After a one-week break, we are back! This week’s Heavy Music HQ reviews include releases from Black Sites, Boundaries, Fuming Mouth, The Hu, Inferno, Jehovah On Death, Left To Die, Madball, Motionless In White, North Sea Echoes, Psycroptic, REZN, Ripper, Sallow Moth, Stormhammer and Tesla.
The ratings are on a 5-star scale.
Black Sites – For Eternity (Self)
Black Sites vocalist/guitarist Mark Sugar is an original member of the band, the only one left standing, yet keeps the entire project stable through shifting lineup. The latest shake-up leading to For Eternity was a big one, as the entire group was rearranged. The purpose remains the same, as their fifth album maintains its preference for dipping in and out of different genres.
“When It Calls” and “Unanswered For Eternity” have gothic tones to their main riffs that set in a melancholic mood. “When Prophecy Fails,” by contrast, is closer to thrash metal with its spirited pace. No matter which way the band goes sonically, they got the hooks to back it up. Black Sites have not released a bad album for a decade now, a streak that goes on with For Eternity.
Rating: 4
(Dan Marsicano)
Boundaries – Yearning: The Unbeautiful After (Sumerian)
Boundaries have never been interested in fitting a mold, and their fourth full-length Yearning: The Unbeautiful After, and first for Sumerian Records, makes that clearer than ever. The Connecticut quintet build the record as a full-scale sensory assault, stretching their sound to its breaking point before reining it back with genuine melodic clarity. That dichotomy announces itself on opener “Malconscience” and carries into “Skies Cast Amber Black,” the lead single and clearest declaration of intent with chugging, detuned riffing exploding into full scream, channeling real frustration with a scene the band feels has lost its edge.
“Torn Wide Open,” featuring Make Them Suffer, and “Crowned and Crucified,” featuring Landon Tewers, dig into grief and devotion twisted by loss, while “Only Endless” strips everything back to a single aching feeling: words that were never said and now never can be. The title track closes things out with the record’s core question distilled: what do you give your only finite resource, time, to, and what’s left after you do? Yearning: The Unbeautiful After never chases anything outside itself. Boundaries sound like a band trusting pure instinct, and it works.
Rating: 3.5
(Jeanetta Briski)
Fuming Mouth – The Ringing Bell (Triple B)
Nearly three years have passed since the last Fuming Mouth record, with The Ringing Bell being the band’s third album and the first in studio with former Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg. Opener “Cheat Death” is the latest in a trend to reference the fact that guitarist/vocalist Mark Whelan is a cancer survivor; it was also a focal point on their previous release Last Day Of Sun.
“Finally Fearless” is a great example of a song that captures the proper combination of buzzsaw death metal and righteous hardcore, even more a reference to rejoining the mighty hardcore label Triple B Records. “Hidden In The Moor” can lean more heavily on the death metal references; the guitar tone feels more pronounced with strong Stockholm sounds throughout the record, as well as emotional riffs that litter the landscape. Overall, The Ringing Bell is a solid death metal album played by band that isn’t afraid to let its hardcore roots grow out when they need to.
Rating: 3.5
(Tom Campagna)
The Hu – Hun (Better Noise)
Nearly a decade in, The Hu never needed to explain themselves twice. Hun finds the band standing at the bridge they’ve spent years building with Mongolian language and instruments, delivered at a scale loud enough for the world, without losing what makes it theirs. The emotional center is “Echoes Of My Father,” over six minutes long and the band’s first direct address of fatherhood, Gala has spoken about crying in the studio while making it, that same duality of grief and fierce strength running through the whole record.
“Warrior Chant” opens with throat-singing and morin khuur built for arenas; “Lost Soul” brings in Nothing More continuing the band’s run of genre-crossing collaborations, and the nearly nine-minute “Universe” is the record’s clearest statement of ambition. Closer “Second Face” ends on the same duality that defines the album of darkness and goodness, private and performed. I first found The Hu through an Instagram clip, and seeing footage from their 2024 tour with Iron Maiden sealed it into a band that can share that stage without shrinking. Hun isn’t chasing a song that charts for a week. It’s been built for decades, and it sounds like it.
Rating: 4
(Jeanetta Briski)
Inferno – The Anthropic Sophisms (On The Heights Of Despair) (Debemur Morti)
The Czech black metal band Inferno are marking 30 years since they emerged with the demo Peklo na zemi. Five years has elapsed since their last studio effort, Paradeigma (Phosphenes Of Aphotic Eternity). The title of their new album is a mouthful as well: The Anthropic Sophisms (On The Heights Of Despair).
The title is indicative of the avant-garde nature of their songwriting. In addition to the typical genre tropes, Inferno utilize industrial and electronic elements and extended instrumental sections. Speaking of extended, the song lengths are epic, with the four tracks lasting between about 7 and 14 minutes. They slowly unfold, with enough ebbs and flows to avoid monotony. The Anthropic Sophisms (On The Heights Of Despair) is an immersive album, with Inferno creating a challenging but rewarding release.
Rating: 3.5
(Chad Bowar)
Jehovah On Death – Lagrimas de Oro (I, Voidhanger)
The specters of rock’s past contained in bands like Ghost, The Devil’s Blood and Sabbath Assembly have a new host in Jehovah On Death and their debut album, Lagrimas de Oro. Their occultist rock/metal brews up satanic rituals and blood-soaked baptisms, though wrapped into bright-sounding melodies that could appeal to any classic rock aficionado.
The title track is a superb way to open the record, featuring an antsy solos exchange between electric and acoustic guitars. A good rock song needs anthemic weight behind it, something Jehovah On Death have with the bass/drum breaks in “Catherine Wheel” and “Ride On Ye Furious Host.” Both of these are specifically meant to get hands clapping in unison. If a group wants to get a demonic message across, doing so through the power of infectious rock is the best method.
Rating: 4
(Dan Marsicano)
Left To Die – Initium Mortis (Relapse)
Worshippers of all things Death, Left To Die sought to properly revisit the demo days of the genre’s eternal forebearers with Matt Harvey spurring it on with frequent collaborator Gus Rios on tap as well as two members of Death in Rick Rozz and Terry Butler to round it all out. Initium Mortis, quite simply the beginning of Death, is a proper ode to an era and material that even people from back during its recording had properly missed including the Mantas demos.
Leading off with what is most likely the most prominent song of that era, “Legion of Doom,” the track sounds fully revitalized with a modern production that doesn’t rob it of its delightful decay; something evidenced by the Scream Bloody Gore styled artwork by Dan Goldsworthy. Harvey does an excellent version of the late Chuck Schuldiner on vocals and guitar, properly capturing it on a song like “Archangel” like it was meant to be in the mid ‘80s. Initium Mortis does a superb job of bringing an oft forgotten era to the masses some 40 years later with tremendous results.
Rating: 4
(Tom Campagna)
Madball – Not Your Kingdom (Nuclear Blast)
Ten albums across a nearly four decade-long career indicates Madball certainly are survivors. Led by tireless frontman Freddy Cricien, Not Your Kingdom is another slab of New York hardcore that picks up where their previous LP left off eight years ago. Heavier than a sack full of anvils and bustling with groove and bursts of speed, there aren’t many surprises.
However, the genre’s self-referential nature has long been one of its hallmarks, and the riffs are tougher than a two-dollar steak. Opener “Tethered” is an energetic and memorable affair that’s sure to be a live favourite, and sets the tone for standouts like the 90-second fury of “Don’t MisStep” and blistering, metal-infused “Stab Wounds.” Cricien’s passion remains apparent, but lyrically he remains disillusioned by our society, pondering that, “rebel kids don’t follow trends/Not when I was coming up/We questioned everything/Seems that’s coming to an end.” While not reinventing the genre, Not Your Kingdom is a timely reminder of why Madball remain one of the most beloved acts in their field.
Rating: 3.5
(Brendan Crabb)
Motionless In White – Decades (Roadrunner)
Shakespeare wrote that hell is empty because all the devils are here. Twenty years in, Motionless In White seem intent on proving the line true one track at a time. On their seventh album, Decades, the Scranton quintet marks two decades together with their most ambitious record yet. It’s heavier, stranger, and more self-assured than before. The title track and lead single “Afraid of the Dark” bookend the album as mirror images, tracing the band’s resilience alongside their fans’ loyalty. In between, “Playing God” (feat. Corey Taylor) turns venomous, skewering online toxicity with the record’s most feral energy.
“R.I.P.” (feat. Skylar Grey) swings toward grief, funeral synths giving way to raw devastation. “Blood Rave” and “Count Back from Zero” detour into cyberpunk-goth theater, while “Blood Pact” and a surprising cover of the ’80s pop hit “Sunglasses At Night” show a band still willing to gamble on new territory. What unites it all isn’t one sound, but a mission: evolve without losing the emotional core. Decades doesn’t look back out of nostalgia; it looks back to measure the distance traveled. Hell may be empty, but on this record, every devil found a home. Motionless In White didn’t just visit the dark. They moved in.
Rating: 4
(Jeanetta Briski)
North Sea Echoes – How To Cast A Shadow (Metal Blade)
How To Cast A Shadow is the second album from North Sea Echoes, which features Fates Warning’s Ray Alder (vocals) and Jim Matheos (guitar). Several songs feature drummer Dennis Leeflang (Within Temptation, Bumblefoot, The Feckers).
While the prog of Alder and Matheos’ other projects can be found, these songs are fairly straightforward. “Enjoy The View” is a mainstream rocker with plenty of hooks, “Villains Or Saints” is a ballad, and “I’ll Leave A Light On” pushes toward metal territory. There are a lot of introspective tracks on How To Cast A Shadow, but some uptempo ones as well. The band’s chemistry is evident, with North Sea Echoes an enjoyable outlet for Alder and Matheos’ talent.
Rating: 3.5
(Chad Bowar)
Psycroptic – The Pulse Of Annihilation (Metal Blade)
Having taken dizzying levels of technicality seemingly as far as possible while still remaining listenable via the likes of 2006’s Symbols of Failure, Psycroptic have since increasingly learned the value of elements like groove, hooks, and enabling songs room to breathe. These are lessons the Australian tech-death maestros again apply on The Pulse of Annihilation. The band’s focus is honing their sound with each release in a manner that’s tighter than a miser’s wallet.
“Gathering a Venomous Herd” is an appropriate ground zero; syncopated rhythms, frenzied riffs and a hefty groove. “A Sword of Me” leans on the group’s proggier side, while the riff-o-ramas of “Ashes of A New Dawn” and “Annihilation Pulse” hit home. “No Blade of Grass” is another standout, fusing classic death metal riffage, a choral/orchestral chorus and that unique sense of groove. Overall, their chemistry is as potent as ever, with the burgeoning interaction between vocalists Jason Peppiatt and Jason Keyser amid the many riffs and blasts adding a fresh edge. The Pulse of Annihilation is an album that neatly balances musically proficiency, songwriting nous and aggression in a manner that’s distinctively Psycroptic.
Rating: 4.5
(Brendan Crabb)
REZN – Cycles In The Infinite Dream (Sargent House)
There’s a particular exhaustion in sleep that doesn’t let you rest, and it’s the kind where your mind keeps circling somewhere between the room you’re in and the one your subconscious builds around you. Cycles In The Infinite Dream scores that exact liminal space, and REZN make it feel less described than simulated. The thesis really lands on “Cloudfall,” built around the subject of sleep paralysis and its loop of false awakenings with repeating motifs resurfacing just as they seem resolved, mirroring the sensation of thinking you’ve woken up only to realize you haven’t.
The track list carries that same passage through threshold: “Rites of Passage” and “Transient” set the crossing in motion, “Escher” ties the record’s repetition to impossible geometry, and closer “Terra Preta” named for a rich, dark soil that finally grounds the album back to earth. Sonically, REZN’s heaviness works like gravity, not aggression, keeping the celestial elements from floating away entirely. I’ll admit I’ve got a soft spot here as my cousin Zach put me onto REZN over Christmas 2024, and I’ve been hooked since. Fitting, given how much this record feels like that same half-asleep, time-stopped week between holidays.
Rating: 4
(Jeanetta Briski)
Ripper – Towards Rebirth (Dark Descent)
On their third album and first in over 10 years, the Chilean collective Ripper return with Towards Rebirth. After an intro track the thrashing takes over on “World of Darkness” with vocalist Patricio Spallinger delivering vocals that would have fit well within the confines of the Teutonic scene; pure unadulterated chaos.
Atmosphere is the name of the game when transitioning over to the album’s title track before it too moves to thrash with the album’s bass being an under the radar MVP, clanging underneath the flurry of riffs and other metallic mayhem. Pure death thrash drives “The Source Exterminator,” blasting into your eardrums full bore with a righteous groove tossed into the middle to create some essential variety to create the whole package here as well. If you are looking for a solid no frills thrasher, look no further than Towards Rebirth.
Rating: 3.5
(Tom Campagna)
Sallow Moth – Hydrophilous Brood (Willowtip)
The prolific Sallow Moth, fresh off a year in 2025 that saw them release a studio album in August and two EPs on November 21, are already back with their fourth album, Hydrophilous Brood. Multi-instrumentalist Garry Brents has been the driving force behind the band since its beginning. For this record though, he is joined by drummer Allen Gingerich, who also provides a few guitar solos.
Sallow Moth’s technical death metal is given a boost by having a full-time drummer involved (a majority of their releases have used programmed drums). Since returning after a few years’ hiatus, the music has gotten weird in the best ways. It’s not unexpected to hear a sudden jazzy swing (“Arcane Benthic Umbilicus”) or a trumpet solo (“Serene Aqueous Leech”) in the midst of the tectonic frenzy.
Rating: 3.5
(Dan Marsicano)
Stormhammer – Wrath Of The Hammer (ROAR)
Over the course of their legendary career, German power metalers Stormhammer have built up quite the legacy in the European scene with their balancing act of striving to do something different while sticking to one’s roots and genre blending styles. This mentality has continued with their current release Wrath Of The Hammer.
Much like their previous works, Wrath Of The Hammer provides a little bit of everything, from the more traditional power metal found in tracks like “Ashes Of The Throne” to the more melodic feeling of “Guardians Of Night”. The album has a nice ebb and flow and makes for a surprisingly smooth headbanging experience.
Rating: 3.5
(Dalton Husher)
Tesla – Homage (Frontiers)
Tesla have ventured down the covers album road before, with 2007’s Real To Real and Real To Reel Vol. 2 revisiting classic rock songs from the ’60s and ’70s. Now, with Homage, they take a slightly different approach. They revisit songs that inspired them, with many of the songs representing some of the greatest singers of all time.
It’s a diverse collection that gives vocalist Jeff Keith the chance to showcase a wide variety of styles. There’s R&B (Sam Cooke, The Temptations), country (Hank Williams Sr.), jazz/blues (Etta James), pop (Elvis Presley) and rock (Bob Seger, Supertramp). There’s one original song as well. Keith’s unique vocals give these classic songs a Tesla spin, and Homage shows his ability to pull off a plethora of genres.
Rating: 3
(Chad Bowar)
