No F*****g Lists.com

After the crushing year of DM releases that was 2013 (yes I am still fucking going on about it) 2014 looks to be just as promising with the likes of Corpsessed and Coffinworm already putting out some quality stuff.  Imagine my delight when an email just dropped in my inbox telling me that Australian DM maniacs Impetuous Ritual will be releasing the follow up to the much played "Relentless Execution Of Ceremonial Excresence" on Profound Lore Records. For fans of Grave Upheaval, Portal, Antediluvian and Aevangelist the news of this mobs upcoming releasing of squally and molesting darkness will be eagerly anticipated.  Due on 15th May this promises to be one of 2014's more memorable releases.  Head on over to here  to stream one of the new songs from the record which I think sets the tone perfectly for what is to come when "Unholy Congregation of Hypocritical Ambivalence" drops later in the year.

Ugly.  That's the perfect word for this.  Not ugly as in buck teeth but shapely legs either. Just plain old, difficult to look at ugly as fuck.  Coffinworm present an almost awkward blend of death doom done with marauding majesty and malignancy.  You remember every note on this album as it thumps an angry and oh so fucking heavy path across your brain.  The sludgy vocals on here compliment the pace well as track after track of hellish blackened doom lurches on pulling you along with it like you have been ran over by a steamroller and are caught in it's rolls endlessly crushing you on every rotation. Another band that have not let their sound go to waste during a sustained absence, Coffinworm have released a heavy as fuck, well crafted record some four years since they last committed their harsh and driving style to tape.  Available now via Profound Lore Records here  you should buy this now and watch it make your end of year list for 2014.

Okay I will come clean - the singer/bassist in this band is a forum chum from elsewhere on the web. However, the only reason his bands promo EP has landed a review here is because it is an impressive slab of melodic death/doom with some fantastic production values and absolutely blinding riffs. Take opening track "Mors Somnis" with its massive opening riff, struck with real aplomb and meaning to make you instantly sit up and take notice.  This my friends is how you open a record.  The vocals are raspy and low and full of menace and threat and it's obvious some genuine thought has gone into the structures and content of each track.  These boys know how to play, their furious assaults are what every real metal loving music fan wants to hear and I am sure the live experience will be just as impressive as the recorded format. Describing themselves as "monolithic metal" TKIB are about to undertake their first gig and already are added to the bill at this year&

Being a responsible music owner is hard nowadays.  When I was a teenager all I needed to store and backup my music collection was the bottom of my wardrobe and and a steady supply of TDK 90s.  Fast forward to the current means I operate on and that prehistoric system seems all the more enticing a throw back to quickly return to. I have a music library that takes up a mere 25gb of my precious PC hard drive.  Firstly I purchased an annual subs to Amazon, (yeah wait outside and get me as I leave the building guys) and for £22 a year (currently) I can store unlimited quantities of music as long as I pay up every year.  Now Dr Faustus I am not, I accept that I have not signed away my mp3 collection in exchange for my life should I ever decide an external hard drive is smarter means to store them. Mephistopheles will not appear and tear me apart for my soul as I transfer files to my 1TB portable device I very much doubt.  But it does irk me that I have to trust the safety of my FLACS'