From the opening chords and snare march of “Voice Electric,” fans will realize that Cave In frontman Stephen Brodsky has hit total paydirt with this side project while his main band is on indefinite hiatus. The band’s debut album—and probably their last, since Brodsky has since moved on to front Pet Genius—is the best effort […]

Most bands who go on a 6 year or more hiatus don’t come back quite as well as Gorefest did. 2004’s La Muerte was a pummeling beast of a return to the scene and held high expectations for Rise to Ruin. Though the band isn’t turning pages in the future of death metal, they are […]

Much like label and country mates Obscure, Turkey’s Decimation singled out a genre they like and rather than improve and expand on it, they simply said “Let’s play that”. In this case it’s a form of Immolation, Incantation styled death metal, and while not quite as impressively copy cat and proficient as Obscure’s black metal, […]

There are very few bands that leave an indelible imprint on my psyche and move me to the point of tangible ‘uncomfortableness’. Australia’s Portal is one of those bands. While some may construe the band’s atonal, muddy and chaotic form of grimy death metal nothing more than structureless noise, I personally find the band’s material […]

After being chewed up and spit out by the Major Label grinder, metalcore pioneers Poison The Well return to the ‘independent’ scene with their fourth full length album for the far more appropriate Ferret Music. And while the band is still a far cry from their seminal The Opposites of Decemberdebut, their return to the […]

Of any of the Doom Metal records released this year, Terhen, a band from Finland, have released one of the best. Finland? Of course, Finland. That country seems to have some sort of cornered market on high quality Metal from all genres. Could be some sort of covert scientific experiment by the Finnish government to […]

What would you expect from a super group that comprises of vocalist T. Roy Medlin (Sourvein), bassist Dixie Dave Collins (Weedeater), guitarist Vince Burke (Beaten Back To Pure) and drummer Erik Larson (Alabama Thunderpussy)? If you said ultra sludgy, rumbling, doomy Southern drenched girth, then you would be right. Even with the tangible influences from […]

While I’m not totally loving Dimentianon’s (formerly known as The Forgotten) form of chaotic, garage blackened death metal, I can appreciate its DIY delivery and primal intensity for what it is. This should appeal to fans of Goatwhore and Hellhammer mixed with Mayhem/Darkthrone or demo era Anaal Nathrakh, with maybe a splattering of retro underground […]

With mysterious, esoteric cover art and inlay art, you immediately get the impression that on their third release, Chicago’s Yakuza are gunning for something really special, but unfortunately they fall victim to their own ambitions. While Samsara was a perfect mix of post rock, tech metal, Mastodon and John Coltrane, Transmutations sees the band expand […]

Here’s one of those releases that make me question Metal Blade sometimes; another angular burly hardcore act along the lines of A Life Once Lost, (former label mates) Achilles, The Minor Times, Apiary and The Handshake Murders. The Dregs is competent, heavy and angry but delivering absolutely nothing new or original. Of course, if you’re […]

Listen, I’m all for retro death metal, especially if it features Jeff Nardone of Goatlord. I’m all for reliving the past glories and throwback grit of early 90’s death metal. What I’m not for is if that throw back is a throwback to JL America death metal. Boring, lifeless, forgetful and dreary, lo-fi, mid paced […]

Few times in my life have I come across a band as fresh & unique as transcontinental Prog Metal band Kekal. Hailing from Indonesia & Canada simultaneously, this is a band that is definitely not afraid of blending genres. Musically speaking, the band is comprised of uber-musicians, more than deftly skilled at their chosen instrument. […]

Despite their 25th year anniversary and stable of veteran respected death metal acts (Bolt Thrower, Vader, Amon Amarth, Cannibal Corpse, Vomitory, Fleshcrawl, God Dethroned etc) it’s bands like Winter Solstice, Machinemade God, A Love Ends Suicide, Phoenix Mourning, Neaera, If Hope Dies, The Red Death and such that seem to garner Metal Blade (and their […]

You can tell immediately from the Kristian Whalin (Emperor, At The Gates, Dark Tranquility) artwork, pentagram covered CD inlay and song titles (“Deathmask Divine”, “I Worship Only What You Bleed”, “Darkness Spawned”, “Warborn”), that media darlings The Black Dahlia Murder are on a far more serious and improved rampage than their previous effort, the aptly […]

I’ll admit to enjoying the Facedown debut, Ice Upon the Night from this relatively obscure Finnish melodic death metal act, but I’m still surprised they released a follow up on the growing Christian metal roster of Facedown, but here it is and it delivers exactly what you’d expect from their self proclaimed “Winter metal”. 11 […]

Facedown Records is quickly becoming the dominant Christian metal label, surpassing Solid State, with solid release from the likes of Seventh Star, Sleeping Giant, Inked In Blood, Impending Doom, Means, War of Ages and now Tennessse’s A Plea For Purging, who on their debut full length deliver arguably the second best metalcore record I’ve heard […]

If you’re going to mix Gothic elements into Doom Metal it’s got to be done right. There has to be just the right balance to avoid becoming a caricature of itself. Italian sorrow-mongers The Foreshadowing have struck such a balance. Owing much to UK doomster’s Paradise Lost, they have mastered the art of grey-skied Metal […]

Ever wonder what it would sound like if the collective heads of Fugazi, Electric Wizard & Rush were nailed together whilst the bands tried frantically to tear apart from each other? No, neither have I. But lucky for us, thanks to Light Pupil Dilate, we don’t have to! Snake Wine delivers a solid slab of […]

You know it’s a slow year in Viking metal when a band from Portland, Oregon that consists of ¾ members of Fall of the Bastards on a label run by a guy in The Funeral Pyre (Prosthetic Records) delivers the best Viking metal album of the year. Truth be told though, Betwixt and Between, with […]

I’ll be the first to admit that despite the band moniker the debut from this Christian, synth filled metalcore act Dear Love: A Beatiful Discord, was a surprisingly solid debut album and the follow up, Plagues pretty much continues that trend but with a caveat. I’ll also admit that I hate gimmicky synths, especially in […]

After a measure of success with their entries into the melodic death metal genre, (Sonic Syndicate who then signed with Nuclear Blast and the well received Blinded Colony), you could forgive Pivotal for releasing yet another polished, competent but formulaic Swedish melodic death metal album. Zonaria aren’t bad, they just aren’t quite as good as […]

So if Evocation’s recent Tales From the Tomb is the best Entombed/Left hand Path homage of the last few years, with Structures of Death, Germany’s Fleshcrawl have delivered the preeminent Dismember homage album. Most death metal fans know that Fleshcrawl have been ripping off Dismember for their respectable, long but relatively undistinguished career, but on […]

French spoken, trucking themed tech/grind core from Quebec? Yup. You red that right. Musically, The Truckers are not too dissimilar from many of their Canadian peers, plying a sort of tight, complex, off kilter hardcore/grind/death metal (Ion Dissonance, Despised Icon, The End, Fuck The Facts, etc), but the whole thing is sung/growled/screamed in French, which […]

An open letter to all young American Metal bands: “ I know you like Pantera, but please stop trying to ape them and forsaking your original sound-they are gone, get over it”. Throwdown, A Perfect Murder, Lamb of God-just to name a few of the acts that seemingly thought being basically a Pantera styled cover […]

I’m sure anyone with even a passing interest in black metal is geeked for this release, especially considering how many years end lists the debut, Diadem in 12 Stars graced. Well, even with the horde of quality ambient/experimental black metal this year, from many of the genre’s bigger names (Leviathan, Deathspell Omega, Cobalt, Xasthur, Secrets […]