Earlier this year, I reviewed a group called Inexorum which in my opinion is one of the best u.s melodic black metal albums of the year.  The songwriting and production is absolutely outstanding and if you have not checked them out.  Please do.  Now, on to Antiverse.  Antiverse features two members of Inexorum, Carl Skildum […]

Every once and a while a label puts out a release that is contrary to the majority of their prior releases.  Such is the case with Memento Mori’s 2018 release of Grenoble France’s Barus full length debut Drowned.  For one, these guys are from the same hometown as Andre the Giant. Number two, when a […]

Man! This is release is totally out of my comfort zone so bear with me if I seem like NWOBHM is a new language to me.  Newcastle England’s Satan have returned with their fourth full length studio release Cruel Magic.   I was initially turned on to Satan by the singer of the band I am […]

Getting to support and draw attention to new metal artists is one of the things I enjoy most about writing reviews.  When I get the chance to review bands from my home state of Minnesota it is especially special as our scene has had quite the burst of talent over the last few years.  This […]

Oakland California’s Barren Altar have built quite a buzz with their unique style of funeral doom tinged black metal.  Entrenched in the Faults of the Earth is their first full length effort and is quite a memorable one at that.  Opening up with “Nexus of Grief” which starts off with a solo guitar line that […]

Hang on to your seats people. This one is a doozy. Malta’s Abysmal Torment have returned with the fourth full length effort The Misanthrope.  Let’s get right into this okay, the title track “The Misanthrope” hits like a ball peen hammer right away. Max Vassallo is one of the sickest drummers I have heard in […]

It’s getting to the point with Everlasting Spew Records that it gets harder and harder to keep up on all of the awesome releases that they are finding.  There is no exception here with Texas’ Infuriate with their debut record Infuriate. Featuring members of Sarcolytic, Sect Of Execration, Images of Violence, ID and Whore Of […]

Bordeaux France’s Exocrine waste no time in laying down some quite nutty technical death metal with their third full length release Molten Giant. “Scorched Human Society” opens with a slight intro into some incredibly clean scalar runs. These guys do an excellent job of breaking up the technical section with groove laden bridge section that […]

Wow! Wow! Wow! Biggest surprise of the year so far hands down.  Minnesota’s Inexorum have hit a colossal homerun with the debut album Lore of The Lakes.  Inexorum is the genius of Carl Skildum who I know from The Minnesota Death/Thrash group Anti-Verse (Also way worth checking out).  Lore of The Lakes is five tracks […]

I don’t know how Dark Descent continues to do it but man do they find palpably, pummeling old school death metal bands.  Turkey’s Burial Invocation waste absolutely zero time with their debut full length album Abiogenesis.  Featuring former members of the group Cenotaph I was expecting more of a brutal, gore styled form of death […]

Oakland California’s Abstracter have really conjuring up some gnarly tunes with their 3rd full length release Cinereous Incarnate.  Having not been familiar with this band I was recommended them through word of mouth.  Abstracter do not disappoint with their grime covered approach to blackened/sludge death doom.  From what I have been able to tell from […]

It has been nine years since the last full length Immortal Record All Shall Fall.  Gone is the trademark, raspy grimace of Abbath whose voice had been the nebular raven cadence of the group since all the way back to the first album Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism.  Enter 2018 and Immortal’s ninth full length studio record […]

I jumped out of my chair the second I received notification that Construct of Lethe’s second full length record Exiler was available to review.  Having been a fan of this group since their 2016 debut, Corpsegod.   There was a bit of a shift in sound from Corpsegod to Construct’s 2016 EP, The Grand Machination.  Both […]

German Progressive Death Metal Super Group Alkaloid have returned with the follow up to their 2015 debut The Malkuth Grimoire with Liquid Anatomy.  The brainchild of former Spawn of Possession and Aborted guitar Danny Tunker. Alkaloid also features three former members of the group Obscura in drummer Hannes Grossman, Bassist Linus Klausenister and Guitar Christian […]

2018 has been a busy year for melodic Swedish metal with releases from groups like Necrophobic, The Crown and At the Gates. Germany’s Fragments of Unbecoming make their presence felt with their fifth full length release Perdition Portal.  I must admit that it has been some time since I last heard a release from this […]

Excellent!!!! I say out loud to myself as a twiddle my fingers with euphoric glee! YES! YES! YES! New Zealand’s Organectomy make their presence felt numerous times over with their first full length album Domain of the Wretched.  Organectomy are more than a standard, run of the mill slam band.  I would consider more a […]

Boy I got to start off this with review by giving a shout out to Tito Vespasiani owner of Everlasting Spew Records.  2018 has already been off to a solid start for his label with releases from Convocation, Galvanizer, and Quantum Hierarchy.  With releases like Valgrind and Construct of Lethe coming later this year Everlasting […]

Nashville Tennessee’s Inferi have become quite the force in U.S underground Melodic Death Metal.  I was turned on to this group back in 2014 when I was recommended their album, The Path of Apotheosis.  At the time I felt like Inferi were quite far ahead of other similar melodic death groups in terms of technique […]

France’s Autokrator came across as a group of interest for this reviewer when I discovered Kevin Paradis of Benighted was associated with this group. I must admit that the cover art is what drew me in to checking out this album. What is interesting regarding the cover art is that it was constructed by the […]

Well call me a sucker for French Black Metal bands garbed in plague masks.  Abduction return with their 2nd full length record. “Sous les Cendres et la Pierre” opens up the album with some lovely clean guitar lines and accompanying tom rolls from the percussion section.  The song continues to build and transitions effortlessly for […]

California’s Skeletal Remains have composed and performed one of the year’s best death metal albums with their 3rd studio full length record Devouring Mortality.  The attention to detail exhibited is outstanding.  Starting off with Dan Seagrave’s brilliant cover artwork (Morbid Angel, Entombed, Malevolent Creation), these guys clearly wanted to present the look of an early […]

  It seems like every year there is a handful of massive funeral doom albums that are so meticulous that they take numerous listens to analyze.  Funeral doom in and of itself can vary depending on artist and approach to instrumentation.  This writer was caught a bit off guard in discovering Mournful Congregation’s fifth full […]

I must say I enjoy listening to albums of groups like Necrophobic.  I started becoming a fan of underground music as a teenager and Dark Funeral Secrets of The Black Arts was one of the first Swedish black metal albums that really resonated with me. Blackmoon’s influence on Dark Funeral added to the strength of […]

Finland’s Galvanizer waste no time in cranking up the Boss HM-2 Pedals and blast-beating your souls away with their debut full length Sanguine Vigil.  Having released some demo material and been around since 2013 these guys could give Rotten Sound or Nasum a run for their money.  I love the cover artwork done by TG […]

Sacramento’s Alterbeast are bringing in the New Year with their 2nd full length release Feast. I really have to hand it to Unique Leader they waste absolutely zero time transitioning from year to year and continue to find outstanding groups with outstanding musicianship. With that being said opening up an album with a piano instrumental […]