Mini Reviews From Around the Bowl (1/22/26)
Snacks for your eyes and ears.
The Halo Effect – We Are Shadows
Nuclear Blast Records | November 21, 2025
Swedish supergroup The Halo Effect are back with their second release of 2025 just after putting out their sophomore album, but this time they’re hitting us with an EP of cover songs. Although I liked their debut album just fine, their second full-length release March of the Unheard flew under my radar and has still been unheard by me. Phenomena’s “Dance With The Devil” sounds quickly cobbled together, but it did inspire me to check out the much better original version. I’m shocked I had never before heard of Phenomena given what a post-Ozzy Black Sabbath fan I am (the original project featured the likes of Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen, Cozy Powell, and Tony Martin). The best track hands-down is Broder Daniel’s “Shoreline.” The cover itself is very good and when I listened to the original, it was absolutely on par. The main melody of the song from the long defunct Swedish alt-rock band lends itself well to this particular supergroup and wouldn’t sound out of place on a mid-90’s In Flames record. If you decide to skip this EP, that’s totally understandable, but if anything from this review made you curious you should at least dig into Phenomena, Kent, and Broder Daniel if you’re otherwise unfamiliar. – Voided Grimace
Bloodbound – Field of Swords
Napalm Records | November 21, 2025
Sweden’s Bloodbound has mostly been a paint-by-numbers power metal band for their nearly two decades of existence. While their debut album was actually good enough to stand out from the homogenous power metal crowd in 2007 with its heavily Iron Maiden influenced songs, it’s been a downslide into heinous derivation ever since. That being said, their 11th album Field of Swords does have some enjoyable moments, even if there’s still nothing new under the sun. The band has picked up from their usual mid-pace, giving us speedy power metal anthems like “Field of Swords,” which is probably the catchiest song on the album. Other standouts are “As Empires Fall” and “Defenders of Jerusalem,” but the rest of the record sadly blurs together in its sameness. I wouldn’t skip any of the three songs named in this review on a playlist, but I don’t see myself making an effort to play this album end-to-end in the future. – Voided Grimace
Void Monuments – Posthumous Imprecation
Blood Harvest Records | January 16, 2026
After a false start in 2022 as a two-person project, Void Monuments has returned with a full lineup to deliver their first full-length, Posthumous Imprecation. Old school death metal is the name of the game here, but not the Incantation worshipping variety that we’ve been so inundated with for now over a decade. Instead, the Russian band pays homage to the thrashier stylings of Deicide, Malevolent Creation, and Monstrosity. Songs like album opener “Epitome of Fear” and “Invocation” will relentlessly bludgeon you with riffs while other tracks like “Devilish Prophecies” and “The Sign of Blasphemy” showcase a degree of versatility with their dynamic arrangements and varied tempos. While the album is plenty fun from front to back, it suffers a bit from an inconsistent production job. We’re nowhere near bedroom black metal production here and I may just be a little picky, but on some tracks the bass, guitars, and drums just sort of throb and compete for space in the mix. If that’s something you can look past, then Posthumous Imprecation might be for you. – Voided Grimace
Textures – Genotype
Kscope | January 23rd, 2026
Textures was one of my favorite bands in High School. They were one of those early prog/proto-djent-ish bands (pre-Periphery) whose songs still hold up remarkably well today. I just went back to “Regenesis,” “Awake,” and “Reaching Home,” and all three (across three albums) still give me chills today. Absolute bangers. I didn’t spend a ton of time with their last release, 2016’s Phenotype, which could be chalked up to my changing tastes or an erosion of the magic. Hard to say. After a few years being disbanded, they’re back with Genotype, their first album in nearly a decade. The time off didn’t change their approach too much, using the same tricks that made them popular. There was still some juice to squeeze from that, thankfully. It’s a good comeback that the die-hards should be pretty happy about, but sadly lacking in quantity of hair-raising moments that got me hooked. Regardless, I’m glad to see them back and putting out solid material again. — Joaquin
Rotgut – 8 oz Cantrip
Independent | January 16, 2026
I was perfectly poised to hate this when it showed up in my inbox, given scuzzy black metal’s proclivity for sounding like it was recorded inside a trash can, so it was quite the pleasant surprise when 8 oz Cantrip turned out to be competently produced and extremely jammable besides. It hit me like Battlemaster by way of Black Fast; it’s bouncy and thrashy but simultaneously melancholy, the sort of thing that’ll have you skanking in the pit wearing a look of profound sadness. I’m a big fan of the lead guitar work as well, showing off a good ear for melody and some impressive technical chops. It’s in and out in under 15 minutes, too, making it perfect for when you need a quick fix of riffs. –Spear
