It can be so easy to fall into a rut when it comes to discovering new music. You get comfortable in a certain lane, start seeking out a particular style of music, and next thing you know it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy where everything new you check out just ends up sounding really familiar, like you’re […]

Wisconsin based,  metal collaboration (Shroud of Despondency‘s Rory Heikkila, Khazaddum’s Luka Đorđević and Enabler’s Brian Serzynski), Prezir (Serb-Croatian for ‘contempt’) is back with album number 2 after dropping a vicious little ep in 2017 and a solid full length debut on 2018 and the now trio, appears to really have further honed in on a […]

Sometimes, timing is everything. A song, an album, even a single melody, given the right circumstances or moment in time, can leave an indelible mark on your life. Nearly a year ago, such an album was added to a lifelong playlist of works that will forever hold a special place in my heart – Cattle […]

“Is this too much? Is this not enough? If I don’t cover up, Does that make it my fault?”  OOF. For some time now, Svalbard – led by vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Serena Cherry, have been proving time and time again that real life is far more horrifying and brutal than any fictitious song about […]

Sweden’s Mörk Gryning  (‘dark dawn’) were in a bit of a grey area coming up in the late 90s early 00s Scandinavian melodic black metal scene. Never achieving the status of say Dissection or Naglfar or the underground gem status of say Catamenia or  Vinterland years later, but delivering 5 decent albums arguably peaking with […]

I’m not sure what made me check out the promo from Glasgow’s Necrocracy (the Exhumed album?). Bland cover, weird band name (I guess the band started out more death metal, which makes the name make a little more sense), unassuming album title, released last year digitally and re-released on CD earlier this summer by a […]

So here’s the thing – I’m going to come right out here and say that, in general, Black Metal isn’t really my favorite form of metal, let alone my strong suit. I know! I know. There’s a chance that a certain faction of our audience have already disregarded anything else I have to say on […]

For some reason, we didn’t review the last album from the British stalwarts, Anaal Nathrakh, A New Kind of Horror, despite reviewing the band’s album pretty consistently from blistering the debut, The Codex Necro, through personal favorite Eschaton, more direct Vanitas, to 2017s The Whole of the Law. But let’s be honest, does it really […]

It’s 1995 and every Friday night three close teenage friends gather in a typical suburban basement.  Each bring a homespun costume representing their character.  Old drapes for a cape, modified used cowboy boots, metal pans from Goodwill re-worked into armor, and sharp, real weapons bought from the big flee market last summer.  The two 30 […]

I thoroughly enjoyed the debut LP, Relinquishment, from Finland’s Ordinance, and it made my year-end for 2014. However, I never heard anything this else for the next 6 years- no splits, no EPs, no news, nothing. Then out of the blue, I get a promo from The Sinister Flame for a brand new album. And […]

If you didn’t enjoy 2019’s Of Rot and Ruin by Hath, I don’t know what to tell you. Despite the fact that I don’t much care for “Star Wars” and I thought the band was called “Hoth” in an homage, I still gave it a listen. When I realized my mistake, I was glad to […]

One of my best and oldest friends is a former metal and rock producer as well as FOH for a prominent metal band. He once told me: “With how cheap and easy it is to make a clear recording now, why would anyone settle for less?” That’s verbatim, of course. He’s not a fan of […]

Never judge a book by its cover. We all know this. Right? I mean it’s only an age old adage that has been around since…well, the dawn of ages. Naturally, one can apply this sage wisdom to the music/metal world when it comes to album covers, band names, song titles, and the like. So knowing […]

The promo for this new act got my attention because it is black metal on Purity Through Fire, and they have been killing it in that arena in 2020 with the likes of Mavorim, Kryptamok , SAD, Slagmark and Noidva. Also, Eisenkult features members of Mavorim as well as Totenwache and Meuchelmord, bands I am […]

2020’s run of high-quality black metal continues with the debut from Finland’s Gloom, a band that features members from Nekrokrist SS, whoever they are. And they are not Gloomy or depressive black metal at all as the name might lead you to believe. Blending a bit of Finnish black metal nastiness (especially the vocals) and […]

All hail Hail Spirit Noir who hail from Greece. These gentlemen caught my ears and eyes when they released Oi Strigoi all the way back in the “before times” in 2014. I was, and remain a big fan of that album, so I was excited when they released Mayhem in Blue in 2016. While I […]

I’ve been feeling a bit… contemplative, lately. Join the club, right? We’re all finding ourselves in a world that just sorta… isn’t the one we knew it to be. And all this time in quarantine has given everyone time to really think about their lives. Are you happy with the way that it’s going? Are […]

As I mentioned in my Glaciation review, Ive been on a French metal kick and the third album from Abduction might be the best of the bunch so far this year. One of my cohorts reviewed their prior album A L’heure du Crépuscule, and succinctly threw around bands like Borknagar, Arcturus, Ved Buens Ende, and […]

Ever have frostbite? Ever touch dry ice? Ever touch something so cold, your skin blistered up? Well, if you handle the debut album from Finland’s Kryptamok, you very well might experience those things, as it’s a brilliantly frosty, nasty display of second wave black metal. The brain child of Hex Inferi, formerly of Finnish black […]

“Warning! What you about to hear is extremely extreme. If think you can handle it by all means listen. However, if you have a preexisting condition that is aggravated by things that are evil, extreme, infernal brutal, cult , unholy or just sort of negative in general, you are urged to turn off this recording. […]

Ante-Inferno is a new black metal act hailing from the moors of Yorkshire, England, and has former and current members of other UK black metal acts like Petrichor and Sathamel. But don’t go expecting a band like either of those bands or like other recent UK black metal like the symphonic Argesk or Darkthrone worshiping […]

I’ve been digging what Germany’s Purity Through Fire has been releasing of late, especially when it comes to quality black metal. Notably releases from Greve, To Conceal The Horns, Nefarious Dusk, Noidva, The Dying Light and this one man act from Bavaria, who has been super prolific since 2015 with 2 splits, 2 EPS and […]

Maybe it’s the Relapse Records lineage, but I always seem to forget just how heavy Tombs are. That’s not to say there aren’t heavy bands on the Relapse roster because there most certainly are. However, I am always expecting something sludgy, along the lines of Baroness or Mastodon. Then, I press play and have a […]

Before Khold, there was Tulus, who released 3 albums in the late 90s. When Khold, one of the 00s most consistent (some would say annoyingly so) Norwegian black metal bands went on hold in 2006, Tulus was reformed with 2 of the original Khold/Tulus member Sarke (drums) and Bludstrup (vocals- also known as Khold’s distinctive […]

Sometimes it’s the dumbest things that cause you the most stress. When I was younger, dumber, and usually a whole lot drunker, choosing a playlist at a house party was so much easier. For one thing, college kids are usually more open to experiences and surroundings that they might not be all that familiar with, […]