Chris Chantler

San Francisco’s metal stalwarts Metal Church fail to refuel with Damned If You Do

Norways’s progressive pioneers In The Woods... settle for a wistful stroll on Cease The Day

Nergal’s black/death juggernaut Behemoth joins a new pantheon of gods with I Loved You At Your Darkest

Matt Pike's ratchets up his war cry with High On Fire's Electric Messiah

Trouble frontman returns with his all-star doom crew The Skull for The Endless Road Turns Dark

Germany’s metal monarch Doro returns with a full bounty on Forever Warriors, Forever United

Berlin’s mystic-minded rockers Lucifer realign their forces with Lucifer II

Gothenburg’s celebrated retro-rockers Graveyard come back swinging with Peace

Mannheim-based newbies nail the trad doom dynamics

Prolific British doom-death crew find themselves on the up

Supercharged doom with a vocal fireball up front

England’s metal institution form a Viking alliance

Progressive, Portuguese doom with acres of grace

Niklas Kvarforth finds a new, belligerent balance

African-American metal pioneers finally get a full airing

Norway’s avant-black pioneers make a long-awaited return

Gothenburg doom ruffians rattle their caves on their debut

Heart-rending testament to a talent taken too soon

Nordic eccentrics open up an exhilarating new box of tricks