10,000 Years - Esox Lucifer (Album Review)

Release Date: August 07th 2026. Record Label: Ripple Music. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Esox Lucifer - Tracklist

1.Beasts Of The Northern Wild

2.Pursuit Special

3.Fleur de Sledgehammer

4.Church Of The Red Museum

5.Alien Tactics 

6.Two Million Stones 

7.Paranoidium 

8.Esox Lucifer

Lineup

Alex Risberg - Bass/Vocals

Erik Palm - Guitars

Alvin Risberg - Drums

Review

Esox Lucifer is the fourth full length album from Doom/Stoner Metallers 10,000 Years where the band have partially swapped the Cosmic surroundings of Space for a grounded and cerebral approach for this record. The heavy Spaced Out themes are still there but 10,000 Years have opted for an intense melodic style of Sludge/Stoner Metal more accustomed to the likes of The Sword, KYLESA, BEASTWARS and Torche. They still pack the almighty aggression of their musical heroes HIGH ON FIRE but it’s good to see 10,000 Years adapt their musical style to a more modern sound which you can hear through the likes of Beasts Of The Northern Wild, Pursuit Special and Fleur de Sledgehammer.

The sludgy surroundings opens the music to violent blasts of Thrash Metal along the way with a highly energetic style of Post-Doom, Ambient Rock and Post-Rock which perhaps makes this the band’s most mature record to date especially musically speaking. The vocals and lyrics have a more reflective energy to them when compared to their previous records. Esox Lucifer throws a few curveballs along the way with 10,000 Years moving into Shoegaze territory which allows lead vocalist Alex Risberg to deliver some startling and emotionally charged vocals along the way.

This record still features the same intense and action packed sounds the band made their names with but this record allows 10,000 Years to constantly evolve onto greater musical heights especially when the Psychedelic and Cosmic passages appear that holds everything together. The soulful Ambient themes become more gloomier on tracks such as Church Of The Red Museum, Alien Tactics and Esox Lucifer. There seems to be an unwavering intent of Progressive Metal energy that becomes more part of the action of the later stages of the record. 

The production values are superbly realized with a sound that’s both crisp and quietly distorted which allows the band to explore different musical sounds they haven’t experienced before. This is still a band who revel in creating Sludge/Stoner Metal mayhem but why not add some standout Psychedelic and Post-Stoner grooves along the way which 10,000 Years pull off with great style and full commitment from start to finish. 

Esox Lucifer is perhaps the next musical and creative evolution from 10,000 Years which should hopefully catapult them onto bigger and greater things from the confinements of the heavy underground scene. They have the songs, talent and creative vision to move onto the next level of their musical careers and this record is a testament to that fact. This is an outstanding record on every singular level. 

10,000 Years have delivered another album of the year contender in their already impressive discography. If this is your first time to their highly destructive world then be prepared for a true masterclass of modern day Sludge/Stoner Metal.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for the promo.

Esox Lucifer is available to buy now via Ripple Music (LP/CD/digital)

Links

Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram

Blunt Knife Castration - Blood & Oil (Album Review)

Release Date: February 27th 2026. Record Label: Remorseless Records. Formats: CD/DDl

Blood & Oil. - Tracklisting

1.Miasma

2.Gunshot Selfie

3.Degeneration

4.Lone

5.Guilt Pig 

6.Swallow

7.Play Victim 

8.Blood & Oil

9.Menial Mutt

10.Coward

11.Skinny Fingers

Review

Blood & Oil is the devastating and brutal second album from Sludge Metal collective Blunt Knife Castration where you can tell by both the band name and album title that this is going to be a brutal time. As the band focus upon playing violent Sludge Metal sounds that’s paired up with traces of Doom, Noise, Grind, Crust Punk and Experimental beats. Influenced by the legendary Eighties Video Nasties Scene from the UK and other violent extreme acts of the same time, this record is not for the faint hearted but Blunt Knife Castration know hows to play a punishing blend of Sludge Metal with a lot of heavy grooves and soundclips into the mix.

Coming across a heavier, filthier and more intense version of fellow UK Doom/Sludge Metal collective TORSO, but this time round Blunt Knife Castration causes more devastation and musical carnage with extreme blasts of Sludge Metal running amok. The Crust Punk vibe comes into play very early on within the tracks of Miasma, Gunshot Selfie and Degeneration.

From that moment the record never lets up with the music being quite unsettling and extremely uncomfortable especially with the harsh vocals and screams leading the way. However, there’s a sense of twisted melody and aggressive vision that fully begins to sell the dark creative vision of the whole album. You start to experience strands of Thrash, Groove and Blackened Stoner Metal starting to form which reminds me of acts like WHORES, EYEHATEGOD and CHAT PILE along the way. 

There’s a lot to break down on the album with Blunt Knife Castration playing at a thousand miles per hour which gives a highly dangerous and violent intensity that left my hearing exposed at the best of times so maybe I’m showing my age with this record. Though, it’s still a highly intoxicating mix of Crust Punk, Doom, Thrash and Sludge Metal that puts a refreshing spin on such a highly volatile time if you grew up in Eighties Britain when the Video Nasties scene was in full flight. 

Other great tracks to check out are Lone, Guilt Pig, Swallow, Play Victim, Coward and Skinny Fingers which is where the heaviest, thickest and sickest grooves appear. There’s also a lot of great humour and tough real life scenarios to experience with the bands lyrics within these tracks with Blunt Knife Castration being quite subversive with the whole storyline that they’ve created for Blood & Oil.

The record is a punishing experience and won’t be for everyone but if you’re into this particular style of Sludge Metal then you’re going to be in your element as Blood & Oil fully delivers in the riffs department and more so with its breathtaking style of Extreme Metal. The added layers of GRIME and FILTH is the icing on the cake with Blunt Knife Castration perhaps setting themselves as a FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH in the next few years for the UK Sludge Metal scene if they keep making great records such as this in the near future.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Good Boy PR for the promo.

Blood & Oil is available to buy now on CD/DD via Remorseless Records.

Links 

Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram

Slomatics - Atomicult (Album Review)

Release Date: September 12th 2025. Record Label: Majestic Mountain Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Atomicult - Tracklisting

1.Obey Capricorn

2.Phantom Castle Warning

3.Auto-Skull

4.Relics

5.Night Grief

6.Physical Witching

7.Chrome Sisters

8.Biclops

9.Summer Skeletons

10.To Ultramegaphonium

Members

Marty Harvey (drums/vocals)

David Majury (guitar)

Chris Couzens (guitar)

Review

Cosmic Doom Heavyweights Slomatics return with another grand, bold and aggressive new musical adventure with the mightily named Atomicult. This is Slomatics eighth full length album for a career that’s spanned over twenty years. There’s been celebrated split releases with the likes of CONAN, Domkraft and Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard to name but a few.

The record sees Slomatics developing a more refined sound with multi-layered guitars and progressive drumming with the band sometimes playing music more closely associated with the likes of Pink Floyd, Hawkwind and Genesis which was there on their last album Strontium Fields but only in small doses. Everything is played on a grander and tighter creative scale with Marty’s vocals being more refined, restrained, calmer and quieter that has a certain Classic Rock or Commercial aspect especially within the Ambient Post-Rock movements that Atomicult contains.

The instrumental surroundings allows Slomatics to reinvent the Cosmic Doom/Stoner Metal landscape once more in their own undeniable and brilliantly original heavy image within the first few tracks of the album Obey Capricorn, Phantom Castle Warning and Auto-Skull. Intense drumming from Marty has a destructive effect which sees Chris Couzens and David Majury’s epic guitars weave different levels of distorted heaviness and the sci-fi leaning synths sees the band venture into the theatre of Post-Rock especially on the emotionally satisfying fourth track Relics. This allows Marty to demonstrate a vocal style we haven’t heard from him before which delivers with pure Soft Rock perfection.

However, with this being Slomatics, they prove why they’re one of the most original and destructive forces within the modern day Doom Metal scene with expeditions into COSMIC and PSYCHEDELIC landscapes where soulful melodies can appear out of nowhere to change the dimension of the entire record. The album does feel like a natural progression from Strontium Fields but with tighter, richer and concise production values that truly comes into great effect on later tracks of the album such as Night Grief, Physical Witching, Summer Skeletons and To Ultramegaphonium.

The lyrics written for this album are quite fantastical but one that delves into areas of Artificial Intelligence which evolves into a cautionary tale if we leave that dreaded AI upto their own devices. Long time readers of the blog may know that I absolutely LOVE and ADORE this band. Slomatics have always delivered some of the best Cosmic/Doom/Stoner Metal records of the last fifteen years and that form continues with Atomicult.

Swirling Ambient sounds, Post-Rock rhythms and gloomy synths all play a big part for Slomatics to conjure an exciting style of COSMIC DOOM that adds an eerie CINEMATIC feel to their music which still allows the band to explore new creative ground and storytelling narrative we haven't experienced from the guys. So expect to hear some vastly different music within the record that can be quite jaw-dropping in places.

Even the amazing album cover which is inspired by the King Crimson record cover from In the Court of the Crimson King shows you what to expect with a record that merges reality and fantasy into one warped PSYCHEDELIC journey of distorted paranoia.

Atomicult is my favourite album of the year. I don’t know if anything will come close to this amazing record but Slomatics have delivered a modern day classic with Atomicult and teaming up with Majestic Mountain Records for the album makes this the perfect album to own especially if you want to be taken on a thrilling and brilliantly aggressive musical spectacle with classic grooves that leave you questioning your own reality.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Viral Propaganda PR for the promo.

Atomicult is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Majestic Mountain Records from the links below:

Majestic Mountain Records Pre-Order

Slomatics Bandcamp Pre-Order

 

Slomatics Links:

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram