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 […]

Vivè la France! After hosting the most controversial and Metal as fuck Olympics that saw countrymen Gojira performing next to a headless Marie Antoinette and a feast of mythological proportions; all in the opening ceremony. Mercyless are also from France, and although they play a significantly different style of Death Metal than Gojira, they bring […]

The debut album from Kings Never Die last year, All the Rats, was my favorite album for 2023. The hardcore and punk style fueled from this band, residing in parts NY, NJ, PA this 10 song 30, is still in constant rotation for me, still.  From the uplifting and in your face lyrics and vocals […]

Maul kicks some serious ass. I have no clue at this point how many times I have seen them, but it’s several. I am also going to see them soon in a few days. They’re an unrelenting force on record, as well as live. Seraphic Punishment, their debut, found a lot of love in metal […]

Back in 1986, I was just a fledgling Metalhead. I had cut my teeth on Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and KISS, but in 1986 three albums came out that changed my life: Reign in Blood, Master of Puppets and Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying? All of a sudden I wanted the fastest music I could […]

A Finnish supergroup of sorts (former and ex-members of …And Oceans, Black Beast, Rapture, Scorgrain), The Mist From the Mountains released a superb debut back in 2022, that made my year-end list with its excellent take on the classic, folky second wave black metal sound, culling heavily from the likes of Borknagar, the first Ulver […]

Long Running Florida death metal act, Massacre, seems to always have something going on.  Whether it’s the issues with the internet trolls or former members going on to form Inhuman Condition several years ago, rest assured, vocalist Kam Lee is sure to always comment.  I met him a few years back at MDF and he […]

Australia’s Abramelin comeback album in 2020, Never Enough Snuff,  was a really good death metal album, which I reviewed as well.  Refusing to rest on their laurels, this band was a free agent, and picked up by Hammerheart Records, and Sins of the Father is the band’s latest offering. An issue I had with the […]

Back in the early 2000s as I was still learning about Eastern European extreme metal I discovered a number of bands that may or may not have sketchy politics. Dub Buk, Nokturnal Mortum (their early days), Graveland and this Arkona from Poland. I was already familiar with the Russian folk band Arkona and wanted to […]

My bud Alex, the owner of Dolorem Records, has sent me a promo for one of his bands and this time it’s for Infern, a death metal band hailing from France.  The album cover is quite interesting with the Kaiju-sized crab.  When looking at this cover I had no idea WTF to expect.  Could this […]

The cover art on Obsidian Mantra‘s 3rd album, As We All Will, may not scream “DEATH METAL!!!!”, instead having more of an Opeth-ian progressive metal vibe. However fair reader, as the old saying goes, ‘never judge a book by its cover’. As We All Will is VERY much a death metal album. A death metal […]

I have reviewed my fair share of brutal death metal this year and overall the brutality of some of the releases such as: PeelingFlesh, Cephalotripsy, Werewolves, and Brodequin are top scores.  Also the old/new Extermination Dismemberment is creating havoc out there in the slam genre. Nothing really prepared me for a band I had never […]

“Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of. And unto this, Conan, destined to wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow. It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga. Let me tell you […]

France’s Esoctrilihum returns with their 11th full-length album Döth-Derniàlh.  Last year’s Astraal Constellations of the Majickal Zodiac was the longest album I have ever reviewed.  An album broken up into 3 discs, running over 2+ hours.  Esoctrilihum are one of the most fascinating one-man band acts out there, however, I know when I review, I […]

This is cleaner than I expected. Drier than I’d like, too. I’m talking about the production on Undeath’s new album More Insane. I was expecting something dirtier, but that’s a bad characteristic most of the time. Regardless, one of death metal’s hottest bands is back. This new slab of death is loaded with bangers. Take […]

It’s finally Fall. The best of the seasons in my humble opinion, especially here in the Southwest where temperatures have been in the triple fucking digits. Granted there have been albums that lowered my mental temperature, but none have done what Mork has done with Seventh album Syv. From the press release: Syv was performed, […]

Italy’s Dwarven-themed Power metal stalwarts, Wind Rose is back with album number 7, following up 2022’s excellent Warfront, which in my opinion was the best thing they have released. I’ve been a fan of the band since 2017s Stonehymn, where they really locked into the whole Dwarven metal persona, costumes, and themes.  Since then, they […]

I have reviewed Connecticut’s Vomit Forth’s prior releases and since their debut album, Seething Malevolence, on Century Media Records, the band started to gain a lot more momentum, with tours and such.  However, they have not crossed the threshold to reach the heights of labelmates Frozen Soul and Sanguisugabogg. However, that could all change with […]

There are 3 heavy hitters of the recent death metal resurgence I am reviewing (late). I don’t want to spoil it too much, but Ripped to Shreds is the best of them. The other two are not slouches, either. It’s a tight race, but Sanshi is better. The reason it’s better is RIFFS. Andrew Lee […]

I’ve been waiting for this one for a while. A while back one of the other esteemed staff here, Steve K, tagged me on a video for the song “Deconstruction” and I was hooked, purchasing/ downloading the band’s various songs and EPs. So, who is The Weeping Gate? Well, they hail from Little Rock, Arkansas. They […]

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 […]

I’m never sure what I’m going to get when I go into a Ghaal album, whether it’s his Wyrd project or God Seed or even Gorgoroth. I mean, he’s really known for Gorgoroth and his last album with them, Ad Majorem Sathanas Glorium remains one of my favorite releases, it was a bit experimental and […]

UK’s Phaëthon returns with their debut album, Wielder of the Steel, after releasing an impressive EP in 2020 Sacrifice Doth Call.  I had to look up on the net what the heck the band name means and it reads: “Phaethon also spelled Phaëthon, is the son of the Oceanid Clymene and the sun god Helios […]

Japan’s envy has been at it for 32 years now,  and have over 20 releases (albums, splits, EPs/etc) to their credit. Their last album, The Fallen Crimson made my year-end list in 2020 in part to some utterly gorgeous female vocals enhancing the already mesmerizing, soaring post-rock/metal. Now, four years later, we get Eunoia (a […]

One day I’ll visit Finland. This crazy arctic land produces some of the finest Black and Death Metal that the Metal community feeds on daily. Impaled Nazarene, Behexen, Sargeist, and Satanic Warmaster are four of my favorite bands from there, but my top favorite is undoubtedly Horna; this strange, evolving demon that has existed since […]