There’s Pink Floyd, and then there’s Syd Barrett. My first Pink Floyd album was 1987’s A Momentary Lapse of Reason, and I worked backwards from there, so the early Floyd/Barrett stuff has always been kinda exotic and unfamiliar to me. Admittedly, it’s also never been my favorite – a proto-version of the pompous, extravagant sonic […]

Fist in Fetus’ 2007 EP release was one of the most inspired – and inspiring – discoveries I’ve heard all year (credit goes to intrepid TOTD bloodhound Cynicgods for finding it). You’ve heard symphonic elements woven into metal dozens of times by now, but they’ve rarely been this modern or unconventional. And it’s never taken the form of soaring power metal crossbred with screaming, spastic grind. Or delivered by an unlikely team of musicians – classically trained Perttu Vänskä and new Stratovarius guitarist (and Finnish Guitar Idol 2008) Matias Kupiainen.

Based on the My Skin is Cold EP earlier year, I had hopes that perhaps Satyricon would start stepping out of the sterile little comfort zone they’ve created for themselves of late. Maybe a little more textural or structural variety, or perhaps just something with a faster tempo. I wasn’t expecting the return of The […]

Judging by the scrawled logo and temple backdrop, I’d hoped this EP would be a black metal offering, since I was in the mood for something new in that vein. Nope, these Aussies play death metal, but of the odd and evocative variety, which is just as good. There’s a lot of US influence here […]

This is my first experience with East of the Wall, an all-instrumental prog/rock/sludge outfit formed from the rubble of The Postman Syndrome and Day Without Dawn, and featuring current members of Biclops. Comparisons to Pelican are close enough, but there’s an even more unusual, jazzier prog influence here, like Mastodon covering Steely Dan. And big […]

Mysteria hails from Poland and promises an expansive, avant-garde mix of death, black and folk. Sounds intriguing…. Opener “Mulla Xul” kicks off the proceedings on a promising, if not familiar note. Churning thunder, monstrous growls and ancient, Sumerian-styled bombast. It’s heavily reminiscent of countrymates Behemoth, but less epic. Nothing terribly progressive or forward-thinking either, but […]

Doubtless you’ve heard the name Abigail Williams by now – some of it hype, some of it curiosity given the band’s former incarnation as brutal-yet-melodic death-metal act Vehemence. A constantly rotating line-up, several moves around the country and a brief break-up have likely put the band through a number of trials (those of you familiar […]

Fall is here for many of you (except those of us unlucky enough to live in the damn desert), which makes it a perfect time to throw on a pair of headphones and take a long, solitary walk in the woods. Those of you looking to recapture the dark pastoral glory of Bergtatt-era Ulver and […]

This three-piece outfit from North Carolina plays a groovy, rollicking brand of stoner/sludge which comes off like the combination of (old) Mastodon, Melvins and Black Sabbath. Although the EP is only 23 minutes long, it doesn’t waste any time and gets right to the good stuff: plenty of massive, doomy riffs and bashing, groovy rhythm. […]

The US may be enjoying a mini thrash revival this year with the likes of Warbringer, Toxic Holocaust and Municipal Waste, but the genre never really went away overseas. Case in point, France’s Sografalth, who mash together the raw, manic energy of classic 80s material with a heavier, death-influenced delivery and a healthy DIY attitude […]

Australian industrial/death outfit The Amenta detonated a explosion of epic, mechanized hatred with 2004’s excellent Occasus, but they’ve been quiet since then. They’ve since refocused their vicious brand of blastbeats and barbed-wire riffage into n0n, a harrowing journey into the heart of a decaying cityscape. If you’ve never heard The Amenta before, be ready for […]

Just from the name alone, you’d think that this has gotta be death/grind of some sort, with sickening vocals and a blistering, violent approach to songwriting. But you’d only be half right, since this new (unsigned) act smashes together death metal and classical music in a way that no one has really done before. Surprising […]

Compared to the dense, melancholy psychedelia of Origo, Lazarus Bird surprises from note one by taking a confident step back to Burst‘s hardcore roots. Opener “I Hold Vertigo” attacks with a lurching hammerblow riff, and vocalist Linus Jägerskog tears into his work as if he’s rediscovering it. He sounds fresher and meaner than anything I […]

Finland has long been a hotbed for intensely melodic metal. Take the addictive, neoclassical thrash of (earlier) Children of Bodom, the overripe pomp of Nightwish or the thrilling Viking blare of Moonsorrow – all lush, atmospheric and stylish as hell. And that’s not even touching wackadoo black metal like …And Oceans or the classic, always-evolving […]

Admittedly, I’ve never been much into punk. Got into metal, stayed put. By the time I finally got around to checking out some of the much-vaunted bands I’d always heard about – The Misfits and Samhain being the two that most piqued my interest, being a horror buff and all – I was kinda disappointed. […]

Indricothere, living during the late Oligocene epoch (part of the Tertiary Period in the Cenozoic Era), is thought to be the largest land mammal that ever walked the earth. A distant relative of the rhinoceros, they were not as fearsome as their descendents would have you believe – they looked more like gigantic, tree-munching giraffes. […]

It’s been said that anyone who generalizes is an idiot, but it’s gotten to the point where if I see a CD that has a pretty face on the cover and the Napalm logo on the back, I can predict exactly what I’m going to get. Beast Within is no different: inoffensive, poppy midtempo gothic […]

This is the third full-length from this Greek epic/heavy metal band. Apparently epic metal is its own sub-genre of heavy or power metal, but if this is any indication, I don’t think I will be researching more of its bands. It all starts promising enough on the intro. Mediterranean-flavored strumming and a subdued male operatic […]

As I’ve voiced in a number of reviews recently, the whole Middle Eastern thing has become so overused, in everything from symphonic black metal to progressive metal to death metal, that it no longer feels daring or surprising. Melodies that are supposed to come off as mysterious and exotic frequently read as romantic caricature, or […]

Return to the days of old… when enemies were crushed and driven before you, and the air was filled with the lamentation of the women. When manly, battle-scarred barbarians swung their six-strings and pummeled their wardrums. When bands like Brocas Helm, Cirith Ungol and Manilla Road mixed classic heavy metal, doom and a fascination for […]

I first noticed this band several years ago, during a marathon research trip into the black metal underworld – a frustrating venture that touched on over a hundred bands, but produced little in the way of actual gems. Spite Extreme Wing was one of the exceptions – a sharp, angular black metal outfit from Italy that, […]

Hard to believe it’s been seven years since the release of Hollenthon‘s previous opus, With Vilest of Worms to Dwell. Besides featuring one of the more memorable covers that year (a coiled snake with a protruding, knuckled spine), it boasted epic, symphonic swells over vaguely Viking riffage and coarse vocals. It should have been right […]

What is the Beast in the Field? Is it a cow? A ravenous wolf, drawing the torches and pitchforks of an angry mob? Or is it the field itself – a craggy, lumbering juggernaut formed from the earth and rock, wrenching itself up from its slumber to rumble across the countryside? That’s the image that […]

Canvas Solaris hail from Georgia and play an instrumental brand of prog-metal that combines the spacey atmosphere of classic 70s progressive acts with the kind of jazz-inflected technicality found in Atheist, Cynic and late-era Death. Opener “The Binaural Beat” leans more towards the mellow space-rock half of the equation, with a soft, bouncy acoustic riff […]

Sometimes you see an album cover and just hope that the music inside matches the imagery. In this case, the graphic of five masked phantoms, convened like some interdimensional alien tribunal, could have just been another slapped-on gimmick – but thankfully, it’s the perfect visual for one of the more harrowing and hypnotic tech-death albums […]