Looking back, the 2000s should be viewed as the second golden age of sludge-metal—a period when a whole new crop of bands were wading through the same muck the Melvins, Eyehategod, and Acid Bath trudged through a decade earlier, and tilling that sticky, filthy terrain into fantastically ugly new formations. Since then, big-name sludge-slingers like Mastodon and Baroness have chosen to wander upon cleaner, classier soil, while others have either called it quits (Kylesa) or reduced their output to a slow drip (Weedeater). But not only are High on Fire still going, on Cometh the Storm, their ninth album overall and first in six years, Matt Pike and Co. sound as heavy, gnarly, and gloriously sludgy as they ever have.

BIG|BRAVE’s music has been described as massive minimalism. Their fusillades of textural distortion and feedback emphasize their music’s frayed edges as much as its all-encompassing weight. The potency of the trio’s work is their singular artistry combining elements of traditional folk techniques and a modern deconstruction of guitar music. Gain, feedback, and amplitude are essential to A Chaos Of Flowers, an album that builds on their ferocious 2023 album nature morte. Lyrically, the songs explore the most vulnerable of human experiences, how marginalizations manifest internally and externally, the inner struggles of isolation, and co-existence in nature. A Chaos of Flowers draws on catharsis and beauty as well as the quagmire of disorientation and othering. The album is a monument of simultaneous serenity and disquiet, a subtle maelstrom of internal life.

‘What Lies Beneath’ is the second rock studio album by Finnish solo artist Tarja. Originally released in 2010, it is considered a classic and must-have for both fans and critics and includes timeless Tarja hits like ‘Until My Last Breath’, ‘I Feel Immortal’ and ‘Falling Awake’.

Detroit blackened doom trio TEMPLE OF THE FUZZ WITCH just signed to Ripple Music for the release of their third full-length “Apotheosis” on April 5th. With riffs and lyrics as bleak and crushing as a Michigan winter, blackened doom outfit Temple of the Fuzz Witch brings a unique take on the doom genre, their unwaveringly nightmarish sonic processions being raised to another level with frontman Noah Bruner’s jaw-dropping balance of crypt-worthy growls and astoundingly grunge-styled clean vocals. Never the darkness has felt so magnificent and compelling, and their aptly-titled third album “Apotheosis” has everything to put the mighty trio on every black and doom metal fan’s radar for years to come.

After the successful gothic-infused industrial-ladden first outing, musician/songwriter Nemo Lockeheart has returned once again with another ambitious sonic statement, one that broadens further the already avant soundscape.

A new album is being released this spring by creative singer Zeta Chaos, the tracks, as always in her style, are sharp and excellent in sound.

“Sonic Rebirth” begins where the first album ended, both musically and lyrically. Vocalist Vladimir Lalic once again begins with the words “I Am Here”, which also mark the first and last words on “Sonic Birth”. The new release can once again be characterized as progressive metal with a range of elements of the entire progressive genre, this time with even more prog, more catchy melodies, but also more metal and heaviness. “Sonic Rebirth” marks the logical continuation of its predecessor “Sonic Birth”, and can be understood as the second part of a musical, lyrical and overall sonic concept.

Slayer took the leap to the big leagues with this, in the same way Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax all did with their second albums.

Argentinische Melodic Rock-Gruppe mit Wurzeln im AOR/Hard Rock Sound.

There’s always something intriguing when an artist is forging their own path.

Active since 2020, Junon are a French atmospheric sludge metal group based in Béthune, formerly known as General Lee from 2000 to 2016.

Out of nowhere comes Narthex, one of the most promising band from the Vinlandic Metal scene.

Renowned around the world as one of the greatest and most distinctive heavy metal vocalists of all time, Bruce Dickinson releases a brand new solo album on BMG Records. Entitled The Mandrake Projectit sees him reunited with long-time musical collaborator and producer Roy Z. The Mandrake Project is Dickinson’s seventh solo album and his first since Tyranny Of Souls in 2005. The Mandrake Project is a dark, adult story of power, abuse and a struggle for identity, set against a backdrop of scientific and occult genius.

Ministry shows no signs of stopping or slowing down - even for a breath. Instead, the band - "Uncle Al,” John Bechdel [keyboards], Monte Pittman [guitar], Cesar Soto [guitar], Roy Mayorga [drums], and Paul D’Amour [bass] - cranks out another blast of anthemic industrial metal on its 2023 opus and sixteenth full-length LP, HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES. The guitars rip, the drums rumble, and Al's as righteously cantankerous as ever about a fucked up world ripe for a boot up its ass.

This album features a collection of powerful and melodic heavy metal tracks that showcase the incredible talent and passion of Blaze Bayley.