Latest Reviews

There are way too many records released every week - which one should you listen to? We want to help you by reviewing lots of records every week and you can also check out a little teaser before reading the whole thing. And if you want to, you can also browse through our archive and have a look at the amazing records you might have missed out on.

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  • Lingua Ignota - Sinner Get Ready

    08 Aug 2021 - Thorsten
    Avantgarde Ecclesiastical

    As strange as it may seem, there is something uplifting about the new Lingua Ignota record Sinner Get Ready as it shows a woman at least a bit more fortified against the agony and trauma she had to endure in her life before turning into one of the most revered voices of a new female self-empowerment movement as she is still talking about her past self-denial and mental tortures endured at the hand of her oppressor. However, there are now some moments of a tiny, flickering, fragile light in her music and lyrics.

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  • Slaughter To Prevail - Kostolom

    07 Aug 2021 - Daniel F.
    Deathcore

    I think it would be safe to assume that listening to Slaughter To Prevail is probably the closest thing to experiencing being hit by a train, without actually being hit by a train. When Slipknot released Iowa way back when, the predominant features were shocking heaviness, unbridled aggression and of course the absolute epitome of visceral vocals. Calling Kostolom Russia’s answer to Iowa may be a stretch too far, but there are certainly comparisons to be drawn, and all the signs of a future classic are present. There are plenty of Slipknot-isms on display, largely where the seemingly limitless energy is concerned, but Slaughter To Prevail have managed to bring shock factor into 2021.

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  • BLAK - El Tall d’Escil·la

    07 Aug 2021 - Pat O'
    Post-Rock/ Instrumental/Emotional

    El Tall d’Escil·la is an invitation to feel without eyesight - BLAK

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  • Various Artists - Silence Is A Dangerous Sound - a tribute to Fugazi

    06 Aug 2021 - Thorsten
    Math-Rock, Noise, Hardcore (originally)

    Covering one song can be difficult and hellish thing to do because there are so many options. Staying true to the original in music or in spirit? Covering it note by note or sticking to the theme? Keep the original lyrics or alter them a bit? Compiling a whole tribute album can be even worse but Ripcord Records navigates all the traps splendidly and today, August 6th, released a tribute to the one and only hardcore band that everybody, EVERYBODY, should know: Fugazi!

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  • Vallendusk - Heralds of Strife

    05 Aug 2021 - Knut
    Atmospheric Black Metal

    From the first self-titled EP released in 2012 and up to this release, Indonesian Vallendusk has earned a reputation for epic, long and melodic tracks inspired by traditional folk music. Throughout their albums they have developed a warm soundscape in the subgenre of Atmospheric Black Metal and their latest release shows a band at the height of their passionate creativity. There might not be many metal bands per capita in Indonesia, but bands like Vallendusk make us look closer at that scene.

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  • Netherbird - Arete

    04 Aug 2021 - Thorsten
    Blackened Melo-Death Metal

    Netherbird is a Swedish extreme metal band – and that may already be enough for some people to walk away from them, because many have heard that combination so often that they think nothing new can be offered by Swedes doing a combination of Black and Death Metal combined with a blue-sky-clear production and an ear for melodies. If you are one of them, do yourself a favor and listen to Netherbird!

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  • ÆNIGMATUM - Deconsecrate

    03 Aug 2021 - Thorsten
    Blackened Death Metal

    Deconsecrate means to take away the sanctity of a certain ground – for example a church or a cemetery. Thus one should not expect holy music on a record of that name, especially not if it’s released by 20 Buck Spin, a perfect location for Progressive Blackened Death Metal.

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  • Red Fang - Arrows

    02 Aug 2021 - Thorsten
    Sludge

    Red Fang are back and release their fifth full-length after a (more or less) five-year-break and one should see that the band has “grown” a bit. Were they know foremost for their “funny videos” and their tongue-in-cheek-humor has the band evolved quite a bit – especially musically. Arrows knows when it’s better to step off the gas and give the songs some new facades.

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  • healthyliving - u n t i l / b e l o w (EP)

    01 Aug 2021 - Thorsten
    Experimental Shoegaze

    Normally we do not review releases with only two songs and roughly eight minutes here at VoS – but this release by healthyliving is something special and if you give it a listen, you might be as enraptured by it as us. Three great musicians giving us two songs to keep us on our heels wishing for more.

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  • Lotus Thrones - Lovers In Wartime

    31 Jul 2021 - Thorsten
    Noisey Alternative Metal

    Something from the realms of Yakuza and Neurosis: Lotus Thrones released the debut album on July 30th. One can find some good forward-rocking songs on it, and sometimes also some remnants of the aforementioned giants!

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  • Immanu El - Distance

    30 Jul 2021 - Pat O'
    Ambient/Post-Rock/Dream-Pop

    Immanu El have released Distance, an absorbing and pure album that reflects everbody’s experiences throughout this Covid-19 pandemic. It’s emotive and captivating and no matter what your own experiences have been over these last eighteen months, this album will somehow connect with your own personal narrative.

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  • Panopticon - ...And Again Into The Light

    29 Jul 2021 - Knut
    Atmospheric Black Metal

    After having released acclaimed albums for over a decade, Panopticon thunders into the 2020s with what might be one of its best in a long list of releases since 2008. On 2018´s The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness the band separated the album into two parts, one Atmospheric Black Metal and one Americana/Folk. On the new one, Austin Lunn, the guy behind this one-person band, has fused those two musical styles into one monumental album lasting 70 minutes.

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  • Amulets - Blooming

    27 Jul 2021 - Thorsten
    Noise, Shoegaze, Drone, Electronica

    One can say whatever one chooses about the somewhat funny logo of The Flenser but one thing remains for sure: There is hardly any other record label out there with such an impeccable catalog. The latest record by Portland-based audio & visual artist Randall Taylor under his moniker Amulets proves it with a very special kind of Shoegaze combining electronics with huge Walls Of Sound and resulting in phantasmagorical ambiance and nightmares.

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  • Planet Of The Dead - Pilgrims

    26 Jul 2021 - Thorsten
    Stoner Doom

    You like The Sword? Fu Manchu is one of your go-to-bands? Red Fang are not only shooting great, funny videos in your opinion? ASG’s straightforward attitude is quite up your alley? Then listen to the latest full-length by Planet Of The Dead!

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  • Erdve - Savigaila

    25 Jul 2021 - Thorsten
    Blackened Post-Metal

    Lithuanian-based trio Erdve prove that Post-Metal is a global scene, for they sound like a crossover between Dutch and Swiss band and release on French label. For all of you out there, who think that Post-Metal is too blunt and regular and has become shallow without any new bands giving the genre any new life – Savigaila proves you wrong!

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  • Motorpsycho - Kingdom Of Oblivion

    24 Jul 2021 - Ben
    Prog / Heavy Rock

    Never afraid to comment on the issues of the day, Trondheim’s finest show us all what creative productivity looks like with their follow-up to last year’s The All Is One.

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  • Golden Ashes - A Lightless Christ Shuns The Crown Of Divinity

    24 Jul 2021 - Thorsten
    Symphonic Black Metal

    Once again Maurice de Jong releases an umpteenth release a year. Sorry, correction: An umpteenth great release a year.; the new Golden Ashes record is the sixth release by Maurice in the sixth incarnation in 2021! And he never disappoints!

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  • Sigillum S & Macelleria Mobile Di Mezzanotte - Blues And Doped Flowers From Twenty Three Years After Eschaton

    23 Jul 2021 - Thorsten
    Jazz Noir,

    Sigillum S & Macelleria Mezzanotte di Mobile – Blues Flowers….

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  • Five The Hierophant - Through Aureate Void

    22 Jul 2021 - Knut
    Atmospheric Avantgarde Post Jazz Metal

    The dark ambient and mesmerizing music of this album is as multilayered as the meaning of the band´s name is. If you look into the name, you will soon find yourself deep into Tarot cards, Greek mythology and beyond. And if you let yourself follow on down into the dark ornamented streams of their music, you will be immersed in an ethereal dark hypnotic soundscape.

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  • Midwife - Luminol

    19 Jul 2021 - Thorsten
    Ambient Shoegaze

    Forensic investigators use luminol to detect trace amounts of blood at crime scenes, as it reacts with the iron in hemoglobin. Biologists use it in cellular assays to detect copper, iron, cyanides, as well as specific proteins via western blotting. That’s what Wikipedia says about the usages of luminol, music freaks use Luminol as the description for the perfect balance between dreampop, shoegaze, ambient and classic songwriting!

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  • Lykhaeon - Opprobrium

    17 Jul 2021 - Thorsten
    Black Metal

    Over the last couple of years, there have been loads of good records coming out of “The Crypt” the gathering point for Switzerland’s semi-anonymous Black Metal collective Helvetic Underground Committee, many of them overwhelmingly good music-wise and even better when looking behind the thunder and roar. Not trying to place Lykhaeon’s new release within the collective’s opus but this one definitely adds a new dimension to it!

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  • Greyflood - Anagnorisis

    16 Jul 2021 - Pat O'
    Post-Rock/Instrumental/Ambient

    Hypnotic and effortlessly atmospheric post-rock best describes the latest offering from California’s Greyflood. Three dreamy and uplifting tracks give their latest EP Anagnorisis that “must hear” tag.

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  • Mortyfear - My Dystopia

    15 Jul 2021 - Knut
    Industrial Black Metal/Death Metal/Psychedelic Black Metal

    As we know, Finland has the most metal bands per capita in the world. And the diversity of them are almost endless. And the same goes for the creativity and braveness of many bands from Finland, especially such bands as Mortyfear. Their new album is like some kind of musical magic realism, and, as the album title indicates, with a lot of disturbing eeriness thrown in. Above all it is remarkably well done.

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  • A.A.Williams - Songs From Isolation

    14 Jul 2021 - Ben
    Alternative / Spartan

    London-based A.A.Williams releases an album of stripped-down, emotionally charged covers that each bring something new to the table – intimacy, warmth, nuance, power.

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  • SEUM - Winterized

    13 Jul 2021 - Thorsten
    Doom

    Sludge without a guitar? Is that really possible? SEUM from Montreal are a threesome with no six-string attached but man - they are the sludge record for the summer!

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