The Viking in the Wilderness - reviews and news

Dutch artist Beenkerver is out with the album "Doodlot" through German label Vendetta Records, and metal is the style explored on this production. It is a foray into the extreme metal realm we are treated to here. The pace tends to be high, and the arrangements are delivered with a firm, tight and hard edge to them. The melodies are very much present but subtle in nature, and as the songs themselves tend to explore flkuctuati8ng patterns of various kinds. We do get some slower paced side steps along the way here too, with drops into thrash, heavy and arguably even doom metal inspired expressions. With a few delicate, atmospheric interludes along the way. The vocals stick to variations of the twisted and distorted mode of delivery. An album to seek out by those who enjoy their extreme metal explored with a subtle but ongoing melodic delivery and explored inside a framework that focus on the songs being tight, firm and hard in nature. https://www.facebook.com/Beenkerver https:/...

UK band Aleya are out with the EP "How It Ends", and metal is the style explored on this production. It is a modern and alternative take on the tradition we get here, where electronic sounds and effects have a recurring and defining role in adding an electronic metal just as much as an industrial metal vibe to the proceedings. The vocals alternate between a more aggro screamo variety, more guttural extreme metal vocals and a light toned, melodic and accessible pop music lead vocal style. Perhaps a little bit on the emo side of matters at that. The songs themselves will obviously be a little bit all over the place, but a more alternative form of metal, arguably with token nuances from heavy, thrash and extreme metal brought into play on occasion, should be a fair enough description I suspect. An EP to seek out by those who enjoy a varied take on the modern alternative metal expression. https://www.facebook.com/aleyaukofficial

Canadian band The Zaxons are out with the mini-album "Videopticons", and this is a production that is situated firmly inside of the retro-oriented sphere of rock music. In this case we are taken back to the first half of the 1980s in time and England as the place, and the style of music here is post-punk that sounds like it could have been recorded back then and in England too. Complete with the singers accent, alongside the mix and sound of the music itself.  Dark and slightly ominous but also emotionally detached musical landscapes with an underlying aggression of sorts is what we get here. The bass guitar is dominant and energetic and slightly ominous sounding, while the guitars alternate between staccato patterns that reference back to the punk rock and more delicate, careful guitar notes and resonances. The latter often delivered in a ghostly kind of manner that creates an unnerving feeling and with sounds that for me at least comes with associations to spiders and the s...

Argentinian band Dragonfly are out with the EP "Laberinto" through Spanish label Art Gates Records, and metal is the style explored on this production. It is a smooth, well produced affair this one, with a slick and compelling sound and mix that emphasize the melodic qualities in the mainly power metal oriented escapades we are treated to on this production. A little bit of a hair metal inclusion asides, these are tight numbers with steady energetic rhythms and suitably melodic guitar riff foundations that serves as a fine foundation for the very well controlled, melodic and broadly appealing lead vocals that is a feature throughout. With some nice and elegant guitar solo runs as a bit of icing on the cake, and with a further touch of elegance for the sometime use of subtle orchestra inspired textures that adds a ghost of a symphonic metal seasoning to the landscapes explored. An EP to seek out by those who enjoy power metal when explored in a smooth, melodic and compelling m...

Netherlands based band Under The Shadows are out with the album "Thesmophoria" through Finnish label Lion Music, and metal is the style explored on this production. It is a dark and moody slab of atmospheric laden metal we get here, with a talk-like, slightly gritty and world weary sounding vocal catering for major parts of the singing alongside more regular, melodic lead vocals. The songs alternate between more doom-laden passages and traditional heavy metal exploits on one hand and more power metal oriented and occasionally thrash metal flavored excursions on the other. With some fine and elegant guitar solo tidbits, some side steps into gentler, melodic and more atmospheric laden landscapes and the occasional folk music inclusion being a part of the experience too. For some reason or other this album did give me a bit of a retro 80's feel in the mix and sound department, and I'd suspect that those who enjoy the more varied underground metal bands from the mid 1980s...

(36:56; Echozone) Track list: 1. The Hills Have Eyes 4:21 2. Miss Demoness 3:38 3. Blood Orgy 4:36 4. German Zombie Attack 3:59 5. Supersonic Vampire Pussy 3:58 6. Eternal Love 2:47 7. Summoned Them From Their Graves 4:57 8. 1000 Ways To Die 4:17 9. Carnivore 4:23 Line-up: Postel - vocals Holly - guitars Marple - bass Ole - drums   German band Lords of Salem have been around since 2015 or thereabouts from what I can see, and released an initial EP back in 2018. The band have released a small handful of single releases since then, and then signed with German label Echozone for the release of the album "Supersonic Vampire Pussy", which was issued in the spring of 2026. It is the industrial corner of the metal universe that is the chosen habitat of this foursome. The guitar riffs are hard and repetitive, the vocals alternate between being more rough and aggressive and more melodic and controlled, and a wide array of synthesizer sounds and electronic sounds flavor the landscapes ...