Skogen: "Skuggorna Kallar"

A turn to something worse, or the beginning of a new exciting chapter?

Skogen is one of those bands that just keep getting better and better. From Vittra in 2009, through Svitjod and Eld, I Döden from 2014 was the culmination of a lengthy venture into the ultimate combination of traditional black metal guitar riffs and exceptionally immersive atmosphere. I Döden was - and still is - one of the most surprising and stand-out black metal albums of the 2010s for me. But leave it to Skogen to throw us another curve ball.

Taphos: "Come Ethereal Darkness"

No victim to trend or riffless nightmares

We're really being spoiled with the amount of gruesome Danish death metal coming out these days. With bands like Phrenelith, Undergang, Deiquisitor and Sulphurous causing a teeth-rattling ruckus, it's amazing there's even still more room in hell for another contender - The mighty Taphos.

Fedrespor: "Tid"

Through experimentation, Tid leaps into uncertainty with great success

With norse-themed folk I've come to except the likes of Wardruna, who seem obsessed - at least from a laymans point of view - with quote unquote authenticity and historical accuracy in their instrumentation. With the popularity of the soundtrack of the Vikings series, that style has in its own niche become almost commonplace, altough precious few do it well.

Robespierre: "Garden of Hell"

Where's the excitement?

Ancient, overlooked gems of pristine heavy metal is worth more than any measure of gold, and when stories like that of UK's Hell, who returned after 20 years with the phenomenal debut album that never was, surface every so often, there's definitely something enticing about the whole rags-to-riches aspect of the mythos. Perhaps inspired by their success - and/or stories like theirs - Robespierre has been vomited forth from the bowels of the underworld with their first album since they started out back in 1983.

DISRULE / THE SILENT LOW Split Tape Out Now!

TONEwood Music is thrilled to present Disrule and The Silent Low, for the first time on glorious TAPE!
In 2017, these two Danish groups released an EP, both available only digitally - Until now. Disrule's The MD.441 EP was recorded entirely using the legendary Sennheiser MD.441 microphone which the four-song EP takes its name after, and The Silent Low worked together with famed producer Jacob Bredahl on their third release, From The Underground. Both these mammoth metal-rock release are now available for the first time on physical media, and together for extra value!

Fu Manchu: "Clone of the Universe"

SoCal ramblings galore

Break out your skateboard, grow out your oddly specific beard style, and bring your best sunglasses: It's time for a new Fu Manchu record! If you expect a bunch of sun-baked, tarmac-scented stoner rock tunes, you never really can go wrong with Scott Hill and company.

Anna Von Hausswolff: "Dead Magic"

A bridge over the deep waters that separate styles

Thanks to a former boss who recommended me her previous album, Anna Von Hausswolff is now one of those artists that I continually look forward to hearing from. The Miraculous from 2015 received a 9/10 rating, and I'm happy to say that while 2018's Dead Magic is in many areas a vastly different endeavour, it is absolutely as deserving of the same score.