A Ritual of Sound, Sight, & Story

Welcome to the Sanctum

Welcome to the Athenaeum — a sanctum devoted to discovering, documenting, and preserving the underground. Through in-depth reviews, we explore the sound, craft, and character behind each release; through interviews, we open the chamber to the artists themselves, allowing their stories, influences, and creative visions to speak in their own words. Here, discovery is devotion, analysis is ritual, and every voice adds another page to the archive.

The Sanctum We Keep

Athenaeum of Sin Reviews is an independent underground music publication rooted in County Durham, UK. Established as a space for discovering and exploring music beyond the mainstream, the Athenaeum brings together in-depth reviews and artist interviews within a growing digital archive. Our focus remains firmly upon the underground — from independent and unsigned artists to established entities whose work crosses the darker, heavier, and more unconventional reaches of sound.

Disciples of the Craft

The Athenaeum is helmed by Kris and Gemma, two disciples whose contrasting tastes, influences, and creative interests shape its identity. Together, we work across reviews, interviews, editing, website development, and visual design — bringing two different sides of the underground beneath the same roof.

Kris — Extreme and black metal form the darker foundations of my musical world, feeding the sin, ritual, occult imagery, and atmosphere woven throughout the Athenaeum. Beyond music, my influences reach into Hammer Horror, Dario Argento, The Wicker Man, The Devil Rides Out, The Crow, The Lord of the Rings, Predator, and Alien/Aliens, alongside the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, and the Brothers Grimm.

Gemma — My musical world leans towards the melodic, epic, and accessible side of the Athenaeum, including Nightwish, The Raven Age, Five Finger Death Punch, Amon Amarth, and epic power metal. I am also a Pagan Witch, with an interest in Pagan and Viking history, while anime and digital drawing form an important part of my creative life and visual inspiration.

Seven Sins, One Review

Every review within the Athenaeum follows our Seven Sins — a structured editorial system created to examine a release without reducing it to a numerical score. The first three Sins form a concise summary of the composition, before the Fourth Sin opens into the main review. The remaining Sins preserve what stood out, examine the visual presentation, and provide space for constructive disrelish.

• I · Strings/Keys — a concise summary of the guitars, bass, keys, synths, and other melodic or atmospheric instrumentation.
• II · Vocals — a concise summary of vocal styles, tone, delivery, and expression.
• III · Percussion — a concise summary of the drumming, rhythms, pacing, and overall percussive character.
• IV · Overall Discussion — the heart of the review: an in-depth exploration of the release, its hymns, composition, devilmanship, production, atmosphere, themes, and other elements relevant to the work.
• V · Memorable Elements — the elements that remain with us: standout hymns, passages, performances, or details worthy of remembrance.
• VI · Artwork — examination of the cover artwork and its relationship to the release, where appropriate.
• VII · Disrelish — anything that did not resonate with us, expressed constructively and without numerical judgement or needless hostility.

Thirteen Questions, One Interview

Interviews within the Athenaeum follow our Thirteen Questions format, created to give artists the space to speak beyond the confines of a traditional promotional interview. Each begins with an open question inviting the artist or entity to introduce themselves in their own words, before moving through thirteen individually prepared questions exploring their music, creative process, influences, history, and the subjects surrounding their work.

There is no word limit placed upon an answer and no expectation for an artist to keep their responses brief. Whether an answer requires a single sentence or several paragraphs, the space is theirs. The thirteen questions are followed by an open invitation to add anything that was not covered — effectively opening a fourteenth chamber without restricting what may pass through it.

Interviews are conducted by email, allowing each artist the time and freedom to consider their answers without the pressure of a live conversation. Answers are published as submitted; we do not edit, trim, or rewrite an artist’s responses. Their words remain the centre of the interview, presented with clarity and respect while preserving their individual voice.

The Ritual of Review

The Athenaeum operates independently, with every submission given the time required to be listened to, researched, written, checked, and prepared for publication. We do not rush a review simply to meet a release date; the work must be ready before it crosses the threshold into the archive.

• I · Publishing Days — Reviews and interviews are ordinarily published from Sunday to Monday, although additional pieces may appear outside this window when required.
• II · Submissions — Submissions are accepted throughout the week and enter our editorial workflow for consideration and preparation.
• III· Submission Widow — We ask that material is submitted with at least fourteen days’ notice where possible, particularly when publication is requested around a specific release date.
• IV · Special Requests —Date-specific publication requests may be considered by prior arrangement, but cannot always be guaranteed.
• V · Updated Information — If artwork, release dates, line-ups, credits, track listings, or other important details change after submission, we ask that updated information is sent to us as soon as possible.
• VI · Editorial Discretion — Acceptance of a submission does not remove our editorial independence. The final structure, focus, and publication of every feature remain under the Athenaeum’s editorial control.

Boundaries of Sound

The Athenaeum has no interest in confining the underground to a single genre. Our archive crosses black, death, doom, thrash, progressive and hybrid metal, alongside rock, punk, industrial, electro, ambient, dungeon synth, and other darker or unconventional forms of sound. If a release belongs within the wider world we explore, we are willing to cross its threshold.

Our boundaries concern content and intent rather than musical extremity. We do not feature material created to promote political or religious ideology, extremist movements, hatred, or discriminatory causes..

NSBM, Red/Communist Black Metal, Unblack/Christian Black Metal, pornographic or explicitly sexualised extreme music, AI-generated music, and plagiarised work fall outside the Athenaeum.

These boundaries are not a declaration of what constitutes “true” or “false” metal. They exist so the Athenaeum can remain focused upon music, artistry, discovery, and the people creating it, rather than becoming a platform for ideological conflict.

The underground may be confrontational, abrasive, disturbing, or uncompromising — but within the Athenaeum, the music comes first.

Formats We Sanctify

The Athenaeum welcomes music across a range of release formats, from substantial bodies of work to individual hymns. Full-length albums, EPs, singles, demos, splits, and compilations may all cross the threshold for consideration.

Our primary focus is upon current and recent releases, allowing the archive to document the underground as it develops. Earlier material may also be considered when it is reissued, remastered, rediscovered, or otherwise given new relevance.

While singles are accepted, our preference naturally leans towards albums and EPs, where a larger body of work gives us greater scope to explore an entity’s composition, atmosphere, devilmanship, themes, and artistic identity. Format does not determine worth — the work itself determines whether there is something worth exploring.

Echoes Beyond the Page

• Publication is not the end of the rite. Once a review or interview enters the Athenaeum archive, we carry it beyond the website and into the wider underground
• Reviews and interviews are shared through our Facebook and Instagram channels, with artists, labels, and PR representatives acknowledged or tagged where appropriate. This gives each published feature another opportunity to reach existing followers, new listeners, and those connected to the release.
• Our purpose is not to chase algorithms or manufacture hype. Social media serves as an extension of the archive — a means of directing listeners back towards the music, the artist, and the complete work preserved within the Athenaeum.
• The feature may begin within the sanctum, but its echoes should travel beyond its walls.

Our Ritual Lexicon

Over time,the Athenaeum has developed its own ritual lexicon — terminology used throughout our reviews to give the archive a distinct voice while retaining a consistent meaning. These words are not substitutes for analysis; they form part of the language through which that analysis is presented.

• Hymn / Hymns — our term for a song or track within a release.
• Entity — used in place of “band” when referring collectively to the artists or musicians behind the work.
• Devilmanship — our own term for the musicianship, craftsmanship, performance, and creative execution displayed within a release.
• Forbidden Fruit of Art / Fruit of Art &mash; used to recognise artistry that leaves an exceptional impression upon us, with the terminology adopted with permission from Acherontia Styx.
• Disrelish — our term for an element that does not resonate with us personally. It allows criticism to remain constructive without turning disagreement in taste into hostility.
• The Seven Sins — the editorial structure through which every Athenaeum review is organised and explored.

These terms form part of the identity of Athenaeum of Sin Reviews. Our name, terminology, taglines, and Seven Sins format should not be reproduced as another publication’s identity or review system without explicit permission.

For further information regarding the use of our terminology, content, and website, please read our Privacy Policy.

Philosophy of the Sin

Every review within the Athenaeum begins with a simple principle: the music deserves to be heard before it is judged. We approach each release through attentive listening, research, and consideration of what the artist has attempted to create — examining the work on its own terms rather than forcing it into expectations it was never intended to fulfil.

• Strength Before Disrelish — Our reviews concentrate primarily upon what a release achieves: its composition, devilmanship, atmosphere, production, lyrical themes, and individual character. Where something does not resonate with us, it belongs within Disrelish and is expressed constructively.
• No Numerical Judgement — We do not award scores, stars, percentages, or rankings. Music cannot be reduced to a number, and a listener should never be told that a release is worth precisely seven points out of ten.
• Criticism Without Destruction — Constructive criticism has a place within the Athenaeum; needless hostility does not. We have no interest in humiliating an artist, manufacturing controversy, or writing a negative review simply for entertainment.
• Discovery Before Status — An unsigned solo entity creating music from a bedroom deserves the same attentive ear as an established artist backed by a label. Reputation, follower counts, and commercial reach do not determine how seriously we approach the work.
• The Archive Endures — Every review and interview becomes part of a growing record of the underground. Some entities will continue, others will disappear, and releases may eventually become difficult to find — but their passage through the Athenaeum remains documented.

This is the philosophy behind the Sin: listen deeply, write deliberately, criticise constructively, and allow the music to speak.