Admittedly, I’ve never been much into punk. Got into metal, stayed put. By the time I finally got around to checking out some of the much-vaunted bands I’d always heard about – The Misfits and Samhain being the two that most piqued my interest, being a horror buff and all – I was kinda disappointed. […]

Are you tired of the great thrash revival that is going on these days? If you answered yes then I would say avoid this record like the plague. However, if you’re more like me and miss The Crown with a vengeance then this isn’t such a bad thing. Stronghold of Men is probably an unnecessary […]

If you enjoy midpaced metal soaking in keyboards then you might as well stop reading this review and go right out and buy this. However I’ll keep going if you want a bit more detail to help you make up your mind. The vocals are of the clean variety and while they sound decent enough […]

This is going to be a hard album for me to review because being a professional demands more than just saying this sounds like bad AC-DC with really weak vocals. Imagine the Snake of the last few Voivod albums during a fit of whining and you have an idea of what I’m dealing with trying […]

While the blog title might lead you to believe that this post is about the young pretty-face “metal bands” that sell their souls to be in goddamned L’Oreal commercials (Oh, you’re so totally worth it, like!) While such bands do fester within our so-called metal scene, this blog post isn’t about them. Even though it […]

New MORIBUND signees HORDE OF HEL are finishing their debut album, Blodskam, which according to the band “will contain 13 songs of despair and hate.” Featuring “members from different elite death metal and black metal bands from Sweden,” HORDE OF HEL “represents total death, destruction of all life, and the members wish to be anonymous […]

Indricothere, living during the late Oligocene epoch (part of the Tertiary Period in the Cenozoic Era), is thought to be the largest land mammal that ever walked the earth. A distant relative of the rhinoceros, they were not as fearsome as their descendents would have you believe – they looked more like gigantic, tree-munching giraffes. […]

It’s been said that anyone who generalizes is an idiot, but it’s gotten to the point where if I see a CD that has a pretty face on the cover and the Napalm logo on the back, I can predict exactly what I’m going to get. Beast Within is no different: inoffensive, poppy midtempo gothic […]

Every now and then a record comes along that is truly hard to describe to anyone, this is one such album. It is in fact not so much an album as an endurance test. This is something you listen to when you want to drive yourself over the edge in a bad way. I do […]

I’m probably the wrong person to be reviewing a prog album as for the most part the entire genre bores me. However I will try my best to explain where they lay in the progscape. My guess is that these guys would be right in the middle to be honest. They are accomplished musicians however […]

See, I’ve never been a big fan of the ‘Croptic crew from down under. I enjoy portions of Isle of Disenchantment and most of Scepter of the Ancients, but they just never struck me as a band I could listen to again and again. I saw them live at Summer Slaughter (their first North American […]

For those that don’t know, in the mid/late 90’s Overcast were a respected crossover/hardcore/metalcore band who had a couple of somewhat revered albums and EPs that some considered the start of the early metalcore movement (not the trite fashion show of today). However, when the band split up in 1996, vocalist Brian Fair joined Shadows […]

Now here’s a band that has come a long way. Slowly morphing from doom/death to moody, emotional rock, Anathema has lost some old fans, while gaining some new ones. But for the most part respect for them has been well preserved (and certainly well deserved). After some uncertainty of the band’s future, we’ve come to […]

When I first started this reviewing gig, one of the first albums from an ‘unknown’ act I fell in love with was the 2002 debut Revealing Damnation from Council of The Fallen, released on Martyr Music Group. After staying in touch with founding member Kevin Quiron, and reviewing the follow up, 2004’s equally impressive Dechipering […]

Atrox has reminded me of one of the central tenets of my existence on this album, specifically the one about murdering anyone who thinks techno and metal are a good combination. This is very clean industrial-nu-metal without a hint of malice to it anywhere, even the Planet of the Apes sample. The drumming is the […]

Some people need to get more current with information technology, because this is how records like this happen. No one got the memo that Nu-metal was found dead in an alley with its Korn shirt torn to pieces, raped, stabbed, raped again and set on fire by a horde of people with good taste. This […]

There’s nothing really wrong with the debut from this Philadelphia deathcore act, as their debut is a competent delivery of now familiar genre traits; dual vocals, choppy squealing thrashing, some techy noodling and a plethora of breakdowns. However, on the whole, it really sorta bored me and I found my self reaching for After the […]

Tampa, FL’s SIX FEET UNDER are set to release their 8th full-length studio album titled Death Rituals November 11th, 2008. Death Rituals features 12 tracks of pure American death metal delivering a bludgeoning slab of metal that will leave fans hungering for more. Legendary death metal vocalist Chris Barnes, along with guitarist Steve Swanson, bass […]

Fast-rising British death metal act IGNOMINIOUS INCARCERATION are in the middle of recording their first ever full-length album. The talented young five-piece entered Grindstone Studios in Suffolk on September 1st with producer SCOTT ATKINS to record their highly-anticipated debut album. After previously announcing the title of their debut album as THE LEGACY, the band have […]

OCEANO – DEBUT ALBUM TO FEATURE ARTWORK BY COLIN MARKSChicago’s own OCEANO have tapped Colin Marks to create the artwork or the band’s upcoming debut album, DEPTHS. Colin Marks is a London-based artist who’s dark and gritty art style has made him the right man to provide the visuals for bands like STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, […]

On first listen I thought Twilight of the Thunder God sounds good but not as good as the last one, by the tenth listen I am anticipating the music, nice catchy riffs, cool melodies, tremendous power, you know the formula, by the twentieth listen it felt like an old friend, a classic and I’ve only […]

Let me start off by saying that this is the most misleading band name of all time. Why do I say this? There is nothing revolutionary about this album other than the fact that it’s a few years too late. Metalcore is the new trend, not numetal. Lateness offends me, at least when it results […]

This is the third full-length from this Greek epic/heavy metal band. Apparently epic metal is its own sub-genre of heavy or power metal, but if this is any indication, I don’t think I will be researching more of its bands. It all starts promising enough on the intro. Mediterranean-flavored strumming and a subdued male operatic […]

Long-running, newly-signed MORIBUND black metal band BLOOD STAINED DUSK have just completed the recording for new album Black Faith Inquisition. Running 72 minutes in length, Black Faith Inquisition is the Alabama band’s first album in four years and also their debut for MORIBUND. Drummer Profana reports, “We finished at 2 a.m. this morning under a […]

UPCOMING CD/DVD FOR 2009! North Carolina’s Telescreen have just announced their signing to Tragic Hero Records. Telescreen, whose loose musical description includes experimental and ambient rock is populated by four ex-members of Codeseven including Eric Weyer (guitar), Jon Tuttle (bass), Matt Tuttle (drums), and James Tuttle (guitar) alongside vocalist Jared Draughon, formerly of Classic Case. […]