Me thinks the bots have been visiting the site today

Review: Agenbite Misery - Remorse of Conscience #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/11/r...

'Anesthetize' by Porcupine Tree could be one of the best prog metal songs ever written

Review: Gorrch - Stillamentum #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/10/r...

If you're not listening to Porcupine Tree enough, you should start

2026 Anniversary Series 010: Wolves in the Throne Room - Diadem of 12 Stars #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/07/2...

2026 Anniversary Series 009: Decapitated - Organic Hallucinosis #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/07/2...

Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire

Review: Cruenta Venganza - Legend #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/06/c...

I might get slated for this, but from 'Lost Behind the Wall' to 'Dream Warriors' on Dokken's 1987 'Back for the Attack record might be low key one of the best heavy metal song runs out there

I'm doing some research for my book tonight, and discovered that Celtic Frost classic 'Into the Crypt of Rays' is inspired by notorious French aristocrat serial killer Gilles de Rais, who also inspired a Cradle of Filth record in 2008 It is amazing what you can learn

Genuinely one of the best things I've ever read in a book

Review: Crypt Watcher - Necrotizing Omnipotence #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/03/r...

Review: Kylver - The Gobi #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/02/r...

Review: Void Monuments - Posthumous Imprecation #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/02/r...

2026 Anniversary Series 008: In Flames - Come Clarity #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/02/2...

The Big January Riff Collection

2026 Anniversary Series 07: The Devin Townsend Band - Synchestra #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/01/2...

Review: Invictus - Nocturnal Visions @thesleepingshaman.bsky.social #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/31/r...

2026 Anniversary Series 006: Burzum - Filosofem #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/31/2...

⚡ New Review ⚡ Sandy dissects Invictus 'Nocturnal Visions' – a death metal record full of great songwriting, killer guitar work, brutal hooks and neck-wrecking riffs. Read the full review over at The Sleeping Shaman👇 thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/invi... @thekillchainblog.bsky.social

Did anyone else just totally miss this record last year? It is so fucking good, how did I miss this!? Gloombound - Dreaming Delusion

Review: Udręka - Nieistnienie #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/30/r...

Review: Orchid Throne - Buried in Black #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/28/r...

See when you think you've got a handle on a new band's sound, and all of a sudden they drop a 'Where the Slime Live' riff right in the middle of their gothic doom epic, holy fucking balls

Review: Abeyance - Introspective Crusades #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/26/r...

Think we were all really sleeping on this album from last year. For fans of 1993 melodeath, like 'Skydancer' and 'With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness' Genuinely thrilling stuff

Review: Sacri Suoni - Time to Harvest #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/26/r...

Had to say goodbye today to the best pal I've ever had. He was the best big brother to my daughter, and the best pub dog there ever was

Review: Barbarian - Reek of God #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/23/r...

Morbid Chapel Records were kind enough to send me a whole pile of stuff to listen to, here's some brief thoughts on them all! #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/22/m...

Review: Angel Rising - The Fall of Tell Nefareh #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/22/r...

Review: Architectural Genocide - Malignant Cognition #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/20/r...

I'm a lucky boy, living where I live sometimes

Review: Rotten Sound - Mass Extinction @thesleepingshaman.bsky.social #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/19/r...

⚡ New Review ⚡ Sandy deconstructs Rotten Sound 'Mass Extinction' EP – a short, sharp, visceral blast of crusty d-beat grind that will tear your skin off. Read the full review over at The Sleeping Shaman👇 thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/rott... @thekillchainblog.bsky.social

2026 Anniversary Series 005: Dark Funeral - The Secrets of the Black Arts #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/19/2...

Review: Redivider - Sounds of Malice #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/15/r...

Review: Excavated Graves - Life Isn't for Everyone #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/15/r...

Only real ones remember this record. Vocals are beast

Review: Malignant Aura - Where All of Worth Comes to Wither #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/13/r...

I'm genuinely terrified at the idea that someone could ask an AI to write album reviews in the style of our blog and it just spit out something that's uncomfortably realistic. What is the point in anything if that is a reality that we could have?

Spent a lot of today trying to catch up on some good stuff from last year that I mssed, got four recommendatons for anyone interested Grotesque Bliss - Grotesque Bliss Genume - Infinite Presence Growing Horns - The Essence of Suffering Gryla - The Redeemer's Festering Carcass

2026 Anniversary Series 004: Edguy - Rocket Ride #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/12/2...

Thought experiment: if you could go back in time and change the course of metal history by convincing one of the infamously terrible people in the genre to not be terrible, who would it be?

Revieew: Eximperitus - Meritoriousness of Equanimity #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/11/r...

When the wean was a baby, I watched loads of dystopia future movies with her, because even though she didn't even know who I was at that point, she needed to learn early how terrible the world was going to be when she grew up Little did I know the most prescient one would have been fucking Wall-E

The final reveal, the albums from 2006 we'll be featuring on the 2026 Anniversary Series

Review: Chaos Over Cosmos - The Hypercosmic Paradox #metalsky thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/01/11/r...

Anyone watch that SixString dot tv guy on Youtube..? Just seen him post a video telling people that Korpiklaani gigs are an awful experience and clearly that is just fake news