The Killchain Blog

Not enough people talk about Bal-Sagoth these days

Review: Sermon to the Lambs – Sermon to the Lambs Review by Sandre the Giant Released: 27th February 2026 When I read in a promo email that this is a new death metal band from Chile, you could not stop me pressing play fast enough on Sermon to the…

Review: Sermon to the Lambs - Sermon to the Lambs

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/03/09/r...

Who needs the Highlands when I've got this an hour from my door

2026 Anniversary Series 022: Dismember – The God That Never Was Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 7th March 2006 2006 would see the continuation of death metal’s renaissance with three important releases from Sweden’s Big Four, and the first on …

2026 Anniversary Series 022: Dismember - The God That Never Was

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/03/08/2...

Review: Ravenspell – The Obsidian King Review by Sandre the Giant Released: 12th March 2026 Canadian heavy/speed metallers Ravenspell are a brand new proposition, but it appears that much of their lineup has also been a part of Beholder…

Review: Ravenspell - The Obsidian King

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/03/07/r...

2026 Anniversary Series 021: Metallica – Master of Puppets Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 3rd March 1986 There has been enough words spilled in respect and admiration of the 1A to ‘Reign in Blood’s 1 as the greatest thrash metal album ev…

2026 Anniversary Series 021: @metallica.com - Master of Puppets

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/03/06/2...

Review: Frozen Ocean – Askdrömmar Review by Sandre the Giant Released: 13th February 2026 Russian atmospheric black metaller Frozen Ocean is probably one of the most prolific songwriters in the scene, with 12 full length albums in …

Review: Frozen Ocean - Askdrommar

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/03/04/r...

2026 Anniversary Series 020: Rush – 2112 Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released March 1976 Canadian prog rock legends Rush barely need any introduction to metal fans, having been an influence on probably every band that ever decided to go a…

2026 Anniversary Series 020: Rush - 2112

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/03/04/2...

Do I... do I need to become a Rush guy?

2026 Anniversary Series 019: Himsa – Hail Horror Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 28th February 2006 There’s an argument to be made that 2006 was the absolute peak of metalcore’s creativity and popularity aligning, before the rep…

2026 Anniversary Series 019: Himsa - Hail Horror

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/03/03/2...

Pretty solid month of riffs and that

2026 Anniversary Series 018: Darkthrone – The Cult is Alive Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 27th February 2006 Black metal had been in a strange place in the late 90s into the early 00s, with the genre feeling deeply unfashionable and yet still there …

2026 Anniversary Series 018: Darkthrone - The Cult is Alive

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/03/02/2...

Review: Empty Fix – The Cycle of Trying Review by Sandre the Giant Released: 19th September 2025 Dutch gothic doom newcomers Empty Fix released their debut EP, ‘The Cycle of Trying’ in September last year, and they’ve d…

Review: Empty Fix - The Cycle of Trying

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/27/r...

2026 Anniversary Series 017: Om – Conference of the Birds Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 24th February 2006 A really underrated part of my musical expansion in the mid 2000s was an education and then fondness for stoner and psychedelic doom and the…

2026 Anniversary Series 017: Om - Conference of the Birds

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/27/2...

Review: Mors Verum – Canvas Review by Sandre the Giant Released: 6th February 2026 A new year, a new slate of Transcending Obscurity releases to cut my 2026 teeth on, and with the new EP from Canadian death metallers Mors Ver…

Review: Mors Verum - Canvas

@transcendingobs.bsky.social
#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/26/r...

2026 Anniversary Series 016: Ozzy Osbourne – The Ultimate Sin Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 22nd February 1986 By 1986, the world of Ozzy Osbourne had been through some tribulations but he had emerged newly sober, dried out by Betty Ford, into the stu…

2026 Anniversary Series 016: Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/26/2...

Live Review: Sanguisugabogg/Fulci/Gates to Hell/Celestial Sanctuary (17/02/26) Live Review by Sandre the Giant When you try and curate your social media algorithm to show you only the stuff you’re actually looking for, you get a lot of tour flyers when you’re a me…

Live Review: Sanguisugabogg/Fulci/Gates to Hell/Celestial Sanctuary (17/02/26)

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/26/l...

My piece on 'The Ultimate Sin' found me once again confirming that there is no bad Ozzy solo record

Review: Coscradh – Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld Review by Sandre the Giant Released: 20th February 2026 Ireland’s Coscradh have always had a sound that put them apart from the rest of the black/death hordes out there, even from their self …

Review: Coscradh - Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/24/r...

Today is the Day are a fucking wild ride

2026 Anniversary Series 015: Krisiun – AssassiNation Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 21st February 2006 In the annuls of death metal’s history, South America will probably rank lower than it deserves in the pantheon of defining scenes in …

2026 Anniversary Series 015: Krisiun - AssassiNation

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/24/2...

Review: Nytt Land – Aba Khan Review by Sandre the Giant Released: 20th February 2026 Originally published here: The tenth full length record from Siberian folk duo Nytt Land, ‘Aba Khan’, sees them back to picking a…

Review: Nytt Land - Aba Khan

@thesleepingshaman.bsky.social
#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/23/r...

Review: Nytt Land 'Aba Khan' - The Sleeping Shaman Sandy dissects Nytt Land ‘Aba Khan’ – intertwining voices that undulate through various tones and keys, never quite sounding of this earth

⚡ New Review ⚡

Sandy dissects Nytt Land ‘Aba Khan’ – intertwining voices that undulate through various tones and keys, never quite sounding of this earth. Read the full review over at The Sleeping Shaman👇

thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/nytt...

@thekillchainblog.bsky.social

2026 Anniversary Series 014: In Flames – The Jester Race Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 20th February 1996 Reelased on the same day as Sepultura’s ‘Roots’, Swedish melodeath legends In Flames gave us their second full length and …

2026 Anniversary Series 014: In Flames - The Jester Race

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/21/2...

2026 Anniversary Series 013: Sepultura – Roots Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 20th February 1996 Well, this is the first real biggie of the 2026 Anniversary Series; one of 1996’s most ‘controversial’ albums and one of i…

2026 Anniversary Series 013: Sepultura - Roots

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/2...

New homemade banner dropped!

This prick needs named and shamed. 'I don't like companies who have beliefs' is a wild sentence

Review: Fossilization – Advent of Wounds Review by Sandre the Giant Released: 13th February 2026 I was a big fan of Fossilization’s 2023 record ‘Leprous Daylight’, and the return of the newest Brazilian death/doom monstr…

Review: Fossilization - Advent of Wounds

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/16/r...

2026 Anniversary Series 012: The Sword – Age of Winters Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 14th February 2006 If there was a genre that really blossomed in the late 2000s somewhere between the heavier extremes of metal subgenres coming back to life, …

2026 Anniversary Series 012: The Sword - Age of Winters

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/15/2...

Review: Glassbone – Ruthless Savagery Review by Sandre the Giant Released: 13th February 2026 The blending of death metal and hardcore has really come into its own in the past few years, and I’m not meaning lurid pig squealing, b…

Review: Glassbone - Ruthless Savagery

#metalsky

thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2026/02/13/r...