“SLAYERRRRRRRR!!!!” “PLAY SOME FUCKIN’ SLAYERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!” You hear it at every show you go to, it seems. There’s always that one or maybe two douchebags that scream at the band on stage to play some “fuckin’ Slayer, man”. I feel it’s more than likely one of the prime reasons why Slayer gets a mostly bad rep […]

New Orleans based “supergroup” Down is back – finally. I won’t lie, I’m a huge fan so maybe I’m a bit biased in their favor, but this new EP is rad. Sticking with the Led Zeppelin/Van Halen styled numbered album titles, The Purple EP is supposedly the first of four installments of their fourth chapter, […]

About ten years back, I was just starting to test the waters of extreme metal. Shadows Fall was one of the very first bands that was decidedly outside of my norm. I think what drew me to them the most was the thrashiness of the riffs and music, as I had already been a long […]

About damned time! Four years for a new Testament album is just too long. After waiting 9 years on previous album The Formation of Damnation (which admittedly, in retrospect, is/was kind of a disappointment – certainly not bad but not one of their best), I had thought these extended breaks between albums were over. Apparently […]

At this point, Skeletonwitch is near unstoppable. They keep elevating their game to a new level without sacrificing (to the slaughtergod) an iota of what makes them the ‘witch – the galloping rhythms, shredtastic solos and riffing, ear-catching melodies and scathing vocals are all still very much intact, just wrapped up in even tighter packaging. […]

When it comes down to the new Megadeth album TH1RT3EN, there’s one thing people can agree on: At least it’s not ‘Lulu’. Click on to read our review of Mega Dave’s latest opus.

This band literally came out from nowhere to knock me on my ass. Sorry, I just had to – I’m a cheeseball like that. From Spain, From Nowhere are another of those smelting pot type bands, incorporating influences from many sources. They are at once thrashy, deathly, melodic, grooving, and technical. I struggle to find […]

So, after a long eight year recording silence following the release of Tara, Absu have now released two albums in three years. The second of a planned trilogy dealing with the abyss, Abzu is as blisteringly sharp and nasty as you would expect, if not more so. Few albums rip and shred as hard as […]

By now, everyone should be familiar with the Decapitated story, so I won’t waste your time with another rehash of it. Five years after their last studio output, Organic Hallucinosis, Decapitated are back with nearly a completely new line up for album number five, the oddly titled Carnival is Forever. Being one of the most […]

Another “super group” of sorts, World Under Blood is the product of CKY guitarist Deron Miller and skins beating journeyman Tim Yeung (Divine Heresy, Morbid Angel, ex- Decrepit Birth, ex- Agiel, etc), . Along for the ride is ex-Decrepit Birth four stringer Risha Eryavec and guitarist Luke Jaeger, who has done time in All Shall […]

Wow, now this was unexpected. I haven’t been this disappointed, this…disgusted, with a new album in quite some time, though I remember the last time quite clearly. I was 15, my summer vacation had just started, and I was eagerly anticipating this album. I got a ride to the record shop, picked it up, and […]

What is it these days with so many bands who will come out with a debut that will knock you on your ass but then turn around and release a sophomore effort that flat out sucks and/or totally jumps the shark? Add the young and once extremely promising thrashers Lazarus A.D. to that group. As […]

Sweet Angel Dust is the first full length in twelve years of existence from French band Arcania. While I have no idea why it took them over a decade to produce a single full length, I do know it’s pretty damn good. Arcania play a mostly modern style of thrash, infused with bits of melody […]

A new Omnium Gatherum album is always something I highly anticipate. Each of their four albums leading up to New World Shadows, their fifth, has been an excellent slice of melodic death metal with that unmistakable Finnish slant. Each has had it’s own unique feel, a noticeable progression from the last, and New World Shadows […]

When this whole thrash revival mess first came around and started to take hold, I was pretty damn excited – thrash was my first love of extreme metal, and it remains my favorite. While I do still love the old style, I also quite enjoy where the genre went as time went by – it […]

Massive Slavery are a young and talented Canadian band with a lot going on – too much going on. Fusing melodic death metal with metalcore/deathcore, tech death and even a few hints of thrash, their sound is all over the place and more times than not, lacks cohesion. When they’re on though, they’re really on. […]

Another much anticipated reunion and comeback album. Forbidden didn’t exactly exit on a good note with the lackluster Distortion and horrible Green, but their first two will always be bonafide thrash classics. With that said, I was extremely curious to see where they would go after a 13 year recording hiatus. I’m happy to say […]

Upon hearing the news that The Crown, one of the most revered, and one of my personal favorite death/thrash bands were reuniting, I was ecstatic. I was slightly disappointed that vocalist Johan Lindstrand would not be involved, assuming he’s too busy with his lame post-The Crown band One Man Army, but ultimately thought things should […]

DEATH ANGEL are back with their new opus ‘Relentless Retribution’. The two previous albums ‘The Art of Dying’ (2004) and ‘Killing Season’ (2008) seemed to divide the crowd quite a bit. How does the new album fare? Inspired? Uninspired? Total Thrash Domination? Read our review!

I love small club shows. It’s such a…it’s a much more rich experience than the big stadium/arena/amphitheater shows. To use a word that’s constantly thrown around on this very topic, the shows are much more intimate. At any given time I wanted, I could get within 5 feet of the stage – I fucking love that – so close you can smell the sweat (maybe that’s just the other gnarly concert goers standing next to me), and feel the breeze coming off the motion of windmilling guitarists hair.

It’s this writer’s opinion that it’s time for more people to take notice of Florida’s The Absence. What we have here is an American band with a mostly Swedish sound (yeah, nothing new, I know), devoid of any “core” influence, that blows away nearly everyone, including the Swedes, and if I may be so bold, […]

Gamleby – the town in Sweden in which Demiurg hail from. Slakthus – slaughterhouse. An apt title for such a death metal juggernaut of an album. Their third, Slakthus Gamleby really knocked me on my ass. I couldn’t place it at first – why it reminded me so much of Edge of Sanity, one of […]

Sadistic Crown is the debut EP from Montreal’s Absolve, a young band who have their musical screws turned tight, but are somewhat hindered by a relatively generic sounding vocalist. Lets start on the positive side of things here. Musically, Sadistic Crown is brimming with tight performances, hooky, memorable riffs, molten solos and bruising kit work. […]

Belarus. Not exactly the place one might expect to find an old school American death metal tailored band slugging it out, but here we have Disgod‘s 2008 debut slab Sanguine Scales to prove otherwise. Now, I’m not as thoroughly versed in my native country’s death metal classics as others (I tend to lean towards the […]

So it’s become a bit of trend with all these old thrash bands dusting off their instruments and chops to reform and deliver new material. One of the latest is the Bay Area’s Heathen (but to their credit, they were among the first to actually reform, it’s just taken 6 plus years to complete the […]