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Chriz Doe - 2025 - Cookie Doe

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(40:17; Fastball Music) Track list: 1. No Pain No Gain 4:16 2. Welcome to the Doez 3:48 3. 10.000 Days 4:05 4. Dark 4:13 5. Solitude 3:30 6. Lost in Thoughts 3:35 7. The Deep 3:56 8. Join the Party 3:37 9. Independent 3:46 10. Come Fly with Me 3:21 11. Cookie Doe 2:10 Line-up: Chriz Doe - vocals Henny - drums, backing vocals Gerrit - guitars, bass Kevin - keyboards German band Chriz Doe was formed back in 2022, and since then the band have had some live gigs along the way, including some nice support slots for somewhat better known bands. Along the way they have also released a succession of singles. In the late fall season of 2025 they released their debut album "Cookie Doe" through German label Fastball Records. I suspect that the best description to give the music explored on this album is alternative metal. Not because the sounds explored are all that alternative as such, but rather due to a specific type of style combination that is a recurring element throughout this pr...
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Emily Duncan and Randall Woolf - 2025 - Woolf at the Door

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(30:31; Neuma Records) Track list: 1. Everything Is Green 11:55 2. Scott Somebody 7:40 3. Native Tongues 10:56 Line-up: Emily Duncan - flute Randall Woolf - composer with: David Foster Wallace - text Kathleen Supove - piano Rinde Eckert - voice Sara Wendt - vocals Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim - violin Jocelyn Zhu - violin Jay Julio - viola Drake Driscoll - cello Tyler Vittoria - bass Zach Nicely - conductor US musician Emily Duncan has collaborated with US composer Randall Woolf to create material for her debut album "Woolf at the Door", a production that was released through US label Neuma Records in the summer of 2025. Duncan is an upcoming musician specializing in the flute as her instrument, while composer Woolf is a seasoned hand in the US music scene. The three compositions that Duncan explores alongside various musicians here are all unique in their own way, but also share some common properties. Where the main of the denominators is that they all probably could be describe...
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Hellixxir - 2025 - Beyond The Frame

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(62:24; M & O Music) Track list: 1. Genesis 0:28 2. The Sun Will No Longer Rise 5:55 3. An Overview of the Great Beyond 6:15 4. Far Away From My Precious Life 4:37 5. Worst Day of Your Life... Best Time of My Day 5:50 6. Birth of the Goodness 4:07 7. Prelude to the Shrouded Path 1:34 8. A Gathering for All Wasted Souls 6:47 9. Larvatus Prodeo 5:09 10. Ad Nauseam 5:41 11. Hunting the Hunter 4:48 12. Homo Patiens 4:02 13. Verses of the Final Purge 7:11 Line-up: Alexandre Manin - vocals Alexandre Moulin - bass Matthieu Laforet - guitars Laurent Couarraze - guitars Romain Charbonnier - drums French band Hellixxir can celebrate their 25th anniversary this year, at least if the information on the Metal Archives website is trustworthy. It would appear that the band have had some spells of inactivity during all those years though, which may be the reason for why this band as of 2026 only have four full length albums to their name. The most recent of these is "Beyond the Frame", w...
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Lorenzo De Finti Qrt - 2025 - Backlash of Uncertainty

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(46:22; Losen Records) Track list: 1. Backlash of Uncertainty 8:10 2. The Other Route That Wasn't There 8:20 3. Nine Bridges in Königsberg 9:15 4. Temporary Shunt 8:34 5. Occam's Razor 12:03 Line-up: Lorenzo De Finti - piano Alberto Mandarini - trumpet, flugelhorn Stefano Dall´Ora - bass Marco Castiglioni - drums  Italian artist Lorenzo De Finti has been releasing albums at a steady pace ever since his first album "Colors of Life" appeared back in 2013, and to date he has six albums to his name, four of which has been released under the band moniker Lorenzo De Finti Qrt. The most recent of these, "Backlash of Uncertainty", was issued in the late fall of 2025 through the Norwegian label Losen Records. Instrumental jazz is the name of the game for the landscapes explored on this production, and it is an inviting and generally appealing universe we are taken into on this occasion. De Finti's piano, rather unsurprisingly, does have a central position in thes...
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Hateseed - 2025 - Rising Through Decay

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(43:42; M & O Music) Track list: 1. Strangled 3:31 2. Senseless Atrocity 3:14 3. Take this Fist 3:38 4. Overflowing Anger 3:52 5. Say Goodbye 3:58 6. My Living Nightmare 3:16 7. Pain Addiction 4:29 8. Aych 3:00 9. Surrender and Kneel 3:04 10. Suffer 3:53 11. Wont Be Wrong 4:00 12. Pain Addiction [Acoustic] 3:47 Line-up: Ivan Magnani - vocals, bass Edoardo Friese - drums Andrea Llvi - guitars Gabriele Turco - guitars Italian band Hateseed is a fairly new addition to the Italian music scene, as the band was formed as recently as in 2023. Following an initial EP and single that was self released by the band they signed with French label M & O Music for the release of their debut album "Rising Through Decay" in the late fall of 2025. Good, old thrash metal is what we get with this production, with more of a no frills approach to the art of thrash metal. The guitar sound is big and somewhat primal, with chugging and circulating patterns alternating with impact riff flavore...
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Alex Ventling - 2025 - Wavemakers

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(50:36; Particular Recordings) Track list: 1. Tracking 6:47 2. Omaha 5:03 3. Trondheim I 6:27 4. Trondheim II 4:48 5. Traces 1:07 6. Trondheim III 5:57 7. January 4:29 8. Spiral 8:51 9. Four Refractions 7:07 Line-up: Alex Ventling - piano, synthesizer Tuva Halse - violin Amund Stenøien - vibraphone August Glännestrand - drums, programming with: Sissel Vera Pettersen - vocals Composer and musician Alex Ventling is a New Zealand artist who is currently based out of Norway. As a solo artist he has three studio productions to his name, and as the first of these appeared as recently as in 2023 one might expect a lot more to come from this international jazz artist. "Wavemakers" is his third and most recent album so far, and was released through the Particular Recordings Collective in December 2025. This is an album recorded in Norway and with mainly Norwegian musicians from what I can see, and it is an album that comes with what I'd describe as more than a little bit of Scandi...
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Huntdown - 2025 - This Is War

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(22:31; Demons Run Amok Entertainment / Cargo Records) Track list: 1. Dump 2:21 2. Darker Truth 2:35 3. The Pain You Hide 1:58 4. Burning Soul 1:58 5. Fallen Heroes 2:25 6. The Oath 2:04 7. Lost Fight 2:17 8. Deep Down 2:21 9. Far Side 2:09 10. Unleashed 2:23 Line-up: Cam - drums Kevin - bass David - guitars Pec - guitars Phil - vocals French band Huntdown was formed in 2022, and following an initial demo in 2023 and an EP released later that year, the band released their debut album "This Is War" in the fall of 2025 through the labels Demons Run Amok Entertainment and Cargo Records respectively. This band is a self-described hardcore unit, although from my perception at least they may as well be described as a crossover thrash metal band. Arguably with a bit more emphasis on the hardcore part than on the thrash metal aspects, but in my view at least both are very much present. The songs do stick to the hardcore approach in terms of structure. Short and concise is the order o...
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