Filthy Music Review - 'Witchrist: Vritra' 12" MLP

Witchrist - Vritra 12” MLP (2015)

Iron Bonehead Productions

Review by Trevor Proctor

Iron Bonehead Productions is set to unleash an exclusive 12” MLP from one of New Zealand’s finest bands – Witchrist; a band that shared members with Diocletian and also featured KzR from the powerhouse that is BÖLZER on vocals for the first time on Vritra. New Zealand currently has a very healthy underground metal community and a seriously impressive group of bands to be proud of which includes the likes of Heresiarch, Diocletian, Vassafor, Trepanation and Sabbatic Goat. Unfortunately this MLP and a 7” split with Antediluvian via Martyrdoom Productions will be Witchrist’s final releases following the announcement of “the death of Witchrist” via Facebook on December 16^th. 

Filthy Music Review - 'Garotting Deep / FŌR : Void Asceticism' Split LP

Garotting Deep / FŌR - Void Asceticism Split LP (2015)

Iron Bonehead Productions

Review by Trevor Proctor

With many excellent releases already in the pipeline 2015 is shaping up to be another highly significant and exciting year for underground death metal. A constant force within this underground is Iron Bonehead Productions which is due to bring us more quality music via a split LP from two very promising and up-coming black/death bands - Garotting Deep and FŌR.

Filthy Giveaway - 'The Woman in Black 2 Angel of Death' Closed

2015 is here at last! So, what better way to kick things off, here at The Lair, than with a new giveaway? Exactly, sounds good to me. As you may have gathered from the poster above, it's for some rather cool The Woman in Black 2 Angel of Death swag. The film, which is the sequel to the 2012 movie which starred Daniel Radcliffe, has just hit theaters from Relativity.

Jude Felton's Top 20 Albums of 2014

2014 has, without a doubt, been an incredibly dark year for me, on a personal level. However, one of the things that has helped me through it has been the sheer quality of new music that has been released. I could have quite easily doubled the length of this list, as it has been that damned good, To say it was tough to compile would be a severe understatement.

Trevor Proctor's Top 20 Albums of 2014

This has been a fantastic year for albums and the only down side this brings is trying to select a year-end list befitting of such a year - it’s very easy to criticise lists but I can assure compiling them is far from straight forward. As testimony to the standard of this year’s releases I’ve opted to select three albums for the number one spot. This is not a cop-out in any way, shape or form, merely a reflection of just how good this year has been and the three albums in question are exemplary releases that I just couldn’t and don’t want to split – which is why my list ends at 18. There are also a few albums such as those from Swallowed, Triptykon and Winterfylleth, amongst others, that are missing from my list – this is merely because I won’t get my grubby mitts on them until Christmas.

Filthy Music Review - 'Vircolac: Codex Perfida'

Vircolac - Codex Perfida (2014)

Iron Bonehead Productions 

Review by Trevor Proctor

Ever the source of exciting and fresh underground music, once again Iron Bonehead has dredged the depths of Hell and unearthed another gem. Not content with supplying us top-notch bands such as Malthusian and Zom, Dublin has another new band to be proud of - Vircolac. Named after a Ukrainian werewolf this four piece death metal band is another Irish band you’ll be hearing a lot more of in the near future. 

Trevor's Top 10 Singles, EP's and Demo's of 2014

With 2014 being such a productive year it was always going to be difficult to select a year-end list of favourites. Narrowing EP, 7” and demo releases down to a list of ten has been a nightmare – the only thing that will prove even more difficult is an album list which is due to follow from both Jude and myself over the next few weeks. Anyhow, here’s my selection along with links to the relevant labels etc.  And by the way, I cheated slightly as there’s eleven releases covered; the joint number ten features two seriously excellent debuts that were simply impossible to split. - Trevor Proctor

Filthy Music Review - 'Voices: London'

Voices – London (2014)

Candlelight Records

Review by Jude Felton

Last year saw Voices debut album, the obnoxiously titled but musically superior, From the Human Forest Create a Fugue of Imaginary Rain, lay waste to my eardrums. The band, having risen from the ashes of UK band Akercocke, were not about to rest on any laurels and release a sub-par album. It was, and still is, an outstanding debut. Now, with a European release date in 2014, and 2015 in the US (due to a distribution change with Candlelight), they spew forth their follow-up, the abruptly named London, and what a perfect title it is.