Creeping Ivy

So let it be written

Weeping Sores – The Convalescence Agonies [Things You Might Have Missed 2025]

By Creeping Ivy on December 12, 2025 in Things You Might Have Missed 2025, Death Doom, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 25 comments

“Pleasure—as Judas Priest, sadomasochists, and Flagellants teach us—can be found in pain. Doug Moore and Stephen Schwegler, the guitar/drum duo behind Weeping Sores, also teach this lesson with The Convalescence Agonies. As its title suggests, the sophomore Weeping Sores album chronicles Moore’s recovery from a shoulder injury that, quite unfortunately, prevented him from playing guitar. Quite fortunately for us, Moore sublimates his agony into the listener’s ecstasy with The Convalescence Agonies.” Art requires pain.

Pale Horse Ritual – Diabolic Formation Review

By Creeping Ivy on November 25, 2025 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Metal, 11 comments

“2025 must have been a challenging year to occupy the Sabbath-worship lane. Ozzy’s passing on July 22nd—seventeen days after the Back to the Beginning concert—hit metaldom hard, but it surely hit harder for bands that treat Master of Reality as a sacred text. Videos from the concert, especially of a throned Ozzy performing one last time with the original Sabbath lineup, provide solace, as do covers from legends like Metallica and Slayer. Tragically, 2025 has revitalized Sabbath; Sabbath-inspired bands walk a tightrope of honoring the original and wilting under its renascence. Merging into the Sabbath lane late in the year is Pale Horse Ritual, a Canadian quartet.” Take a walk on the Ozz side.

Monograf – Occultation Review

By Creeping Ivy on November 13, 2025 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Drone, Folk, Progressive Metal, 8 comments

“In the world of academia, the ‘monograph’ reigns supreme. A book-length study of a single subject, a monograph should synthesize essay-length analyses into one argument that contributes something new to the scholar’s field. To analogize the world of music to academia: the monograph stands in for the album, demonstrating an artist’s ability to cohere individual songs into one holistic listen. Monograf, a Norwegian post-rock collective, published its first monograph in 2019. Nadir made a novel contribution to post-rock by adding Norwegian folk music to soundscapes reminiscent of Godspeed You! Black Emperor.” Book smart vs. garage smart.

Revenge – Night Danger Review

By Creeping Ivy on October 25, 2025 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, Speed Metal, 17 comments

“Like all subgenres, speed metal exists at the nexus of other genres: namely, classic heavy metal and thrash. Whether a band leans towards a classic or thrashy version of the sound becomes the primary distinguisher. Night Danger, the latest LP from longstanding Colombian band Revenge, is a speed metal record in the vein of Running Wild and Razor. But Revenge leans in a classic direction, claiming Judas Priest and Helloween as inspirations.” Night danger is the best danger.

Harvest — For the Souls We Have Lost Review

By Creeping Ivy on October 14, 2025 in Reviews, Death Doom, Doom Metal, 16 comments

“Since nostalgia drives the creation and consumption of so much contemporary metal, metalheads might be interested in its etymology. A borrowing from post-classical Latin that combines the ancient Greek νόστος (‘return home’) and ‑αλγία (‘pain’), ‘nostalgia’ meant something like a pathologized homesickness when it came into English usage in the eighteenth century. So if you’re nostalgic for, say, the gothic doom metal of the 1990s, then 90s gothic doom is your musical home, your longing for this home rises to the level of a physical ailment, and Harvest may have the cure. A new Italian quintet, Harvest describes itself as an earnest tribute to bands like My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, and Katatonia.” Peaceville to the world.

Sad Serenity – Tiny Miracles Review

By Creeping Ivy on August 15, 2025 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, 35 comments

“Perhaps more than any other subgenre of metal, prog requires work. Prog metal’s penchant for long, complex compositions can make an entire album feel like a chore, but the genre also dazzles with displays of virtuosic musicianship that prompt repeat listens. Like their 2023 debut, The Grand Enigma, Tiny Miracles is a 70-plus minute opus, comprised of what Sad Serenity describes as ‘6 mostly overlong songs of up to 23 minutes.'” 4/5 in self-insight?