As I start to get to the last of my 2008 releases that I feel worthy of review, I stumbled across the full length debut from Modesto, California’s Better Left Unsaid, a band whose demo, The Silencing, I reviewed and enjoyed at another site. Now on Jamey Jasta’s Stillborn Records, BLU play a form of […]

If you have some interest in a gasmask clad Chicago black metal outfit which has members of Nacthmystium, Cianide and Dysphoria in its ranks, plying a form of relentlessly  simple yet effective, Marduk/Dark Funeral meets Impaled Nazarene styled thrashy black metal, then look no further than Kommandant. There’s not much more to elaborate on really; […]

Mellotron is a fledgling Prog Metal band from Michigan. This, their debut EP, is loaded with some accomplished musicianship, tight changes, nice ambience and good variation. Don’t let the EP tag fool you, these 5 songs clock in at right around 35 minutes. With songs ranging from just over 5 to just over 9 minutes, […]

Being a Hate Forest, Astrofaes, Nokturnal Mortum, Lucifugum, fan made it an obvious leap to Khors. Mysticism is now the third Khors album I have been on board for, and as it turns out, they have only three albums released. Even though band members are shared with the above mentioned bands as well as Runes […]

One look at the six members of Marionette and you will probably think Emo or some sort of Goth is about to punish your ears. Dressed like something I would expect from AFI or Marilyn Masons children, this Swedish act is more serious than you think. I for one was fooled until I popped in […]

When I was supposed to get this promo, the actual disc was lost in the mail. All I received was the jewel case liner, which opens up to a larger poster version of the cover art. I promptly hung it on my wall (having no idea what they sound like, but I thought it looked […]

I really never know what to say when I get this kind of stuff in the mail. I’m not the biggest black metal fan, and I don’t know why I always feel like stating that. Maybe only to justify my opinion if everyone else loves this and I somehow missed something. But that doesn’t change […]

The only good thing about Page 26, a five-track cd from Italian Heavy Metal quintet Ibridoma, is that these guys are really lucky to have such a good vocalist as Christian Bartolacci at their disposal. The man does have what it takes and even reminds me of great Robert Plant at his most inspired moments. […]

Iscariah is not a newcomer to the world of metal; after all, the bugger was on Immortal’s last two records playing oft-inaudible bass, as well as the more bass-aware black metal troupe Wurdulak, who added, if nothing else, another couple of metal albums with a ravaged nun on the cover. He’s also been in Necrophagia, […]

I like it when material to be reviewed is not only supplied with complete info about the band but also with a multipage booklet and full cover art. Apparently, such a disc is supposed to get an extra point from a reviewer as it can always be reckoned as a worthy collectible item and a […]

Hailing from Italy, Concept Project is an instrumental trio on a young domestic label SG Records that play a rather unpretentious fusion of Blues, Rock’n’Roll and Funk with a bit of Hard Rock and Jazz components. I doubt this style of music will go down too well with the average Metal fan, yet it might […]

I didn’t even try pronouncing Mictlantecuhtli – Aztec God of the Dead – and it’s a bitch to spell too. You may want to learn the pronunciation because if you dig Warriors of the Black Sun as much as I do you’ll not want to sound moronic when that name falls out of your mouth. […]

While Willowtip’s trio of releases from Maruta, Kill the Client and Phobia certainly stole a lot of the acclaim for grindcore in 2008, here comes this belated release in my mailbox (along with the new Birdflesh) from the always quality grindmongers over in Czech Republic, Obscene Productions, and I’ll be damned if it isn’t one […]

Death metal from Congo? Really? When I reviewed Devast’s Art of Extermination a while ago it stood as the only death metal act from the continent of Africa (Algeria to be exact) I’d come across at the time. Now comes Postulate of Mass Genocide by Infertile Surrogacy and the question becomes, “Is African brutal death […]

Billy and Jill – Razorback Records’ dynamic duo – continue to unearth gore-splattered death metal and thrash. And don’t even start with the goregrind thing, as the vast majority of Razorback acts have fallen into one or both of the aforementioned categories. Anyway, Dallas’s Decrepitaph are a fine addition to the roster and continue a […]

Halo of Flies Records are not particularly productive when it comes to releases, but when they do release something it usually gets my attention-for example Fall of Efrafa, Protestant and now Wisconsin’s Malachi and this release which consists of the bands previous two 2008 vinyl only releases (Malachi and Wither to Cover the Tread) on […]

So if you took the angular, earthy percussive assault of Kylesa or Leviathan era Mastodon, threw in the stoner heft of High On Fire, the sorrowful dirges of Crowbar and a very slight hint of psychedelic doom like Rwake, Minsk or Samothrace then name the band after Ivan Drago’s famous line from Rocky IV, you […]

While you don’t have to be depressed to enjoy depressive black metal, there’s probably only so much Walknut and Ruins of Beverast-style grimness you can take. That’s why a band like Svarti Loghin is a nice find. Like Drudkh, Alcest or Agalloch, they bring a warmer, more pleasantly wistful sound to the black metal experience […]

Formerly a medieval black metal act, this Italian three-piece has followed an Ulver-like trajectory to become something much more ambient, experimental and textural. I’m usually not quite sure to expect from this sort of thing, as it could either be 45 minutes of indulgent, formless studio wankery or an actual album experience. Luckily, Vuoto Spazio […]

From the opening moments of that chainsaw riff and bruising bass/drum propulsion on “Smoke of Death” you just know that you are hearing something some of us like to call “the real deal.” It is just something about that raw, live-like production and bullshit-free bass/drum/guitar attack on Dishammer’s Vintage Addiction that cannot be copied by […]

Ugh. I rather enjoyed the 2006 debut, Existence from North Carolina’s The Demonstration as it displayed the melodic chops of the North Carolina metalcore scene with a confidence and heavy dose of Prayer For Cleansing/Between the Buried and Me guitar work. However, guitarists Charles Matheny and vocalist Trevor Underwood have since left the band, replaced […]

Here’s another one I’ve been putting off for some time. Each time I put it on, I just couldn’t quite wrap my head around it, and had to shut it off. But as of late, I’ve been digging on a little more oddball, left of center and/or progressive stuff from my norm, and Frozen Circus […]

I’m not a big Moonspell fan. Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard they’re back in top form with their recent releases, but I still haven’t heard them. In fact, I never listened to the band back in their Wolfheart heyday, so I recently checked that one out – and was terribly bored by the whole thing. I […]

Like Satyricon and Thorns? Then you’re bound to like this Polish act, who combine their mechanized brand of black metal with a variety of spacey effects and add-ons. Maniacal, undulating saxophones, distorted vocal samples and early 80s synth effects are thrown into the black metal mix on “Axis of Diagram.” Some carnivalesque, Arcturus-style menace and […]

Apt title, Janvs. Naming your band after the two-faced Roman deity is a good way to underscore the dual nature of your identity. In this case, it’s a fresh blend of black metal’s speedy ferocity with a more contemplative, emotional side. It might be too early to call these guys the Italian black metal Opeth, […]