In the multifaceted, richly nuanced world of metal, it’s something of a delight to find a record that has true cross-genre appeal. Sure, history has thrown us some real perennial favourites from NWOBHM or thrash – like Judas Priest’s Painkiller or Metallica’s Master of Puppets – but on the more extreme end of the spectrum, this doesn’t happen as often. Possibly the best contender in this category would be Celtic Frost’s Monotheist, with its death-doom-goth-black appeal ticking the boxes of just about anybody with black jeans and some angst to spare. Drawing heavily from this dark and putrid well of inspiration is Agnes Vein’s Deathcall, however: an equally varied, crushing slab of gloom that deserves attention from just about every port of call of the guitar rock journey. Chin-out, horns-u...