Here’s a cool little 7 track EP from a new California act who mange to meld dark, pummeling hardcore, crust and post rock into a solid release that bodes well for the future, even in relatively crowded scene. Definitely recommended for fans on Converge due to some blistering chaos, underlined with some subtle and metallic […]

Ignoring the DVD releases and Best of -compilations, Armored Saint have been occupied elsewhere, unable to thrash out like they should. It’s been 10 years since their previous full-length album “Revelation” and the crowd has been left wandering in the dark, looking for the saint that is armored to set them free. This year, the band finally returns to the meat factory with their newest album “La Raza” (via Metal Blade Records). But the question remains… can they deliver? Read Shawn’s take on it.

You just need to take one look at the some of this German band’s promotional shots of the band smeared in stylistic blood on front of fiery battle scene to guess the style this band play and their primary influences. Look no further than the likes of Turisas, Ensiferum, Falchion and such, though Varg is […]

Few and far between are the bands who can both display their influences and without completely ripping them off. California 3-piece rockers Year Long Disaster are one of those bands. Thankfully, they’re a new band not enamored with the current wave of wannabe “sleaze” bands that seem to be popping up all over. Nor are […]

As a chronicler of the vast metal underworld, it is my charge – my burden – to delve deep into sonic realms which are shunned by most mortal ears. Over years of study, I have built up the fortitude, the facility – and, more and more, a growing fascination – with which to endure these […]

France’s Hypno5e recently stunned experimental metal fans with Des Deux l’une Est l’Autre, a shimmering, pulverizing, kaleidoscopic odyssey of BTBAM-styled insanity. Even with all the dynamics and sprawl packed into the album though, it seems they still have more to say – or at least, they wanted to say it in a different, softer voice. […]

And so the fittingly titled last album from Chet Scott (aided by Daniel Ellis Harrod and James Woodhead), closes the chapter on what has been one of the more interesting and introspective metal projects of the last few years with a deeply personal and almost completely ambient album. Where as Scott’s last two albums, the debut […]

On first listen, I thought I was going to really like Stygian’s Fury Rising. You see, I have this weakness in the eyes of many, and that’s the fact that I actually enjoy some of the more commercial acts like Godsmack and Disturbed. Though they have some aspirations to something a little heavier, that’s really […]

Brazilian band Dynahead deliver some strong, tight Heavy Metal with their debut CD Antigen. After several spins of this album now, I’d have to ultimately place it in the Progressive Metal category. But, don’t get visions of some Dream Theater or Threshold clone in your noggin. The Metal on Antigen is much more aggressive and […]

Pretty much every source labels Carach Angren as symphonic black metal, but in all honesty I disagree. The band’s latest album Death Came Through a Phantom Ship goes way beyond the darkness and blackness that the word pair ‘black metal’ holds. But for the sake of being a conformist, let’s play along and call it […]

When I first listened to Sybreed’s latest album The Pulse of Awakening, I didn’t know how I felt about the band’s Marty McFly shenanigans (read: ’80s influence). While it was different compared to their previous two albums—Slave Design and Antares—the band’s sound had still remained somewhat intact… go figure. And figure out I did as I got to interview the main man behind the controversy, lead singer Benjamin.

I tried to forgive Eluveitie for last years Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion. Though it wasn’t a bad record, it wasn’t a metal record either. Now the band takes the obvious leap back into metal, but what we get is no comparison to 2008’s Slania. Unless you are a diehard fan of this band, Everything […]

Well, here is 2010s first top notch tech death metal release (the re-issue of Obscura’s Retribution does not count). After 2008s promising little The Nameless, The Faceless EP, this California trio have made all the necessary improvements and developments to start flirting with the likes of Severed Savior, Odious Mortem, Abysmal Dawn and such: busy […]

With only 100 copies pressed, I never would have heard about Midnight Odyssey had it not been for TOTD-forum member timshel, who has a bloodhound’s knack for sniffing out obscure, arty avant-garde black metal gems. In this case, it’s a one-man ambient black metal project from Brisbane, Australia that blends the mysterious wanderings and tortured […]

In the tradition of other Facedown/Strikefirst releases, North Carolina’s Onwards to Olympas deliver solid Christian metalcore/ hardcore/ deathcore that straddles the line between burlier, heavier acts like label mates Earth From Above and slightly more melodic styled stuff like For Today and such. Now most of you have left, I’ll continue… There’s nothing to earth […]

“The Descent” To Hit Streets April 27th via PROSTHETIC  Norway’s MANTRIC, formed from the ashes of metal visionaries, EXTOL, have set the release date for their debut album, “The Descent,” which will be issued on Prosthetic Records worldwide. The album will hit the streets on April 27th in North America and April 26th in the […]

I’ve spent a lot of time with this record. New Moon is the definition of a “grower.” Swallow the Suns’ sound has progressed since their debut, yielding dynamics in writing that ultimately has lead them to this point in their career. This band is no longer a straight up death/doom outfit. The Swallow the Sun […]

I’ve been on a bit of a black metal kick of late, jamming the likes of Carach Angren, Unholy Ritual, Oblomov, Lux Divina and other more amicable, often symphonic versions of black metal. And while France’s Aldaaron are not Symphonic black metal, they do have some keyboards here and there, and their delivery is just […]

I truly thought that the self released EP from Australia’s Brazen Bull would be the most absolutely bat shit insane band I would hear in 2009.  Wrong.  Apparently this is this Italian band’s second album (along with 4 Ep/splits), and it has to be some off the most of the wall, experimental grindcore/spazz tech metal […]

Ive always championed Italy’s Disharmonia Mundi as one of the more underrated melodic death metal bands in the scene. Obviously overshadowed by the likes In Flames, Dark Tranquility and Soilwork, the band has still managed to hang around and are now on album number 4 (not including last years re-issue of Nebularium and The Restless […]

Deathcore is off to an explosive start in 2010 with the new, improved Annotations of an Autopsy, the solid new Carnifex, the keyboard drenched The Breathing Process and the full length debut from Utah’s Chelsea Grin. After a promising EP (off which two tracks “Cheyne Stokes” and Recreant”, reappear on this album) Utah’s now three […]

Imagine getting trampled by a galloping horse, no, imagine getting stomped by a prancing pony, each hoof raised high and thumped on your head over and over and over because that pony is not making forward progress, that is “Osiris”. Monstrously oppressive riffing with enticing melodies that make you dare the collapsing sky, this is […]

I’ve been occupied with thinking of the prospect of the arrival of a followup to Wrathrash for about fifteen seconds total over the past few years. I enjoyed both eps and the demo but sadly never think of playing them without a gentle nudge like popping open a package and seeing the cool cover to […]

In all honesty, when I think of Austin, Texas, power metal isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Witches Mark, apparently, is making a valiant attempt to change that. This four-song EP doesn’t convince me that can happen, but it’s also not a bad set of songs either. In fact, if I didn’t know […]

Re-issues are a hit or miss affair, but Poland’s Metal Mind have generally been spot on with their re-issue catalog (Godgory, Annihilator, Artillery, Atrophy, Believer, Brutality, Defiance just to name a few) but when the source material is as oddball and divisive as the 2002 release from Disharmonic Orchestra, they are a bit hamstrung. I […]