Almost equal measures of technicality, melody, and intricate groovery can be found on this unclassifiable modern death metal offering that is Offending‘s Age of Perversion. Hearing them get name dropped in the same breath as the likes of Vile, Hate Eternal, and Immolation (especially in these Frenchies’ state-of-the-art knack for suspense and profound unpredictability characterizing […]

  Young bucks on the Swedish death metal scene Usurpress are, having yet to release an official full-length album. However, that hasn’t stopped the Uppsala fiends from creating solid, if not entirely original, death metal in the realm of classic Dismember, Grave, etc. Having just released their second EP In Permanent Twilight, the band is […]

I have to admit, I’m not a massive fan of Hells Headbangers, as their primarily dirty black/thrash spikes and Satan roster doesn’t do a whole lot for me. But when they kick out some real nasty death metal like  Deiphago  or Sanguis Imperum, they seem to hit it out of the park. And such is […]

While bigger named brutal/technical death metal acts (Cannibal Corpse, Spawn of Possession, Gorod, Nile, Dying Fetus) will get the lions share of the attention in 2012, as usual there are a number of under the radar acts that deserve your death metal ear. Recently, the likes of Nocturnal Torment,  Stalwart, Tombthroat, Fisthammer, Never to Arise […]

That old adage about never judging a book by its cover, while generally a good idea, is especially prudent in the case of Fester’s A Celebration of Death. Expecting to be flung into a rotting grave of stench-riddled old school Swedish death metal based on the cover art, it was quickly discovered upon listening that […]

The round-up of dudes busting their chops behind Barnes this time around certainly is bringing the Six Feet Under sound into one much needed metamorphosis on Undead, making it one impressively varied and positively lethiferous affair that took me aback. The addition of Rob Arnold (ex-Chimaira) to the band’s ranks has been breathing a considerable […]

Fans of the slightly more brutal style of traditional death metal will surely gobble this one up and praise it for all its blood-soaked, gory glory. Excruciating Existence, the debut full-length album from Brazil’s Escarnium, is everything a fan of this genre of metal loves: it’s guttural, has crunching guitars, it’s straightforward, without frills, without […]

Thy Serpent’s Cult, the debut EP from France’s Torture Throne has a lot working in the band’s favor. However, there’s also a cornucopia of issues working against it. This is a novice band just piecing together their visions of what great death metal should be so a ton of flack won’t be tossed their way. […]

So here is last of fledgling Blast Head Records’ three initial releases. Hailing from Roanoke Virginia, Human Infection self released Infest to Ingest last year, but Blast Head picked it up for release earlier this year, and unfortunately of the labels  first three releases, this is my least favorite. Human Infection play death metal. Bog […]

Bands like to create albums that feel like a cohesive experience with a beginning, middle, and end, sort of like a good story, whether or not they’re telling one. And as such you’ll find a ridiculous number of albums with intro tracks that are sometimes really cool but are generally disposable. Warbeast MMVIII (since renamed […]

From the frigid nether region of Halifax comes the debut album from Select and Dismember, an excellent maiden voyage into the overcrowded and polluted waters of brutal death metal. Annihilation Foretold is a swirling, barbaric slab of extreme music in vein of Krisiun, Hate Eternal, Diabolic, and Sinister, though the band thankfully doesn’t just blast […]

After a few relatively quiet months,  Dark Descent Records has unleashed an unholy duo of crumbling doom/death metal in the form of Emptiness‘s experimentally depressive Loss and Anhedonist‘s crawling, lumbering debut, Netherwards. However, when truly unearthing Netherwards one word comes to mind more than any other; Cavernous. Playing a form of subterranean doom/death metal Seattle’ […]

Hailing from Queensland, Australia, Ocean of Zero have decided to release their two demos onto in one package. Comprised of both The Wake and Shun the Light, Ocean of Zero seems to be taking their time in creating an official full-length release. For what it’s worth, it’s always much better for a band to release […]

God dammit!!!!  I wanted this to be good and really like it more. But alas, the debut album from renowned and respected metal uber artist Mark Riddick (who plays drums, keyboards, guitars and bass) and some dude from Belgium on vocals fall flat. Way flat. The intent is there; to create a dirty sloppy old […]

“Black,” the first song on Holy Wrath, the debut album by Latvian band Diseim, is an absolutely fantastic death metal song. Big, groovy riffs; odd time signatures; a melodic-without-being-wimpy chorus; guttural, double tracked vocals; and simply great songwriting. It makes a loud, bold statement. Aaaannndddd… I should just leave it at that. I kind of […]

Oh Yay! Another boring release from Job For a Cowboy, however this time they add a little more nuances to their sound for a little bit of an enjoyable experience. I tend to wonder why this band gets as much attention as Suffocation or Cannibal Corpse. Because for one all their albums were utter crap […]

The one-man death metal band just keeps on gaining credibility, the trail having been blazed by the likes of Shawn Whitaker (Insidious Decrepancy), Shaun LaCanne (Putrid Pile), and Peter Hasselbrack (Bloodsoaked). Thirst for Revenge’s Annihilation of Races (Comatose) tickled a few of my fancies as well. Welcome now A.Death, the man responsible for Putrified’s Neurotic […]

North Carolina’s Wretched return with their third album on Victory Records, carrying the flag for the label’s strangely eclectic death metal roster amid the likes of Pathology and Jungle Rot. And while I’ve enjoyed the band’s prior two releases, they remain a band that are just ‘there’ for me, neither overly impressing me or making […]

Other than Mithras, Sarpanitum, Trigger the Bloodshed, Fleshrot (RIP) and Detrimentum, I’m not very familiar with the better of the brutal/tech death metal scene coming out of the UK, but here is Hull based newcomer Parasitized and their impressive debut 6 song EP. Though released independently back in 2010, fledgling Canadian label Blast Head Records […]

Brutal blasting death grind, a fitting tag for this brutal death metal gem. That said gem is the new album by Filipino brutal death grind outfit Disastrous entitled Severe Suffering. Severe Suffering is an unrelenting slab of brutal putrid riffs, pregnant women bashing drum battery, and gnarly pus spewing gutturals. This is their second full […]

Y’know, I’ve been debating on whether do review the new Asphyx album for a while now, but a few things weighed heavy on my mind; first, Century  Media never sent any sort of promo, digital, physical or otherwise, showing arrogance and confidence in the fact they don’t need press coverage, which considering the band is […]

Warning: there’s gonna be cursing in this review, because an album like this warrants it, so please check your delicate sensibilities at the door. It’s been quite a while since anything of this ilk has crossed my desk for review, and in preparation I dug out some Morbid Saint and Noia to get me in […]

Some bands wear their heart and their influences on their sleeve, and none more so than the current crop of retro, old school Swedish death worshiping acts. For instance you’ve got the font and ‘tomb’ references of Entrails, Funeral Whore,  who named a demo after a Grave song, Brutally Deceased is named after a Grave […]

There’s an old adage that states ‘never judge a book by its cover’, and that applies aptly in the case of the debut album from Columbia’s King. Based on the Dark Funeral reject cover art, song titles like “Non laughter – Zero Fucking Happiness” and “Kill the Posers Like Fucking Christians” as well as the […]

Poland’s Centurion have been around for a while, but this is only the band’s second effort since their 2002 debut, Conquer & Rule, which I have not heard. Stylistically the band play typically competent Polish death metal with a solid Floridian (Morbid Angel/Deicide) influence and in fact, the band covered Morbid Angel‘s “Day of Suffering” […]