Before I get into this review I have two confessions/disclaimers to make. One – I love deathcore, and I love breakdowns even more. I think there are few things more enjoyable in the extreme metal realm. Two – I can’t stand raspy, screamy vocals. CAN’T FUCKING STAND THEM. They can ruin a promising album quicker […]

To grind or not to grind; that is the question. That question is answered by Germany’s Necromorph in the extreme affirmative, as you’ll hear within moments of the calamitous ride that is Grinding Black Zero. More Nasum than Insect Warfare and characterized by a relative degree of compositional diversity within grindcore parameters, Grinding Black Zero […]

One of those “old and forgotten Eastern European jewels“ that I Hate Records has been mining as of late, the rediscovered, repackaged, and reissued Let Draka/Flight of the Dragon from the Czech Republic’s Drakar nearly defies classication. Progressive thrash? Sort of. Quirky metal? You’ve just gotten in warmer. Creative music? Let’s go with that one. Vocalist/guitarist, founder, and visionary Ivan Sekyra takes us back to beginning, moves us through the middle, fast forwards to 2011 and tells the tale of a small Swedish label reissuing a little known album – in two-disc format for English and Czech speakers alike – from a killer cult Czech band . Read on; you just might learn something.

Any decision about whether to purchase Nunslaughter’s DemoSlaughter should come down to your ability to answer one simple question. Are you a devoted fan of the long-running, rabidly anti-Christian, barbarous dealers of death? If the answer is “yes,” then you shouldn’t hesitate in picking up this comprehensive collection of songs from all six previously out […]

It’s all in good fun and Cannabis Corpse is nothing if not clever when it comes to song titles and lyrics parodying the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, and Deicide. Musically, the chops have always been there, but to use the example of 2009’s The Weeding EP, the songs just weren’t all that memorable. […]

From the band’s 2004 The Miseries Never Cease EP to their self-titled, self released 2007 debut album, I’ve long championed The Living Fields as one of the most criminally unsigned bands in metal. Well, the unsigned part was rectified with the band signing with Candlelight Records, and though this album took its sweet sweet time […]

Although the kvltest of the kvlt may gnash their teeth and tear their hair, black metal has truly spread its wings since its early days. Yet no matter the subgenre – symphonic, Viking, folk, progressive, post-black, depressive/suicidal, bestial, orthodox, blackgazer, and on and on – there are certain hallmarks of the genre that remain in […]

For $5 how can you go wrong? That may depend on whether your life revolves around daily financial decisions concerning choices between items like a pack of Pall Malls and diapers for your woefully neglected infant. But for the rest of you, Vanhelgd’s Church of Death is a steal at that price. Old school and […]

Oh. My. Fucking. God. Imagine, metaphorically speaking, that two high speed trains are careening towards each other on a unavoidable collision course. One train is Origin‘s ultra technical, brutal, but intelligent form of death metal. The other train is Sigh and their over the top orchestral symphonics and theatrics. BAM!!!! They collide, each train melting […]

That ominous rumble you’re hearing in the distance is not a thunderstorm forming somewhere in the east. It’s the sound of CIANIDE’s Gods of Death moving steadily toward you. If you’re a friend, chances are you’ll survive the arrival. Foe? Forget about it; assume the position and starting kissing your ass goodbye. The long-running Chicago outfit has been leaving bruises and abrasions with every release unleashed, but the ugly death marches and rotten speed-kills of Gods of Death (Hells Headbangers) will in all likelihood be the one to inflict the most damage on unsuspecting listeners, in some cases lethally. Vocalist/bassist Mike Perum offers some pointers that will help you prepare for the impending carnage. Pay attention; your life depends on it.

I’ve had the same problem with the last few Sepultura records. They all struck me as pretty good albums straight out of the box, but after a few weeks I put them away, and most of them haven’t gotten any play since that initial listening period. This is the second record with guitarist Andreas Kisser […]

Underworld Records has set August 15th as the date on which EXCOMMUNICATED debut album Skeleton Key will be unleashed. Compositionally dynamic, atmospherically insidious, and impossible to forget, this is Louisiana blackened death that lacerates the soul and burns into the brain. A dark treatise on the medieval Catholic Church, Skeleton Key is that rare metal […]

All Shall Perish‘s sophomore album, The Price of Existence was my favorite album of 2006. Unfortunately, their 2008 follow up, Awaken the Dreamers was a bit of a let down. In part due to the precedent set by the prior album, but also due to some more commercial moments, clean vocals and even ballads. So […]

Requiem is a veteran death metal band from Switzerland that have just released their fifth album, Within Darkened Disorder on Twilight Vertrieb. Requiem plays a form of war death metal with old school influence as well as a more melodic tone (blackened). One thing is for sure that this album is powerful yet kind of […]

Have you ever heard an album that doesn’t suck nor does it rock the shit out of everything in its path… an album that’s just, uh oh, decent? Switchtense self-titled second full-length is that album. For its duration, it’s all entertainment and cupcakes, but after it ceases spinning, that’s it. It doesn’t leave a mark. […]

Candlelight Records will continue its previously launched classics series confirming releases from DISCHARGE, EXTREME NOISE TERROR, and THE VARUKERS. New to the series, the label will release Disensitise and War Is Hell from DISCHARGE on August 23, followed by Holocaust In My Head by EXTREME NOISE TERROR on September 27 and the 2CD The Damnation […]

OK, I reeeeeally need to revisit Incantation. Not only have I been enjoying the likes of Corpsessed, Gorephilia, Blaspherian and such, but the current wave of old school death metal has even got Century Media on the band wagon with the excellent Sonne Adam. Profound Lore Records has simply decided to truly dig into the […]

Medeia’s previous album, Cult, floored me with a blindside haymaker; the blend of melodic death metal and mainly Gothenburg-less metalcore really stuck out from the competition. The songwriting was tight, the riffs were tighter and the delivery was full of primal rage and enough technical finesse to make it all interesting. Three years later, the […]

So in my 10 or so years of this reviewing gig, I’ve seen the increase in ethnic and cultural influences within metal. Of course, there’s the obvious folk/pagan stuff, but bands like Melechesh, Orphaned Land, Mictlantecuhtl, Negura Bunget and others have brought the world to metal.But never in a million years did I ever think […]

A Strike First Records release you know the deal, Christian music at its finest. Ark Of The Covenant is their name and the Separation EP is their game. If one is familiar with bands such as Creations, or sadly the poop fest that is The Great Commission, then as you know breakdowns are the key […]

Hellmouth is the music equivalent of their hometown Detroit: violent, grimy, pissed off and ugly. Their debut, Destroy Everything, Worship Nothing was a feral but ultimately forgetful  crossover assault of black metal, thrash and punk, but on their follow up, Gravestone Skylines, with the same musical influences,  the band has improved their sneering sonic violence, […]

With WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM‘s fourth full-length album, Celestial Lineage, now completed and nearing its September 13, 2011 release date via Southern Lord Records, we today unveil the album’s full song listing and album artwork. The cover art for Celestial Lineage was created by photographic artist Alison Scarpulla, and the package designed by Aaron […]

Somewhere in Boston , MA at the intersection of doom, post rock, sludge and fucking awesome lies the band Morne. A new act to me, but after seeing some positive press and the band being on Profound Lore, I just had to check their second album out. I was greatly rewarded, as will you upon […]

This is metal the Chicago way, baby! By that I mean Bones’ self-titled debut is raw, in your face, no frills death metal with a whole lot of dirty rockin’ groove.  It is a trio of ex-Usurper members Jon Necromancer (vocals/bass), Carcass Chris (guitar), and Joe Warlord (drums) that delivers this album of herb-enhanced, beer […]

Bassist/vocalist Jon Necromancer, drummer Joe Warlord, and guitarist Carcass Chris are veterans of the Chicago metal scene who knew exactly what they wanted to do when the self-titled debut from Bones was recorded. Screw pretension, fuck marathon studio sessions, and to hell with anything that isn’t made from a vocal, a bass line, a guitar riff, and drum beat. A power trio on multiple levels Bones brings it hard from note one, grooves it up, breaks it down to its bare essence, and kicks a ridiculous amount of ass in the process. Since all are ex-members of defunct Chicago legends Usurper, vagaries of that sound are present. But even more prominent is a bludgeoning, raw, and righteously rockin’ vibe that fuses the styles of bands like Master, Venom, and vintage-era Motorhead in a way that is 100 percent Bones. Jon Necromancer breaks it down even further for us. [DISCLAIMER: This interview, as well as the album review, was written before Bones became a client of ClawHammer PR, so don’t think for a moment that there is some insidious connection between the two.]