Ugh. I hate when I’m let down by an album I’ve been anticipating. Coming into Attitude, I was curious to see where Susperia would take their catchy and melodic death/thrash – back towards the phenomenal Unlimited from 2004, or continue down the path set by their last, 2007’s Cut From Stone, which felt rather lackluster […]

Before hearing What Horrors Await, I was only vaguely familiar with Jungle Rot. I knew they had been around for awhile and had heard bits and pieces of their stuff, enough to know they had a very groove based, old school death metal sound, so I pretty much knew what to expect and that’s exactly […]

Necrophobic’s last album, Hrimthursum, threw me for a loop initially, mainly because of the stylistic expansion from the album before, Bloodhymns, which was one of my favorites from 2002. It wasn’t as though the Swedes did any kind of about-face on that album, one that I rated quite highly in the end; I just found […]

I can’t honestly recall having heard Elvenking before, and as I understand it, this isn’t a record I should judge the band by as it’s an attempt to do something different from their normal sound. This record, however, sounds like a band in need of an identity. Is it folk? Is it power metal? Is it 1980s pop rock? […]

In 2008, Scotland’s Alestorm took the international metal world by storm with their brand of likeable ‘Pirate Metal’ that mixed NWBHM, folk metal, Pirate shanty tunes and Running Wild imagery, even resulting in a US run with the Pagan Knights tour earlier this year. Well, here is the follow up, and though I feel a […]

This band is seriously armed to the teeth in almost every respect. First of all, they have one of the longest, most ridiculous names ever conceived. Second, they’ve matched that with the album title. Third, they have enlisted James Murphy to produce and mix this beast, the Obituary connection continues, at least on the Euro […]

Despite the fact this is pretty obvious The Black Dahlia Murder worship a la Wretched, Mirror of Dead Faces, Sons Of Azrael etc, but it’s better than those bands and I have to say I’m kinda digging this- a lot. From the killer cover to the injection of some excellent Woe of Tyrants – like […]

Right before my former writing job at Metal Maniacs went titties up, I had been given the assignment to do a couple of pages on Dodsferd, and the sole proprietor involved in the project, Wrath. (Just an a side note here; why is it that in all these one man projects the lone guy has […]

This Australian band mixes neofolk, progressive rock, classic heavy metal and Viking/black metal with an epic, narrative approach that should appeal to fans of Empyrium, Solefald and Doomsword. It’s an ambitious album, and obviously a lot of care and thought has gone into it, although in the end I found it as exasperating as it […]

Award-winning Glendale, AZ heavy music powerhouse JOB FOR A COWBOY (JFAC) has completed work on its hotly-anticipated sophomore album, entitled Ruination. The record will see a July 7, 2009 North American release date via Metal Blade Records. The brand new JFAC song “Unfurling a Darkened Gospel” has been posted online today and is available to […]

As elder statesmen in the world of Doom Metal, Sweden’s Candlemass has carved a long, deep canyon in the genre leaving a mark like few have since or will again. While not the original vocalist, the now departed Messiah Marcolin is regarded as part of the band’s quintessential line up and his different replacements have […]

I’ve been on a roll of good female-fronted records lately — Luna Mortis, The Agonist, Lacuna Coil (yes, I know it’s poppy and commercial, but I still like it) — so I suppose it was just a matter of time before I got another one of these. Wolves & Witches has a few things going […]

As regular readers of this site may know, I’m generally not a huge fan instru-metal or instrumental metal as I feel vocals are an integral part of metal. However, with the likes of Scale the Summit, Animals As Leaders, Shelter Red and North Dakota’s Sleeping In Gethsemane, my stance may be softening a little. Admittedly, […]

More horrific. More addictive. That’s the aim for Pulling Teeth. Every time they come back they are that much more ugly, that much more putrid but, that much more intoxicating and tempting. Furthermore, with each release, everything just gets better, doomier, faster, of course uglier but paramount of course is the quality which is unsurprisingly […]

Nashville natives Destroy Destroy Destroy will exclusively premiere their new music video for “The Wretched Forest” today on MySpace Music. The video for “The Wretched Forest,” directed/produced by Steve Stemac and edited by Ryan Kendrick of Digital Bohemia, transcends historical time periods, taking us back to when quests for the Holy Grail and slaying dragons […]

Gotta give it up for Galder – the guy is consistent. From 1999’s Ill-Natured Spiritual Invasion through 2006’s Vermin, he’s basically been making improvements on an already addictive melodic black metal formula: monstrous, sinister riffs, spooky-key grandeur, thundering, syncopated drumming and that cavernous, blackened snarl. (I love the first two albums too but stylistically, they’re […]

Credit where credit’s due, not only have WFAHM continued to pursue the jagged, distorted path laid down from their prior releases but have more importantly, remained active. It’s particularly admirable given the current climate and the fact that people are becoming more and more fickle about how they burn their disposable income each month (providing […]

Ecclectic. If any one word was to embody the musical mad scientist that is Devin Townsend, that would be it. This newest creation, under the Devin Townsend Project moniker, is about as far from Strapping Yonng Lad as we can get, and yet, its every bit as intriguing and infectious. What Hevy Devy has given […]

Super groups are no longer an unheard-of subject as they have been springing up here and there practically on a daily basis as of late. Finland’s own Black Sun Aeon was formed last year and consists of Tuomas Saukkonen of Melodic Death Gothic outfit Before The Dawn, responsible for all guitars, drums, keyboards and dark […]

Band Leader PATRICK MAMELI Makes Statement and Apologizes To the Fans HOLLYWOOD, CA (May 24, 2009) – The innovators of Death Metal, Pestilence will not headline today, May 24, 2009, at the Maryland DeatFest due to their detainment at the US border. Band leader Patrick Mameli and guitarist Patrick Uterwyck were kept in custody for […]

I’m always a little nervous when I get an independent CD. On the one hand, I hate to rip them apart. They’re usually bands just starting out that still need a lot of work but could develop into something, and being a lousy guitarist that refuses to give it up myself, I hate to discourage […]

Man, I’m still sweating and I’ve not done anything but sit on my ass and allow the deafening tones of Destruktor’s Nailed to wash over me…like a layer of soot. The Australian firebrands don’t care much about easing into anything; it’s about assuming the position – head down, fingers positioned on the frets, drum sticks […]

What’s this? Another Vegan Straight Edge monolith on Century Media? Unlike Earth Crisis though, Maroon are virtually unrecognizable from the maniacs that unleashed “Captive in the room of the conspirator” and “Antagonist.” Back then it was all about the new school sound forged by Day of Suffering, Arkangel and to an extent Earth Crisis (oh […]

A Canadian band playing bouncy, synth filled, epic, Finnish styled folk power/black metal on Sumerian Records (though Nuclear Blast did do the European release) with a female drummer? Yup. Culling from the likes of Ensiferum, Wintersun, Turisas, early Children of Bodom and such, Blackguard (formerly known as Profogus Mortis) give folk fans another solid entry […]

One of the most influential melodic hardcore bands of our time, Strike Anywhere, has found a new home at Bridge Nine Records, as announced today by the label. Bridge Nine owner Chris Wrenn said, “We’re really excited about working with such an established and hard working band as Strike Anywhere. I’ve wanted to work with […]