I think few would disagree that during the golden era of early 90’s death metal, in the Swedish/Stockholm scene, that the influence and legacy of the big four; Entombed, Dismember, Grave and Unleashed is undeniable. However, there was a second tier of talented bands that for any number of reasons (lack of promotion, style change, […]

Now this is a fun record! Great, old school Thrash Metal with a Horror film lyrical slant! This is a record you pop in the car and crank LOUD! They Rise is loaded with tons of meaty, neck wrenching riffs, jagged vocals and an overall energetic vibe. In a lot of ways, it reminds me […]

There are bands, musicians, and records out there that one can appreciate but not enjoy. Former Emperor vocalist Ihsahn has produced a few of these records and though I am not a fan of his music, I have much respect for his efforts over the years and consider him to be way beyond my pattern […]

Returning after what many feel were two rather lackluster, sub-par albums in Anthems of Rebellion and Doomsday Machine, Sweden’s Arch Enemy is back with Rise of the Tyrant, a surprisingly (though most welcomed) impressive slab of Gothenburg influenced thrash. The chemistry of brothers Chris and Michael Amott on guitar is unmistakable and hard to match, […]

It was a happy day in Hell when Limbonic Art called it quits. All those demons got 24 hour a day concerts from the defunct duo. The international day of Slayer was a joyous day for those of us in this realm for 6-6-06 was the day that Daemon and Morfeus decided they had more […]

I’m not sure why Metal Blade/Ironclad would release the debut from Buffalo’s Sons Of Azrael only a month or so before The Black Dahlia Murder’s Nocturnal drops, because its liable to steal some of Nocturnal’s thunder. Basically Sons of Azrael ply a form of modern sort of At The Gates based, death//black core that has […]

Hearse is a strange duck. Since Johan “SomberDusk” Liiva’s departure of Arch Enemy some years ago, these Swedes have been rummaging in the scene, pushing out albums, and creating a sound that really is kind of original. Although, they have never really produced that one great album, Hearse is progressing and In These Veins is […]

One-man projects have exploded in the recent years. I personally am a fan of these type of things whatever genre it maybe. Most of these projects are in the black, doom, or progressive aspects of metal, and will take you on a journey through ones thoughts. Solid Finnish act October Falls is another one of […]

Taking more than a huge nod from Suffocation as well as the likes of Devourment, Decrepit Birth, Gorgasm and other more brutal, technical US death metal bands, Germany’s Defeated Sanity have delivered a second album of appropriately sick and gore filled technical brutality (brootek death metal?). With ultra deep, almost grindcore core styled burps layered […]

Basically mixing the churning heft of Behemoth or Vader with the cyber/industrial assault of say The Amenta, Crionics have unleashed their third album of clinical, futuristic swathe of black/death metal that’s pretty unrelenting, at times repetitively so, but still manages to literally fire on all cylinders. Of course, as with most cyber death metal (Scorngrain, […]

Uh oh. I think this one is going to ruffle a few feathers. Christian metal has slowly but surely elbowing it’s way into extreme metal, but with little success. From the early defining works of Believer to the more modern, often core based sounds of today like Becoming the Archtype and Extol, the Christians have […]

Unlike the recent album by Sweden’s Memfis who decided to deliver a sort of modernized take on Oepth, Canada’s Adytum said ‘fuck it’, and basically wrote an exact clone of Opeth’s mid era work except with harsher black metal vocals. Though that’s pretty much Adytum’s debut in a nutshell, I probably should embellish; this is […]

With each successive release, Portland, Oregon’s indie-prog saviors 31 Knots veer further from their point(s) of origin. What began long ago as what seemed like Yes synthesis has become an astonishing insouciance for past influences, as the band capriciously shows their current penchant for odd electronica, loops, and samples. Repeating the EP-preceding-LP pattern for their […]

Holy. Fucking. Shit. Thank you Willowtip for licensing this gem this from Neurotic Readers, what was the last technical death metal album that truly changed how you viewed and listened to technical death metal? A mind altering, genre smearing album that altered the death metal landscape? For me personally, I have to go back as […]

Ordinarily, I’m not a big fan of the “supergroup” concept. No matter how good the musicians are, I don’t think a month in the studio together can bring the tightness and spirit to a band that playing together for years, busting your ass to make it and living together in a van down by the […]

Over the years, I’ve probably written about The Feds coming to town a dozen times or more in my regular gig at the local paper, so it seems a little odd that the first time I’m actually hearing them is for a review here. First, I’ll say that there are some good things to be […]

Albums with expectations are always interesting, and this one has plenty. First, fans have been waiting for it since 1998 when the original trilogy of songs appeared on Something Wicked This Way Comes, regarded by many as the band’s best record. The expectations were boosted over the summer when the band released the first single […]

Contending with 2005’s Roadrunner United All Star Sessions, Nuclear Blast Records has utilized its 20th anniversary to release a similar set of albums, bringing together different musicians from the label to collaborate on songs and create an orgy of metal. I admire these ideas and I thoroughly enjoyed the Roadrunner release. Although Nuclear Blast has […]

So the last time the Scorpions tried to reinvent themselves, on 1999’s Eye II Eye, the results weren’t very good. Most fans disliked it, and the attempt to update their sound and capture new fans certainly failed. But when I took a look at this record, I thought perhaps they’d decided to give it another […]

No Candelight. This is not good. This is bad, bad, bad and you are so naughty for putting out this nonsensical drivel alongside the new Obituary record, seriously, shame on you. Funnily enough Hemlock are taking their influence from a time when Obituary were at the peak of their popularity (i.e. the mid 90s). References […]

What’s the deal with that cover art? It leaves one wondering whether Full Blown Chaos now desire to be Manowar because with those lions, that ominous Conan clone poised in his throne, it instils that fear…and the record hasn’t even been placed in the CD player yet. Fortunately ‘Fire Fight,’ firmly quashes any fears of […]

Alaska was my 2005 album of the year, so suffice to say, the follow up, Colors had some pretty high expectations; expectations that are comfortably reached, but not quite shattered, as Colors is exactly what you’d expect from BTBAM; brilliance. One only need look at the band’s prior cover only album The Anatomy of… to […]

The Mausoleum debut of U.K. band Rise to Addiction, produced by Andy Sneap, has all the hallmarks of a band on the edge of great success. It has guitar riffs that are heavy enough to get the attention of metalheads and hooks that are big enough to stick in the head of mainstream rock fans. […]

Hailing from Seattle, Himsa have returned with their fourth full length album, Summon In Thunder, their debut offering with metal giants Century Media. Like a crushing blow to the gut, Summon In Thunder delivers melodic yet heavy as a ton of bricks modern thrash that their prior releases didn’t seem to quite deliver. Johnny Pettibone’s […]

Much like the recent Candlelight/SOAR releases Diskreet, Rose Funeral and Whitechapel, Arizona’s Knights of the Abyss ply a form of technical, grindy, breakdowny, modern death metal, that’s to say, and I hate to use the term; deathcore, and they actually should give Job For A Cowboy (who share the same producer) a run for their […]