Werewolves don’t like you. In fact, they fucking hate you. They said so on the first track of their last album What A Time to be Alive, and on track 2 of this new one, they flat out say they are better than you and are genuinely shocked that you think you’re worthy of buying […]

I admit that I don’t have that much of knowledge (if at all) in grind. Sure, when I was young and vulnerable for all sorts of influences I listened to Napalm Death and Carcass from the tape that I stole from my brother, but I found the Sepultura, Dismember and Cannibal Corpse songs more entertaining. […]

Hailing from Poland, Delight is yet another name to take a bite of the female-fronted gothic metal cake. And in the light of the recent listening experiences I’ve had with groups of such nature, I couldn’t avoid the emotions of extreme prejudice and skepticism. For the bands benefit I was sure that their third album, […]

Apparently Siegebürgen’s frontman, Marcus Ehlin felt that he couldn’t express all of his emotions with his main band and thus created Devlin to serve these feelings. In the process, Lexi was hired to deal with the lead vocal duties. Musically, the project isn’t the most original thing since sliced bread; female vocals that are sometimes […]

Hailing from Belgium, newcomer Welkin brings death from below with their debut full-length, Angel Inside. Somehow reminding me of a perverted mid-paced mix between European and American death metal (with some metalcore elements thrown in), the music circles around the listener without losing direct eye contact. Just waiting for an opportunity to strike when the […]

Starting with a classic Pinhead quote from the Hellraiser movies, you know exactly what your getting here: pure, unabashed old school death metal. With a guitar tone that mixes Stockholm’s buzz and Sinister’s razor sharp sound as well as dirty, chugging riffs and nary a blastbeat in sight, this is 1992 revisited. Despite the obvious […]

On my trip to learn something about the bands featured on this split, I had to put my private investigator skills to the ultimate test. The mission didn’t become any easier thanks to the stubbornness of the French and their inability to write things in English (a certain Samuel L. Jackson line came to my […]

NFL Football and heavy metal music are inherently linked. From the rebellious souls of the sport’s fledgling athletes decades ago, to the rebellious spirits in heavy metal that terrified the general public, hard-hitting sports and music are bound to find each other. Both are beautiful and brutal simultaneously, and both are the extreme of sports […]

I’m pretty sure the same virus that infected Gothenburg in the mid-’90s has mutated an infected musicians on the East Coast. Some of the music comes from that area is just phenomenal, and for me at the top of the rapidly growing pack are newcomers Beyond The Sixth Seal.BTSS started as a thrash band in […]

I personally had no idea Bathory were doing a new album, let alone a two part double release (Part II is to be released early in 2003). When I initially got this album in the mail and tore into it with glee, I was full of youthful memories so you’ll have to excuse my initial […]

Five years. It has been five years since I had new material from Spain’s atmospheric black metal band Asgaroth. Corpse paint and swords were already a thing of the past for Lord Lupus, Mythral and associates, now they have dropped the pseudonyms as well. Daniel and Chris were joined in 1998 by Oscar and by […]

Here’s an interesting one, Polish death metal ala Behemoth and Lost Soul, mixed with Nocturnus-like futuristic “spacey” synths. The result isn’t all bad, which is mainly due to the merits of convincing death metal played under all the superfluous keyboards. The mix is a little odd but the synth/death mix never is as engaging or […]

What a perfect name for a doom/death album. Slovakia’s Thalarion have been one of the bands I’ve always liked as they have perfected the “beauty and the beast” sound, mixing guttural death metal, atmospheric doom elements, and a hint of goth for three albums now. With their fourth album Tunes Of Despondency, Thalarion appears to […]

Some had hoped that Paradise Lost would return to their roots with the release of Symbol of Life. Not surprisingly, they haven’t and the band continues on the same path that was first introduced to us with their 1997 release, One Second. To me, the problem hasn’t been that big due to the fact that […]

BloodRose, a new black metal band from Finland, have been playing together since 1994. In 2000 they changed from Hatework to BloodRose, and changed styles as well. Finland is well known for melodic black metal lacking in intensity and harshness. BloodRose is no exception. The vocals, as is often the case, have the requisite harsh […]

Behemoth’s gradual transition from cult black metal to world-class death metal outfit is not characterized by one album, but through the maturation of four. Unlike many Polish bashers (Decapitated, Hate, etc.) where Vader is the primary inspirational source, Behemoth, mining the strengths of Morbid Angel, Slayer and recently Nile, forge a high-energy, strikingly confident style […]

Osmose is not the label it used to be, but for Singapore’s Impiety, signing on for their third album is a big deal. For those that have never heard of them, they play, according to the band, “christfucking black warmetal.” If that does not clear things up, Osmose calls their style “satanic hellmetal.” With titles […]

I dismissed Satyricon long ago. After listening to the first song on Volcano it became apparent I was too hasty. While they bear little resemblance to their glory days of nearly a decade ago, luckily they resemble even less the late 90’s version that turned me away. Satyricon seems to be one of those bands […]

Depending on your circumstances this is either the first work you will see in two years or the second release of 2002 after a four year absence. Forsaken Symphony is the second Red Stream release of 2002, with Grand Destiny being the first. Red Stream re-released Grand Destiny because Nephiim Records went bankrupt shortly after […]

Canadian extreme war metal band Axis of Advance are back with their intense, violent black thrash death style. Once again incorporating all aspects of extreme music, with the subtlety of a shotgun blast to the brain. This is lightening fast black metal with thrash guitars and the precision instrumentation of death metal. Guitarist Wör and […]

Quick. Name five current good recognized death metal bands from The Netherlands that excludes Pestilence and Gorefest. Well, Sinister, God Dethroned…er, Occult. Here was one of those little surprises that arrived in my mailbox, along with a huge dose of skepticism, mainly due to the band name and horrid cover. I.N.R.I. stands for Insane Non-Commercial […]

My familiarity with Asgaard extends only back in time to 2001’s Ex Oriente Lux which I picked up on a whim, having never heard the band before. Before I get too deep into my opinions on the new disc, let me say I didn’t look to find their three previous recordings. Some background, then, is […]

Antimatter is the new project of Duncan Patterson, ex of doom gods Anathema, along with some peers/pals/presumed studio whores. As you should know, Anathema’s mid-nineties output on Peaceville pretty much defined doom metal, bowing only to the once almighty My Dying Bride in terms of crossing melancholia with pure sludge riffuck. Well, ol’ Dunc’s motto […]

Recently I’ve been wading knee deep in mediocre death metal and to be honest with you, the constant pounding, blasting and gurgling was wearing thin. What I needed was a musical respite of sorts, something uplifting, glorious and stress free. I needed some Italian power metal! While it would be easy to call Thy Majestie […]

Council Of The Fallen is the blackened death metal project involving numerous high-profile names from the U.S. death metal scene. We have Sean Baxter (Broken Hope, Em Simfonia), drummer Derek Roddy (Malevolent Creation, Hate eternal, Divine Empire, Nile), and Kevin Quirion (Aurora Borealis) – all U.S. death metal veterans, so I was more than a […]