The fifth release from young Canadian label, Blast Head Records is easily their best. It’s the fourth album from veteran, but new to me German death metal act Tombthroat, and it’s a scorcher of a death metal album. The 11 tracks contained on Eden Apocalypse are completely relentless, delivering pretty much blast after blast of […]

I feel a little bad for California’s Coffin Texts.  They released a Egyptian/Middle Eastern themed death metal album back in 2000 called Gods of Creation, Death & Afterlife, and by all counts it was a pretty solid affair. The only problem was there was also band around at the same time called Nile, maybe you’ve […]

So after a couple of line up juggling, transitional post Destroy the Opposition albums in Stop at Nothing and War of Attrition,  American stalwarts Dying Fetus trimmed down to a three piece for 2009s Descend into Depravity with impressive results. And now finally, John Gallagher has put together two album with the same line up […]

I love getting my hands on obscure, previously unheard (to me) metal bands, and they turn out to be enjoyable – case and point Malaysia’s Humiliation, and their third full length album, From Strength to Strength.Admittedly I had zero expectation whatsoever, but amid all the proggy, tech death and deathcore ringing in my ears, Humiliation […]

Hailing from Philadelphia, Fisthammer are a young band who have decided to eschew the current retro, throwback trend and go for a modern, clean take on death metal and throw in a smorgasbord of elements. The result is a pretty solid album that takes a while to get going, but has a lot of promise […]

The strangely named Bewized are a metal band from Greece who play an oddly enjoyable form of groove laden thrash/metalcore. Granted it sounds like it comes from the late ’90s/early two thousand and at times has a Nu metal feel to it, but thanks to a very big, chunky production, some catchy songs and a […]

So back in 2009, Ohio’s Hammer Horde released their debut album, Under the Mighty Oath, which was a mighty slab of blackened epic pagan/viking/folk metal that belied its American origins and sounded like a very authentic European act akin to Ensiferum, Turisas, Finsterforst, Forefather, early Mithotyn, Equilibrium and such. An impressive feat considering not too many […]

Last year, Italy’s Fleshgod Apocalypse unleashed ‘Agony’, their second full-length album. After delivering a debut album (‘Oracles’) and an EP (‘Mafia’) that injected classical instrumentation and symphonics into brutal death metal, ‘Agony’ fully merged the two elements that created a divisive collision of sounds. Some trumpeted it as chaotic, noisy mess while others (me included) hailed it as one of the year’s best death metal albums. When I found out that the band would be touring the US, and hit a relatively close venue along with my favorite deathcore band, All Shall Perish, I had to make the three hour trip and see them live. As a bonus guitarsit/vocalist Christiano Trionfera was kind enough to visit with me a little bit and talk a little further about, Agony’, the current tour and the future of Fleshgod Apocalypse…

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 […]

My first introduction to San Francisco’s Acephalix was on these very pages, after reading a review of Interminable Night by out very own Stacy Buchanan. And being a huge fan of Southern Lord’s Crust/D-beat revival with the likes of Nails, Dead In the Dirt, All Pigs Must Die and such, Acephalix was a no brainer. […]

Here’s one that will get most so called ‘real’, old school metal heads’ panties in a bunch. Dub-Slam? Slam-Step? Techno-slam-core? Dropcore? Disfiguring the Goddess is the brainchild of Dubstep/DJ/electronica musician ‘Big Chocolate’ aka  vocalist Cam Argon formerly of Burning the Masses, Misericordiam and Abominable Putridity and numerous other brutal acts guest appearances and remixes. Being […]

I’ll get right to it- Swedish duo Desultor present the same kind of musical/vocal conundrum as Blood Revolt‘s Indoctrine presented last year; that’s to say blisteringly awesome thrash/black/death metal but rather than any of the typical roars, growls or rasps, the vocals of Markus Joha are presented in a purely clean, power metal /traditional metal […]

Based on my experience, Canada isn’t exactly a hot bed of epic viking folk metal. My only real  first hand experience of such a thing was Bolero‘s Voyage From Vinland, a surprisingly solid release in its own right. And here is Quebec’s Nordheim–who I actually thought might be Bolero on first listen–and their debut album, […]

So back in April I took my annual trip to Lawrence, Kansas to witness a pre chosen metal show, drink some beers, watch hippies and eat at the Pita Pit. Differing from the last two trips, where Between the Buried and Me were the headliner, this year’s show was a varied bag featuring The Contortionist, Conducting From the Grave, Fleshgod Apocalpyse, Carnifex and headliners All Shall Perish. The two bands I was most interested in were All Shall Perish who released one of deathcore’s best albums in 2006’s The Price of Existence, my favorite album of that year, and Fleshgod Apocalypse, who released my favorite album of 2011, Agony. Interviews with both were set up, so after a growler of ale in a dingy back alley like a hobo, I finally got to visit with All Shall Perish guitarist Ben Orum and vocalist Eddie Hermida. [image courtesy of Jeffrey Krenzer].

Cthulhu mythos and Lovecraftian fiction have long been a part of metal, but in my experience it’s generally been in the realms of cavernous doom or gnarly, undulating death metal and typically a more nasty, disturbing musical representation of the subject matter. But here come France’s The Great Old Ones, and in typically elite French […]

So back in 2010, I reviewed The Moulting, the debut from this Canadian female Sludge duo at another site. I wasn’t particularly impressed and gave the release a pretty poor review , even throwing it some half-hearted sexist humor. Well,  the ensuing shit storm of comments on the review and on Facebook from the band […]

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 […]

As former drummer for the legendary Gorefest, Ed Warby went through his shares of ups and downs; breakups, reunions, classic album, reviled albums and more breakups. But nothing compares to the emotions that he conveys on his doom side project, The 11th Hour. While playing on Hail of Bullets keeps his death metal steel wet, it’s doom metal that remains Eds deepest love. With his second effort, Lacrimosa Mortis, his emotions and influences are not just worn on his sleeve, they are exposed by a gaping, tearstained hole in his chest showcasing the pulsing heart underneath. I visited with Ed to dig a little further into his more doom laden music and finally lay to rest any Gorefest rumors.

Phylum Morph-Apokalupsis is an 8 song split CD between two of New York finest,  gurgliest, messiest, grinding death metal/goregrind acts. You get 4 from each (though one of Animals Killing People‘s track is a cover) and the only real difference between the 2 sets of tracks is a few members here and there (both bands […]

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’ […]

It’s actually been a couple of months since I reviewed some Christian metal core on Facedown Records, so why not get back into things with the debut album from a band whose introductory EP last year grabbed my attention with its no nonsense, almost All Shall Perish styled delivery  of brimstone, metallic sermons. Unfortunately though, […]

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 […]

It’s time to play the spin the wheel of metal genre label creation!!!! What do we have here from Seattle’s 7 Horns 7 Eyes? prog-djent-death-core? death-djent–prog-core? Christian-djent-melo-core? Whatever you call it and whatever the hype surrounding this release  what with teaser trailers, a Jeff Loomis (ex- Nevermore, who apparently made Century Media aware of these […]

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 […]