Scald is a name that appears in heavy metal lore. Specifically, the epic doom genre, or as their new album indicates, Ancient Doom Metal. I was taken aback when I saw that they were going to be releasing a new album, considering the first and only was in 1997. I heard Will of the Gods […]

I’ve been in a weird mood lately, things haven’t been catching my ear, which can be attested to the mountain of material that I could write about. But I got this promo the other day and I can’t stop listening to it, going on three days it’s been in rotation already. The ‘this’ that I’m […]

California’s Cephalotripsy dropped one of the most disgusting, brutal slam-filled filthy debut albums in death metal history with Uterovaginal Insertion of Extirpated Anomalies in 2007.  The album cover alone was the price of admission!!  Outside of his other bands, some years later, such as Abominable Putridity, this is the album that put vocalist Angel Ochoa […]

I always look forward when I get physical packages of CDs from FDA records to review. I can pretty much guarantee its going to be some form of killer old-school death metal and that I’m going to dig it. Well,  the new EP from Germany’s Evoked checks both the boxes. I rather enjoyed their debut […]

I am bewildered by most things in life, but now it’s mostly about not seeing any coverage of Trog’s debut album, Horrors Beyond. It’s not that difficult to bewilder me (looking at you, avocados), but with the musicians involved, it is striking I haven’t seen much chatter. Those musicians in question; TJ Coon of Reeking […]

I saw Amorphis on tour for this album in 1994 or 1995, not too sure, but I saw them at a shitty little club in southeast Albuquerque with Entombed and got to meet one of the guitarists (I’m really straining my long-term memory here.) It was, despite the location, an incredible show. When I think […]

UK’s Cloven Hoof has been around since 1979…yes you read that correctly.  Now while the band has broken up a few times, only to reform and release new material, the band has gone through many changes over the decades. For me, their 1984 s/t debut will always be my favorite of theirs.  It was evil.  […]

Finland’s Assemble The Chariots has been on my radar for a few years now after I heard the single “Empress” back in 2021. They have a ton of singles and EPs  since 2009, all digitally released, but no full-length album- and as a result when they announced Unyielding Light, it became one of my most […]

It’s been a few weeks since my deep dive into Helloween’s back catalog and then the killer album from MadHatter showed up, and now I’m going deeper into the Power Metal void with Shadows of Steel and their searing fourth full-length Twilight II. This is a ass-kicker, fast when it needs to be and harmonious […]

Back in 2012, I reviewed The Abrogation from Alabama’s Chaos Invocation, a damn solid piece of ripping death metal. But then nothing for over 10 years. I was recently curious about the status of the band it turns out vocalist Chris White (also of Blood Stained Dusk) and guitarist/bassist Cam Pinkerton actually left the band […]

I’ve had a few moments where I look at the speakers and ask myself ‘what the fuck am I listening to?’ Of course I already know obviously but in terms of the sounds coming into my ears, it’s a process to process and then decide if I like it enough to stick around. Which brings […]

A few years ago I reviewed Embryonic Autopsy’s terrific debut album, Prophecies of the Conjoined, which was the new death metal act by now reformed Oppressor singer and friend Tim King.  Once again joining Tim on Origins of the Deformed is Scott Roberts on guitars and the band bringing in new members, Kenxi on bass […]

This summer, two pretty revered veteran, symphonic black metal acts will be releasing their ninth albums (both on June 28th no less!). Both released their debut albums in 1996 and both waited 6-7 years between their last albums and these new releases. One is Norway’s Limbonic Art, who released their debut The Moon In Scorpio […]

I am a Europhile, I’m not even going to lie. My ancestors came from there and I’ve always felt this connection to the continent; not in a stupid nationalist way but more in the spiritual realm of Slavic gods. Upon the Altar hails from Tarnów, Lesser Poland and has been honing its swords since 2020 […]

Wow. Here is some really creative, unique black/death metal from a Dutch band I know nothing about other than they have 1 prior album under their belt. The actual ‘Shiva Hypothesis’ is a theory concerning extinction-level events and meteors, but the band is a 4 piece with ties to various other Belgian death metal acts, […]

  The years between 1930 and 1947 are incredibly monumental years for a number of reasons. WWII was a pivotal time in world history, and the rise of fascism was the impetus for the United States to get involved (among other things.) Within Black Metal there lies a hole where politics turn blood red in […]

Pentagram (Chile) has literally been around for just shy of 40 years – can you wrap your head around that for a moment?  How about the fact that Eternal Life of Madness is only their second album, their debut finally dropping in 2013 – The Malefice, a monstrously amazing debut album, capturing all the essence […]

So A while ago, I was having a crazy day and gardening was the main task at hand, but it was made all the better because El Jefe had sent me this promo and I was pretty anxious because of the “Black Metal meets Hawkwind” description in the press blurb. The promo went straight to […]

Spain’s Wormed has been around for over 25 years – wow how time really flies into a space vortex!!!  The band takes their time with releasing albums and other than a 2019 stop-gap EP Metaportal, which I reviewed, Omegon has taken eight years to come out since the scorching Krighsu. Omegon is Wormed’s fourth album […]

Formerly known as Epitasis, Chicago’s Carrion Throne is listed as a Doom/Death band on Metal-Archives, but after hearing this debut EP, I’m more inclined to list them as a more Brutal/Slam Death metal band more in line with Devourment and Wormed. The 6 songs here (4 new songs and 2 demo songs from 2022) are […]

I haven’t written anything in over a month. It’s not just writing about metal, but it’s hard to enjoy any of my passions. Not to go too far into detail, but Kittie’s long-awaited new album Fire came out the day before I found out that my mother didn’t have much time left. Just a few […]

Sometimes I find myself needing a break from Death Metal, Black Metal, and those related sub-genres and I look for something heavy, but different. So the other day I went down a Helloween rabbit hole, Keeper of the Seven Keys 1&2, Walls of Jericho; those are two prime examples of precision German Power Metal, while […]

My bud Alex, the owner of Dolorem Records, has once again sent me a promo for one of his bands and this time it’s for Serement, a blackened death metal band hailing from Greece.  I had never heard of the word Serement and decided to look it up but had no luck, the net kept […]

Early in their career, the Norwegian duo Limbonic Art was close to being mentioned in the same circles as the likes of Emperor, Arcturus, Borknagar, and such. Their 1996 debut The Moon in Scorpio and 1997 follow up In Abhorrence Dementia, were heralded as near classics in the symphonic black metal genre. However, the band […]

What do you get when you cross mid-90s Black Metal ie: Dark Funeral, The Abyss, Necrophobic and Dissection with Helloween, and Metallica? The kind of vibe that Bloodcross is laying down on Gravebound. These unholy Finns are firing on all thrusters with this debut full-length. After releasing the Abysmal Blood Demo in 2021, they (presumably) […]