As usual at this time of year, I get a few CDs for review that came out late the year before. Such is the case with Ahdistuksen Aihio Productions who sent me Ave Maria‘s Chapter I and this, the debut from Finland’s Saturnian Mist. And while Ave Maria left me unsettled but only slightly impressed, Gnostikoi […]

Here’s yet another addition to the growing collection of fine but quirky, experimental German black metal. This time in the form of duo ‘A’ (guitars/vocals) and ‘C’ (drums) and their Ave Maria debut, Chapter I. I don’t have a whole lot of reference points for this act, but it’s safe to say they definitely sound […]

Ghost may be snagging all the headlines in this whole retro ‘70s occult/Satanic revival thing that’s been going on (which also includes Blood Ceremony, Jex Thoth, Year of the Goat; call it the NWOSHM if you like), but when I think of mysterious Dutch act The Devil’s Blood, I recall the immortal words of Keyser Soze: […]

Blood Mortized‘s self released 2009 debut was one of my coolest old school Swedish death metal discoveries during the genre’s current revival. And though featuring former and current members of Amon Amarth and Crypt of Kerberos, the band didn’t seem to have as high of a profile as some of their contemporaries, but with an […]

Canadian modern metal act Threat Signal are no strangers to the rough and merciless tides of the music industry. Having only been around for a mere 7 years, the band is already the billionth victim of the MLC (Multiple Line-up Changes) Syndrome, and is precariously close to losing its roots entirely with only singer Jon Howard left from the original roster. With that said however, the band as an entity itself has evolved a lot since its early days. For a recording project that was initially accomplished entirely on Jon’s home computer, it sure has paid off well by getting Jon on-board the world-renowned Nuclear Blast roster; a dream that motivates countless metal bands worldwide to pursue their chosen path diligently, but which is often dashed with the cruel flick/click of an uninterested finger. Teeth of the Divine speaks with Jon to discover what plagued the stability of Threat Signal’s line-up over the years, find out what the new record is all about, discuss what the big guy Zeuss brings to the production table, and how Threat Signal was probably “djent” before “djent” even got coined.

In my interview with Jon Howard, he sarcastically derided the term “djent” when asked about Threat Signal’s genre classification. Similarly, I dislike that term. Many people like to call Threat Signal a “djent” band, but I like to be simple and just consider them a modern death metal band. This new record sees Threat Signal […]

  If you don’t know about The Stooges, then it’s time to do some research and learn about the primitive blueprint for punk, the precursor to primal musical minimalism, and an integral part of a late 60s/early 70s hugely influential rock ‘n roll scrapyard in Detroit that also spawned the likes of the MC5, Ted […]

Anyone has a Latin dictionary? Here is the impressive debut from Minnesota’s Atrum Inritus and as you can tell from the moniker, album title and track titles like “Aegrus Evert”, ” Sacramentum Exeuntium”, ” Tenebris Descendi” and “Ephemera”, there’s no doubt about what we are  dealing with here: Black metal. While all the above and […]

When an album cover depicts four long haired zombies devouring the flesh of the dead from the grave, I expect it to be a very unrelenting death metal album. Dismemberment, mutilation, disembowelment and any other descriptor for human evisceration are what I expect to drive the music and lyrics. Exhumed delivers the splattered gore on […]

    Montreal’s monsters of tech-death mayhem, BENEATH THE MASSACRE, have announced their newest album, entitled, “Incongruous,” will be released in the US on February 14th, in the UK on February 20th, in mainland Europe on February 24th and in Canada on February 28th. “Incongruous” was produced and mixed by Chris Donaldson (Cryptopsy) and mastered […]

Graf Orlock has completed work on its new EP, Los Angeles. In keeping with its tradition of using Hollywood blockbusters as inspiration, Graf Orlock has based Los Angeles entirely on Michael Mann’s 1995 film, Heat, starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Los Angeles is the follow-up to last year’s acclaimed Doombox EP, which Decibel Magazine called, “a churning, eclectic barnburner evoking unrestrained […]

Listen, I’ll readily admit to being one of those shallow, close minded types that judges a book by its cover, or a band by its moniker. And quite frankly a band with the name The Gardenerz wasn’t something I was ready to dive into. It’s the same reason I’ve never listened to Weekend Nachos and […]

American black metal is like Japanese pasta—a non-indigenous dish that actually does justice to the original (and perhaps even surpasses!) from time to time. Hence, I’d expect nothing less from the eclectic Abigail Williams, who have really gone off the edge of the cliff this time round and switched to playing an ambient form of […]

Are you tired of your metal bands jumping from genre to genre in order to fill up 10 minutes? Or how about their overuse of wussy acoustic guitar interludes? Or arrogant, meretricious guitarists using their guitars as  a masturbation tool?  And are you just sick and tired of some jack-ass belting, belching, crooning, whining and/or […]

Well fuck! That didn’t take long! After kicking my ass for a majority of 2011 with the likes of Entrails, Cryptborn, Uncanny, Miasmal, Undead Creep, Corpsessed, Gorephilia and such, Dark Descent Records, a mere two fucking days into 2012, has unleashed yet another gem of awesome old school death metal. Despite the label and PR […]

Despite being around since 1991 and with 6 full-length releases under their belt, Germany’s apparent death metal stalwarts Dead are new to me. But after hearing Hardnaked…but Dead, I can’t say I’m too bothered by the fact that I have missed out on their 20 year history. With a tongue in cheek grooving sense of […]

Swedish tech-titans SPAWN OF POSSESSION have announced the final details for their upcoming third full-length, Incurso — the band’s first album for Relapse Records — which is already one of the most anticipated death metal releases of 2012. Now confirmed to infest North American audiences on March 13th, Incurso was recorded with engineer Magnus Sedenberg […]

An album able to both warm the bones and embody the cold is generally a good one to have on hand during the colder months. Thank goat for Hammers of Misfortune and their skill at blending both the melancholy and heart-warming aspects of heavy metal so fluidly. Their multi-faceted take on the hardships and triumphs […]