Damned if DeathVomit isn’t becoming quite the nifty little grind-pimp; first, Circle Of Dead Children and now Vulgar Pigeons. As an unreformed little punk rocker, I have to confess a major hard-on for this type of stuff. Eventually, some band’s going to come along and prove me wrong, but for now, death metal without some […]

For the most part, it’s difficult to swallow a traditional death metal record after spilling ink on the genre and its minions for nearly 10 years. You get to the point where little impresses and you’d rather revert to spinning Left Hand Path than plunk another derivative of a derivative into the stereo. Really, besides […]

The U.S. has seen the melodic metal/hardcore mix blossom into a small musical renaissance, so it comes as no surprise than as with most musical phenomena, Europe follows suite, which is actually a reverse in trends, as the U.S. is normally the one a few years behind. So, here come Germany’s FearMyThoughts, with their second […]

Albums like The Sham Mirrors completely justify why I still listen to metal. While my tastes have shifted and widened considerably these past few years, I still find myself defending this often-tired genre. Bands like Arcturus re-energize my lifelong passion for extreme music and demonstrate that vibrancy, experimentation and unyielding talent do still exist in […]

Wrath Of War is the third offering on cd by this well known Texas based organizer of the Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child festival. A band known more for relentless hatred and fury than for anything else, Thornspawn sticks to the formula once again. This, of course, is a compliment. I’ve heard them called cold, […]

For some reason, much like with their debut, even though it is unoriginal, derivative and simplistic, I enjoy Severed Eyes… immensely. Killjoy and Frediablo have successfully brought gore and splatter death metal to the black metal scene. There are, of course, many bands incorporating the sounds of American death metal but Killjoy delights in the […]

Yes, Grief Of Emerald’s first three (four of you count the as of yet unreleased debut) albums did sound like Dimmu Borgir. Yes, they appear to be riding to coattails of other more commercially viable bands, and, yes, they do use keyboards. However with Christian Termination, the Swedes appear to have possibility shaken loose from […]

I was as excited as anyone else when rock bands started sounding like rock bands again, but at this point, “stoner rock” is about as thrilling as pulling your pud. And I am not on very good terms with my pud right now, so that should tell you something. Very few of these bands transcend […]

WWIII does it again with yet another excellent choice for re-release. Throes Of Dawn broke up a while back so I wondered if this re-release heralded a reformation of the band. Apparently it does, though with four new members; and their fourth album will be out later this year on Wounded Love, the same label […]

Fused Together In Revolving Doors hit me like an uppercut to the balls, rendering me in pain on the ground only able to lay motionless while the heavy breathing and bristling of this band snarled in my ear. Imagine Converge as a death metal band and that’s approximately the feeling I get from The Red […]

By all accounts, this should have been an album I truly loved. Fantasy-based epic metal is my vice, and when confronted with a moniker like Battlelore, and song titles like “Swordmaster,” “Raging Goblin” and “Ride with the Dragons,” I’m pretty much a child in a candy store. That is providing the music fits in with […]

Although this five-piece from Florida is new to me – apparently they have two other releases out. Not sure if those first two matter or not, but their newest one, on Solid State Records, is definitely a double take of an album if there ever was one. And I’m not just speaking of terms of, […]

The second installment of Anathema’s Resonance retrospective albums is a strange trip when you look at who and what the band currently are. Really, when you reflect on Anathema’s career, the evolution from The Crestfallen EP to the band’s recent album, A Fine Day to Exit, is fairly obvious. For proponents of everything pre-The Silent […]

Grindcore. Punk. Humor. Elements that have all been successfully melded into one 27-minute explosion of crusty blastbeats, power chord riffs and ridiculous non-traditional grindcore lyrics. I actually first heard Sweden’s Birdflesh on Relapse’s Swedish Assault album, and as a result dug up this album, their second “real” album. I’m not sure about the age of […]

My first exposure to Virgin Steele was last years godawful The House Of Atreus Act II. I still place that record high on my “Worst CD’s I have ever heard” list. Had I heard their older material first, not only would I have been just as scathing in my review, but I would have been […]

America’s heartland is a good place to find quality progressive chunk-rock, and Norman, Oklahoma’s Traindodge have been aiming to please since 1999. Their third full-length, On A Lake Of Dead Trees is raw talent: no Pro-Tools, over-production scams, or other chicanery here. Opener “Beckon The Inferno” brandishes the typical Traindodge sound of cranked-up, Season To […]

This Swedish melodic black metal band is back with their fifth release, The Crowning Carnage, their shortest album title ever. That is all that has changed, which should come as no surprise. Thy Primordial has not significantly altered their style, and they deserve recognition for staying true to that style. They have improved greatly over […]

Finland is fast becoming a hotbed of musical growth that rivals the Swedish explosion of the early and mid nineties, bands like Kalmah, Children of Bodom, Moonsorrow and Finntroll are putting Finland on the metal map as Sentenced and Amorphis did nearly a decade ago. Leading this creative charge is Finntroll. By fusing folk music and black metal with their native “humppa” or “polka” melodies, they have created a sound that is hard to define, yet enjoyable to listen to. It blatantly defies the inherent seriousness of black metal, but ala Bal-Sagoth; they don’t care and are content to put out the music they want to regardless of the genre restrictions. Last year’s Jaktens Tid, was my top album for 2001 and was a natural progression from the debut. I visited with guitarist Somnium to discuss this seemingly out of place group of trollsters.

There must be some foul work afoot in England. First Akercocke, now Anaal Nathrakh. England is producing some supremely evil and menacing music once again. This two-piece project follows hot on the heels of the recent neo-black metal craze, with also a nod to the industrial programming of The Berzerker and the result is some […]

The opening of Warmen’s second full-length album, Beyond Abilities, is an excerpt from some movie that ends with an old codger stating, “Too many notes.” Truthfully, I couldn’t agree more. Warmen, a project featuring Children Of Bodom’s blazing keyboardist Janne Warmen, Tunnelvision guitarist Sami Virtanen and a slew of sparkling Finnish metal celebrities, is basically […]

The Kim Anderson-ish cover art should clue you in as to the direction this previously very doom/goth melodic death metal outfit have taken with their second album. And yes, they have evolved and matured, but to be honest I think the new material suits them better than the hodgepodge mix of musical styles that was […]

Vanden Plas is a band I latched onto back when their second full-length The God Thing came out. At first listen, I thought it was pretty similar to Dream Theater, but different and good enough to warrant plopping down my hard earned cash. Further listens revealed a band with their own sound, their own style, […]

Timo Tolkki is one hellacious guitar player! I mean this guy can flat out shred with the best of ’em and make a lot of them say, “Woah! That guy can shred!” Starovarius is deservedly one of the most celebrated and beloved bands in modern power metal. Unfortunately, one listen to Hymn To Life will […]

Keep Of Kalessin is either an under appreciated cult band or an over hyped clone band, depending on who one speaks with. Mercenary Musik has brought Through Times of War to American audiences for the first time as an official North American release. Originally released on Avantgarde in 1998, it has aged well and is […]

Keep Of Kalessin has been around sine 1997, since 1993 if you include their time as Ildskjaer. In nearly a decade they have released only two full lengths, 1998’s debut and 1999’s Agnen, both on Italy’s Advantgarde. Not very prolific, and so I was surprised when WWIII/ Mercenary Musik re-released both albums in North America. […]