You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

Robert Scott Weinrich, aka Wino, remains one of doom’s foremost pioneers and with bands like Saint Vitus, The Obsessed and Shrinebuilder, he has released an expansive body of work defined by raw, uncompromising heaviness. Wholly oblivious to commercial viability, Wino’s vision has historically stood in surly defiance to prevailing trends both in and outside of heavy metal, conferring upon his music a broad artistic credibility. On his third solo album – the inaugural release in Ripple Music’s ‘Blood And Strings’ acoustic series – Wino revisits the acoustic approach of 2010’s Adrift. Forever Gone hews largely to the stripped-down balladry of tracks like Dead Yesterday and Taken, though it closers with a swaggering blues rock cover of Joy Division’s Isolation. Musically these tracks fall into a very generic strain of bare-bones Americana but its highly compelling lyrics and spectral sense of intimacy certainly merit a listen.

Hailing from San Diego, California, Joe Daly is an award-winning music journalist with over thirty years experience. Since 2010, Joe has been a regular contributor for Metal Hammer, penning cover features, news stories, album reviews and other content. Joe also writes for Classic Rock, Bass Player, Men’s Health and Outburn magazines. He has served as Music Editor for several online outlets and he has been a contributor for SPIN, the BBC and a frequent guest on several podcasts. When he’s not serenading his neighbours with black metal, Joe enjoys playing hockey, beating on his bass and fawning over his dogs.