Wow.
Not only have Misery Index rebounded from the slightly disappointing Discordia and returned to the full on brilliance of Retaliate, they have responded to the gauntlet thrown down by the recent Willowtip triple headed assault of Kill the Client, Phobia and Maruta as far as American grindcore in 2008 is concerned.
While one could argue Misery [...]

Compared to the dense, melancholy psychedelia of Origo, Lazarus Bird surprises from note one by taking a confident step back to Burst’s hardcore roots. Opener “I Hold Vertigo” attacks with a lurching hammerblow riff, and vocalist Linus Jägerskog tears into his work as if he’s rediscovering it. He sounds fresher and meaner than anything I [...]

Coldworker have provided us with their second album and what a revelation. I confess I didn’t really listen to the first one that much so I can’t say that much for their progress since then but Rotting Paradise has blown my mind.
Coldworker remind me of an amalgam of The Forsaken and Hate Plow, due to [...]

Genghis Tron are such a unclassifiable, hard to review act, that any attempt to give a reader an idea of the band’s sound just seems redundant lip service, but as it may, one of Relapse’s newer signings have released their sophomore album, and it deserves your ear despite my forthcoming clumsy attempt at describing it.
While [...]

While certainly death metal in 2008 is on the upswing with releases by Brain Drill, Decrepit Birth, and Hate Eternal, the fact is death metal is still just death metal. However, Origin, after four albums of complex yet relatively singular and forgetful speed, have now fully embraced and developed songwriting chops hinted ever-so-slightly on 2006’s [...]

I hate to beat a dead horse, as I’m sure most of you have read reviews of this rather high profile release already, but I’ll say it anyway-the side project featuring Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed and Kirk Windstein of Crowbar sounds like a mix of Hatebreed and Crowbar.
There. End of review.
Ok maybe not. Of course, [...]

San Francisco aggro-doom trio High on Fire check in with their latest, Death Is This Communion. This marks the departure of Smilin’ Joe Preston (show of hands, who didn’t see that coming?), bassist extraordinaire from Thrones, Melvins, Earth, et al. but not quite metal enough to handle such a thunderous mantle. Enter Holy Terror axeman [...]

Believe it or don’t, my lovelies, but I’m a man of some idiosyncrasy. I sleep butt naked except for my wristwatch, which I only remove to shower. I have never worn - will never wear - a green shirt. And I only eat one dish per meal. Which is to say, I’ll make a meal [...]

First, a big effin’ “eff you” to Relapse for not including the lyrics with this promo. True, most extreme music lyrics are patent mush, but JR Hayes’ poetry is an essential part of the PD experience. Anyhoo…
I’ve always wondered how some (very few) bands can actually recreate and express emotion in their songs while others [...]

I’ve got a brother who thinks Alabama Thunderpussy is one of the best things since electric guitar. To be honest, I’ve never really been that into them. Maybe it’s because of the band name, which I always thought was a little silly. To be honest, I can’t see myself sporting the Alabama Thunderpussy T-shirt. At [...]

Where as most ambient post rock, Neurosis/Isis Styled metal seems to be intent on mixing dreamy moments of lucid ambience and beautiful introspection amid their cascading riffs, however Arkansas’ Rwake, have for their four album career focused on a more disturbing and fractured delivery of the now saturated genre, making them stand out from the [...]

Here’s a musical transition I didn’t see coming. Canada’s The End, after an EP and two albums of Dillinger worshipping, uber complex mathcore, have settled down and spread their wings.
Though not quite as drastic as Cave In’s mid era transformation, as The End still deliver plenty of churning, technical riffs and bitter vocal patterns, but [...]

Flourishing not only as an effectually transcendental aural barrage, but also as genuine philosophical pontification, The Trident finds Unearthly Trance to be maturing, with listeners becoming the beneficiaries of a continuing state of musical evolution. Let’s focus squarely upon what this record sounds like, before lapsing into any overtly narcissistic interpretations of the nature which [...]

Armed with a shiny new deal with Relapse and riding acclaimed criticism of their self released Dissent EP, which hinted at a legendary follow up to the scene shaking Retaliate, Misery Index appear ready to conquer the extreme metal world…Then why is it that Discordia underwhelms me? Why am I mildly disappointed? Did Retaliate and [...]

What hurts this album is already known. There is no “Scrape.” But how was “Scrape,” musically speaking, different from any of their other songs? It’s just the memorable video that will forever haunt the men of Unsane. What a shame too, because Blood Run is my favorite album of theirs because every song stands out [...]

Few bands can claim to have the recent adversity of Soilent Green (the tragic death of bassist Scott Williams), and it shows on this album as Soilent Green is as angry as ever. Admittedly, Soilent Green’s last album A Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down, had a ‘samey’ quality about you just had to enjoy [...]

For some reason, Kansas’s Origin seems to be one of those bands the metal community has singled out for a rather undeserved level of internet harassment. Sure, on their self-titled debut they were a mindless vortex of speed, but on follow up Informis, Infinitas, Inhumanitas, I really thought the band improved and focused somewhat although [...]

Steve Austin, the man whose gloriously deranged mind state forms the axis by which the cataclysmic sonic universe of Today Is The Day revolves, is not exactly the kind of person you would trade places with, but for reasons that have little to do with his actual madness. Sadness Will Prevail, the oft-maligned follow up [...]

“Anyone who isn’t dead or from another plane of existence, would do well to cover their ears, right about now.”
This superbly appropriate sample from the move “Dogma,” opens the song “Inhuman,” on Origin’s second album, Informis, Infinitas, Inhumanitas. Never has a sample been so fitting. I’ll be the first to tell you, I wasn’t impressed [...]

Bands like Agoraphobic Nosebleed make or break with me on their willingness and ability to inject a little flava into the whir. Listening to thirty-plus minutes of hypergurgle is no more innately interesting than listening to an electric fan. (I’m weirdly fascinated by the fact that we finally have bands whose music imitates the sounds [...]

As the glut of stoner rock becomes deeper and less buzzed, it’s nice to see bands like Alabama Thunderpussy taking the genre into heavier and dirtier directions, content to expand, maximize and rock hard.
What it comes down to is that when the band screams out “Play This Record Loud!!!” on the back sleeve, they aren’t [...]

Leave it to Relapse to bring us the finest in international death metal. Dreams Of Death And Dismay is nearly 47 minutes of blast beats, merciless grooves, wicked guitar harmonies and old-school death vocals that is sure to please long-time death fans.
The guitars are simply bludgeoning with super thick rhythm tones and cutting lead work. [...]

If there was ever a band in metal that reveled in defying expectations and restrictive labels while continuing to move in a forward direction, it has been Amorphis. Ever since their groundbreaking effort Tales from the Thousand Lakes, they have been on a seemingly endless track of experimentation and evolution.
Am Universum, their latest effort, shows [...]

For those of you who aren’t up on current events, or just don’t care enough to research the metal market outside of your own community, the Brazilian death metal scene is blowing up. While the country is still best known for its street-sweeping execution squads, its death metal scene has slowly evolved into one of [...]