This is a weird one. The Vision Bleak is an act consisting of two guys from Germany. Remember Empyrium and Nox Mortis? The Vision Bleaks two members, Allen B. Konstanz and Ulf Theodor Schwadorf hail from those bands and what we have here is a goth, horror, thrash metal band. Seem strange? It sounds strange. […]

Much like country and label mates Stigmatized, Germany’s Symbiontic are a Death worshipping band plying a form of old school death metal, but with a heavy Testimonies era Pestilence feel as heard on this re-issue of their self released 2002 debut. Stylistically Symbiontic and Stigmatized are virtually the same except Symbiontic have a more guttural/layered […]

Germany’s Stigmatized REALLY like their rather influential luminaries Morgoth, especially vocalist Michael Lay, who apes Marc Grewe to a T. So then expect a lot of mid era Death influenced death metal as well as some Asyphx, Pestilence and early Floridian influences (namely Obituary) in their debut record, a re-release of their 2006 released effort […]

God bless Lee Dorian. His Rise Above Records is bringing us some very cool Doom oriented Metal these days. Winters play a Cathedral-esque, rough-around-the-edges sort of Doom Metal with a healthy dose of Indie Rock. In other words, it’s heavy on the roots of Doom while having some body part (or parts) firmly entrenched in […]

OK, here’s the thing about concept records. There are only just a few like Queensryche’s Operation: Mindcrime and Savatage’s Streets that are great from start to finish. The reason is that when you focus on writing songs to fit into a story or theme rather than writing songs you feel, there are always going to […]

I’m sure there’s someone reading this review that will absolutely love this record, but it’s really just not my thing. The new project of Voivod drummer Michel “Away” Langevin, Kosmos is a throwback to the progressive jam bands of the 1970s. The 12 tracks on this record feature lots of spacey keyboards, organs and some […]

Akercocke, England’s diabolical, intelligent masters of brutality, have returned with Antichrist; an album of superbly executed, well contrasted and aurally punishing Death Metal. After spinning this album several times, I can find almost nothing to even begin to complain about…almost. First off, Akercocke is a wickedly good band. Anyone would be hard pressed to find […]

Amorphis deserves the award for Scandinavian rhythm kings. As if their back catalogue wasn’t brilliant enough, they turned the tables around in 2006 with a new vocalist and kept on moving with Eclipse. With 2007’s Silent Waters, Amorphis shows the world just how powerful they are. Silent Waters is significantly better than Eclipse. Seriously. It’s […]

If there’s one thing you can count on from the Danish death/thrash band Hatesphere, it’s consistency. Five albums in now, showing absolutely no signs of wearing or watering down their tried and true sound, though are beginning to display a bit more versatility, incorporating some slower, more groove oriented songs into the mix on their […]

When a band comes right out the gate with a spectacular and critically acclaimed debut album, there tends to be a great pressure in bringing forth a worthy follow up. Most bands crumple under that pressure and release a lackluster album, then either split up or spend a great deal of time trying to recreate […]

Here a re-release of this Dutch band’s self released 2005 debut and will appeal to fans of Opeth, Amorphis, Novembers Doom, Rapture, Insomnium (The Finnish doom/death scene as a whole), that’s to say progressive, doomy death metal, and Another Messiah throw in frequent Oboe use to boot. Though the Oboe could be construed as a […]

With a few rare exceptions, Profound Lore generally pushes the extremes of whatever genre they release and deliver superb examples of anything they touch (Profundi, Wold, The Angelic Process, Alcest, Asunder, Cobalt, Nadja). And while, not ‘extreme’ per say, Amber Asylum’s fifth album, pushes the limits and boundaries of the neo-goth/classical genre with a simply […]

One only need look at the cover and the label affiliation to determine the style of music Italy’s Apostolum ply; dark, depressive, doomy, black metal. Unfortunately though, it’s not very good, not Fear of Eternity bad, but certainly not up to Moribund’s usual high standards. This introductory 5 track EP consists of the expected atmospheric […]

Man, what a difference a few years can make. When Widow’s 2005 release On Fire landed in front of me, I thought it was great. It was this campy, horror-themed traditional metal with just enough of a modern touch to make it interesting. It was definitely on the cheesy side, but the band seemed to […]

The Anja Offensive is turning into a heavy hitter in the black metal genre. With stellar releases by Antaeus, Secrets of the Moon, Watain, Katharsis and the amazing new Deathspell Omega, but with De Contemplanda Morte, there seems to be a drop off from the label’s brilliance. Two piece Mortuus consists of M. Hinze from […]

Celebrity records labels. Now there’s a good gimmick and a good way to inflate further the ego of said celebrity and their bank balance (providing you find the right cash cows that can be milked bone dry). However in the case of Trevor Phipp’s (Unearth)Ironclad and Guy Kozowyk’s (The Red Chord) Blackmarket Activities, scouring myspace […]

Despite containing members of the excellent Merrimack and Obscurus Advocam, French black metallers Glorior Belli are not quite in the French Elite, and actually share a sound more akin to Sweden’s Watain in that they play surprisingly restrained, straight forward, slightly repetitive but finely crafted black metal. Even with crawling opener “From Darkness There Springs […]

Tholus are an interesting band. Formed by drummer Dave Murray (Sculptured, Estradasphere) and some other relatively minor folks and friends as well as the involvement of Mars/NASA conspiracy theorist Richard Hogland (author of Monuments of Mars), they play a form of cosmic, celestial, mars based technical death metal rooted in Cynic, Disincarnate, Theory In Practice […]

Here’s an impressive slab of darkly sludgy, doomy, belligerent atonal hardcore adorned with some neat Tom Denny artwork (Mastodon, Yakuza, Soilent Green, Rwake, Kylesa). While The Dead See shares artwork with the above named bands, they are not too drastically different from those artists either. While most doomy hardcore is simply hardcore at its base […]

Old logo? Yup. Old Seagrave-ish cover? Yup. A pissed off LG Petrov? Yup. Blastbeats? Yup. ‘That” guitar tone? Yup. A complete return to form?… Almost. Truth is a much as I revere Entombed’s classic first two albums and have yet to really appreciate the much lauded Wolverine Blues, I really haven’t paid Entombed that much […]

While I really enjoyed this bands debut EP, Put On Your Rosy Red Glasses, my excitement for this lot has generally waned with each release. And with the band still languishing on a relatively minor metal label while countless other similar bands get snatched up by some of the ‘bigger’ labels, it seems to indicate […]

About a year ago I had the pleasure of interviewing In Vain of Norway. Unsigned yet enthusiastic, the band was kind enough to send free EP’s for me to send to other writers and magazines. Honestly, I was blown away by the maturity of the sound and I have been keeping a close eye on […]

Hailing from Milwaukee, Protestant are one of the few original hardcore DIY bands out there and this release, containing their Make Peace With the Rope You Hang From, album as well as their split with Rhinocharge and a self released CD-R Highlight their creepy, sludgy, caustic and off kilter take on hardcore. After the intro […]

On their second album, Norway’s Octavia Sperati (now no longer an all female act with the addition of drummer Ivar Alver), continue their more doomy, Anti-Nightwish take on female fronted Goth metal, and continue to impress with some improved song writing growth. With an earthier, almost more stoner rock development from Winter Enclosure, these gals […]

Here’s solid re-release of this French shoegazer/post rock act’s debut album (originally released on Radar Swarm Records in 2006 and also as a 2LP Gatefold album by Atropine Records/E-Vinyl Record for you collectors out there), and while not on par with fellow Frenchmen Overmars, Nord is a sound addition to slightly more aggressive likes of […]