One of Finland’s best kept secrets, Mokoma, are back sooner than expected with their sixth full-length album Luihin ja Ytimiin and the band seem’s to be on a roll. After two long plays their relationship with a major label went sour, they did a bit of a soul searching; currently selling more albums and making […]

Three things come to mind as I listen to this latest offering by prolific Malefic. The instruments stand out from the murk and get noticed, the songs have definite forward propulsion, though be it very slow, and the drums are real. The next thing that really makes a dramatic impact, which is difficult to do […]

While hardly a ground breaking release of thrashy, energetic ATG drenched metalcore, the debut from Arise and Ruin is a solid entry into the saturated genre and certainly is a lot better than some of Victory’s other recent/upcoming releases (Taking Back Sunday, Farewell to Freeway, Moros Eros, The Audition, etc). Canada’s Arise and Ruin are […]

After a promising debut of caustic tech grind metal, Tennessee’s Nights Like These, much like similar sounding act Harlots, Khann and Yakuza, have injected a sense of droning, sludgy experimentation into their lumbering dissonance and while a decent effort, it’s not quite as good as the recent Harlots release. What you get is an album […]

So here is the third and worst recent ‘metal’ release from Victory. A few years back I reviewed the promising Stillborn Records debut from this then metalcore act, but then with Embrace the Gutter, it was obvious the band wanted to be lumped in with All That Remains, Diecast, God Forbid and Lamb of God […]

Ancient Rites has been a favorite of mine for a very long time and I have Gunther and friends to thank for introducing me to country mates Enthroned. I, of course, picked up the Ancient Rites/ Enthroned split back in 1994, having never heard of Enthroned. They have been a mainstay in my cd changer […]

I’ve got a soft spot for bands that try to blend funk and soul with metal, and I’ve also got a soft spot for power trios, so I was really pulling for Kyrbgrinder when I popped this record in. In truth, it’s not as good as I hoped, but neither is it disappointing. It’s a […]

It’s always nice to be surprised. I’ve only followed Helloween’s career sporadically since the 1980s, and have never really found anything in their catalog that impressed me as much as the first two Keeper records. I didn’t expect to find it here, but they had me from the first true song on the record. As […]

Ok, so there is ambitious, and then there is Germany’s The Ocean Collective…. Now on a label that is letting them release a double album (FluXion and Aeolian was supposed to be a double album), The Ocean have delivered a 14 track, 2 disc, 83-minute concept album (complete with lavish accompanying separate CD booklets) “based […]

Comprised of the band’s 2005 EP of the same name and 2002’s What Completely is Not EP, both re-mastered for this re-release, the ‘debut’ album from LA’s Exhausted Prayer is a adventurous foray into genre mixing resulting in a solid, if over ambitious affair that shows tons of promise. With a big dash of Opeth, […]

Moribund has been in a bit of a slump recently, having to dig up various obscure one man USBM metal projects and re-issue or release some pretty mediocre stuff, so when the oddly titled , Lovecraftian named Brown Jenkins came in my mail box I was a little leery. The brain child of now sole […]

Here’s a pleasant little surprise from Portugal’s long running Simbiose; classic Discharge, Doom, Extreme Noise Terror, Driller Killer, Terrorizer and Righteous Pigs styled grindcore/crust with no frills, no pig vocals, no squawking chaos, no breakdowns, just earthy, punky power chords, grooves and a hint of catchiness. Granted, this is far from earth shattering, but it […]

Being one of the most undeniably experimental genres running right now, Black Metal has taken quite a growth spurt in the past few years. It has become so empirical that it’s hard to like the sub-par bands. Mediocre or not, Farsot’s debut full-length IIII is solid and shows some potential for future releases. The band […]

Over the years throwing Bathory, Celtic Frost, Mercyful Fate and Kreator in a blender along with Motorhead has worked wonders for this Swedish mainstay. Minor lineup changes have had little impact either. They have dropped the bullet belts and corpsepaint as well, going back to the black leather jackets again. They even seem to have […]

Hailing from Hungary, Aetherius Obscuritas is a prolific (4 albums since 2004) one man black metal project that does a little more than the usual Burzum worshipping woe is me, moping in self despair act. Coming across as more like a full band (with the aid of a session drummer), main man Arkhorrl renders a […]

While I initially wanted to lump this in with the plethora of grating, squealing, pseudo grind kids, after a few more, less jaded listens to the debut, there appears to be a much less superficial and have a more convincing, classic grind/crust/punk and hardcore undercurrent rather than the snivelling wannabes of the current musical climate. […]

I have a list of upcoming releases that I keep, constantly adding the names of albums of interest as I learn about them. Sometimes I add a band name followed by a question mark in anticipation of an as yet unannounced new album. Drautran is such a band, having been on my list for six […]

Continually reminding us that the band was once comprised of 2 original Vital Remains members on the Let Us Pray album, Godless Rising are back with their full length debut after their decent but rather non descript old school death metal EP. What we have here is some classic old school death metal from the […]

And so another bunch of kids has decided to add a Southern Rock element to their hardcore base, and the end result while not terrible sounds like a virtual clone of the genres current kings, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. Though far from a bad release, and will have some appeal to those that […]

As with their unassuming debut, Paths of Possession simply shows that a big name guest vocalist, big time producer, high profile label (which also happens to be the label of the guest vocalist’s other much higher profile band) and concept based album do not a great record make. Started initially as a project of Richard […]

Listen, as much as I try to wrap my head around sheer ambient, noise acts like Japanese Comedy Torture Hour, Zweizz, Einsturzende Neubauten, Diagnose: Lebensgefahr, Merzbow, Namanx, (James Plotkin produces this release for you fans out there) and such, I simply can’t do it. Though this French trio utilizes traditional instruments (guitar, drum, bass), mistakenly […]

Continuing their brand of heavily (and I mean heavily) Immolation and Incantation inspired form of consistent, muddy, torrid yet forgetful death metal, Seattle’s Drawn and Quartered are back with album number 5, and while it’s certainly not a bad album, it’s not really an album we need this year. Admittedly, Drawn and Quartered make no […]

Another retro thrash act, and yet another positive review. Italy’s Hyades have been doing it longer than most (if not all) of the recent wave of retro acts, their beginnings traceable as far back as 1996, though their lineup didn’t stabilize until 2003. Another two years went by until the release of their debut LP, […]

Helrunar has quickly jumped to the top of the heap of Norwegian wave black metal imitators. This German band has only a six year recording history but obviously a much longer history as a fan of real black metal. Baldr ok Iss is their third full length release, and second by Lupus Lounge. In terms […]

Wow. What an unimpressive display of nu-metal simplicity. The Ascension marks Otep’s third full-length release since 2002, and not much has changed since then. The down-tuned trademarked guitars are still well in place, Ms. Shamaya’s rap-like delivery is there, and also those boring spoken/crooned/whispered poetry like segments layered over simple and sparse cords are present. […]