There sometimes comes a point in a band’s career when it becomes very clear they’re no longer fucking around. And I mean come on! Look at that gnarly friggin’ cover art! While it can never be questioned what Ensiferum‘s contribution to the world of Folk Metal has been, it’s also fair to look at the band’s […]

Long-running NWOBHM act, Satan, has gone on hiatus, broken up, and reformed, more times than I care to count, however, they first started out in 1979.  Since their last reformation in 2011, the band has been on fire.  Releasing four amazing albums during this time span and Songs in Crimson is now their fifth release […]

Believe it or not, Wolfbrigade are coming up on 30 years of unleashing their brand of filth and wanton destruction on the earth. For whatever reason this just comes as a complete shock to me because… I dunno, how was this allowed to happen?! I mean, sure, I know this is hardly the only example […]

“Before the tragedy, no one ever thought this band was going to exist without Trevor.” When Trevor Strnad passed away the world of Metal was shaken to the core. That above quote from TBDM co-founder Brian Eschbach is taken from the press release and it’s a heartbreaking statement. Trevor had such a huge presence, both […]

Category 7 is a brand new “super-group” which formed in 2023.  This self-titled album is their debut and the band members are John Bush – Vocals, Mike Orlando – Guitars, Phil Demmel – Guitars, Jack Gibson – Bass, Jason Bittner – Drums.  So we have these metal players who are currently in or were ex-members […]

OK, hear me out… 2024 has been a friggin’ WILD ride for the world of metal and extreme music. Like it or not, the spotlight has perhaps never shone brighter on our little deranged corner of the music world than it is right now. Ignore for a moment legendary stalwarts like Metallica, Iron Maiden or […]

Ohio continues to be one of the main hotbeds for quality American death metal bands.  I am new to the 200 Stab Wounds bandwagon and it was 2022/2023 when the band came onto my radar.  The label breeding ground for death metal bands getting signed to bigger labels is Maggot Stomp Records. 200 Stab Wounds […]

“You shake your ass but you’re already dead.” If you don’t know my reference, that’s okay and maybe this review isn’t for you. The truth is Daath hasn’t missed. They have a stellar discography and I’ve never been disappointed. So, their new one The Deceivers, their first in 14 years, was heavily anticipated. What matters […]

I have thoroughly enjoyed New Jersey’s Cognitive rise through the underground ranks since their first EP in 2012 – The Horrid Swarm.  I became friends with guitarist Rob Wharton, reviewed several of their early releases, finally met him on one of his tours years ago and he saw me touring with Internal Bleeding, as well […]

“It’s not the worst thing ever,” says the custodian as he scrapes all the dried cum from in and around the glory hole. I didn’t wish for him to elaborate, but by instinct, I said “Wouldn’t it be easier just to do it when it’s fresh?” He scowled and I received no answer. Foolishly, I […]

In 2022 UK deathcore/slam titans  Ingested dropped Ashes Lie Still, a more experimental and tempered album that showed the band’s more introspective side as frontman Jason Evans dealt with the loss of his father. The band also clearly saw some of the success Whitechapel had with their duo of The Valley and Kin, as more […]

The idea that I, some dumb schmuck from the fuck-all dregs of nowhere, could actually offer anything that might change your opinion of Midnight or indeed this, their latest offering of dick-swinging, occult-obsessed Blackened Speed and Punk, is goddamn laughable. In fact, I’ll just come right out and say this right from the get-go (because the […]

It’s been ten years since we last heard from Job For A Cowboy, so let me give a cliffnotes back story: the band is one of the first deathcore bands to blow up thanks to a Spongebob Squarepants video mash-up to the song “Knee Deep” (it is how I first heard the band- and it’s […]

One of the surprises being a metal reviewer (not journalist, mind you), is receiving the new promo for a band of whom I have been a fan for a while now. It’s even better when it’s out of nowhere. In this case I am of course referring to Sorcerer and their new, streamlined album Reign […]

In the end, how do you want to be remembered? Will you be remembered at all? The ultimate weight of our own legacy hangs like a formless specter, bearing down on us with every waking moment, growing heavier and more gnarled with every step towards this life’s inevitable conclusion. And that’s kind of a bitch, […]

I don’t know how many Volbeat fans there are dwelling in our dungeon, but if there are any, it may please them to know this is frontman Michael Poulsen’s return to death metal. “Return,” your dumb ass questions incredulously? Yes, return. If you’re unfamiliar with his band Dominus’s early material, I’d recommend familiarizing yourself, as […]

Can you believe Chaos Horrific is the 16th album from Cannibal Corpse?  Talk about an achievement in death metal.  Seriously if they wanted to break up now who could blame them?  They have accomplished more than enough and have given back to the death metal scene an enormous amount. That said, other than the album […]

California’s The Zenith Passage returns with their second full-length album Datalysium.  It has been seven years since their debut album Solipist was released.  I was very much impressed with their debut full-length.   These guys have an incredibly progressive and mechanical approach to technical death metal. This is the second metal blade album I have heard […]

This is a great metalcore album. More than that, it’s just a great album regardless of genre. I hadn’t listened to Death Ray Vision’s last one, but enjoyed the first mainly because I’ll listen to pretty much anything in which these metalcore masters are involved. Add Brian Fair of Shadows Fall and you have me. […]

So after splitting up shortly after 2011’s Opus Mortis VIII, with most of the members going on to form Cut Up (essentially Vomitory 2.0) and releasing a couple of solid albums, one of Sweden’s most long-running and purely, staunchly death metal (no groove metal or death ‘n’ roll diversions) bands is back together and it’s […]

Cattle Decapitation needs no introduction. Their trajectory has been astronomical since The Harvest Floor and they’ve yet to disappoint. Death Atlas let me down, but only because it was simply pretty good, and not the greatest album in the history of mankind. I saw them live back in November of 2022, the new one was […]

Germany’s environmental warriors, Downfall of Gaia has been one of my reliable go-tos’s when it comes to modern post-black metal, appearing on my year-end list a couple of times since 2012s Suffocating in a Swarm of Cranes). But when I saw the cover for album number 6, I got major Deafheaven vibes and hoped the […]

“While we all have lots of bands who influence still… we all rip off Meshuggah.” -Devin Townsend I mention this quote because, despite my opinion of them (I do not much like them, kind sir), their influence and impact on modern heavy metal cannot be overstated. This is not to say Entheos has or ever […]

2018 saw the release of the debut album Warning Blast, by international band Siege of Power.  I mean with a band name, named after one of the best Napalm Death songs ever-you cannot go wrong.  Featuring members of Asphyx, Autopsy, Grand Supreme Blood Court, Hail of Bullets, Infidel Reich…I mean I can go on and […]

As heralded by their single “Rebirth” (which appears on this album as a remixed bonus track) from earlier this year,  one of the UK’S leading deathccore/slamming death metal acts, Ingested is a band reborn. Now a three-piece consisting of drummer Lyn Jeffs, guitarist/backing vocalist Sean Hynes and vocalist Jason Evans and aided on this album […]