From the wilded realms in between, Vile Ent returns with a second EP of institutionalized industrial, mind melted metal, swingin’ hard rock and digitally molested soundscapes that follow-up 2017’s freaky, fun and fucked up Road Rash EP with a sonic glitch-out of equally mangled organic and computerized split personalities.  Ent who has cut a swath […]

Aching and expressive, hard-hitting and restrained, overwhelming and minimal, the sounds heard on the sophomore album Passages from Oakland, California’s Mountaineer are a sprawling range of opposites that form a sonic conglomerate aimed for a total takeover.  Post-rock/post-doom or whatever you want to call it is the band’s decided monolithic calling card but their layer […]

My introduction to Cyprus death metal sickos Vomitile was 2014’s Mastering the Art of Killing and they simply won me over with gnarly memorable riffage, sparse but sick melodic soloing, throaty yet decipherable vocal rasps and an overload of fuck the modern textbook aggression that also took bits and pieces of thrash n’ punk under […]

From the dank swamps of the Bayou land comes a double dose of filth on this dirty little split 7”.  Helmed by the Paranoize label which also runs an awesome, seminal zine this slick release introduces a pair of bands that have been kicking around in the underground for a bit now.  WOORMS rams noise-rock/sludge/post-hardcore […]

Following up an EP (I) and an LP (II), English sludgy, post-rockers Archelon drop their 2nd full-length platter, Tribe of Suns upon the masses courtesy of the venerable Sludgelord Records imprint.  Self-professed children of the Neurosis/Isis/Pelican/Burst/Rosetta school of head-tripping, introspective doom-y rock these shrouded heavies do enough interesting stuff with the style to make it […]

Trimming down to a lean duo formation Oakland, MD’s Cavern offer up their best work to date on their third LP, Eater, and fourth release overall for the Grimoire Records annals.  The band was fearsome as a trio and a stellar live show that my eyes bore witness to as well as the classic instrumental […]

With Dom the bassist/vocalist for WV sludge-punks Rhin swapping to guitarist/vocalist in Gloop, I just had to check these cats out.  Rhin’s a personal favorite of mine with their varied ability to meld punk, noise-rock, sludge and sprawling album closers into one tantalizing whole.  Gloop is a different animal altogether.  Also a trio, Gloop sounds […]

The state of Ohio has given us everything from legendary hardcore bands to the filthiest sludge bands to sickening grindcore and a little bit of anything and everything in between.  Latest to the lineage is pummeling doom-toned, 70s proto-metal hard rockers Fuzz Lord.  After a killer LP release in 2014 (The Key in Silence) the […]

On the always esteemed Grimoire label comes the debut from instrumental doom/sludge/prog/metal weirdos Thought Eater and their full-length debut, Bones in the Fire.  These Baltimore bruisers do Maryland proud with their mash-up of influences that seem to encompass The Fucking Champs, Karma to Burn, Life is Abuse Records’ luminaries Yeti and Tarantula Hawk as well […]

The debut EP Attendre La Mort from devastating, French death/doom crew Black Box Warning (BBW, he he!) is an utter desolation trip that’s well-worth taking for fans of the genre.  Reminding me of Winter, Coffins, Warcrab, early Morgion and Famishgod, this shit is fuckin’ sick and heavier than a cement mixer full of pre-made tombstones.  […]

India’s crust/sludge/grind punk maniacs False Flag impressed me with their rotten demo debut about 2 years back.  I’m not sure what rock I was under but since that came out they’ve release a three song shorty officially titled EP.  There’s a lot of good stuff coming out of India the past couple of years and […]

Raleigh, North Carolina sludgy blues/doom overlords Horseskull immediately jumped on my radar for containing ¾ of the classic Soulpreacher line-up (Anthony Staton on guitar/vocals, Mike Avery on guitar/FX and Robb Hewlett on bass).  The Preacher’s mean, swingin’ riff gospel, tightly locked rhythm grooves and Anthony Staton’s scalding scream was a depraved pleasure on their Man’s […]

The Human Race is Filth is a misery-inducing proposition from York, PA that put out a whole helluva racket on their second release, Liberate.  Barely even sticking around for 20 minutes this guitar/drums/vocals duo take the murderous grind of Phobia, Catheter and Disrupt, fatten it up with the oppressive punk thickness of Doom and His […]

Insane, experimental sludge is the preferred poison of infernal Irish lunatics Zhora on their second full-length album, Ethos, Pathos, Logos.  This record is very much in the key of Rwake’s landmark work from Hell is a Door to the Sun through Rest, Deadbird’s The Head and the Heart, Spaceboy’s underrated discography and Neurosis’ classics Enemy […]

Swedish thrash/punk stranglers Defiatory dropped a royal ass kicker with their 2016 debut Extinct.  The band’s caffeinated, hopped-up assault took melodic cues from Sin after Sin and Stained Class, sniped Slayer and the first couple of Overkill records for thrash overload, siphoned in several eras of Swedish brutality (The Crown, Grave, Dismember and the underrated […]

Pissed off megaton sludge from Italy is the day’s special served up by Hell Obelisco and their crusty, punk-inflected debut Swamp Wizard Rises.  This record is an unrelenting steamroller of groove, effortless tempo downshifts that lay off the speed throttle long enough to catch some head-nodding blues riffs and wrathful vocals that are on the […]

After a demo and a 7”, Kentucky’s psycho-sludge duo Nest return with a pulverizing, drugged-out LP, Metempsychosis, an album that breaks all of the rules and sends dirge lovers on a harrowing trip through the nastiest recesses of the human mind.  As thick as many of the dirtiest 4 to 5 member sludge bands with […]

Album number 2 from Norwegian, classic doom trio Purple Hill Witch does everything a sophomore album follow-up should do.  Their LP debut, a monstrously grooved Self-Titled on stalwart label The Church Within was an ode to the first 6 Sabbaths, the glory days of Hellhound Records (and Maryland doom in general) with a touch of […]

Capping off a trifecta of killer sludge releases I had on the chopping block for review, this next one is a nascent split vinyl EP from nihil.  Minneapolis lunatics No Funeral occupy side 1 with their crustified slug-stomp sleaze while side 2 offers up one long bomber from their same city mates, Livid.  Both bands […]

When you’re trying to keep up with all of the heavy stuff, rock n’ roll and dirty music you can handle, you’re going to be bound to miss something.  In my case I miss a lot, but I’ll be goddamned by the Pope himself if I don’t try.  Slovenian sludge crew Leechfeast totally missed my […]

Hailing from Wichita, Kansas, Bestialord is a killer new project from band members that served time in kick ass outfits Manilla Road and Sanctus Infernum.  Guitarist/vocalist Mark Anderson played on one of my favorite latter days MR records Spiral Castle.  Bringing along his SI bandmate Chris Johnson on drums with bassist Rob Harris completing the […]

It’s been damn near 7 years since Belgian grinders Leng Tch’e dropped their last full-length slab of death-y, crusty doomgrind, Hypomanic.  There hasn’t been an original member left in the band since 2007, although these maniacs have stayed relatively true to form sonically over the last 3 records. For me, the filthy highpoint of the […]

Hailing from the D.C. area, Pain Tank is a fucking unhinged bunch that rip through 13 tracks of fucking furious doom-laden, noise-blasted hardcore n’ crusty, punk grind that calls to mind Enemy Soil, Man is the Bastard, Employer/Employee, early Pig Destroyer, Skitsystem, Phobia, Inhale/Exhale era Nasum, Napalm Death and lots of other neurotic, repulsive influences.  […]

I got pretty into Sweden’s crusty, forward-minded sludge thrashers Galvano during their demo days, so much so that I gladly did a press release for them when the opportunity came about.  From those lo-fi (though sonically noteworthy) demos to their piledriving, farewell full-length, Trail of the Serpent, Galvano were a gem of a doom-y metal […]

I really couldn’t claim that I knew a lot of Norwegian doom until Purple Hill Witch’s debut long player crushed my heart in that early Hellhound Records’/Count Raven style that always alternated effortlessly between melodic and flesh ripping riffage (with vocals and rhythmic crunch to match).  Their mates of state Red Mountains won me over […]