There’s a couple of reasons I checked out the debut from British newcomers Ageless Summoning. 1) it’s on Dark Descent Records. ’nuff said. 2), the promo material dropped Steve Tucker-era Morbid Angel and Immolation as influences, and certainly when the opening lurch of “Usurper of the Void” and its otherworldy  Trey Azagthoth solo cemented that […]

I generally like to think myself a pretty positive kind of guy – or at least, I try not to add any more negativity to the world than what already exists (and I think we can all certainly agree, it’s already too much). To date, I can only recall one album review I’ve ever done […]

There’s been a slight shift in my tastes for Metal since I turned fifty. I look for different things now and I’ve discovered that certain genres aren’t for me. I tried to like Lorna Shore, it didn’t happen, but I tried, and it made me want to punch babies. So, if I’m going to listen […]

Sweden’s Ironmaster is a supergroup featuring a trio of dudes who are ir have been in such bands as Carnal Forge, Facebreaker, Scar Symmetry Dark Funeral and Incapacity. And while Black Lion Records is usually known for their more melodic or symphonic black metal offerings, Ironmaster delivers a savage assault of blistering no frills blackened/death […]

I’m gonna come right out and say right at the start – I agree with Hank Hill on a lot of fronts. Not all, of course – Arlen’s favorite son certainly has an irremovable stick up his ass about a lot of things that, really, are just silly. But when it comes to Christian Rock, […]

NYDM brutal death metal veterans Pyrexia return with their seventh full-length album, however, it is a retread as the band felt it necessary to re-record their second full-length album, System of the Animal, which came out 26 years ago.  So should this not read System of the Animal (26)? When Pyrexia moved on from brutal […]

Fathomage is a one-man, Australian, self-confessed Orthodox Christian who goes by the name of ‘Akul’. But don’t let the orthodox Christian thing put you off, as his music isn’t preachy ‘white metal’ at all but rather a Summoning (he has dabbled in Tolkien themes for prior album Minas Morgul – The Nazgûl Awaken) inspired take […]

The 2022 self-titled debut EP from Italy’s Dead Chasm, was a solid affair of churning, miasmal Dark Descent-styled death metal that hinted at something pretty damn good for the band’s future, and here we are with the band’s full-length debut. And while it continues from the sound of the EP, it’s not quite the jump […]

It’s amazing the perspective you gain in life when you find someone you truly want to spend your life with – that person you feel you were always meant to be with. For those of you who haven’t found that person yet, I apologize for throwing that in your face right out the gate here, […]

Man, I don’t know what it is with some of these small European countries. How are they able to produce such great metal? Take Finland for example, be it doom, death, black metal, or anything in between, and you can bet your sweet ass that there is a Finnish master of it. So I guess […]

Chalk up 2023 to Frank reviewing many long albums and with Ohio’s Blackened Tech Death/Thrash metal band Terranoct we get their self-released debut album Icon of Ruin clocking in at over an hour’s length, intertwined into 11 songs.  What drew me to this band was the eye-catching album cover and pretty cool logo.  Remember bands, […]

Sometimes I need a break from my symphonic addiction and shake things up a bit and get back to basics. Go back to my roots so to speak…how about some relentless, blasting blackened death metal from South Carolina??? Fuck yes. And Olkoth ( a deity from the Cthtulu mythos) with current and ex-members from various […]

When I was still discovering the musical spaces of the internet back in the early 2000s, MP3 sites were my best friend. I discovered bands that I had never heard of before and experienced a whole new genre: Pagan Black Metal/Pagan Folk and holy shit my brain exploded. It wasn’t long before I was butchering […]

Throw in former members of NYDM bands like Pyrexia (Danny Trapani-guitar) and Internal Bleeding (Jerry Lowe), throw in some pizza, mobster shit, the Statue of Liberty, street corner hotdogs and pretzels and throw in a blender with NYHC up your ass and Punchyourface gets plopped out.  Street Terrorists is their second full-length and Jerry and […]

Okay, so I know I’m late. When I received the promo before the release date, I expected I would have this done in short order. Life happens and so does this album. To review this properly, one must spend copious amounts of time, so if you’re not into being patient, then don’t bother with Hive […]

Once upon a time in Norway, these guys who loved old school Black Metal got together and formed a band; they called that band Heimland and set out to play the rawest, most feral Black Metal that captures the frozen forests of their native country. Forfedrenes Taarer is the band’s first full-length album after releasing […]

Listen, it’s nice when you discover an album, and it just blows you the hell away, right? Be it with originality, technical mastery or creative genius – the kind of album where you get a sense you’re listening to something special, a new benchmark upon which all releases after will be judged. Especially if it’s […]

So this spring/summer the always reliable FDA records unleashed a couple of lethal debut albums from female-fronted death metal bands. One, was the debut of Itlay’s Dead Chasm, whose solid EP I covered here, and the other from Turkey’s Abolish, who was of interest to me as they feature Lucy Ferra on vocals, who impressed […]

Starting as a standard brutal death metal/slam band, Germany’s started adding some keyboards around 2019’s Inferis, but it was for 2021’s excellent A Hill to Die Upon, where they went full-on symphonic deathcore, and on the heels of Lorna Shore‘s genre igniting Immortal, comparisons to Lorna Shore were inevitable…. and warranted. However, they also had […]

Yesterday I had my ears shredded. It didn’t really hurt, on the contrary, it felt rather good. The bass drum slap fighting with my eardrums, the blistering guitar work, courtesy of seasoned Death Metal veteran Rogga Johansson (Ribspreader, GhoulHouse, Paganizer) and the crushing vocals of Jens Johansson had my head banging in no time flat. […]

Indonesia Vallendusk is one of my favorite atmospheric black metal bands, so when I heard that Numeron was from also Indonesia, played the same style of black metal, AND have a concept album based on Norse mythology, I had to check it out. And while not quite as good as Vallendusk, they are still really […]

Finland’s long-running grindcore band, Rotten Sound have returned with their eighth full-length album, Apocalypse, and crowbarred in between all those albums are some EPs.  Over the years they have taken more time in between full-length albums but always release an EP just to whet our grind appetites before another grind power violence album is unleashed […]

So after splitting up shortly after 2011’s Opus Mortis VIII, with most of the members going on to form Cut Up (essentially Vomitory 2.0) and releasing a couple of solid albums, one of Sweden’s most long-running and purely, staunchly death metal (no groove metal or death ‘n’ roll diversions) bands is back together and it’s […]

As human beings, there’s a certain amount of structure we all crave in our lives. Perhaps some more than others, sure, but even the most ardent agents of chaos amongst us still rely on the wick of that stick of dynamite lighting and leading to detonation. I can’t imagine The Joker would find it so […]

I admit to being a fan boy. Ever since I got into Heavy Metal I felt the need to collect the merchandise from the bands I love. I fulfill this love by ordering patches from all corners of the globe, and with turning fifty this year,I could see it as a midlife crisis, as most […]