The Asteroid Bullet Belt

Digging through the sky, hoping to find God. 2023 was an exceptionally industrious year for Full of Hell, one that saw them collaborate with bands across a variety of genres, some closer to their own than others. From the (unfortunately middling) split with powerviolence chameleons Gasp, to the harrowing shoegaze-cum-sludge collaboration When No Birds Sang with Nothing,the Maryland quintet never kept their love of non-metallic music a secret, but that year saw them put their hands in more pies than they usually do, in lieu of there not being a proper full-length to dig into. Among that year’s partnerships was also the one with the black-hole-dense trio that is Primitive Man, who also happen to draw from a similarly noisy well, although their guitar riffs lay on the opposite side of the tempo spectrum, instead opting for crushingly misanthropic trudges through sludge. In short, although there are common points between the two, they never struck me as the types of bands that would cross...

Hit 'em with the brain destroyer. I haven’t gone digging in a while, but I generally take great pleasure in stumbling upon up-and-coming bands, preferably ones that could be defined as “hungry”. Musicians pour their hearts into their art, and then thrust it upon an unsuspecting public in hopes of being seen and appreciated by however small a group. It takes a lot of courage and drive to do that, and it’s such a quality that defines Sacred Serenity, and their debut, Redefining Life . This one-man progressive deathrash (!) project is helmed by the young (even younger at the time of this album’s release) Jonas Doehler, who somehow managed to put together something that one would expect from veterans of the style, all while juggling five more active bands at the time of writing. Talk about having a busy schedule. Clocking in at less than 25 minutes (without the instrumental version of the album), this is a release that operates on “shock and awe” tactics. Though there are moments of re...

We've yet to reach the peak, and perhaps we never will. (Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on October 11th 2025)  I’ve always found sludge to be the most “emotional” subgenre of metal. Not because it covers a wide spectrum mind you, but because of how little pretension there is behind it. Other metal subgenres, such as black metal, can be called “misanthropic” or “nihilistic”, along with a slew of other empty adjectives that I’m not all that averse to using, but these sentiments are oftentimes obscured by a subtle layer of romanticism that is nowhere to be found in sludge. The music is unremittingly vitriolic and hateful, and you’d be hard pressed to find anything that doesn’t fall under those categories in the most extreme ends of the genre. The sheer despondence expressed through the thick and oppressive atmosphere conjured by bands in the style makes them far more resonant than the chilly grimness that I’ve found to be more fitting to a change in seasons...

Salted Wounds and Incense; or, a Black Metal escapade Besides getting to know a place like the back of your hand, I’m a firm believer that you’ve truly made yourself at home somewhere when you start participating in the area’s local artistic events, which, for a guy like me, tend to begin and end with attending concerts of artists passing through the area. It’s a great way of meeting people with similar interests as you, and as we all know, shared experiences foster connection between people, through reminiscing and simply “being in the moment”. It’s always been the little things that stuck with me at shows, and a city as small as Thessaloniki is proud to boast of a very tight-knit metal community, where everyone’s a regular at the same few places, and tends to show up in the same shows as you do. You get to see some people you’ve talked to in passing, and perhaps even share an awkward “Were you in [X] show? Wasn’t it cool?” moment. There’s a charm to such interactions that is hard t...

Swallow deez worlds. (Originally published to the Metal Archives on April 24 2025)   It’s been almost a year since I last wrote anything for the Archives, but if there was anything that’d get me back in the saddle, it’d be writing about a band I’ve a soft spot for. I’ve had the pleasure of keeping up with Imperishable since their Deathspawn EP back in 2021, and at the time I was all-in on my “Stockholm Syndrome” phase, where if you passed me anything that sounded like it used the Boss HM-2 pedal I’d probably enjoy it. It’s been a good while since then, and in the time between then and now I got to see the band put out their debut, Come, Sweet Death , which I enjoyed and was also fashionably late in writing a review about. Since then, I’ve gone on yet another break from writing, and in that time decided to explore other styles of music and broaden my horizons a little. Upon hearing that the band was coming back with their sophomore release, Swallowing the World , I...

Perhaps a bit less perverted than they’d like. (Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on May 4th 2024)  I have some rather fond memories of Abraded’s self-titled debut. It wasn’t anything particularly special, it was a simple, yet well-executed, slab of grind that thrived on its brevity and disgusting sound, nothing more. There was the occasional interesting idea here and there but it wasn’t enough to blow your mind. Nevertheless, I decided that I wouldn’t mind hearing anything they might put out in the future. And wouldn’t you know it, they actually did release their sophomore, Unadulterated Perversity a year after the fact. I went in without much in the way of expectations and came out rather confused, certainly not something I expect feeling when it comes to deathgrind. I mean seriously, why the fuck is there shredding in this album? This came as a total shock right from the title track, which is probably the fastest I’ve seen a band declare a mission sta...

A blast from the distant past of 2023. (Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on May 4th 2024)   I’ve always been a “music first” type of guy when it came to metal music, but it’s a fact that the genre is in no small part defined by its aesthetics, especially when it comes to the musicians’ appearance and the album art. Air Raid is no exception to this rule, and they’re probably among the most committed I’ve seen in the NWOTHM scene, with the band members being dressed in uncomfortably tight leather outfits and the artwork of today’s subject, Fatal Encounter being steeped in late 70s-early 80s chrome sci-fi nostalgia. Unsurprisingly, this sets some expectations as to what awaits the moment you press play, something that the group is more than happy to deliver on. Air Raid’s bread and butter on their fourth full-length is something that has defined the modern Swedish heavy metal scene, that being straightforward and speedy tunes with an emphasis on catchy voc...