Old Sorcery "The Outsider" (2026)

 

It turns out that the twenty minute epic Magick Truimph was not a lone anomaly but the lead single and opening track of this fervent march into the mystic chills of synth laden Black Metal. An attentive individual may notice the link in title and cover art framing with last years The Escapist. That album ended with a brief flush of distortion guitar, suggesting another link into The Outsider, a meaty seventy plus minute plunge into sways between aggressive metallic mania and occult esoteric offerings.

Barrowgrim Asylum plunders one extreme, a cold chromatic track toying frightening hellish cries from the void with cheesy horror key tones. Innigkeit and The Pain Threshold serve the other end of this diabolical spectrum, soothing yet mystic synth interludes, evoking curious atmospheres of arcane and sequestered secrets.

The records best resides where these two ends meet. The Interior Gates Of The True Soul offers up delight when its Berlin School lead melody infuses the dark ravenous blasting with an emotional through line. Suddenly the music illuminates as some sort of 80s Synthpop vibe makes its resonance with a bi-polar opposite known.

Where Sorrow Reigns is my absolute favorite, a throwback to late 90s Symphonic Black Metal. Its seemingly dense foray of darkness opens up a third of the way in. Jovial piano keys call out from a carnival of chaos. Its following grooves infuse symphonic wonder and stoke the flames of greats, like Dimmu Borgir, Emperor and Arcturus that came before. A simple wonder for this fan of that particular niche.

In essence, The Outsider is an entertaining exploration of tried and true extreme sounds, armed with peculiarities and inspiration to bring moments of genuine freshness. They are however, somewhat sparse. With competency and passion, this record plays with an excitement hard to come across these days. Its interesting to see artists shift direction but this is a somewhat retroactive pivot to enjoy an old craft.

Rating: 7/10

Poppy "Empty Hands" (2026)

Keeping up the impressive pace, Poppy swiftly returns with her seventh full length album. Empty Hands is another amalgamation of Alternative Metal, Pop Metal and Djent, emulating the modern scene, still struggling to surface an originality to call her own. Consistency strikes well in the album's opening half, a firm grip on bombastic guitar tones paint dense atmospheres for her singing to cut through. The opener Public Domain chops this up with a blatant ohmage to Manson's 90s Industrial style.

Diversification unravels in its second half, Eat The Hate delves into revival Grunge. A well executed song that cant quite escape her presence. The Wait, Blink and Ribs toy with Electro Pop beats and dreamy Synths, a vibe switch up I can't help but feel is closer to Poppy's voice as an artist. This is my gripe with her persona in the music, the instrumental influences of Metal and Alternative don't meld with her expressions.

On the vocal front, she is certainly working on the aggressive intensity of her shouts and screams, amping up the energy with crude throaty roars on brutality tracks Dying To Forget and Empty Hands. The latter plays a vibrant meaty Metalcore number spliced with a Pop Metal chorus. Empty Hands containing throwbacks to the late 00s Deathcore scene, peaking with an ever cringy and hilarious bree pig squeal.

Most likely thanks to switching songwriters, Empty Hands has been the easiest of her records to get into. Despite that, I still don't feel a strong connection between voice and instrumental that has been a continual pain point across her records. Its the same issue that lets these songs fade from memory, so I'm left with a familiar sense of enjoyment in the moment, but no idea which tracks will stick over time.

Rating: 7/10

Old Sorcery "Magick Triumph" (2026)

 

Unlike Old Sorcery's other pair of lone twenty minute forays into mystical synth-led atmospheres, Magick Triumph is not an ambient piece but an epic, thunderous adventure. Opening with the endless drips of glum soaked rain, sodden strings punctuate this earthly, stone-cold setting. A plucked instruments ticks on by, marking a lone adventurer's dreary march forth, treking through dusky forests. Brooding with burden, it steadily groans into a ghostly church bell of foreboding. After a brief, dreamy lull, that menace returns to roost as gristly distortion guitars bleed under a discernible, deathly, cryptic voice. With a touch of predictability, the music unravels in a clash, rumbling drums pounding that typical signature Black Metal motif.

From here, curious synths evoke an esoteric mood, narrating the feel of this droning, low-fidelity grimness. Howling voices wretch from the void, scowling with a beastly intensity and the song shifts its blasting drum patterns to shuffle through its various arrangements of spooky void surfing mania. Although it seeks out a climax, the predictable Black Metal chops keep it within expectations. Despite this tameness, hearing Old Sorcery explore a strong neighbouring influence of Dungeon Synth is a welcome delight. Better than I've heard some other bedroom composers try it, yet far from miraculous. Its a familiar theme really well executed!

Rating: 6/10