On the surface, Florida’s Catalepsy, with their scrawled cookie cutter logo, 3 guitars (apparently dropped to G sharp, whatever that means), label affiliation (Jamey Jasta runs Stillborn), looks and deathcore tag seem like just another band of death metal wanna be kids riding the current trend of brutal deathcore along the lines of Rose Funeral, […]

Seventh Rule Recordings announces September 16 as the release date for “Intimacy,” the label debut by Light Yourself On Fire. Hailing from Tampa, Florida, Light Yourself On Fire is fronted by Matt Coplon, vocalist for renowned hardcore band Reversal Of Man. “Intimacy” was recorded and mixed by Mark Nikolich (Torche, Kylesa) and mastered by Scott […]

We often throw around the word “operatic” loosely when discussing certain genres of metal. But every now and then, you get something that truly earns that description.Musically, Dantesco plays some pretty solid, if fairly standard doom. They offer up some nice, plodding riffs, often influenced by traditional metal. What makes the band stand out from […]

The thrash reunions continue. This time German band Headhunter, featuring vocalist/bassist Marcel “Schmier” Schirmer of Destruction, guitarist Uwe “Schmuddel” Hoffmann from Talon and drummer Jorg Michael, who has played with Saxon, Stratovarius and Grave Digger, among a long string of others.While I missed this band’s work in the early 1990s, I’m intrigued by what I […]

This new live DVD/CD from Germany’s finest thrash band, Kreator, is a re-package, re-edit and re-release of their 1990 VHS, Live in East Berlin. Included with the live show is the mini horror movie the band made for their Coma of Souls album titled Hallucinative Coma, a documentary type thing with interviews from around the […]

Based on the liner notes that accompanied this disc, it sounds as if Karelia have been searching for a comfortable niche over their 8-year career. They started as power metal on Usual Tragedy, and then downshifted to a more mellow, poppy experience on Raise. And with Restless, it seems they’re trying on the eyeliner and […]

If you’re going to name your band Klone, you’d better have something original to present, whether you hide that C behind a K or not. At first, opening track “Candlelight” seems solid enough, though clearly influenced by fellow countrymen (France) Gojira. A sludgy, low-end lurch, a very similar vocal delivery, and then, the chorus glides […]

It’s a shame that, in one of his prophecies, Nostradamus didn’t foresee that Judas Priest would one day record a two-disc concept album about him. Maybe he could have warned them that it may not be the best idea. The idea of a concept record about Nostradamus had me scratching my head to begin with. […]

Featuring current and former members of Neurosis, Tombs, Unsane and Swans, A Storm of Light is exactly what you might guess based on the title and cover: a massive tsunami of sound and thunder, intent on submerging you beneath its crushing waters. It’s progressive hardcore/doom with a tortured, nautical theme: slow, crashing slabs of guitar, […]

I’ll admit for having a bit of a soft spot for Sweden’s Deranged, because their self titled fourth album, was one of my very first reviews for digitalmetal, and I conversed with drummer Richard Wermen for quite a bit after that. So, I was a bit upset when I heard that this album was be […]

It’s about time that Motley Crue remembered what they do best. Since their first breakup in the early 1990s, they’ve struggled to find their identity. For those who haven’t been keeping score, it started with the heavier sound of 1994’s self-titled record with vocalist John Corabi. It was a solid record, arguably one of the […]

Just based on the cover, which features a skinned rabbit dressed in lacy dollclothes (rather than the usual demiglace), you can already predict that this will be some sort of loopy, eccentric goth-metal. Eths certainly has a touch of the avant-garde, but musically, it’s a more familiar blend of metalcore and nu-metal. Comparisons to Slipknot […]

Prosthetic Records is proud to announce the release of French metal band HOLLOW CORP.’s debut record, ‘Cloister of Radiance,’ throughout North America. Originally released in Europe last September through Swedish label Dental Records, the deal will make ‘Cloister of Radiance’ available domestically for the first time on September 30. In the meantime, three tracks from […]

“The Fastest and Most Brutal Deicide Album ever!” At least that’s what the cover proclaims, but it looks like Mr. Benton, after two creative critically acclaimed comeback albums in Scars of the Crucifix and The Stench of Redemption, wants out of his record contract with Earache and has reverted back to In Torment In Hell […]

Grave have been re-animated for about six years now and this is the fourth album they’ve released in that time. Unlike Unleashed Grave have hung a bit closer to their original style.  This is fast, dirty, old-school Stockholm death metal in the vein of early Entombed, Dismember etc. This is the one failing this album […]

Anders Friden should be feeling pretty sheepish right about now. Sure, In Flames is probably selling tons of copies of A Sense of Purpose, but I think they had to cheapen and compromise their sound to do it. Scar Symmetry, on the other hand, took the initial seed planted by In Flames and Soilwork – […]

I knew nothing about this prior to putting it in, but the short track lengths clued me in that it would either be something experimental and ambient, or maybe grindcore. It’s grindcore alright, but executed with the speed and ferocity of black metal – like Anaal Nathrakh covering Slayer at double-time. Now, grind sometimes devolves […]

With its nighttime cityscape and tech-font title, I was pretty sure this side-project from current Susperia (and former Old Man’s Child) members Tjodalv and Memnock would be some form of industrial metal. Perhaps a futuristic update of the catchy, blackened thunder of those other acts, but replacing gothic pomp with synthesized deathscapes. Instigator is futuristic […]

They Bleeding Skies is a new band formed by Claudio A. Enzler of My Darkest Hate/Sacrificium and JJ Kontoniemi of Icon Clan and Chapters of Downfall is their debut offering. Melodic death metal in the vain of Amon Amarth is the order of the day here, and they do it pretty well. Thy Bleeding Skies […]

I had seen the debut full length from Greece’s Dead Congregation thrown around by those ‘in the know’, but for some reason never checked them out until I recently received the re-issued 2005 EP, Purifying Consecrated Ground (review coming soon), enjoyed it, and decided to go and find Graves of the Archangels. And boy am […]

Apiary have changed their name to Early Graves. Band guitarist Christ Brock had the following to say on the matter: “We changed the name from Apiary to Early Graves for a pretty simple reason. The songs we had created on the road under the former name had nothing to do with the original Apiary and […]

You do not fuck with javelina. We have ‘em here in Arizona – big wild pigs out in the desert, usually sleeping under mesquite during the day but out foraging for food at night. Get too close to one – or worse, the babies – and they’ll charge you, running you down and tearing your […]

Wow, where did this come from? David Galas‘ background is in darkwave (playing with Lycia), but The Cataclysm melds goth-rock, doom, alt-country and the blackest of post-rock to create a lush, oppressive odyssey to get utterly lost in. I haven’t heard the other band, but I hope he sticks with this sound – it’s completely […]

Disharmonic Orchestra is one of those bands that leave you speechless after listening to just one song. Right from the get-go you simply hear the difference – it’s death metal, but not played in the way you would expect it to sound. Innovative ideas and groundbreaking patterns – all of this reinvents the sole definition […]

First off, I will not mention that guitarist/vocalist Paulo posts on a message board I frequent (damn). Second off, I have to say that the artwork for Muay Thai Ladyboys by Scott Porterfield, is absolutely fucking fantastic. Unfold the inlay for a surprise that’s like John Baizley artwork (Baroness, Darkest Hour), but felched through the […]