Originality in metalcore is pretty much non-existent, I think most of us can agree on that. But I have always wondered why more bands don’t rip off better bands. So many Killswitch Engage clones, yet only a few bands seem to have focused on the ultra layered, melodic metalcore of Misery Signals or Life In […]

I have to admit, I’m a bit ambivalent towards the debut from Cincinnati’s deathcore merchants and their debut; On one hand, the ‘death’ side of the core such as the rumbling breakdowns blackened shriekds and especially the deeper growls of vocalist Joey Nelson are solid and on par with any of the current deathcore scene. […]

Regular readers of this site will know of my tolerance, nay affinity for metalcore, and I’m sure will question my like of a genre that most deem responsible for the downfall of metal as we know it. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s albums such as Waking Giants that bring back to this much maligned genre. I’ve […]

What do you get when Nachtmystium drummer and Cult of Daath vocalist/drummer Wargoat Obscurum takes a break for a side project? Alioth is an occult one man band formed in 2001 in order to compose occult atmospheric music in the style of legendary bands such as Varathron, Acheron, Master’s Hammer, and Rotting Christ. The debut […]

So here’s arguably the first “big name” death metal release of 2007 from Belgium’s Carcass worshippers, Aborted who really raised some eyebrows with 2005 chugfest, The Archaic Abbatoir. However, line-up issues may have finally caught up with the Sven de Caluwe and his cronies.First up, I should emphasize, Slaughter & Apparatus is a damn good […]

I never know what to expect from Vendlus Records. From the industrial black metal of V:28, the completely unclassifiable musings of Especially Likely Sloth, the folk art of The Mist and Morning Dew, the black metal excellence of Wolves In The Throne Room or even Audiopain re-issues, the label defies pigeonholing. However, with Grayceon the […]

After 6 albums, November’s Doom have been one of the most consistent acts in the US doom/death scene and along with Daylight Dies have made some international noise and comparisons. However, they have never really taken that true step forward (as Daylight Dies did with Dismantling Devotion), but now with album number 6, the rock […]

Here’s another off the wall noisy alt rock record from Crucial Blast, similar to Black Elk’s recent self titled effort, and like that effort, is a swing and miss despite the bands Once boasting members of Don Caballero and Zombi (and probably giving readers a rough idea of the band’s sound), Pittsburgh’s (((Microwaves))) is a […]

The sound-manipulated painscapes of Wold are the proof for which black metal was merely the promise. (After all, even the most vicious black metal still just sounds like some dudes in a room playing music.) This is savagery as sound, or vicey-versey. Wold de(con)structs black metal into a robodemoniac thrum, at least as much Masonna […]

Missoula, Montana’s Volumen have been compared to many, many bands, and this review is no different, in that it will attempt to discern this five-member musical collective from every other garage band with their own recording equipment. Self-described as “heavy New Wave and nerd rock,” they play far-out indie punk like Our American Cousin hopped […]

I have to admit, when Prosthetic signed this Indiana band I was a little confused seeing as their debut, Your Blood, My Vendetta was a pretty mediocre metalcore effort that did little to warrant further interest, yet alone a record deal with the Prosthetic, arguably one of US metal’s better labels.However, somewhere between the debut […]

Back when Black Market Activities was a new label, one of their first releases was by Found Dead Hanging, who subsequently broke up. Now, Found Dead Hanging (and Word As AVirus) return as Architect.Folks, this is a gnarly, blistering, chaotic and a downright heavy album. Sharing traits with similarly chaotic recent spurts from the likes […]

first encountered Dodsferd mid 2006 when I ordered Desecrating the Spirit of Life from Blackmetal.com based upon one phrase “Nordic-influenced Black Metal is heavily inspired by USBM legend Judas Iscariot” Being a Motorhead purist (the first album I ever bought with my own money was Overkill in 79) I immediately appreciated the scratchy rasp of […]

Initially formed from the ashes of Vehemence, Abigail Williams is a symphonic black/death metal act that now only features one former Vehemence member (guitarist Bjorn Dannov), but is no less of a quality act.Though some may try to label AW as metalcore with synths, this is certainly not the case as comparing AW to the […]

Every year there is an album that I get too late to submit to my various journalistic outlets as one of the best albums of the year. This year, that honor falls to Minnesota’s Battlefields, who despite their blackened moniker and album title, manage to somehow mix the ambient soundscapes of Pelican, Isis and even […]

From the label that recently punished my ears with the likes of Animosity and The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, as well as other noisy acts like Ed Gein, The Network and Architect, comes a slab of grinding Vegan chaos that’s a perfect fit next to their label mates as far as sheer, discordance tenacity, but […]