Mining-obsessed German duo Dauþuz (‘Death’) has been on my radar for a while now. I initially heard them on their third album, Monvmentvm in 2019, and then in 2021, they crept onto my year-end list with Vom schwarzen Schmied. I wondered how they would, like other specifically themed bands (i.e. Alestorm) how they would continue […]

What do you think of when you hear the word fluids? Soda? Water? Urine, semen, blood? With the band Fluids you know what you’re about to get… the absolute shit beaten out of your eardrums. Songs about the slimey and worm ridden carcass of this decaying planet and the human shit that inhabit it. Reduced […]

The Headless Ghost is a new Italian band and is also now signed to an Italian label, the excellent Punishment 18 Records.  The Headless Ghost originally started out a few short years ago more as a tribute act to Mercyful Fate/King Diamond.  And as you can see from this kick ass album art, the King […]

I grabbed the promo for this release because A) it was on Antiq Records, home of the finest medieval black metal, and B) the band moniker reminded me of French folk metal act Boisson Divine, whose La Halha I reviewed back in 2020, and rather enjoyed. Well, lo and behold Moisson Livide (‘Angry/Livid Harvest’) is […]

I have thoroughly enjoyed New Jersey’s Cognitive rise through the underground ranks since their first EP in 2012 – The Horrid Swarm.  I became friends with guitarist Rob Wharton, reviewed several of their early releases, finally met him on one of his tours years ago and he saw me touring with Internal Bleeding, as well […]

I don’t hear a lot about bands from Iceland. Sure, there’s Solstafir, and I’m positive many others, but they don’t come to mind. Duft is one such band, so add them. The country of origin is notable, but it’s not as if we have a new Solstafir. They’re entirely different. However, you should be paying […]

US Progressive Black Metallers Amiensus return with their fourth full-length record Reclamation: Part 1. The album gets kicked off with “Blink of the Moment” which right off the bat I am impressed with the production values. The clean vocals of James Benson and Kelsey Roe are outstanding. I dig the bass break played by Todd […]

Despite being around since 2016, Beneath the Blazing Abyss is the Finnish band’s debut and boy, is it an excellent, pummeling example of death/doom metal that is a very, very impressive first effort. If you enjoy mid-tempo trundling death with sprinkles of doom like Temple of Void, Grave, Malignant Altar, Vore, Hooded Menace, Frozen Soul […]

I love French Black Metal with every beat of my Black heart. The French have always been pretty brutal; guillotines and revolution were a way of life for many years of the country’s history. Not to mention WW1 and then occupation by the Nazis in WW2. The conflict hardened the country and unfortunately inspired a […]

I don’t know how I missed the debut of this project formed by Mark Reed, keyboardist from Winterfylleth, one of the UK’s very best black metal exports of the last 15 years. They released an album in 2022 called Take Up My Bones, which I shall immediately be procuring after hearing Untouched by Fire. Like […]

Well, well, well the Kerry King band is finally here.  When he announced after the retirement of Slayer, that he was going to have a new band, the only thing he mentioned that we all knew was drummer Paul Bostaph, from Slayer (not the best Slayer drummer-that goes to Lombardo) and the music would sound […]

Blood. Guts. Rotting eyeballs. Spewing bile and bodily fluids, forced to drink vomit… have you heard of McCamey Manor? You probably have, it’s in the public consciousness as a nasty place where you get $20,000 if you make it through and you have to sign a waiver; basically saying the “actors” can do anything to […]

Although one of the USA’s early purveyors of European symphonic black metal in the late 90s and early 00s along with Dragonlord, Scholomance, Dreamscapes of the Perverse, Epicurean, Venificum, Santus, and such, Austin TX’s Vesperian Sorrow and most of those listed) never quite garnered a ton of attention. The Europeans just did it better with […]

Canada keeps kicking out sick releases in 2024. Quebec’s From Dying Suns return with their first LP Calamity. This band features members of: Augury, Killotorious and Aeternam. Matthew Dhani, the vocalist of Killotorious is also the live vocalist for First Fragment. It is also worth noting that Christian Donaldson of Cryptopsy mixed this. Calamity is […]

Kentucky’s melodic black metal act, Volcandra, have benefitted from continuity and it helps when your line-up stays intact.  Formed in 2018 Mike Hargrave (Drums), River Jordan/Jamie DeMar (Guitars) and Dave Palenske on cocals have stayed together since their 2020 impressive debut, Into the Azure.  The album was released independently and it was not until getting […]

Grindcore is one of those genres that’s pretty hard to fuck up. It’s pretty safe to say that Napalm Death are the creators and innovators of the genre and since their inception, countless numbers of Grindcore bands popped up in almost every country, Wormrot in Japan, Nasum from Sweden and Brutal Truth in the States […]

Hailing from California The Dread Crew of Oddwood, still falls into the metal category, although they play a combination of Celtic and Folk music, all interwoven into the Heavy Metal universe, however, they do it without electric guitars/bass.  Instrumentation ranges from the stand-up bass, mandolin, tin whistle, drums, and accordion, just to name a few […]

“It’s not the worst thing ever,” says the custodian as he scrapes all the dried cum from in and around the glory hole. I didn’t wish for him to elaborate, but by instinct, I said “Wouldn’t it be easier just to do it when it’s fresh?” He scowled and I received no answer. Foolishly, I […]

Non Stop Ruthless Crushing …..what???? I feel like there’s another word that was forgotten here. Anxiety? Diarrhea? Parental disappointment? I keed,  I keed What we have here is a re-release of a 2023 effort from this Texas act formed by Jason Ramsey (notably from Baton Rouge’s Suture, who released solid albums on Deepsend Records, Unmatched […]

Synestia is a new symphonic deathcore duo consisting of Minnesota’s Sam Melchior (all instruments, writing) and Finland’s Ville Hokkanen (vocals). In 2022 they released their fantastic debut album, Malificium, but it was digital only and got kind of bulldozed by that year’s slew of stellar releases in the genre from Shadow of Intent,  Worm Shepherd, […]

This certainly came out of nowhere. It’s an EP, not a new full-length, but new Necropanther is all I, and hopefully by extension, you need to know. Before really getting into the meat (dead panther meat, I guess) of the EP, this is exactly what I want from this medium. I’ve always thought of them […]

Sweden’s Sarcasm returns with their fifth album Mourninghoul. Sarcasm plays a unique throwback style of classic Swedish Sound (Unanimated, Dawn, Early Gates of Ishtar, Early Desultory) mixed with moments of modern heaviness by bands like Morbid Angel. “As Northern Gates Opens” opens the album and I was hooked right away by the coldness of the […]

By now it’s not a secret that Finland spews out some incredible Black Metal. I could sit here and name check every band and that would be boring as fuck. I’m guilty of it, and since I realize that I’m excluded from persecution and it’s usually in my introduction where I pull that shit anyway. […]

Three years ago I reviewed the self-titled, debut album from California’s epic doom metal band Stygian Crown and really loved it.  I was happy to see my friend, Rhett Davis, drumming on it, a legendary drummer from Crimson Relic, Morgion and Gravehill, and many other bands, both past and present.  The original line-up with guitarists […]

Hailing from the Mid-Atlantic United States, Desolus formed prior to the beginning of the pandemic.   I’ve known bass/vocalist Vivek Rangarajan for a number of years now seeing him at a number of shows in and around the MD/DC Metro area.  I actually was able to see Desolus live last year and they tore it up […]