It is admirable how much Hebosagil has developed their sound over the years and ‘Lohtu’ is the next successful step in the band’s evolution. ‘Lohtu’ is definitely Hebosagil’s most accessible album to date and should bring the band a lot more well-deserved exposure among the heavy noise rock fans in Europe and abroad. – By Sander van den Driesche

This is an album of contrasts, but these contrasts work well to create what is basically a wall of sound and shows the unique nature of Birushanah’s music. The uniqueness of the band and their unholy sound makes for both an intensely interesting and enjoyable listening experience. – By Gavin Brown

This release comes highly recommended and augurs well for any future full-length release. Definitely worth checking out by doom and sludge fans. – By Alistair Strachan

‘The Death of All Things’ is a near-perfect monster. It crushes, it soars, it makes your head nod as well as think – and it even wows you with melody. But above all it still obeys the riff, the mantra that Beastwars have adhered to since their inception in 2011. – By Matt Butler

It’s not at all surprising to see fellow French doomsters Monarch! first among the listed bands in the promotional stuff, but where Monarch! masterfully keep a sense of eerie weightless tension strung out across a fifteen minute track, for Deveikuth the routine is a bit more predictable. – By Owen Coggins

With the introduction of Julie Christmas, Cult of Luna seem reinvigorated, shaking off the more sterile aesthetic of their recent releases and embracing once more the spirit of ‘Somewhere Along The Highway’ in order to produce an album that is varied and always engaging. – By Lachlan R. Dale

With their latest release, ‘Alight’, the lads in Absent/Minded have firmly cemented their place in the doom genre, and they’re bringing a little something extra, too.

This split effort between London based noise-mongers Torpor and Brighton based craftsmen Sonance is really, really fucking good. – By Andy Price

The Glorious Rebellion provides a thrilling mix of stoner and noise rock generating a glorious cacophony of aggressive RIFF worship. – By Andrew Rawlinson

No review will do it justice, it just won’t. If you love your sludge to go down untrodden paths, that’s playful with melodies and heavy riffs, and creatively bonged out: ‘Herb Your Enthusiasm’. – By Richard Owens

Siobhan Hogarty saw Baroness in Glasgow recently. “They deliver a thunderous rendition and the closing vocal refrain is roared back, as all of us in the room realise how lucky we are to have such a band around.”

This album is an opus in modern metal and an example of a band at a never ending peak. Where ever The Body decides to venture sonically in the future, I feel a majority of those who hold their music to a high regard will look back on ‘No One Deserves Happiness’ as a defining moment. – By Sam Robinson

Coronal Mass Ejection aren’t making it easy for new bands. Having formed just last year, releasing such a strong EP shortly thereafter cruelly raises the bar for everyone else. By Aaron Edwards

The bands heaviness and groove combined with the strong vocals of Scott Carlson and the macabre songs are a match made in hell and hearing this material live with this line-up would be a very good thing indeed. – By Gavin Brown

If you enjoy sludge/doom/ambience then ‘Loss’ should be on your list of things to check out. Japan has always had a fantastic extreme scene and Corrupted is another excellent example of it. And not checking out ‘Loss’ really is your loss. – By Christopher Luedtke

Slabdragger, OHHMS, Morass Of Molasses, Sapien The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh, 19.02.2016 Photos by Jose Ramon Caamaño

This split is a great reminder of how good both of these bands are and new full albums from each of them is what we need as soon as possible. – By Gavin Brown