Man, I’m still sweating and I’ve not done anything but sit on my ass and allow the deafening tones of Destruktor’s Nailed to wash over me…like a layer of soot. The Australian firebrands don’t care much about easing into anything; it’s about assuming the position – head down, fingers positioned on the frets, drum sticks […]

Give Chimaira some credit, will ya? They fought through criticism from purist metal fans for what some described as riding the nu metal edge on Pass Out of Existence – though Slayer had no problem taking them on tour – and still took flak for the blockbuster that followed, an aggressive and hooky album called […]

The original tech-death players have been coming out of the woodwork these past few years, haven’t they? We got an Atheist reunion that has gone over a storm and a new Cynic album that pissed off the diehard death metalers. Now Patrick Mameli has resurrected Pestilence all these years after the release of the critically […]

Who among you doesn’t now realize that Slough Feg is one of the best bands on the planet? They do in fact rule; always have and always will. Through all the discussions of a sound that is slightly askew in a cult NWOBHM kind of way with a Celtic folk thread that always simmers just […]

Seventh Rule Recordings chief Scott Flaster has been churning out a slew of noisy, dissonant, and/or angular shots across the musical bow for some time now. Indian, Akimbo, and Lord Mantis all fall into that category in one form or another. As such, it would seem logical that his own band, Millions, would combine all […]

Interestingly enough, the same week this interview was conducted with Ben “Boss” Hogg the vocalist was also officially welcomed as one of two new writers for Teeth of the Divine. I always enjoyed reading Ben’s work in Metal Maniacs (R.I.P.), his preference for the gnarly ‘n nasty aspects of metal (not unlike mine) and I look forward to reading his contributions here.

Speaking of the gnarly and the nasty, in addition to his front man responsibility in Beaten Back to Pure (new album coming later this year), Hogg has been the vocalist of underground super group Birds of Prey for three albums strong now, including a brand new release called The Hellpreacher. A concept album about an inmate-turned-priest, Birds of Prey – also including guitarists Erik Larson (Alabama Thunderpussy) and Bo Leslie (The Last Van Zant), bassist Summer Welch (Baroness), and drummer Dave Witte (Municipal Waste, Discordance Axis) – continues with its southern ‘n sludgy brand of old school death metal and brings along with it an even better compositional approach. Read all about it right here, straight from the Boss’ mouth.

There is no dearth of bands aping the Stockholm death metal sound, is there? In fact, there almost seems to have been an upsurge the last couple of years, part of which is surely attributable to Daniel Ekeroth’s Swedish Death Metal book and the renewed notoriety it has brought to the sub-genre. That brings us to […]

Here’s the thing. You don’t just throw Ruins’ Cauldron in the player and casually listen while baking cookies in the kitchen, nor do you use it as background music for one of your mind-numbing knitting circles. It’s just not that kind of CD. Cauldrons must surround you, it must envelope you; you must ultimately allow […]

This is one of the more satisfying projects from the blackened end of the spectrum that I’ve heard in a while. Of course, “blackened” implies that there is more on offer than your prototypical black metal release. That is in fact the case with Conspiracy’s Concordat, just as it it is with its predecessor Reincarnated. […]

There is prolific and then there is what Fistula’s Corey Bing does. The man that has redefined the term. A veteran of the Northeastern Ohio sludge/doom battle zone, Bing has played in numerous heavy hitting acts – Accept Death, Sollubi, King Travolta, Ultralord, you name it. But Fistula has always been the area’s flagship act with a sound that is quintessential in its hatefulness and crushing weight, yet one that is also varied and always impeccably written and recorded. New album Burdened by your Existence owes as much to crust as it does Black Sabbath, driving listeners into the ground with crawling menace and ripping out throats with quick turns into speedier tempos, and everything in between.

Bing is a lifer in the truest definition of the term. Guys like Corey are the reason I continue to write about the world of metal, particularly the underground superheroes like Bing and the fertile community in which he resides. His work is created out of love, nothing more, nothing less, just like many of the scene veterans with which he has played. In the interview that follows, Corey and I discuss Fistula past and present, his former and current projects, record labels, and what this beloved thing call metal is supposed to be all about. As much as I hate to make self-important douche-bag claims, I’m inclined to call this Fistula interview a pretty damn definitive one. Soak it up and sweat it out.

I’ve discovered that there is a big difference between listening to Psyopus’ Odd Senses with a clear mind (yesterday) and in a hung over state (this morning). The latter is not recommended for those trying get their proverbial shit together after a night spent drowning in Crown Royal, vodka, and beer.In any case, I must […]

Pennsylvania’s Sathanas have been causing a ruckus in the underground since 1988’s Ripping Evil demo, but it is these last several years during which they’ve been on one hell of a roll. In 2005 they released the Entering the Diabolic Trinity album and followed it up with the scorching Crowned Infernal (both on Pulverised Records). […]

This is what I call a bullshit-free release, an attribute that always scores points in my big book ‘o reviewing. One might even call it an unmitigated mofo. The “it” to which I refer is Evil Army’s self-titled album, an offering that is pedal-to-the-floor vintage thrash metal without an ounce of pretension, studio gloss, or […]

Under the Gun is not you average hardcore album, at least by today’s standards. You will find no pictures of anorexic males with hair combed to the side, girly pants, or eyeliner, nor anything resembling a straightedge ideology. Hell, it’s not even traditional hardcore, although lunatic punk or hirsute hardcore might be fitting descriptions of […]

Word on the street is you’re the kind of person that has equal amounts of love for Hellhammer and Discharge. It is just something about the worlds of primitive hellish bludgeon and nihilistic d-beat aggression. So why not start a band called Dishammer that combines the finer points of both of those seminal bands? A nasty little act from Spain did just that and dubbed the ugly cuss Dishammer. An album called Vintage Addiction was then birthed in all its punk, metal, Satanic, and pornographic glory and released on CD and vinyl formats via lordly underground label Hells Headbangers. Vocalist/drummer Dopi took the time to educate us about all things Dishammer. It’s a philosophy and a way of life, kids! Get with the program now!

Are you stressed out? Is your job getting to you? Has your wife been on your case about getting your share of the chores done around the house? Are you tired of shampooing the carpet where your renegade cat has been urinating? Are you coping with a debilitating and financially devastating methamphetamine habit? If you’ve […]

One usually knows what to expect from a Unique Leader release, which is not a bad thing. It just means that the soup of the day is technically proficient death metal brutality. Most, however, would not expect the soup de jour to be made in Ankara, Turkey. But that only means that some folks on these shores have not been paying attention to what has been for some time now a fertile extreme metal scene. Enter Carnophage, one of the shining stars of the Turkish death metal movement. Deformed Future / Genetic Nightmare consists of eight smartly written compositions that are savagely delivered and technically competent, yet also surprisingly varied, often groovy, and individualistic. In other words, you can in fact tell when one track ends and another begins. Guitarist Berkan Basoglu checks in with The Teeth

You can talk about winning streaks in metal all you want, but how many acts have been on one as long and consistent as Napalm Death? Think about it. The game was raised way back on 2000’s Enemy of the Music Business and continued with 2002’s Order of The Leach, then raised again on an […]

Razorback Records keeps picking winners from the nose of death. Said pickings would include Condemned Cathedral from Texas’ (Cooper or Dallas, depending on your geographic orientation) Decrepitaph. The trio’s self-described “death metal the ancient way” is filled to the rim with dirt-caked and pummeling, yet fundamentally structured and tuneful, death metal that takes its cues from the doomy side of the genre (Incantation, Asphyx, etc). And yes, zombies are involved. Drummer/lyricist/composer Elektrokutioner spills his guts about Decrepitaph.

I was anxious to check out Bridges to Burn, the new 16 album and the first since 2003’s Zoloft Smile, which was not only a top 10 selection for me from that year, but also remains one of my all-time favorites. There is just something about the combination of harsh, riff-based groove, the easily remembered […]

I didn’t even try pronouncing Mictlantecuhtli – Aztec God of the Dead – and it’s a bitch to spell too. You may want to learn the pronunciation because if you dig Warriors of the Black Sun as much as I do you’ll not want to sound moronic when that name falls out of your mouth. […]

Death metal from Congo? Really? When I reviewed Devast’s Art of Extermination a while ago it stood as the only death metal act from the continent of Africa (Algeria to be exact) I’d come across at the time. Now comes Postulate of Mass Genocide by Infertile Surrogacy and the question becomes, “Is African brutal death […]

Billy and Jill – Razorback Records’ dynamic duo – continue to unearth gore-splattered death metal and thrash. And don’t even start with the goregrind thing, as the vast majority of Razorback acts have fallen into one or both of the aforementioned categories. Anyway, Dallas’s Decrepitaph are a fine addition to the roster and continue a […]

On this day (January 15, 2009), Saxon’s Biff Byford turned 58 and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal icon dismisses it as just another day. Yet it is another day in an illustrious 30-year career as front man for one of the most pure, consistent, and too often underappreciated (at least on these shores) heavy metal bands of all time. On this day, he can once again speak proudly of the release of an outstanding album, Into the Labyrinth, one that combines heavy metal thunder, sleazy electric blues, and triumphant hard rock. At the center of it all is a sound that is distinctly Saxon. There is no secret formula at work here. Members Byford, Doug Scarratt (guitar), Paul Quinn (guitar), Nibbs Carter (bass, keys), and Nigel Glockler (drums) stick to a fundamental songwriting approach on Into the Labyrinth, one comprised of great riffs, memorable choruses, and a rock solid rhythm section, as has been the case with pretty much every Saxon album. It matters not if the style is an epic one (e.g. “Battalions of Steel” and “Valley of the Kings”), an unapologetically heavy one (“Demon Sweeny Todd”), or a bluesy one (“Slow Lane Blues”). As Byford discusses below, it is about remembering your roots, yet always looking to the future, and never forgetting the basics.

What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger; words that seem most appropriate in the context of the demise of Belgium doom/sludge merchants Thee Plague of Gentlemen after the arrest of vocalist Steve Wackenier in 2006. In trying times like those, the best option was to disband Thee Plague of Gentlemen and forge ahead with a new venture that expanded upon the sound of its predecessor. Bassist Steven Van Cauwenbergh, drummer Frederik “Cozy” Cosemans and guitarist Frederic Caure wasted little time in forming Serpentcult and releasing the Trident Nor Fire EP on I Hate in 2007, this time with a female vocalist by the name of Michelle Nocone who worked wonders for a band looking to utilize a traditional vocalist and incorporate a more melodic approach to go with the crushing heaviness. It all came together on the band’s full-length debut, Weight of Light, on Rise Above Records. The approach is unequivocally low-end doom in those leaden riffs and ironclad rhythms, yet the tempos are varied and Nocone not only provides brilliant contrast, but also makes the already ably written tracks more fluid, colorful, and of course tuneful. Time may heal all wounds, but finding one’ s creative groove in the aftermath of tragedy closes them even quicker.