This album is a contradiction. four tracks spread across over 50 minutes, yet Bongripper find no time for vocals/lyrics. Nor do they find time for solos. Hell, they barely have time to create song names... the four tracks are simply titled:

1. Hail
2. Satan
3. Worship
4. Doom

All they have time to do is beat you about the head and neck with riff after riff after riff for nearly an hour.

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BitterCOld Thryce, Marcel Hubregtse, White Winter Sun, X-Ray Rod, ScreamingSteelUS

Not only are these guys massive live, their latest disc is as well. The production really lets those bluesy doom riffs take center stage, and Victor's vocals and lyrics are delivered with purpose and depth. From the thick opening sounds "The Maker" to the reflective "Though He Slay Me," and finally to my choice in "Timeless Hearts" with its great groove, this is metal that calms while also inspiring the mind and soul.

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Jason W. Dane Train, Marcel Hubregtse, Troy Killjoy, White Winter Sun

Some melancholic dark metal to get you into the season's spirit...

(Definitely not their best release though.)

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Thryce Ag Fox

Blaze might not have had the easiest of times either through his career or especially as of late. This guy has battled through all odds to release his most successful album to date. Promise And Terror is a great heavy metal album that touches on speed metal, but also towards the end touches on some very dark issues too. Give him another go; you might be surprised.

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Baz Anderson Music4TheSpirit

so i've teased, tormented and tantalized you with a review of an album you could not have... Until Now.

It's a Festivus miracle.

If you like yer doom slow, drawn out, growly, and HELLenic, you know what to do.

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BitterCOld Marcel Hubregtse, Jason W., Troy Killjoy, X-Ray Rod

Hailing from Germany, these guys took me by surprise with their debut full-length, whose title I refuse to even try to spell here. If you're into groovy, well-produced doom metal that speeds up quite often, Essenz will rock your boat till you fall out of it. Pseudo tribal chanting, eerie female voices, headbang-inducing riffage, pounding drumming, even a song that has no sound in it. If you try this, you'll be in for some seriously weird offering. It may amaze you, it may bore you, but it will not leave you indifferent. Most likely, Essenz will put you in a trance. It put me at least. A solid debut, promising a lot for the future.

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Daniell

It's December, and the traditional end-of-year-list season is coming up... Which is why I'll provide you with yet another awesome tip, so your own silly best of 2010 list will already look a little less terrible. You're very welcome.

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Thryce Marcel Hubregtse, Daniell, Unknown user, Doc G., BitterCOld, Troy Killjoy, White Winter Sun, X-Ray Rod

Sludge! From the "Riff Filled Land!"

Listening to this album is akin to being beaten about the head and neck (very slowly) with blunt objects. Only I imagine listening to this album is a lot more fun than being battered by blunt objects. Slow, deep, hard and drenched in feedback.

If you still need convincing, read my review for more.

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BitterCOld Deadsoulman, Marcel Hubregtse, White Winter Sun, Nefarious, Troy Killjoy, X-Ray Rod

Love them or hate them, Cradle Of Filth are back with their most extreme album since Cruelty And The Beast. The band are still the modern force you have come to terms with of recent years, but the band have gone up yet another gear with this release.

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Baz Anderson Daniell

The new The Ocean album is much better than the other new The Ocean album.

The album lies perfectly in line with its predecessor, with the sole difference that Anthropocentric shows aggression, heaviness, power and, well, everything else Heliocentric was lacking.

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Thryce X-Ray Rod

After thirty years dedicated to the thrash metal, German metallers Sodom are still alive and ready to kick some asses with their devastating stuff.

In War And Pieces is not reinventing the wheel, Sodom remains Sodom, but at least, it remains a very massive and solid album.

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White Winter Sun Troy Killjoy, Ag Fox

It has been too many years since I've heard that unmistakable sound of Finnish melancholic metal/hard rock echo through my mind. I had never expected that release to come from Negative's latest Neon, as I always thought their past production was just too flimsy for my taste, but it seems I have been proven wrong, thankfully! The guys take me on a journey that makes me yearn for that mildly-used 1970s convertible, ready to drive away into the endless horizon with pounding, melancholic metal to throw away my life's disappointments into the wind.

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Jason W. Ivan

Arjen is back with his band of merry men for the follow-up to 2002's Space Metal. Following that album wasn't an easy task, but now eight years on and we have yet another fantastic album with all the Arjen and Star One hallmarks.

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Baz Anderson Dane Train, Susan, Ivor, Ag Fox, Nefarious

24 years after the band's conception, one of the best-kept secrets in the Finnish thrash metal underground has finally released its debut full-length. Needless to say Altars Of Destruction will be kicking ass up and down the scene with this beast of an album.

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Thryce White Winter Sun, BitterCOld

As the genre description above implies (and I suppose the album title itself), Sad aren't leaving their audience with much choice other than to self-mutilate in the most gruesome manner possible. No fancy effects, no thick production - just raw self-loathing in the form of intensely depressive repetition. Get out your razor blades and fill the bath tub with hot water for this one: things are going to get real messy.

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Troy Killjoy Ag Fox