Gates of Eternal Torment: "Imprisoned Beneath the Ice of This Cold Black Void"

Uncultivated tremolos with too little substance

Though the whole mysterious obscurity deal in black metal is now little more than a token shtick, it does at times add to the whole atmosphere surrounding a band. Little is known about Gates of Eternal Torment - Its only member, Firthornn, hails from USA's garden state New Jersey. His lyrics and music revolves around a blackened core of dark subjects, the mass of which pulls in all light like a cosmic black hole.

Nite Funk: "Nite-Funk"

Night-time funk for your favourites-list

The heavenly match that the world deserves, Nite Funk is the union of singer/keyboardist Nite Jewel and jack-of-all-trades Dâm-Funk. The Nite-Funk EP cleverly and seamlessly combine elements of retro and modern in a mix that could best be described as half funky retro disco and half post-modern vocal pop.

Cryptodira: "Recursions"

A mixed bag of tricks...

To shake things up, Long Island-quartet Cryptodira have spiced up their brand of progressive metal with trace elements of many different styles and genres. Their second EP, Recursions from January 2013, impresses with a surprisingly professional sound to present their music.

Malichor: "Ancient Brew"

Return of the Australian warlords

TONEwood has previously lauded Malichor's earlier EP, Lurkers in the Crypt from 2012, and now the time has come for Ancient Brew to continue the black-thrash legacy of the Australian band. With four tracks Malichor certainly aren't about to waste any time with lengthy intros of nonsense shenanigans. Instead, they continue in their uncompromising ways, living and dying by the riffs.

Anno Domini: "On This New Day"

Progressive folk rock for fans of the hard-to-find

Anno Domini are a well kept secret of the Irish 70s rock scene. The quartet only ever amounted to one LP and a single in '71 in the usual semi-progressive, folky, half-psychedelic sound of the early part of the decade. Fetching hundreds of Euros the two original pressings (on Deram in the UK and Polydor in Germany) are probably too rich for any but the hardest core of collectors. Should this be the case, South Korean label Wohn Records did a reissue in 2010 faithful to the original Deram pressing.

Anatomia: "Dead Bodies in the Morgue"

The gorefest that is Japanese death-doom beckons to those who live for death

To connoisseurs of gore-soaked Japanese metal, and aficionados of death-laden doom, Anatomia should already ring a bell. Since their debut album in 2005 - aptly named Dissected Humanity - the band has, together with the likes of Coffins and Grudge (both of whom also appeared on the 2007 split between the three bands), put Japan on the map with their endless offerings of the heaviest and filthiest death/doom metal.

"Strange Requests and Comic Tales from Record Shops" by Graham Jones

And the prize for most fitting book title goes to...

During his career as sales representative for various record companies, Graham Jones has visited more record stores in the UK than most people. Throughout his (mis)adventures he's been gathering up stories from the various store owners, managers and employees he has come across, and finally he has put all these in book form as Strange Requests and Comic Tales from Record Shops. It serves as a collection of lively stories of impossible guesswork, colourful characters and regulars, misheard lyrics, singing music fans and die hard employees.