I’ve consumed a substantial amount of death metal this year. It has typically been that nasty, new-school death metal I’ve been enjoying. Coffin Mulch is in that mold(er), except they’re that buzzsaw variety of Swedish death metal, hailing from somewhere not Sweden… It’s the UK if you’re wondering. I quite enjoyed Septic Funeral and nearly […]

One of my favorite releases from the early 00s metalcore explosions was Earth & Sphere from Massachusetts’ Beyond the Sixth Seal. It had some death metal beef in its traditional dual euro melodies (as well as the Red Chord‘s Mike Mckenzie on vocals), and really knocked the songwriting out of the park. Why do I […]

Is this déjà vu?  I think it may.  Six years ago Hammerheart Records reissued these Pestilence albums in deluxe 2 cd slipcases.  The bonus content was fabulous and not only did I buy all of these, I purchased an album cover shirt for each of them.  I even did some reviews on Teeth of the […]

It’s been 6 years since India’s Gutslit punched me in the face repeatedly for their second effort, Amputheatre, and let the world know they were clearly one of the top, if not the top brutal death metal bands from the county, if not the region. The line up that unleashed Amputheatre is largely intact, except […]

Somewhere twixt Englishmen throwing some bolts (one in this band in fact) and good old red-blooded ‘Mericans getting Butchered at Birth in the Florida Foreverglade(s) lies DeathCollector. What I’m tellin’ ya, son is that they’re true death metal, ya bastards! They don’t take long to show you and they keep it simple. Meat and potatoes […]

When I first heard rumors of Texas’s Creeping Death a few years ago, I stupidly assumed they were just a Metallica tribute band and disregarded them. Then as I heard more and more, and they got signed to a ‘big’ label, I assumed they were simply yet another Bolt Thrower worship band, as is the […]

If you’re not familiar with The Bleeding, well that’s a shame. Their previous two are quite good, but their new album Monokrator, is their pinnacle. Death thrash is best when it’s played with a sense of urgency, and they do that here. It’s almost like they stole a bunch of classified documents, stored them in […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

So at 2023s midpoint a few bands and their respective debuts are arguably vying for the year’s best Swedish death metal release (with Iron Flesh Church of the Dead, Angerot and Wretched Fate certainly in the conversation for non debuts). One, Come, Sweet Death’s, hacking, slashing Dismember homage, Imperishable. And two, the debut from Swtizerland’s […]

I reviewed the debut album, Crypt of Ice, in 2021, from newcomers Frozen Soul.  I really enjoyed their previous demo material and the debut album furthered their sound in terms of musical ability and the songs fleshed out more.  The comparisons to old-school bands like Obituary and mainly Bolt Thrower were some of the reasons […]

Evil Incarnate, from Illinois, has been around, since the 90’s, therefore it should come as no surprise that their brand of extreme music is rooted in that era of death metal.  If you enjoy old-school bands like Vital Remains, Deicide, etc….their early efforts, or if you are just looking for some blasphemous old school death […]

The Teeth of the Divine staff is rarely, if ever wrong. For example, when the new Nightmarer album popped up in promos, before I even had the chance to take it and listen, I was told it’s awesome and even better than the first. If you’re not aware, Cacophony of Terror was its own monster, […]

Cattle Decapitation needs no introduction. Their trajectory has been astronomical since The Harvest Floor and they’ve yet to disappoint. Death Atlas let me down, but only because it was simply pretty good, and not the greatest album in the history of mankind. I saw them live back in November of 2022, the new one was […]

  France’s Esoctrilihum have released, since their inception in 2016, get ready for this… 10 studio albums and 2 ep’s. The one man band member is referred to as Asthâghul, and quite honestly the mystery surrounding him, and being a one man band, reminds me of the late great Quorthon from Bathory.  He plays all […]

The Devil’s lettuce. Let me be your lying, backwoods guidance counselor who tells you it’s a gateway drug. It never led to harder drugs for me, only giggles while playing video games. Not that I’ve ever done it, FBI agent who monitors me. It’s all hypothetical. I don’t think it is hypothetical for Bonginator. Their […]

“That’s a nasty piece of work, sir.” Indeed, it is Death Metal, primitive and crawling on its bloodied knuckles, a foaming Satanic beast. Here I have Messe Mortuaire, a continuation of France’s Sepulchral; the country’s first Death Metal band who have unleashed their debut EP under their new moniker of Messe Mortuaire and goddammit I […]

One look at the Realms of Chaos/War Master Era Bolt Thrower-inspired logo from the multinational (mostly Germany, Iceland, USA) act, Extermination Order, and you know exactly what you are getting with the 5 songs on the war themed EP, The Siege of Ascalon. Throw in the fact that 2/3 of the German contingent of Extermination Order […]

20 Buck Spin hits another out-of-the-park homerun for 2023 with albums…yes, plural from California’s blackened death metal band Ulthar.  My first experience with Ulthar was seeing them on their debut album tour, Cosmovore, as they toured with Misery Index.  I became an Ulthar fan, picking up their cd and long sleeve shirt at the show. […]