Say what one will about the Melodic Swedish death metal movement of the 1990’s but it hard to not look at the impact of this particular genre going all the back to groups like In Flames, Dark Tranquility and Soilwork.  You had your first wave of bands and then your secondary waves of groups coming […]

This has been a busy year for Unique leader Records with releases like First Fragment, The Zenith Passage, Inanimate Existence, Lord of War, Deceptionist, Destroying the Devoid and Carnophage. With as chaotic as their summer release schedule it would be quite easy to have missed out on this one. Woah! This one of definitely a rager! Formerly […]

Well this one was well worth the wait as Comatose presents a really good one with Neurogenic, an international technical slam death super group (If there is such a group. These guys are it and there are a ton of guest musicians on this).Featuring Marco Pitruzzella of Six Feet Under/Sleep Terror/Anomalous handling the drum work […]

Norway’s Blood Red Throne return with their eighth studio album. For those of you that are not familiar with this group was started by Dod (Satyricon) and Tchort (Emperor) and have been around since 1998 and they play a murderously American style of brutal old school death metal. Union of Flesh and Machine opens with “Revolution […]

Around twenty or so years ago I was fortunate enough to purchase a black metal compilation called Blackened Vol 1.  Of all the bands on this compilation that made a distinct impression on me was a group from Norway called Ved Buens Ende. Ved Buens Ende at that time played a unique style of avant […]

The Three headed Finnish Death Doom Monster have returned with their second full-length record Verenvalaja. Verenvalaja translates into Blood Caster – the twisted one derailing the flow of life to stream towards his own creation. For those not familiar with Vainaja’s 2014 debut Kadotetut,  Vainaja play a style of concept death doom that is rooted […]

Having not been familiar with Sweden’s This Ending I was quite surprised when I listened to there third full length release Garden of Death.  This Ending features members of the group A Canorous Quintet and also former drummer of Amon Amarth Fredrik Andersson.  I had to go back and listen to their 2009 effort Dead […]

Los Angeles’ The Zenith Passage debut Solipsist on presents a forty minute clinic of technical death metal.  Featuring former and current members of Fallujah, Oblivion, All Shall Perish and The Faceless these guys definitely have a great deal of time in on their instruments and that is demonstrated right away on the opening track  “Holographic […]

Here is a group that I am excited to see are still around and making cool music. Minnesota’s Gracepoint have been on my radar since I first heard their first album Science of Discontent that came out back in 2000. These guys play a unique style of Progressive metal that is not in any way […]

It is rare that it takes a group twenty years to release their first debut full length from the time that their initial demo had been released but such is the case with Germany’s Mightiest. Sinisterra opens with a nearly ten minute track “Devour the Sun” my first impression of this is that these guys […]

Whoa! Reykjavik Iceland’s Cult of Lilith has made quite the debut with their nearly twenty minute Arkanum EP.  I honestly did not know what to expect from this group as I was expecting something completely different when I saw the cover artwork.  I was thinking that this was going to be more of a symphonic […]

There is something to be said about family members working together cohesively in heavy metal history that in starting this review of Oakland’s Dimesland is important to point out.  You have The Cavaleras, The Van Halens, The Hoffmans, Vitek and Vogg, Dimebag and Vinnie Paul and I am probably forgetting a lot of others but […]

It is hard to believe that it has been eighteen years since the Hate Eternal/Alas demo was released. Hate Eternal being a blistering technical death metal band and Alas being more of a melodic doom project. Both of these projects showing the song writing versatility of Erik Rutan who had been in Morbid Angel and […]

I remember there was once a time when I used to walk to record stores and take a chance on a band solely based on the album artwork. In starting this review I must say I was very much drawn into the cover art of New Jersey grinders Organ Dealer prior to checking them out much […]

A “Lychgate” is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard and also a very entertaining ritualistic styled avant-garde black doom metal group from The UK.  Lychgate takes a much different approach to song composition and each track on “An Antidote for a Glass Pill” is […]

I am one for concept albums especially when they revolve around late 1970’s Horror Films and that is exactly what Demon Lung’s A Dracula is. Produced by Billy Anderson (Neurosis, High on Fire) A Dracula has a fantastically heavy and sludgy production.  I was not too familiar with Demon Lung when I choose to do […]

For those of you not family with Ambassador Gun started off as a group called A Second from The Surface.  If you get to check out their older material it is worth checking out. Ambassador Gun definitely no rookies to The United States metal community having done a record with Prosthetic Records and also appearing […]

Cattle Decapitation is a group that has definitely earned a reputation for themselves with a career spanning nineteen years and with six full length releases on their belts they have truly knocked the ball out of the park with their 2015 release The Anthropocene Extinction. Conceptually focusing on The Anthropocene Era, Cattle Decapitation has created a forty six minute […]

Hailing from Saint Paul Minnesota The Wolf Council is a relatively new group. According to their Facebook page they were formed in 2013 and after listening to their self-titled album I am surprised they haven’t been together for far longer.  Being just a three piece, The Wolf Council jam some very kick ass, stoned out, hard rock […]

Man this is definitely the best Unique Leader release I have heard this year so far.  France’s long running Kronos waste no time in beginning their technical death metal assault off the gates with the opener “Infernal Abyss Sovereignty”. Pummeling blast beats and churning vocals set the stage for an incredibly entertaining listen. Being that they […]

Australia sure seems to do a wonderful job of producing unbelievably groovy and polished death metal, Ulcerate and Psycroptic to name two that come to mind.  Hailing from Perth, Western Australia comes Sanzu.  Sanzu’s Painless EP is a testament to experimentation and really well thought out song writing. “18 days of Rain”starts off with an extremely […]

Dissident Clone’s State of Dysphoria EP makes for an entertaining albeit quick listen at a combined running time of almost eleven minutes.  This Minnesota based two-piece combines a lot of different elements from death/grind/groove/crust and I think those are just the main ones that I can hear. The opening track “Waiting to Collapse” creates an […]

Hailing from Ireland Malthusian’s Below the Hengiform is their debut EP released by Invictus Productions. Ireland has definitely been producing some extreme metal acts in recent years with artists like Primordial, Altar of Plagues (whose members are now in Malthusian) and Abaddon Incarnate to name a few. In listening to Malthusian’s first demo MMXIII it’s […]

I can close my eyes and envision being in Aokigahara, A forest in Japan at the northwest base of Mount Fuji that is known as a popular place for suicides. The forest apparently has a historic association with Demons.  Enter Osmose Production Record artists Cohol and their second album Rigen.  Describing themselves as ‘Blackened Crystal Death’, […]

Last year Erik Thomas reviewed a band from Nashville Tennessee called Inferi who released an album called The Path of Apotheosis.  To me that was one of the better melodic death releases of last year and kind of came out of nowhere. Zoom forward to present day Mariestad Sweden and Implode.  Implode was formed in […]