Records.

Sailing past their tenth anniversary in 2024, MESSA takes another step towards legendary status with their majestic fourth album The Spin, which takes its listeners on a breathtaking journey across the wide-open skies of their creative imagination and over a compelling landscape of moods, twists, and styles. Based in the band's eclectic, self-defined “scarlet doom” sound, The Spin rises, falls, broods, bites, comforts, and destroys, all the while resounding with both instinctive magic and obsessive, concerted hard work. After lighting up the underground with a triptych of increasingly distinctive and wondrous records – 2016's Belfry, 2018's Feast For Water, and 2022's Close – MESSA is audibly equipped for the proverbial big leagues.

Comments the band on “The Dress,” “This song comes from the darkest place and the unfathomable void of oneself. Pain circles around, emerging violently and then drowning again in the depths. This is reflected in the riff: the descent scale keeps coming back and circles repetitively. The dress, in this case, is the gateway to a personal crucifix built with self-hatred and mirroring despair.”

Watch MESSA‘s video for “The Dress” below

MESSA's signature sound absorbs influences from jazz and blues, punk and prog, and black metal and dark ambient, but their restless experimentalism has extraordinarily smooth and assured results. The Spin incorporates another new element, interpolating an ’80s goth rock vibe in typically full-blooded fashion. "We don‘t like to repeat ourselves and we constantly try to find a new language to express while keeping our identity," stresses the band. "This time we delved into the decade of the 1980s. We are not part of the ’dark scene‘ in any way. The influence for this record looks back to the early goth rock/dark wave rather than the later emanations of the genre." In addition to Sisters Of Mercy and Virgin Prunes, the band cites records by Killing Joke, Mercyful Fate, Jimmy Page, Journey, The Sound, Boy Harsher, and Vangelis as impacting significantly upon the creation of The Spin.

Something that seems to get both easier and harder at the same time are Sara's remarkable vocals. With greater experience of stage and studio, her beguiling pipes continue getting stronger and more versatile; so the singing here is more assertive and confident, but the singer's concerted push to new heights comes somewhat at the expense of a healthy mental equilibrium. "For this record I gave up parts of my own sanity," reveals Sara. "I wore myself in so many different ways… You can‘t lie when you're singing. My aim was to record my parts in the most honest way possible. Mix-wise, the vocals are more on the spotlight, in true ’80s fashion. The lyrics touch on multiple topics throughout the record; destroying one‘s ego, impossible cursed love, giving up on yourself, others‘ expectations, self-sabotage, resurrection. While we were touring the US I reread some books by Cormac McCarthy. It was crucial to pave the way I wanted to express myself. I think the lyrics this time are more ’straight in your face.‘ I used metaphors like I always did, but I wanted to get more verbally naked and raw. I never spoke so clearly in our previous records about insecurity, misery, uneasiness, anguish and distress."

The Spin was partly recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered by Maurizio “Icio” Baggio and includes synth work by Andrea Mantione (Nuovo Testamento) on “Fire On The Roof” and cover art by Nico Vascellari (Uroboro, 2023. Nero Portoro marble, tire. 57 x 57 x 10 cm).

The record will be released on CD (jewel case in the US and digipak in EU) and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variants:

White (US)
180g Black (EU)
Night Blue Marbled (EU – Ltd. 1000)
Clear/Black Splatter (EU – Ltd. 500)
Pic-LP (EU Roadburn Exclusive – Ltd. 300)
Alternate Cover – Crystal Clear (EU Band Exclusive – Ltd. 500)
Alternate Cover – Silver/Black Splatter (EU – Ltd. 500)

Find all preorders at https://eyesoremerch.com/bands/m/messa
Find band exclusive vinyl at www.messa.bandcamp.com/album/the-spin

The Spin Track Listing

1. Void Meridian
2. At Races
3. Fire On The Roof
4. Immolation
5. The Dress
6. Reveal
7. Thicker Blood

MESSA has confirmed shows across Europe this Spring including a special performance at this year‘s edition of Roadburn where the band will play The Spin live in its stunning entirety.

MESSA Live:

4/15/2025 Feierwerk – Munich, DE
4/16/2025 Gebäude 9 – Cologne, DE
4/18/2025 Roadburn Festival – Tilburg, NL * Performing The Spin live
4/26/2025 Argo16 – Venice, IT
5/09/2025 DesertFest Oslo – Oslo, NO
6/22/2025 Hellfest – Clisson, FR
6/26/2025 Resurrection Festival – Vigo, ES
6/27/2025 Nazca Live – Madrid, ES
6/28/2025 Sala Upload – Barcelona, ES
6/29/2025 Molotov – Marseille, FR
7/11/2025 DC Rojc Open Air – Pula, HR
8/08/2025 Alcatraz – Kortrijk, BE
8/9/2025 Sonic Blast – Moledo, PT
11/8-9/2025 Damnation Festival – Manchester, UK

MESSA:

Sara – vocals
Marco – guitars/bass
Alberto – guitars
Rocco – drums

MESSA online:

https://www.facebook.com/MESSAproject
https://www.instagram.com/messa_band/
https://messaproject.bandcamp.com/
http://www.metalblade.com
http://www.facebook.com/metalbladerecords
http://www.instagram.com/metalbladerecords
http://www.twitter.com/MetalBlade
https://www.metalblade.com/museum/
https://metalblade.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/MetalBladeRecords
https://open.spotify.com/user/metalbladerecordsofficial

Thanks to Palmer Turner Overdrive for the details.

Dirtmother - Dirtmother (Album Review)

Release Date: March 08th 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: CD/DD

Dirtmother - Dirtmother

1.Soil The Dove

2.Plinko

3.Goodnight Mommy 07:52

4.None Would Name It

5.Bad Ideas All Around

6.Beware Of God

7.Reverse Cowgirl

8.Trucker

 Members

Todd Bohannon: Bass

Anthony Harvell: Guitar

Jay Hollingshead: Drums

Tim Stockburger: Vocals

Review

Doom/Sludge Metallers Dirtmother’s debut self-titled album is a harsh and bleak sounding affair with the band creating music that’s easily comparable to the likes of Church Of Misery, BONGZILLA, EYEHATEGOD and THOU. There’s a meaty Southern Rock/Metal attitude which keeps the atmosphere brutal, thick and downright nasty with Tim Stockburger’s sublime harsh vocals having a demented and menacing purpose to them.

The sound is also powered by a ton of heavy Sludge/Stoner grooves with a subtle NOLA theme allowing Dirtmother to reside into the lower depths of the nastier side of the WEEDIAN world. With a non-stop reliance on AMPLIFIER DISTORTION, FUZZY REVERB and LOW & SLOW sonic experimentation, fans of distorted metal will no doubt get a kick out of this. 

The vocals maybe HARSH and sometimes DEATH based but they’re easily understandable with Tim revelling in his frontman role. The rest of the band provide STELLAR grooves throughout with a wide assortment of sludgy instrumental passages and sonic depths of filth appearing within the first half of the album which is perhaps the strongest part of the record especially on tracks such as Soil The Dove, Pinko and Goodnight Mommy.

There’s a bleak sense of nihilistic humour to Dirtmother’s lyrics and how the story sometimes develops within their music. This adds to the overall nastiness and heaviness of the record with the superb instrumental passages that builds upto some outstanding down-tuned grooves with a mean riff-centric journey on other tracks such as None Would Name It,  Bad Ideas All Around, Beware Of God and Reverse Cowgirl.

With Dirtmother combining classic NOLA tropes and themes on the later stages of the record, there’s no denying the band know their way around a classic Doom/Sludge Metal groove even when the mood changes ever slightly to a Blackened Doom/Sludge sound. There’s always a highly volatile and superbly melodic grizzled RIFF making you want to HEADBANG violently and furiously until you fully blackout into submission.

Dirtmother’s debut album soul maybe brutally bleak but it’s heart is absolutely pure of good intentions of ROCKING THE FUCK OUT with intense music from start to finish. 

This is an absolutely outstanding slice of Blackened Doom/Sludge Metal heaviness you should add to your collection now.

Words by Steve Howe

Dirtmother’s debut album will be available to buy on CD/DD from Saturday 08th March 2025.

Links

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Hope Is A Lie - Hope Is A Lie (Album Review)

Release Date: December 13th 2024. Record Label: Inverse Records. Formats: CD/DD

Hope Is A Lie - Track Listing:

1.Pure 07:00

2.End of Days 06:57

3.Suits (feat. Amber Shadows) 07:25

4.Dance 06:36

5.Shadow 07:58

6.Into the Flames 05:19

7.Rot 09:20

Members

Markus Alavire: Vocals, guitars, bass, programming & keyboards

Lasse Girs: Vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards

Tuomo Heiti: Drums.

Review

Doom/Post-Metallers Hope Is A Lie release their self-titled album and the aggressive charge maybe familiar to long term admirers of the modern day Post-Metal scene, the band stand out from the crowd by adding brooding moments of Industrial, Sludge and Grunge. The sound is bounded by a pitch-black creative outlook with Hope Is A Lie adding moments of Progressive Sludge melodies. The vocals are a mixture of clean vocals, harsh growls and blackened doom vocals for a record that’s not afraid to move further into the bleakest and aggressive  levels of Post-Metal. 

The record sees Hope Is A Lie drawing upon sounds from bands such as Neurosis, Amenra, Absent In Body, SUMAC, Russian Circles, Pelican and the grungy vibes of Alice In Chains. This brooding cocktail of Prog Metal, Extreme Metal and Grunge is a winning combination that results with an unforgiving modern style that’s captured through delicate levels of Ambient, Psych Rock and Post-Rock. The opening tracks of Pure and End Of Days feels like Alice In Chains transforming into a heavier Post-Black Metal band with subtle soundbytes adding to the overall story of the album.

There’s a lot to get through on this album with Hope Is A Lie roaming endlessly between the backdrop of underground Sludge/Post-Metal sounds and the more refreshing commercial Grunge and Metal aspects that are uncompromising and unapologetic at the same time. The lyrics are fuelled by tales of grief, emotion, despair and a foreboding apocalyptic attitude. It’s this daring narrative which allows Hope Is A Lie to exceed on their own creative merits and providing the listener with a shit-ton of epic sludgy violent grooves and uplifting psychedelic beats despite the nihilistic lyrics that take centre stage at times.

Other standout tracks include Suits, Shadow, Into The Flames and Rot. 

Sometimes you don’t know what type of music that the band will project into your subconscious and that allows this to be quite a daring and downright scary record at times whilst still offering classic sounds from the modern day Post-Metal scene to fully immerse yourselves with. 

Hope Is A Lie’s debut album offers intense sounding grooves and melodic passages throughout with sublime production values only adding to the beautiful heaviness of the crazed world they have created and crafted here. 

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

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Bismarck - Vourukasha (Album Review)

Release Date: May 03rd 2024. Record Label: Subsound Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Vourukasha - Tracklisting

1.Sky Father 

2.Echoes

3.Kigal

4.The Tree Of All Seeds

5.Vourukasha

6.Ocean Dweller

Review

Vourukasha is the new album from Norwegian Spaced Out Doomsters Bismarck who bring a more furious and progressive mix of Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal, Ambient Metal and Post-Rock which is all set against a desolate Blackened landscape. The vocals retain their harsh and violent gruff surroundings heard on their previous albums. Taking creative cues from bands such as CONAN, ISIS, YOB and Mastodon, Vourukasha allows Bismarck to provide their unsettling blend of aggressive Psychedelic Sludge grooves with a subtle Post-Metallic flow which has moments of blissful Post-Rock energy in the more mellower parts of the album.

The story is fused with hints of Middle Eastern themes and sounds that sees Bismarck bring a more world-weary narrative to the album which comes surprisingly real within the excellent opening track of Sky Father. With heavy Black Metal soundscapes giving way to some of the earliest and heaviest moments of the album, Bismarck is still surprisingly developing new sounds at the later stages of the track which blossoms throughout the whole album.

Vourukasha continues its Post-Black Metal journey into the far reaches of the Cosmos with pounding progressive guitars and heavy hitting drums which has a classic mid 2000’s feel whilst still offering an essential modern day sound. 

Bismarck feels like they’re taking the creative Post-Metal mantle of the legendary ISIS especially on tracks such as Echoes, Kigal and The Tree Of All Seeds. As these songs have similar movements, melodies and complex musical structures that iSIS were known for. However, Bismarck still creates and plays their own unforgiving and dominant style of music where they bring in that ferocious Black Metal sound which speeds up their music to a highly destructive approach which left my hearing continuously on edge throughout.

The final two tracks Vourukasha and Ocean Dweller brings a more cautious style of Progressive Sludge Metal with layers of distorted Drone and harsh vocals with that Middle Eastern energy becoming a true force of nature which allows Bismarck once again to play the heaviest moments through the entire record.

Bismarck are helped on their creative journey with Chris Fielding (CONAN) on mixing duties and James Plotkin on mastering duties who bring an extra level of true heaviness to the record which allows Vourukasha become one of the most essential Sludge Metal/Post-Metal records to own this year. 

This is a first rate album on all levels which Bismarck ultimately deserving all the praise and rewards coming their way.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Dark Essence Records for the promo.

Vourukasha is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Dark Essence Records.

Links

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