It happens every year; temperatures start cooling down, the leaves start changing colors, days start having an oddly not-at-all-unpleasant feeling of melancholic gloom as the world’s flora begins its decent towards decay – and inevitably my music rotation turns to that of a much doomier variety. Ghost Brigade and Sentenced are always big fall time […]

Ohhhhhhhh, yessssss! The new Paul Bearer record. Wait, that’s not right. Pallbearer. There it is. There’s no Undertaker here. Although, this album may make you sit up like him when you hear it for the first time. So, this is another mainstream metal release that probably has received glowing reviews in Pitchfork as well as […]

I gotta hand it to Cruz del Sur – this label keeps taking me by surprise. Granted, this might be more to do with my apparent inability to just retain what is an obvious, unmistakable truth, but it seems like every time I venture into one of their new releases, I start off chuckling to […]

Andrew D’Cagna is in many bands (Nechochwen, Brimstone Coven, Icarus Witch, Unwilling Flesh etc) out of Ohio and seems to be some sort of musical maestro genius.  With Ironflame he plays all the instruments and also sings.  He does have an actual live line-up, but in terms of putting out the three Ironflame albums, Lightning Strikes the Crown in 2017, Tales of Splendor […]

Redemption can come in a lot of different forms. Maybe it’s a worker who was overlooked for a much-deserved promotion, who leaves goes on to find a better job in a better environment. Maybe it’s the closer who gave a up a game-winning home run to a bitter rival during the regular season, only to […]

I swear to Christ. I don’t know what it is, but I just cannot seem to get enough of this whole NWOTHM thing going on right now (that’s New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal, for those of you who don’t know or just hate inane acronyms). I guess it’s just the overall tongue-in-cheek, no-fucks-given attitude […]

It seems inevitable that by the end of every year, we’re all grateful to be moving on… uh, wait, this seems awfully familiar… Now is a good time to cozy up to the familiar sounds of yesteryear… man, why do I feel like I’ve already done this? Why is a band called Night boasting a […]

Power metal. I don’t think there’s a single metalhead I have met who doesn’t have a soft spot for it. When speaking with other metalheads, there are many favorites who come to mind; Helloween, Blind Guardian, Sabaton, Manowar, Iced Earth, and, hell, even Judas Priest. One’s favorite or favorites sometimes has to do with when […]

Let’s just go ahead and address the elephant in the room. THAT COVER. HOLY SHIT. Listen, I’m not afraid of indulging some full-on campy fantastical Power Metal tropes. Shit, I not only reviewed Victorius’ Space Ninjas From Hell earlier in the year, I loved it. So clearly, I’m in no way above nerding the fuck […]

I’m so very happy, but I’M ALSO FUCKING PISSED. I’m happy as I always am any time I discover a new band I’ve never heard, especially one that falls in that sweet thrashy death wheelhouse that makes me all giddy and tingly inside. And I’m doubly happy to discover one that includes a female lead […]

When I discover a new act that I really connect with musically, as a completist, will get their discography and study their albums.  With today’s ever evolving and oversaturated metal scene a band must never forget to create real music, which incorporates great song writing, catchy guitar riffs and great vocals with well-placed vocal patterns. […]

Talk about a surprise band for me. This 4-piece British band has been around for close to 20 years, flying under my radar as they have released 4 prior albums to this fifth one Oak, Ash & Thorn. Dark Forest play a brand of Heavy/Power Metal. Think early Iron Maiden mixed with early Fates Warning […]

I want to start out by saying I first heard of We Sell The Dead because of the involvement of former drummer for HIM, Mika “Gas Lipstick” Karppinen. Yeah, I know I ruined what little metal “cred” I imagined myself even having right off the bat, dear reader. So, if you wish to back out […]

I love Type O Negative. Although I latched onto them kind of late around the time of World Coming Down I continued listening to every successive album. Of course, a real fan goes back and purchases their early discography, too. So, anytime Kenny Hickey and Johnny Kelly from one of my favorite bands do something, […]

Holy crap did this come out of left field or what?  Released last year, this promo was just sent to me by the label recently and literally I had to get a review out.  Never heard of this dude, this release and or band and Ian has been in the metal industry for over 3 […]

I’m sure its a coincidence more than anything, but Battle Beast releasing their 5th album shortly after former member Anton Kabanen released the 2nd album from from the band he formed after acrimoniously leaving Battle Beast , Beast In Black, but it sure feel like a more personal, competitive move. However I digress.. So while […]

So I was half joking to myself the other day when I said to myself: “Self… I need to start a new group for death metal addicts: DMAA (which stands for Death Metal Addicts Anonymous)”.  The reason being is I find myself listening to a TON of death metal, especially slam-death, and it’s hard to […]

What do you get when you cross the most successful and popular NWOBHM band, Iron Maiden, the (slightly) darker thrash of King Diamond and even Iced Earth, the swagger of Motorhead, and the headstrong dominance of Manowar, with ass kicking XX chromosomes of mighty frontwoman power? Lady Beast, you get Lady Beast my friends. Wait… […]

As usual. when the dust has settled on a year, a few late year releases find their way into my hands and miss  the deadline for year end lists, but certainly need some attention, and this is the case  with the second album from the UKs Monolith Cult, a new act to me. In my […]

There is heavy metal, and then there is metal. It bugs me when some people (either not metal fans, or religious authorities, or simply older people who likely still have Tipper Gore/PMRC headlines echoing in their heads from the early 80s) call it all “heavy metal music.” Heavy metal is a specific genre, mostly from […]

There she stands in the darkness, flecks of her golden hair illuminated by candle flicker and lightning flash. The silhouette of a white nightgown spills to her bare feet on the wooden floor. A gold crucifix spins lightly from the beaded chain around her neck, clinking softly. The knife she clutches glints maliciously. You see […]

I’ve always dug what Crown the Lost has done and find it relatively unique, yet comfortably familiar. The Pittsburgh act’s style could generally be described as power thrash, although their knack for muscular riff chunk-age and shredding leads, whilst carrying the melody with traditional heavy metal singing, helps set them apart from the herd. It’s […]

It’s been four years since we’ve heard anything from Seven Witches, but Jack Frost is back with a new lineup and a familiar voice. James Rivera of Helstar, who sang on two of the band’s earlier albums, returns to record Call Upon the Wicked. There’s a very heavy Judas Priest flavor early in the record, […]

I’ve been a big Mastodon fan since Remission, but even I have to admit that I was surprised to see Crack the Skye named Time magazine’s #3 album of 2009. Of course, it was a terrific release, full of hypnotic, proggy epics and three of my favorite minutes of metal that year (all packed into […]

White Wizzard’s last outing, Over the Top, was my favorite record of last year. It was a great fun throwback record that hit me immediately, and some of the songs from that record are still on my everyday playlist. I gushed about it every time I got the chance. So Flying Tigers was one of […]