Articles by Manus Hopkins
Carach Angren Embraces Black Metal's Inherent Goofiness on 'Franckensteina Strataemontanus'
PUBLISHED Jun 25, 2020
Nearly two decades into their career, the Netherlands' Carach Angren have earned themselves a respectable reputation in the world of extrem...
Lamb of God Have Plateaued — but Their Self-Titled Album Proves That's Not Such a Bad Thing
PUBLISHED Jun 16, 2020
It was a shame for one of 2020's biggest and most anticipated metal albums to be delayed by over a month just before it was set to be relea...
Behemoth's 'A Forest' EP Distills the Band Down to Their Essence
PUBLISHED May 26, 2020
A new Behemoth EP announced only a couple of weeks before its release is a nice surprise for everyone stuck at home these days — not that t...
Like a Cask of Rum, Alestorm's Merry Pirate Metal Gets Stronger with Age on 'Curse of the Crystal Coconut'
PUBLISHED May 25, 2020
At a time like this, a reminder from Scotland's merry "pirate metal" crew Alestorm that nothing can be taken too seriously has never been m...
Vader Deliver Another Straight-Up Death Metal Ripper on 'Solitude in Madness'
PUBLISHED Apr 30, 2020
It's hard to believe Vader are nearly 40 years into their career. The band have been a leading force in Polish extreme metal for decades, a...
Havok's 'V' Is the Gold Standard for 21st Century Thrash Metal
PUBLISHED Apr 30, 2020
Calling your band's fifth album V may be a little on the unimaginative side, especially for a band like Havok, whose politically charged ly...
Warbringer Prove They're One of Modern Thrash's Best on 'Weapons of Tomorrow'
PUBLISHED Apr 24, 2020
California neo-thrash heavyweights Warbringer have ridden high the past few years on the rush of 2017's Woe to the Vanquished. At the time...
'What the Dead Men Say' Keeps Trivium's Hot Streak Going
PUBLISHED Apr 24, 2020
After a 15-year career of hits and misses, 2017's The Sin and the Sentence seemed like the album that could bring an end to the inconsisten...