TOOMS - KARST (Album Review)

Release Date: 29th May 2026. Record Label: Various. Formats: CD/Cassette/DD/Vinyl

KARST - Tracklisting

1.Blood Rust of Cudgel and Quill

2.Lowlander

3.Tower of Silence

4.Blue Angel

5.Drinkvlt

6.Two Silver Pieces

7.Whitehorn 

8.A Release of Tension

9.Physics Beyond The Standard Model

Members

Big Al- Guitar & vocals.

Anno- Bass

Gracious K- Drums & vocal

Review

Doom/Sludge Metallers TOOMS offer their second album Karst has a lot of great talent behind the scenes bringing the band's nihilistic vision fully to life. You have the legendary Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Pelican, Russian Circles) on mixing duties and mastering handled by the masterful talents of Chris Fielding (Electric Wizard, Conan, Primordial) which makes up for a powerful and destructive combination. TOOMS themselves bring their own dynamically powerful and brutal sound that’s held together by Doom, Sludge, Death Metal, Stoner Metal, Psych and grounded Post-Metallic themes that adds a line of Prog Metal into the mix.

The album has an highly unapologetic sound with TOOMS moving away from their Stoner Metal sound they played briefly on their earlier releases. Karst feels like a band finally discovering the music they were meant to play which is full of death growls, ambient melodies and harsh backdrops that morph into something more cerebral within the stunning opening tracks of Blood Rust Of Cudgel And Quill, Lowlander and Tower Of Silence. You can hear the likes of Mastodon, NEUROSIS, ISIS, Cult of Luna, CONAN, THOU and WEEDEATER being used for creative reference but TOOMS are wise enough to play a seedy backdrop of Post-Metal surroundings which adds extra grit, dirt and pure brutality throughout the album. 

The music is at its most powerful and emotionally gut-wrenching when TOOMS play a style of modern day Post-Metal which is merged with pitch black ferocity with that Death Metal aspect fully shining through with massive amounts of technical beat-downs and psychedelic sounds developing behind the scenes. Some of the instrumental passages have an Industrial Metal and Drone Metal vibe which is laced with that Thrash Metal and Extreme Metal energy that has an ice-cold Post-Black Metal attitude not being too far.

Clean vocals do appear within the record but they’re quite violent when compared to the more extreme styles used for the majority of the album. That may sound strange but TOOMS manage to add another layer of intense violence even within the quieter aspects of the whole album.

Karst moves along at a cracking, aggressive and highly addictive pace with certain sections being quite experimental on the later stages of the record. However, TOOMS actually play a great still of riff-driven music as the album contains a high amount of wonderful instrumental passages which even allowed me to drift quite easily into full on“headbanging” mode that always leave you one thousand percent fully satisfied.

Other standout tracks to check out are: Blue Angel, Drinkvlt, Two Silver Pieces, A Release Of Tension and Physics Beyond The Standard Model. As these moments have some highly original psychedelic tendencies which moves the album into some highly unexpected musical waters you’ll be surprised to fully encounter. 

There’s some perfectly placed dark humour spliced throughout the album which shows that TOOMS know how to have some demonic fun when the time calls for this. Karst is a technically impressive album from the very start with TOOMS proving what great musicians they really are by playing a wide range of different HEAVY METAL sounds that’s mostly told through the power of the Doom/Sludge Metal underground scene. 

KARST can only be described as an absolute MONSTER that’s jam packed with brutal gigantic sounds that destroys everything within its wake. TOOMS have a vivid, expansive and highly unpredictable nature hidden within their music which allows the listener to be part of this brilliantly intense and pissed off musical journey they won’t forget about in a long time to come.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Cursed Monk Records for the promo.

KARST is available to buy from the links below:

Digital and Vinyl - Cursed Monk Records

CD - Road To Masochist

Cassette - Fiadh Productions

Links 

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Unbelievable Lake - I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream (Album Review)

Release Date: June 13th 2025. Record Label: Cursed Monk Records. Formats: CD/DD

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream - Tracklisting

1.I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream 41:22

Review

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream is the latest sonic expedition from Heavy Psych Sludge Rockers Unbelievable Lake who are a new band for me. Their blend of Psych, Prog, Drone, Sludge, Post-Rock, Krautrock, Ambient and Soundtrack scores allows the band to fully sell their highly original sound to an unexpected audience such as myself. 

The record starts slow and draws you in with slowly played instrumental passages, electronica sounds and glitchy beats which allows Unbelievable Lake to play moments of beautiful Psych Rock movements before playing a heavier destructive Sludge Rock force that comes out of nowhere.

Inspired by the likes of OM, Pink Floyd, SLEEP, Hawkwind, Neurosis, CAN and SWANS can be heard through this epic singular forty one minute track with the excellent Drone Rock vocal delivery that drifts into existence when the need calls for it. There is a stripped back atmosphere that can be heard within the recording techniques used for the album which gives I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream a truly haunting and organic sound where they cross over into the Space Rock vortex with a real force of Sludge Rock magnitude on different parts of the album.

I started to wonder why Cursed Monk Records released this album as it doesn’t feel like their usual style of music. As that great label normally releases heavier, seedier and filthier records compared to I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream but after experiencing this great album for the past few weeks now I can understand why they released this great record.

Some folks will probably walk away from this great album without fully experiencing for themselves as the HEAVIER and AGGRESSIVE moments take time to fully form and appear. However, it’s the quieter and more outlandish soundscapes that Unbelievable Lake impressed me the most. The album takes a more thoughtful and daring creative approach with nuanced ambient sounds and chill out Post-Rock / Krautrock environments for the majority part of the album.

Everything goes BAT-SHIT crazy with fucked up SLUDGE METAL grooves appearing around the twenty five minutes mark. There’s the SWANS aspect coming into play which firmly pushes I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream into Experimental Rock/Metal territory.

Overall, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream offers a deliciously heavy, aggressive and brilliantly FRENZIED experience which is perhaps better suited to the more experienced fan of Avant Garde and Experimental music with some thrilling moments of Doom and Sludge metal being played along the way.

Words by Steve Howe

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Old Skin - Wails Of Ten Thousand (Album Review)

Release Date: February 21st 2025. Record Label: Cursed Monk Records. Formats: DD

Wails Of Ten Thousand - Track Listing:

1.Crosspusher 05:22

2.Arch of Skulls 00:41

3.Vessel (Brainworm) 04:21

4.Hissing House 05:14

5.Acid Bath 01:38

6.Shattered Blade 04:24

7.Cauterizing Hammer 06:45

Members

Vocals: Matt Dooley & Kyle Milam

Guitar: Hayden Cooley

Bass: Joe Helzer

Drums: Kyle Milam

Noise: Gage Christopherson

Review

Wails Of Ten Thousand is the new album from Grind/Death/Sludge Metallers Old Skin and they also bring an abrasive style of Noise, Doom, Hardcore and Thrash into the mix. The music is brutally aggressive but has a distinctive NOLA flavour at times with Old Skin never afraid to show theit Extreme Metal credentials. With influences ranging from EYEHATEGOD, COFFINS and FISTULA, the band is quite direct with their music with Psychedelic noises, glitchy noise effects and ambient sounds, this album is quite hard to pin down at first though it’s perhaps suited to the more extreme crowd. 

The opening batch of songs of Crosspusher, Arch Of Skulls and Vessels allows Old Skin to create a violent, chaotic and unpleasant blend of brutal vocals and downtuned grooves with the “GRIND” based instrumental passages only having fine amounts of melody and a “FUCK-TON” of industrialized Sludge/Thrash beats. 

The record lasts for around twenty eights mins with Old Skin delivering a great style of harsh atmospherics which fully sells their “Industrial” and “Noise” metal surroundings throughout the whole album. Old Skin do have quite methodical and melodic approach to their music which is quite surprising with the extreme levels of heaviness the band conjure up especially on tracks such as Vessel (Brainworm), Hissing House and Cauterizing Hammer. These tracks even sees Old Skin develop a heavier Post-Metal backdrop with the frenzied “GRIND” guitars leaving you wanting to hear and take more punishment.

Wails Of Ten Thousand is a demonically charged record that pulls no punches with it’s thrilling style of Extreme music with a sublime level of Prog Metal appearing at the right time. Old Skin have delivered the brutal goods with Wails Of Ten Thousand.

LISTEN AT YOUR OWN PERIL - This is an absolute BEAST of an album.

Words by Steve Howe

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Bile Caster - Writhing Between Birth And Death (EP Review)

Release Date: October 04th 2024. Record Label: Various. Formats: CD/DD/Cassette/Vinyl

Writhing Between Birth And Death - Track Listing:

1.ABSCESS 

2.TRAPPED

3.HARROWING

Members

Joe Lander - Guitar/Vocals

Adam Starkey - Drums

Nick Eagle- Evans - Bass

Review

Writhing Between Birth And Death is the debut EP from Doom/Sludge Metallers Bile Caster who play a depressive and filth ridden style of music that has a slight Death Metal mentality in places especially with the harsh growls that surrounds the whole EP. The sound takes influence from bands such as THOU, EYEHATEGOD, CONAN and PRIMITIVE MAN with that bone-crunching style of Sludge Metal that can only be described as begrudgingly EVIL that gives Bile Caster an air of Extreme Metal dominance within their music.

The music is quite progressive in places with the individual tracks running for around nine minutes in length. Bile Caster operate with mostly a LOW & SLOW attitude that feels like it was forged in the PITS OF HELL with elements of Black Metal, Death Metal and Crust appearing at different parts of the EP. 

I was quite surprised by the amount of FEEDBACK and REVERB that appears on the record with that part of the EP allowing Bile Caster becoming quite adept at providing subtle levels of AMPLIFIER DISTORTION that makes you feel you’re returning from a very bad hallucinogenic trip especially with the lyrics provided on the excellent opening track of ABSCESS. That track shows you that Bile Caster is all about the DARKNESS and the record keeps with that destructive tone and vision with some epic LOW & SLOW instrumental passages that last an age especially within the standout second track of TRAPPED.

The final track HARROWING is quite the experience with Bile Caster delivering the heaviest and nastiest sounds on the whole EP. The song can be quite tortuous to hear but what else would you expect for a record that sounds as bleak as this. The members of Bile Caster are superbly talented individuals who prove this time and time again on the EP but HARROWING is where they show why, especially how the music changes direction in the most unexpected ways imaginable. 

Writhing Between Birth And Death is an outstanding debut release for a band who should have a bright future ahead of them within the UK Doom/Sludge Metal scene. This is simply unmissable. No question.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Cursed Monk Records for the promo.

Writhing Between Birth And Death will be available to buy from the links below on Friday October 04th 2024.

CD and Digital by Cursed Monk Records

Vinyl by Road To Masochist Records

Cassette by Eggy Tapes.

Links

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Hand Of Omega - The End Of The Beginning (Album Review)

Release Date: September 13th 2024. Record Label: Cursed Monk Records. Formats: CD/DD

The End Of The Beginning - Track Listing:

1.Survival Of The Shittest 04:47

2.Cyberspace Conscript 03:28

3.A Mentats Oath 06:49

4.Foundations Built On Shifting Sands 11:29

5.Amazon Burning 07:34

6.Convolution 05:12

Line-up:

Matt Doughty - Bass

Daz Rowlands - Guitars

Matt Kilmister - Vocals/Electronics

Review

The End Of The Beginning is the debut album from Blackened Doom/Sludge Metallers Hand Of Omega who play a brutal and nihilistic style of music that’s downright ugly for all the right reasons. The record is brutally fast and has a sublime Speed Metal sound which feels like a Black Metal version of High On Fire and Motorhead in places.

With the band adding moments of Groove and Thrash into their Extreme sound which is quite riff-centric when you cut through all the murky Death/Sludge Metal surroundings which remains harsh but also has a cool sounding technical ability from each of the individual members that make up Hand Of Omega.

I’m quite surprised that lead guitarist Daz Rowlands is playing this fast-paced style of guitars as Daz is mainly known for his work with the cult Doom/Drone/Stoner Metal band Space Metal where they play LOW & SLOW style of music compared to the furious sounds played here. The album is quite vicious with Matt Kilmister’s Death Metal charged vocals, howls and growls but they’re quite easy to understand which is always a good thing for me to fully understand the record.

Hand Of Omega do play some classic riff-centric instrumental sounds amongst the brutal landscape of Extreme Metal that appears here. The songs are superbly constructed with each track having its own distinctive sound and creative journey especially on tracks such as Survival Of The Shittest, A Mentats Oath and Foundations Built On Shifting Sands. This is where you can see Hand Of Omega drift into Prog Metal and Psych Metal which gives the record a whole new level of complexity which impressed me even further.

The heavy pounding bass guitar provided by Matt Doughty is a constant reminder of how primal and ugly Hand Of Omega really are throughout the whole record and is perhaps my favourite aspect of the whole album. Sometimes his bass playing is very understated but it’s always a firm threat with a subtle gloomy presence that allows the other members of the band to do their thing.

The End Of The Beginning is a winning combination of Extreme Metal blended with the surroundings of the Doom/Sludge Metal underground scene which allows this album to be quite a thought provoking ride with first rate grooves to match. This is an outstanding release from the more extreme side of the UK Metal Underground scene that takes a NO HOLDS BARRED approach which leaves you wanting to hear more. 

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Daz Rowlands for the promo.

The End Of The Beginning is available to buy now on CD/DD via Cursed Monk Records.

Links

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Coroza - As Within (Album Review)

Release Date: May 20th 2024. Record Label: Cursed Monk Records. Formats: Cassette/CD/DD/Vinyl

As Within: Tracklisting

1.Myrrh 09:39

2.Immersed 08:51

3.The Shifting Sands 04:24

4.Scorched Earth 09:03

5.As Within 10:14

Band Members

Ciarán Coghlan – guitar/vocals

Ollie Cunningham – drums

Tomás O’Brien – bass

Jack O’Neill – lead guitar/vocals

Review

As Within is the new album from Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metallers Coroza who are back after a five year absence since their celebrated debut release. This time round the band offer a more despairing style of Doom/Sludge Metal with a huge Progressive slant that easily matches the brutal leanings of bands such as GOJIRA, Mastodon, Cult Of Luna and THOU. 

The neverending style of Thrash beats and violent Groove metal guitars are the main order of creative business for Coroza but they still apply deft touches of Post-Rock and Psychedelic Doom that can be quite melodic and hopefully peaceful at times. This style of music appears briefly on the downright nasty opening track Myrrh. 

With a fearless style of Post-Metal appearing throughout the album though Coroza still develop the original sound they played on their debut album but this is with a more vibrant and Progressive energy with a brooding Sludge Metal and almost Post-Blackened Stoner Metal attitude appearing on tracks such as Immersed and The Shifting Sands.

Echoes of classic guitar shredding soon sees Coroza employ a neverending style of wicked guitar solos that travels the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal underground with sometimes a downright nasty approach especially on Immersed and Scorched Earth which feels like the twisted off-spring of GOJIRA, PANTERA and MASTODON all vying for musical supremacy. Though, it’s the sullen Psychedelic and Post-Rock passages that gives As Within such an immense and quality sounding experience which allows Coroza to create a highly original blend of music they can call their own.

The final track As Within has a real “storytelling” quality to the track with Coroza once again changing the standard Doom/Sludge Metal sound with a more adventurous Post-Metal attitude. The song can be beautifully soulful and peaceful one moment before changing into a bombastic style of Sludge Metal that takes no prisoners with Coroza unleashing distorted guitars and progressive rhythms that becomes the standout track of the whole album.

As Within has a wonderfully rich, diverse and epic sound which isn’t surprising since the album has been mastered by Magnus Lindberg from the legendary CULT OF LUNA with the hugely talented Aidan Cunningham on recording and mixing duties. Add the always impressive famed record label Cursed Monk Records to the party who are releasing this intense and superbly entertaining album then you have the makings of a sure-fire winner.

Coroza has the right ingredients to make a huge impact within the Doom/Sludge Metal scene and I’m expecting to see the band become more well known thanks to this great album alone.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Cursed Monk Records for the promo.

As Within is available to buy now on CD/Cassette/DD/Vinyl via Cursed Monk Records.

Links

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Tumanduumband - Throne Of Grief (Album Review)

Release Date: October 27th 2023. Record Label: Cursed Monk Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Throne Of Grief - Tracklisting

1.Crushed Under Unfathomable Misery

2.Throne of Grief 

3.Black Ritual of the 25th Moon 

4.Each Birth, A New Disaster

5.Landscape of Fear

6.Bizarre Tomb

7.Dread Lord

8.Colder Than Death

Members

Scott Cooper

Luke Orchard

Review

Tumanduumband is a Drone/Doom/Sludge Metal band who hail from the West Midlands located within the UK. The band are influenced by bands such as Eagle Twin, Electric Wizard, UFOMAMMUT, CONAN, SLEEP and bands from the NOLA Scene. They play music that is pitch black and down-tuned aggression. There is a sense of extreme distorted and drone based grooves within their music which shines through on their disturbing and haunting debut album Throne Of Grief.

The album which is spread across eight tracks runs around forty five minutes length and it sees Tumanduumband adds a despairing gloomy Spaced Out Sound amongst the long drawn out and heavy industrial based sounds which you can feel throughout. The music also includes trippy bleak soundbytes which only adds to the dark atmospherics wisely injected into their music.

The music is bleak and down-tuned that offers a more extreme style of Drone/Doom Metal with a flash of nightmarish Industrial Metal just for good measure which perhaps has an eerie GODFLESH feel to it all.

Throne Of Grief feels like one extended musical story split within individual chapters with each song being heavier than the last. This allows Tumanduumband to become masters of their own creative and extreme domain with the progressive sounds they play on this release. 

Standout tracks include: Crushed Under Unfathomable Misery, Throne Of Grief, Black Ritual Of The 25th Moon, Landscape Of Fear and Dread Lord.

Those tracks offer the heaviest, nastiest and filthiest grooves on the entire album with Tumanduumband staying aligned with their chilling Doom Metal vision. The band never waiver from their brutally real sound. It’s an album that pulls no punches with it’s aggressively surreal sound. However, Tumanduumband do offer moments of wicked sounding melodic tones under the heavy industrial based Sludge Metal grooves. 

Throne Of Grief is a highly accomplished and first rate release with raw production values that still sound intense and super-fresh from the start. The album won’t be for everyone but if you dig your Drone, Doom and Sludge Metal sounds with a menacing destructive appetite then Tumanduumband will undeniably speak volumes to you. 

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Cursed Monk Records for the promo.

Throne Of Grief will be available to buy on CD/DD via Cursed Monk Records from October 27th 2023.

Links

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