Listen, I’ll make this short because frankly listening to Hate Manifesto‘s ΑΠΟΣΤΑΤΗΣ (‘Apostate’) gives me a headache, and I want to get this review knocked out ASAP. As much as I love being enveloped by swathes of orchestral and symphonic elements in my metal, sometimes a good no-frills, solid kick in the teeth gets me […]

Full disclosure: I have never listened to a second of Mustasch until this album fell into my lap. I had heard of them, of course, but they always seemed to fly under my own musical radar. On one hand this is a bit crummy because that means I spent the last decade or so not […]

The only thing here missing is the logo. Not that the dust had begun to settle on Wormwood―that will take many years―Marduk is back to keep themselves fresh in your mind. The band is cyclical. Many fans want bands to evolve, many do not. Marduk evolves by continually borrowing from their own past, birthing new […]

The rest of the world got this disc late 2009, those of us in North America had to wait till January 26. The limited edition contains a bonus DVD recorded Live at Peace & Love -festival on June 28, 2008 in Borlänge, Sweden. This is almost reason enough to get this album…

“Rebirth of Gorgorooooooooth!!!!” It’s fitting that after all the legal and personal issues that have plagued this Norwegian stalwart black metal band over the last few years, that the third track has returning vocalist Pest spit out this line during the aptly named third track, “Rebirth” Truth be told, I’ve never been a huge fan […]

As when I heard the re-issue of Marduk’s Dark Endless last year, I had no idea that the current iteration of one of Sweden’s more respected second tier black/death metal acts, Necrophobic was so different from their more recognized, current sound. Like Marduk, Necrophobic’s first sound was one rooted in early Swedish death metal, namely […]

Three listens back to back to back of Wormwood will leave you laying on the floor in a pool of drool, even if you are up to date on your inoculations. To paraphrase Legion, if you don’t know what Marduk is what the hell are you doing here.  Marduk has a history of short intros, […]

For me, Merauder was a lost, lost band for a number of years. 2003s Bluetality was a flat, flaccid record and not representative of one of New York’s hardest bands. What’s more, I saw them at Pressure Fest in Germany in 2005 and they were equally flat, uninterested and to be frank out of their […]

Remember the 90’s when Swedish melodic death metal was kicking our ass? Personally, I was a huge fan of the genre and that is actually where I started my extreme metal listening. Unanimated, who have been around since the late 80’s, graced us with a killer display in 1995 called Ancient God of Evil, and […]

Viking metal should make you want to load up a Norse ship with muscle-bound heathens and sail to a foreign land to usurp and plunder. Sweden’s Thryfing is one of the exceptions. Whereas their country mates Amon Amarth aim a broadsword at the throat, Thryfing offer cerebral Viking metal. The seven tracks on the new […]

Necrophobic’s last album, Hrimthursum, threw me for a loop initially, mainly because of the stylistic expansion from the album before, Bloodhymns, which was one of my favorites from 2002. It wasn’t as though the Swedes did any kind of about-face on that album, one that I rated quite highly in the end; I just found […]

If imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery, then Glenn Danzig has to feel pretty good about this project from Morgan of Marduk and a few unknown guys. The band began in 2000 as a Misfits/Samhain cover act and has apparently released a handful of records and EPs over the years, which I somehow […]

Regain Records is very proud to announce the signing of NYHC veterans MERAUDER! Jorge Rosado (vocals) has issued the following statement: “MERAUDER, the metalcore kings and creators, are teaming up with Regain Records to bring you the long awaited album titled God Is I. This is one of the most important and brutal records we’ve […]

Lord Belial assaults or speakers once again, and we all happy for it of course. They continue the trademark blackened death metal stylings that have gotten so much good press over the years. That should continue here because this is a good album. Imagine a more bass heavy Dissection with the scales leaning a bit […]

I had never heard these guys before I got this disc and I am rather mad at myself because of it. This is some really good primal black metal, though it doesn’t sound the least bit primitive. By that I mean it doesn’t have a truly awful production that many seem to think is the […]

As far as spastic, technical metalcore goes, Time Has Come does everything right with White Fuzz.  I still can’t help but feel slightly underwhelmed by this record, though.  It might be that my tastes have drifted away from the genre (I used to love Between The Buried and Me, Psyopus, From A Second Story Window, […]

This sophomore release from Swedish outfit Machinery shows a great deal of promise, even if it’s a bit bipolar. There are really two bands at work here. One is a dark, progressive and interesting sounding act. The other is a blazing thrash/melodic death band. Fortunately, both show a good deal of talent and are quite […]

I’ll admit for having a bit of a soft spot for Sweden’s Deranged, because their self titled fourth album, was one of my very first reviews for digitalmetal, and I conversed with drummer Richard Wermen for quite a bit after that. So, I was a bit upset when I heard that this album was be […]

Black thrash with a sneer that quickly morphs into a grin. When I want to listen to metal purely for escapist fun, enjoyment that puts a smile on your face kind of metal, I’ll put on Gamma Ray, for a few songs anyway, and then I’ll need something a bit more intense yet still happy. […]

At the risk of losing what little credibility I have within the metal community, I have a confession to make. I do not own a single Vader release. Not one. In fact the last Vader record I actually heard was 2002’s Revelations, and before that the only Vader record I physically even owned in the […]

You may or may not remember French band Nightmare from their moderate success in the 1980s. I don’t, but then I grew up in a rural area where there wasn’t much exposure to the European metal bands of the time except for those named Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. (And even they were hard to […]

Don’t get me wrong, While I have enjoyed the last two Dismember albums, the fact is both Where Ironcrosses Grow and even the fine The God That Never Was, just seemed a bit forced and too melodic for me. However, with the self-titled tenth album, an infusion of youth into the line up and yet […]

Despite being formed in 2000 ans this being their 5th album, this is my first exposure to the German black metal war machine known as Endstille, and while a scathing vicious take on razor sharp black metal, I don’t think I’ll b checking out the back catalog unless I see it used or cheap somewhere. […]

Some twenty years ago I was at a Motorhead show when Lemmy stopped the band in the middle of a song. They were playing “Overkill” and had just finished the lengthy opening instrumental part when Lemmy exclaims “that came out great, let’s do it again” so they started the song over and played it through […]

Back in 1998 I had no idea who Trelldom was, then Gaahl joined Gorgoroth, impressing me straight away with his dynamic range, so I looked up Til Et Annet… I assumed that Gaahl’s original band was put on ice because he joined Gorgoroth so I never followed developments over the years and was surprised when […]