As I expressed here, Woe’s debut album, A Spell for the Death of Man was one of the best USBM releases of the last few years. So I was curious how Chris Grigg (no longer known as Xos) would deliver a follow up now residing on a legendary black metal label and having a full […]

You want to know how to get you self-released demo EP reviewed quickly? Send out a professional promotional package/folder that includes a retail CD, band contact information/bio, a poster, some glossy photos, a lyric sheet and some stickers. Even if your band is terrible, I’ll review your latest shite quicker than a few mp3s dumped […]

For the most part, most metal bands keep their style and sound. They know their niche, stick with it and possibly beat it to death, which is all well and good. With bands like Dismember, Bolt Thrower, Dimmu Borgir, Iron Maiden, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and such, fans know what they are getting and are OK with that. Heck even a few minor tangents and subtle flirtation with experimentation have risen on some of Metal’s most revered acts: Napalm Death, Amorphis, Death, Hypocrisy, Convulse, Paradise Lost, Anaal Nathrakh, Immortal, In Flames, Gorefest and the most obvious one, Metallica have changed, but all were recognizable. What about the rest?

A glance at the cheesy, amateurish cover of Halford’s IV: Made of Metal, likely wouldn’t inspire metal fans to give it a second glance if not for the fact that it bears the Metal God’s name. Luckily for the legendary screamer, it’s not what’s on the cover, but what’s under the hood, and Rob Halford’s latest […]

The last Flotsam & Jetsam record to make an impact on me was 1995’s Drift. While I know that some fans of the band will disagree, I consider that record one of their finest moments. I loved the more progressive slant, and as much as I like No Place for Disgrace and Cuatro, it remains my […]

The hype-machine surrounding France’s Holding Sand seems to be in full-swing and it appears as if the band is at the verge of breaking through—at least in France. Having played through their 17-minute EP On Sleepless Night, I can see why. Pure metalheads need not apply, since there’s isn’t much for you here, even if […]

Mortiis returns to satiate fans’ desire for new music this October 10 with “Perfectly Defect,” a completely free, full-length, downloadable album. “Putting ‘Perfectly Defect’ out as a free download was a decision we made after some consideration,” said the band’s namesake Mortiis.  “The new model of the music business is important to keep in mind; […]

The second album (despite being around since 1997) from Australia’s Stargazer fills two needs: First, it makes up for the disappointing Blood Revolt, redeeming Profound Lore records once again. Second, it satiates me until Atheist’s Jupiter drops. OK, I recently got Jupiter, but this tied me over. You’d think an Australian band comprised of two […]

I’ll spare you the history lesson, because you’re no doubt going to see it included in any recent Malevolent Creation review you read.  So allow me to begin by saying that Invidious Dominion is a throat-stompingly mean album from start to finish, one that’s on par with previous Malevolent Creation output, though maybe not quite as (for lack […]

Where the hell did this come from? For Death, Glory and the End of the World came out of nowhere and hit me like a body tumbling down the stairs – a ragdoll flurry of fists and feet, and capped off with a neck-snapping headbutt. This roiling style of post-hardcore/sludge is frequently described as jagged […]

Vortex and Mustis gone. A 100-strong collection of musicians and singers from the Norweigan Radio Orchestra and Schola Cantorum Choir. All those three-word album titles, lopped down to a single word inspired by the magickal writings of Aleister Crowley – a man whose life was a mystical, semen-slick orgy of occult excess. And speaking of […]

There must be some legal wrangling going on between Rikard Martinsson and his former band mates from Mithotyn, because the debut (Fi’mbulvintr) from Sweden’s King of Asgard―which features ex-Mithotyn/Falconer members Karl Beckmann and Karsten Larsson (with Stefan Weinerhall providing some lyrics)―is basically a Mithotyn album without the band name. Or Rikard for that matter. Not […]

New Jersey death metal group Abacinate has issued the following statement in the wake of vocalist Jason Sica’s death: Abacinate is incredibly sad to announce that on Tuesday morning, September 28th 2010, our vocalist Jason “Plunger” Sica, 25, was found dead. He died at the home of one of his friends, in his hometown of […]

Have long-running Canadian death metal assault unit Kataklysm broken the mold with new album Heaven’s Venom?  Their own mold, that is, the one they’ve been on the verge of crumbling throughout the course of the past few albums?  Gone are the chaotic days of the northern hyperblast, shooed away in favor of hategroove and seething […]

And so as 2010 winds down there’s still a few late arrivals from 2009 in my mailbox, but only a few are worth mentioning. At the top of the list is Sickening Horror’s follow-up to one of 2007’s very best death metal CDs: When Landscapes Bled Backwards. While these Greeks have a tall order to […]

NEURAXIS To Support DEICIDE; Band Comments On Tour Canadian tech-death metallers NEURAXIS have been tapped to support the legendary DEICIDE on the “God Is Dead- To Hell With God Tour” in February and March of next year. BELPHEGOR, BLACKGUARD and PATHOLOGY will also be on the bill. The run will kick off in Atlanta, GA […]

OCEANO ANNOUNCES HEADLINING TOUR DATES, POSTS NEW TRACK ON MYSPACE OCEANO are proud to announce the first dates for their Contagion Across The Nation Tour (presented by Outburn Magazine). This is the Billboard-charting deathcore act’s first solo headlining run in North America as well as their first tour after the release of their new album, […]

After seven years off (not counting 2005’s Zero Comfort Margin EP), one of Willowtip’s first bands returns to the fray with an absolutely sick release that shows that brutal death metal/grindcore can be way more than power chords, pig squeals and comical cover art rife with porn and zombies. The aptly named Psalm of the […]

Miss Uphill Battle? Enjoy blackened hardcore or crust tinged blackened punk? Then check out the debut from this hungry San Francisco act who with their brief but feral Misanthropy and Godlessness, have delivered a half hour of urgent, enjoyable metal with vast crossover appeal. Featuring an incredibly punchy Zach Ohren production, the album’s feedback littered […]

I love small club shows. It’s such a…it’s a much more rich experience than the big stadium/arena/amphitheater shows. To use a word that’s constantly thrown around on this very topic, the shows are much more intimate. At any given time I wanted, I could get within 5 feet of the stage – I fucking love that – so close you can smell the sweat (maybe that’s just the other gnarly concert goers standing next to me), and feel the breeze coming off the motion of windmilling guitarists hair.

ENSLAVED has been producing quality music throughout the years. Sure, some of the albums have been better than others, but the band has been amazingly consistent with their releases none the less. Their new album, Axioma Ethica Odini, is just around the corner. How does it stack up? Is it a failure? Best album of 2010? Find out and read our review!

British Heraldic Templar Metal? Monty Python metal? Hey Nonny Nonny core? Whatever you call it, the brain child of The Meads of Asphodel founder James Fogarty is certainly one thing: Fun! Imagine if you will the “Knights of the Round Table/Camelot” song from Monty Python’s The Holy Grail -movie done to metal (it’s a silly […]

There was a time up until about 2005’s Anomalies that Cephalic Carnage were a no questions, blind buy for every release. Challenging, heavy, creative, humorous and of course driven by weed, the band seemed to be on the very cusp of exploding out of their pot fueled basement and into mega stardom. But with Anomalies […]

There’s very little justice in the world of music. Even in Finland—a country of mere five million inhabitants that’s often regarded as a heavy metal mecca—bands destined for great things fall into obscurity after releasing one or two excellent albums. Take for example Sancnity, who could have contributed immensely to the progressive metal revolution in […]

King Giant may hail from Virginia, but the sludge they dish out on Southern Darkness sounds like something raked up from the bottom of a muddy Louisiana swamp. The sound is dense, like a dark, menacing beast that pays tribute to metal legends like Black Sabbath, walks hand-in-hand with sludge contemporaries like Down and Crowbar […]