Satan's Satyrs - Wild Beyond Belief! (2012)

We all love gritty lo-fidelity just as much as the next guy, but damn if Satan's Satyrs don't take low quality production to the next level, and it sounds absolutely wonderful. Straight out of the boondocks of Herndon, Virginia these guys deliver, they bring back the same feelings of nostalgia every lo-fi enthusiast gets when they listen to an old Venom track; their aesthetics range as well, covering doom metal, punk rock, garage rock, stoner rock, etc. Not to mention their over exuberant biker themes, and the fact that they were selected as special guests by Electric Wizard at the Electric Acid Orgy, these guys are clearly notable, hopefully this review compels you all to give them a listen, they surely don't get enough recognition throughout the community.

Download (Zippyshare)

Goatlord - Reflections of the Solstice [1991] + demo 1987

This is perhaps one of the most underrated extreme metal albums ever. Not because it's drenched in obscurity - it's not - but because it's one of the best extreme metal albums ever, something which is rarely recognised. This is a vicious blackened doom album with hints of death metal here and there, but more importantly, it's an album which features fantastic songwriting. A lot of these songs are perhaps more famous for having been covered - both Coffins and Necros Christos have covered 'Acid Orgy', Gospel of the Horns and Nunslaughter have both covered 'The Fog', etc. However, the originals are wonderful in their own right - the above two are brilliantly written slow burners, while the pace is picked up a little in 'Chicken Dance' and brilliant closer 'Sacrifice'. If you don't like choruses in extreme metal, this isn't for you, otherwise, if you haven't heard this, fill a void in your soul.

Sample (Sacrifice)

Download (Zippyshare)

Arkham Witch - On Crom's Mountain [2011]

Arkham Witch are as metal as anything. Admittedly, this isn't purely on a sonic level, as there are certainly strong hard rock influences coming through in many of the tracks here. Indeed, this is really a collection of head-shaking, jig-inducing, and just fundamentally catchy set of tunes. This core is infused with strong doom and trad metal elements, to produce a result which can probably best be described as if Master of Reality had been written by Saxon. The fact that they have been accredited by Fenriz as one of his Bands of the Week should just serve to further demonstrate their credentials.

Sample (Viking Pirates of Doom)

Download (Zippyshare)