You’d think I’d be more familiar and versed with Greece’s long running Septicflesh. They are after all part of the long running and somewhat influential Greek metal movement from the early 90s along with Rotting Christ, Thou Art Lord, Varathron and Necromatia and of course, one of the early death metal bands to add cinematic orchestration to […]

Those who thought that former Cryptospsy vocalist Lord Worm’s new project, Rage Nucléaire was a mere flash in the pan had better think again. Lord Worm has returned two years after his first real, post Cryptopsy foray with yet another hate fueled, apocalyptic, industrialized slab of unrelenting black metal, and it’s just as solid and unforgiving […]

Much like the Czech Republic’s Brutally Deceased, who took their name from a song by Swedish death metal legends, Grave, Southern California’s Skinfather is named after a Dismember song. And while the band’s sound is mostly rooted in the old Swedish buzz of yore, it adds a little modern crust and hardcore to it, not unlike fellow […]

Despite hailing from the darkest depths of Cincinnati, Ohio, you’d be forgiven for assuming Valdrin reside in Scandinavia due to their impressive take of that locale’s melodic black metal sound as encapsulated by the likes of Emperor, Dissection, Naglfar and Dimmu Borgir. Fear not Dimmu Borgir haters, this isn’t overly pompous theatrical black metal, that is more […]

If you were to ask me who are the most promising new era black metal bands that can carry the post ridden sub genre into the next millennium, I would tell you the divisive Deafheaven, Australia’s Woods of Desolation, but also France’s The Great Old Ones and Greece’s Spectral Lore. The latter two burst onto the scene […]

Continuing the old timey, dusty death metal vibe of the label’s previous releases by Trenchrot and Omnivore, Canada’s Sabbatory are here to deliver some no nonsense old school death/thrash metal. And like this years earlier release from Morfin, the primary influence is an easy one to hear: (very)early Death. Sure, there is lots of other old […]

Sometimes I just need a break from all the brutal music I listen to. Whether it’s some bouncy folk/viking metal, some melodic black metal or just something else to reset to internal brutality meter. Recently, it’s a few choice releases- the debut from Moldavia’s Arcturus worshiping Chordewa, Deathpoint’s soaring metalcore, Barishi’s prog waft and this, the second album […]

Où est le boeuf? Apparently it’s in Montreal, Canada an it’s all located on the second, fun as hell record from the awfully named Dark Century. But luckily the band’s tongue in check delivery allows for the moniker and the album name and the album cover, but the music itself is where its at here. Dark Century play […]

Willowtip’s entry into 2014 early/Spring run of superlative tech/brutal death metal comes by way of the tiny country of Malta and the  third album from Abysmal Torment, a band previously unknown to me. And boy is it a doozie. Using Floridan death metal as a very broad template, Abysmal Torment manage to dirty the core sound […]

The second album from the reformed Pillory, (who released one album, No Lifeguard at the Gene Pool back in 2005 then broke up in 2008) isn’t quite what you’d expect from Unique Leader.  And while it continues the label’s excellent run of simply killer 2014 releases, it does it from a slightly different angle. Rather […]

If you simply cannot wait to get your hands on Crowbar’s impending Symmetry in Black,  need another Neurosis album now, or if you enjoyed the second under the radar excellence from Finnish doom sludgster’s Lurk, Kaldera, or was underwhelmed by last years Morne effort, Shadows (as I was…), then the debut album from France’s Oruga (or larva) is […]

Back in May of this year I made the 2 hour trek to the Riot Room in Kansas City, Missouri to see Paganfest V. This years iteration was the usual mix of big name headliners in Finland’s Korpiklaani and Turisas, a little different flair with Taiwans’s Chthonic and Kentuckian Winterhymn. Of course my main reason for attending was to see to two Finnish folk heavyweights, who rarely make it to the midwest, let alone Missouri.

After a 6 year layoff, death metal legends Incantation returned in 2012 rather triumphantly with Vanquish in Vengeance, one of the  more successful reunion/ comebacks of the last few years. But how would the band respond after the comeback/reunion glow and excitement that often fogs objective reactions after long layoffs has faded and the band […]

Uk supergroup Vallenfyre caused a minor ripple in the metal scene back in 2011 with their debut, A Fragile King, a pretty solid doom death outfit with nods to the bands primary members Gregor Mackintosh of Paradise Lost and Hamish Glencross of My Dying Bride and drummer Daniel Erlandsson. It was a solid effort but not great, especially considering the […]

I typically have loved and probably will love everything and anything that Dark Descent Records releases. Their 2014 thus far has been stunning with the likes of Corpsessed, Lie In Ruins, Lvcifyre Thantifaxath, and a Binah EP. However, here is the third album from blackened death thrashers Gravehill, the second for Dark Descent, and as with […]

Here are five 7 ” EPs from Atlanta based Boris Records and all three are rooted in denim and beer or Satan, being retro, old school thrash at their core with various elements of either death or black metal.   Up first is home grown thrashers,  Sadistic Ritual the label’s very own home town in Atlanta […]

Despite being a mid level Swedish super group of sorts featuring former and current members of the likes of Nominon, Just Before Dawn and Killaman, Puteraeon have never really registered with me. I have a vague recollection of their 2011 debut, The Esoteric Order, but I neither own it or really remember much about it, […]

Sagas, the 2008 second album from Germany’s Equilibrium remains a hall mark of epic folk/Viking metal,  but the follow up Rekreatur, fell a tad short and we’ve had to wait four years for a follow up. Granted, last years Waldschrein EP was a nice teaser, if only for the (3 years too late) cover of […]

This review is two firsts for me- first review of Russia’s Haarbn Productions (a long running but un prolific label) and a band from the country of Moldova, Chordewa named after a Bengali form of Vampire. But it won’t be the last for either as Haarbn’s latest (Sawlegen, Sand Aura, Narjahanam), releases is solid and […]

Occasionally I like to break up my more ‘broodle’ musical leanings with something a little more amicable. Stuff like Protest the Hero, the recent Barishi album, maybe some older Killswitch Engage or Life in Your Way. A few years ago, the debut, On the Bottom from Canada’s metalcore act Odium was that break, and I still play that album fairly regularly (the track “Serenity’s End” just still kills it). Its mostly due to the simply excellent clean vocals of Thomas Emmans- a mix of Tools Maynard Keenan and Howard Jones.

Sometimes a band has subtle nuanced influences in their chose sound. Sometimes bands are a little more obvious in wearing their influences on their sleeves, and sometimes as in the case of Sweden’s Souldrainer, they say ‘fuck you,  here’s the band we love and we are going to sound exactly like them’. For Souldrainer,  a band featuring […]

Regular readers of this site will know that I’ve never been a huge fan of Satan ‘n’ spikes or beer’ n’ denim styled Black/thrash, with only a couple of exceptions. Well, now there is another exception; the UK’s Cultfinder and their second EP, Hell’s Teeth. I can’t quite put my finger on why I’m enjoying this […]

Deathcore has been waning for a while now, and the only pre- new Whitechapel release that even remotely entertained me recently were Carnifex,  Thy Art Is Murder‘s Hate and Eternal Torture‘s dubstep tinged Lacerate the Global Enemy. But right before Whitechapel’s Our Endless War dropped I got this solid little EP from New Jersey’s Lorna Shore, who […]

The Swiss are putting themselves back on the metal map early in 2014 with the likes of Tryptikon, Schammasch, Near Death Condition and Impure Wilhemina and this, the rather impressive debut of progressive sludge/post rock from Herod. They Were None is above all things heavy as shit.  And while tangibly culling from obvious contemporaries like Neurosis, Isis, The […]

Despite being around since 1998 and having three fairly obscure releases under their belt, I’m pretty confident in stating that I doubt The Netherlands’ Winter of Sin was on many folks radars for the that time and those releases. Heck, I had never heard of them until now, and I’m sure a lot more folks will be […]