Although last year’s Ascendancy was a near-masterpiece, breakthrough record for the young metal attack known as Trivium, heavy metal fans should consider The Crusade to be an indication of this future legendary band’s coming of age, a first true utterance of maturity. And in a year that has seen more stellar albums than most metalheads […]

German Funeral Doom trio Ahab reveals a plodding sound that gives an impression of the vast depths of the Ocean during this full-length debut. Inspired by Herman Melville’s oft-influencing novel Moby Dick, Ahab explores the depths of the blackest of waters, in turn coming up with one of the most impressive interpretations of this tale […]

Five long years preceded the realization of Ancient Rites’ Rvbicon, and the wait proves to be well worth it for fans of these Blackened Folk trailblazers. However, neither time past nor shifts in the long-running Belgian outfit’s alignment have slowed the severe creativity relayed by this adeptly talented group. The influences that Ancient Rites derive […]

While Century Media and Roadrunner easily dominated the nineties with, with each label delivering their share of strong metal releases, the stakes have been raised in the battle for metal dominance amongst the plethora of burgeoning imprints in the 21st Century. Candlelight USA is leading the way. In 2006, the imprint has released more noteworthy, […]

Flourishing not only as an effectually transcendental aural barrage, but also as genuine philosophical pontification, The Trident finds Unearthly Trance to be maturing, with listeners becoming the beneficiaries of a continuing state of musical evolution. Let’s focus squarely upon what this record sounds like, before lapsing into any overtly narcissistic interpretations of the nature which […]

Building upon the framework laid by last year’s debut, Total Universe Man, those wild and crazy outer space rockers Valient Thorr have returned with Legend Of The World, a twelve track offering once again focused on the charismatic personality of frontman Valient Himself and his band of intergalactic bearded sonic warriors. Sonically, the appeal of […]

Certainly, Twin Method is by far the most commercially oriented act on the roster of Crash Music. Listening to this single, which is intended to build anticipation for the band’s forthcoming summer release, The Volume Of Self, it’s pretty apparent that Twin Method has a certain affection for Mudvayne. Toss in a touch of Linkin […]

Those that remember the formative years of the death metal underground will have no problems differentiating this collection of early material from Vital Remains from the modern day, Glen Benton-fronted Vital Remains. As the death metal style has matured and evolved into a more horrific beast, recordings such as these are as critical to understanding […]

3XM doesn’t waste any time bullshitting and gets right down to business hacking up bodies and pissing on corpses on this now cult gore-grind platter, a blood-soaked splatter-fest that features more porn references than the back room of your local video store and enough psychotically-motivated violence that this band would have been banned damn near […]