Following up a classic is always difficult. Especially when that classic was 12 years in the making. Thus was the task at hand for Luc Lemay and trying to follow up 2013s Colored Sands, arguably one of the most successful death metal comebacks of all time. But Lemay has played it smart; he waited a while, and […]

I’m a big fan of symphonic black metal, but the genre has been in a bit of a dry spell. The only decent recent release I can recall is Diabolus Arcanium or Raphuemet’s Well, but those are a little ‘different’.  I am craving something more Scandinavian, melodic and grandiose like the scene on the ’90s (Lothlorien, Embracing  […]

Recently I have been getting a lot of synth/keyboard heavy metal of various styles across my desk: Hope for the Dying, Rapheumets Well, Enthean, Winterhorde, Elvaron, The Devils of Loudun, Pathways, Hyperion, and this, the solid second effort from France’s Blood Ages. Blood Ages’ take on metal is death metal with a Middle Eastern flair similar to Nile. […]

After shifting from a gore/pure slam band into a more rounded, complete death metal band with Autopsychosis, these Russians made my 2013 year end -list in a year full of great, brutal metal. With their new album, Gravenous Hour, the band have elevated themselves once again, with an album that is sure to be considered one […]

Though listed as “brutal death metal” at Metal Archives, Milwaukee’s Casket Robbery are actually nothing of the sort. They are death metal, and while the subject matter of evil through the ages (from Elizabeth Bathory, through Jeffrey Dahmer and beyond) is more ‘brutal’, the music itself is a more refined, tighter and chunky melodic and even […]

Crikey. If you thought the second album, Contradiction, from these Swiss dark metallers was ambitious at 2 CDs and 80 minutes, wait till you get a load of their third album, Triangle. 3 CDs, exactly  100 minutes, each CD clocking in at 33 minutes and change and each covering a different musical style and concept. You have CD I: The […]

Initially, the costumed Battlelore-ish press photos of this North Carolina sextet and their self created alternate fantasy world where all their songs and two albums take place had me a little bit leery. But these guys, (who used to go under the name Blue Man’s God), actually deliver a kick ass album of epic, fantasy themed symphonic/black death […]

After a relatively uninspiring start with 2005s War Metal, Colorado’s Cobalt upped their game and became one of the darlings in the USBM genre with 2007s Eater of Birds and 2009s Gin, as good of a duo of releases that any USBM band had or has released. Both blurred lines of what black metal could and […]

You add symphonic keyboards to any kind of metal, and for the most part I’ll dig it. Add them to a blistering tech death/black metal sound and me love you long time. Such is the case with South Carolina’s Enthean, a new -ish trio and their impressive self released debut album. With a tech death backbone […]

Unique Leader looks to be having the same sort of outlandishly good year as it had in 2014 with the likes of  Ohmnihilty,  Inherit Disease, Ahtme,  Omaphagia, and The Zenith Passage so far, and then you have the upcoming monster from Katalepsy still yet to come. But I’m pretty confident in stating that this will […]

Here’s a fine example of how symphonic elements added to metal can truly work regardless of genre. Hailing from Seattle, and named after a 17th century Demonic possession event in France, The Devils of Loudon mix over the top symphonics and European melodic death/black metal melodies with modern, shreddy death metal, dare I say even deathcore- […]

The year was 2004. In Flames had released Soundtrack to Your Escape, arguably putting the final nail in the coffin of melodic death metal. A genre that had eaten itself and become synonymous with the peaking US metalcore, and the genre was now almost a parody of itself. However, there was a hero to emerge. After one EP, The Porter, 2 years earlier, Germany’s Disillusion were about to reinvigorate an entire scene with their full length debut, the aptly named Back to Times of Splendor

With 2014s excellent The Flesh Prevails, Fallujah really came into their own amid a saturated deathcore/djent core scene, forgoing the tech death forays of the debut, The Harvest Wombs in favor of a more dreamy, elegant and progressive pastures.  Well, the critical success of The Flesh Prevails was parlayed into a deal with Nuclear Blast, so […]

I had zero expectations for this release: French melodic death metal from a year ago with odd moniker. But seeing as Finisterian Dead End, who released War Inside‘s solid SUTURE recently, picked this up, I thought I would give it a fair shake, and I’m glad I did, as it delivered an energizing, reinvigorating take on […]

Oh boy. Here’s one that’s going to get the metal heads’ hackles up and get my credibility absolutely shot. In theory I have no business liking this, it’s a Spanish band calling themselves ‘Flamencore’ and it mixes a ton of styles that I would usually despise; it’s got the bass heavy nu metal chug of […]

Transcending Obscurity continues to develop, distribute, promote and release home grown talent  giving us fine bands like Strangulate, Biopsy, Rectified Spirit Diabolus Arcanium,  and now the debut from Mumbai’s Primitiv. The aptly named Primitiv is not doing anything new. They play a very simple form of Jungle Rot/Six Feet under mid paced chugging, death metal. Its’ got deep burly vocals,  a […]

Want old school death metal? Here you go. A Compilation of all the demo and split tracks Greece’s Abyssus released prior to their fine 2015 full length debut Into the Abyss. 16 tracks, a bunch of covers and a whole lot of analog, musty, thrashy death metal goodness. India’s Transcending Obscurity is turning into a solid […]

I have reviewed and covered metal from all from all four corners of the earth, especially from South America, but I think this is the first album I have covered from Peru. And everything about the release screams generic; from the band name, album name and ‘shocking’ artwork. But this second effort from the band is actually […]

I know many readers will roll their eyes at a release such as this, but this is for the few folks that enjoy the styling of After the Burial, Painted In Exile (new album hurry up and get here already!), Fallujah, Viljharta,  Born of Osiris, Aegaeon, 7 Horns 7 Eyes,  Within the Ruins and other synth heavy, modern ‘core’ or ‘djent’ […]

Pete Helmkamp needs no introduction. After the demise of Order From Chaos then Angelcorpse, and serving in Revenge, he released a couple of promising Angelcorpse-y EPs with Kerasphorus, but now, he has forged on alone with his solo project Abhomine. Playing all instruments and performing vocals, (a session drummer was used for this album) Abhomine is what you would expect from Helmkamp […]

It’s been eight years since Walls of Jericho released their last album, The American Dream, at the height of the metalcore movement and when female vocalists in extreme metal bands were still gathering steam. That release had more in common with the thrash revival of the time; the band was cleaner and more concise. Well, here […]

Lord of the Rings nerds will recognize the name of this Wisconsin death metal band as the vast underground Dwarven Kingdom also known as Moria and the site of the bridge where Gandalf uttered his famous “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” challenge to the Bal-rog. So now my inner nerd got that out of the way, you […]

Baring the ambiguous ‘blackened death metal’ tag, France’s War Inside are a competent new act who do the genre label well on their second album, SUTURE. Of note, War Inside features Thomas of Regarde les Hommes Tomber on vocals, who brings the ‘blackened’ element to the table with his pained rasps and screams (and a […]

I get the sense that Dark Descent Records is still a little miffed that Entrails flew the coop to join Metal Blade, maybe even taking some solace  in the fact their latest Metal Blade release never matched the quality of the bands Dark Descent efforts. So what did Dark Descent go and do? Well basically sign another […]

Back in 2013 I reviewed the debut from this Texas act, Aetherial, ( I missed 2015s Blue) and it was a challenging, engaging but exhaustive listen of progressive metal that had every genre and the kitchen sink in it. Well there’s been a bit of a line up change and a focus in delivery. Of note, […]