Italy’s Tragodia are not doing anything new in the realms of romantic Gothic metal, as their synth backed, catchy yet despondent riffs and male/female vocal trade off has been perfected by the likes of Thalarion, Beseech and Lacuna Coil, but it’s an acceptable entry into the genre. An expected, crisp clean (Finnvox Studio) production delivers […]

Hailing from Tampa, Florida, Mena Brinno (which translates as “Moon Fever”), is a female fronted Gothic metal band featuring former Royal Anguish players Katy Decker and Marius Kozlowski. And while delivering many of the usual Gothic metal elements, Mena Brinno has more in common with the likes of To-Mera and Alas in that it tries […]

Waldemar Sorychta (Grip Inc., Rotting Christ) has been busy recently. Not only did he release the album from his new project, Enemy of the Sun record late last year, he also released this German entry into female fronted Gothic metal, a genre he has had considerable influence in, having produced the likes of Lacuna Coil, […]

Predating their forthcoming debut full-length, Sigillum Luciferi on Richmond, Virginia’s Forcefield Records, is the four-song Kingdom EP by sludge monkeys Cough. Setting out to be the “loudest and heaviest band in Richmond,” this four-piece adds more depth to the subgenre alongside Cavity, Bongzilla, and Hawg Jaw. Beginning with Iron Monkey-ish feedback, “The Misanthrope” lopes along […]

Boston-based Constants turn in another chapter of spacey post-rock with The Murder of Tom Fitzgerril, the follow-up to their excellent 2004 debut, Nostalgia for the Future. Fans of the ambient, more mesmerizing side of Isis or even Tool will dig the band’s approach to songcrafting: cyclical, engaging chordal progressions coupled with vocal lines that complement […]

Arizona’s crippling summer heat has forged some of the underground’s most abrasive bands, including Unruh (1999’s Setting Fire to Sinking Ships on Pessimiser), Wellington (1999 split with Noothgrush on Deep Six), and Carol Ann (2003 split with Noothgrush on Catchphraze). Phoenix’s Black Hell—starring Unruh bassist Mike Bjella, Wellington guitarist Charlie Goodwin, and two Carol Ann […]

Keeping with the album titles starting with the letter “I”, German death/thrash masters Dew-Scented are back with their seventh studio effort, Incinerate. Not much has changed – their still heavy as a ton of bricks and play fast, blistering thrash. As with any good death/thrash band, Dew-Scented slam down on the accelerator from the get-go […]

Despite being formed in 2000 ans this being their 5th album, this is my first exposure to the German black metal war machine known as Endstille, and while a scathing vicious take on razor sharp black metal, I don’t think I’ll b checking out the back catalog unless I see it used or cheap somewhere. […]

As unorthodox as it is, the name Brown Jenkins didn’t immediately recall the H.P. Lovecraft character, but rather the Zambian street ‘drug’ Jenkem. Maybe it’s my frame of mind at the moment. Loosely based on “The Shadow over Innsmouth,” Mr. Jenkins produces a sludgy, repetitive, facile black-doom that sounds like the air in Innsmouth smells. […]

Frankfurt Indiana’s scariest duo return with an inexplicable re-issue of their limited 2006 cdr demo release that only serves to show that their horrid debut, The Night Our Rituals Blackened The Stars, was not in fact a fluke and the band can actually be consistently terrible over two releases. Why oh why someone at AKR […]

So here’s a re-issue of the 2005 cassette only third release from the Hungarian one man project comprised of Vorgrov, and after doing some research I was pretty excited to hear this supposedly folky take on one man drony, doomy ambient and atmospheric black metal. Well, its OK I suppose. It’s primal and grim with […]

Enemy of the Sun is the latest musical endeavor from Grip Inc mastermind Waldemar Sorychta. The material on debut offering Shadows is undeniably metal, but there’s much more at play here than just that. The heavier thrashier parts are most comparable to Strapping Young Lad’s wall-of-sound cyber thrashing, but then there’s the not so intense, […]

After making some waves with their debut release from The Faceless, the second release from the label is a smartly similar release of forward thinking, synth laced, techy, progressive, death metal/deathcore. Throw in some Between The Buried and Me styled arpeggio flourishes, and you get a pretty solid, if all too short release. Clocking in […]

Oklahoma’s The Agony Scene is in dire need of some therapy, because they have a considerable personality crisis. First, on their 2003 self titled debut, they unleashed a promising, Darkest Hour-ish, blackened form of Euro-death laced metalcore, then on 2005’s The Darkest Red, they went commercial metalcore with clean vocals and catchy choruses. So now, […]

“Lo-ruhamah is the name of the first daughter of the prophet Hosea and his wife Gomer in the Book of Hosea. The name, which translates as “not pitied,” is chosen by God as a sign of displeasure with the people of Israel for following other gods” -From Wikipedia. Lo-Ruhamah also happens to be stunning Christian […]

To make it quick, if you like Tides, Pelican, The Autumn Project, Russian Circles, The Red Sparowes or any other instrumental, shimmery post rock outfits, just go ahead and grab the debut from Germany’s Long Distance Calling. An hour of artful, elegant instrumental music on par with the course is what you will get from […]

From the underrated German black metal scene and rising Van label comes a ritualistic, ambient black metal outfit consisting of two members of the far more primal outfit, Graupel. With a tangible influence of The Ruins of Beverast in the plodding, moody tones and to these ears, a hint of Summoning in the deliberate percussion, […]

After officially declaring …And Oceans dead with the transitional ..And Oceans/Havoc Unit/Sin Decay split, here is official full length debut from Havoc Unit, the newer and nastier incarnation of …And Oceans. While most will more than likely remember the last two …And Oceans offerings, AMGOD and Cypher as water down techno laced black metal, it […]

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 […]

To put a nid on someone is to curse them. One famous account is that of Egil Skallagrimsson who erected a nidstang against King Eirik Bloodaxe who had made Egil an outlaw. After killing a large number of the king’s men Egil placed a hazelwood pole in the ground and on the top of the […]

Back in 1998 I had no idea who Trelldom was, then Gaahl joined Gorgoroth, impressing me straight away with his dynamic range, so I looked up Til Et Annet… I assumed that Gaahl’s original band was put on ice because he joined Gorgoroth so I never followed developments over the years and was surprised when […]

The sound Irish metallers Primordial have developed over the last few albums is actually a lot like Ireland (namely Eire); it’s sweeping, rugged, majestic and also barren and beautiful at the same time. There’s also a sense of sadness and loneliness built into the fiber of both band and land. Nowhere is this more prevalent […]

As their album titles have become less wordy, Ohio noisemongers Harlots have become increasingly more experimental in their discordance. Though still steeped in technical, angular and caustic hardcore a la Ion Dissonance,Animosity, Engineer, Architect (and most of the Black Market Activities roster) and their ilk, Harlots have now successfully managed to weave in some moments […]

I picked up Pure Black Energy back in 1996, I don’t remember why, and was not really impressed. I ignored the band until they became Khold and everyone was raving about them. I still ignored them until Phantoms, which bored me, and then Mørke Gravers Kammer was not really impressive either. Then the dreadful Krek […]

I remember being very impressed with Rob Rock’s last solo record, Holy Hell. The Roy Z-produced effort captured the same vibe as Bruce Dickinson’s solo works without, of course, sounding like a Dickinson knock off. There’s still a bit of that sound on Garden of Chaos, but I’m finding it much harder to get into […]