It would be easy to dismiss Thrawsunblat as a Woods of Ypres side project, but that would be a disservice to the folks involved, even if the spirit of Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold ( who tragically died in 2011) lingers austerely in the eves of Thrawsunblat‘s misty, cascadian hues.  The band consists of […]

Back in 2010, the self-released debut from Australia’s Norse took me completely by surprise and ended up being on my year end list. It was a blistering, feverishly good example of black/death metal that was befitting the album name. Well the follow up was released late last year, but it only found its way into […]

As I have said a few times before, If you are going to send a self released 4 song EP for review (we get a lot of demos), you’d better be really good and stand out to get some coverage, and luckily for Virginia’s With Burning Contempt, their debut 4 song demo made it into […]

It would be easy to lump Sanctium in with Be’lakor; they are Australian, play a form of progressive melancholic  Opeth and Insomnium styled melodic death metal and they really good at it. However, this band actually has ties to some other Aussie bands, like Switchblade, Bane of Isildur and most notably, impressive  doomsters Myraeth, who […]

So as we start to get a little further into 2013, a lot of reviews are going to be late entries from 2012, and I’m trying to limit them to ones worth your while or ones that grabbed my ear. And I was surprised to find that one such release is the self released debut […]

Kansas City’s Torn the Fuck Apart (hitherto known as TTFA) don’t like religion, particularly Christianity and all things Christ related. One look at the cover art, the album title and song titles like “Bashed in Prophets”, “Decapitated Disciples”, “Father of Filth” as well as the numerous samples from movies and TV (Louis CK, George Carlin […]

This is a tidy little package from a young band out of Belgium.  On their short and punchy debut EP Alpha Matter executes an aggressive hybrid of modern metal featuring elements of death metal, melodeath, thrash and metalcore; all of which is refreshingly released for free via their website. Self-released EP’s from unknown bands don’t […]

Warning: this review breaks the record for Opeth references. Initially, the first few minutes of this unannounced release hinted at some sorted of pretentious, Proggy, SPV/Sensory type release, with wafting clean vocals and sharp, stuttering progressive riffage. However, about three minutes into opener “Glimpse of What May Be”  guitarist Daniel Cordoba unleashed a Akerfeldt-ian bellow, […]

Portugal’s A Tree of Signs offer yet another entry into the increasingly crowded style of 70’s-inspired, occult doom rock.  Drawing influences from Jex Thoth, Blood Ceremony, Witch Mountain and of course Black Sabbath, A Tree of Signs offer just enough of their own quirks to avoid sounding like a blatant rip-off of their influences.  The […]

Those of you who enjoyed releases from Canada’s Cephalectomy including their sophomore effort Eclipsing the Dawn and their final release- the free download- An  Epitaph for Tranquility take note. Barra Xul is basically the same band and sound by two of Cephalectomy‘s main guys, founder/guitarist/vocalist  Cory Andrews (also of Select and Dismember) and bassist Scott […]

As is the norm around this time of year, myself and others in the field are still filtering through the slew of late 2012 releases and as is often the case, unearthing late year gems that simply could not get reviewed in time for the end of 2012. And such is the case with the […]

Wow. This is REALLY good. A self released EP from  Wisconsin based symphonic black metal band, usually would not set my expectations very high, but on their debut effort Warseid has blown me away with this downright epic 4 song EP. Though only 4 songs, the release is still 30 minutes long with songs ranging […]

Despite my general disdain for instrumental music, 2009s Immeasurable , the debut by this  Wisconsin instrumental act , really caught my ear. Featuring a former metal journalist and member of post rockers Northless and death metal act Ara, Jerry Hauppa and cello player James Becker, the follow up, V is a 5 song concept piece  […]

It’s been a while since I heard some good skronky discordant, math metal, maybe going back to Brazen Bull‘s early 2012 release, The Traveling Parasite, which I’m still trying to get my head around for review. Well, here is French noise mongers Dacast, and their 2 track 35 minute assault on the ears, Dédale. Early […]

Haiduk is the Canadian, one man project of one Luca Milojica. And while the trend for most one man metal is of the blackened or depressive kind with a few exceptions, Haiduk (apparently a term for Balkan freedom fighters)  is actually rather good thrash/death metal  and you wouldn’t really know it was a one man […]

If you are sending Teeth of the Divine (that’s us) self-released demos and/or other releases, a couple of things will get you noticed and probably reviewed. First, it helps if you are good. A recent example of this being the six track demo from Poland’s Hyperial. Or, number two, you have some sort of intriguing […]

Sick Human Essence, a four-song EP from Italy’s Blessed Dead, is the perfect introductory sample of what the band is about. Mixing elements of Symphonies of Sickness-era Carcass, Symbolic-era Death, some riffs found on Cradle of Filth’s Dusk and Her Embrace, modern day Cannibal Corpse, and various other influences isn’t exactly an easy accomplishment. Blessed […]

Considering the amount of stuff we get sent to review, you’d better be pretty good to be an independent Polish industrial/cyber death metal band and your 6 song demo EP gets my attention enough to warrant a review. It’s also lucky that I haven’t heard any really good rushing cyber death metal in a long […]

With a name like The Fat Dukes of Fuck, I figured on name alone this would be awful.  But after spinning it a few times, I have to say this is album grows on you like whatever it is you picked up from that girl you banged the other night when you couldn’t see straight. […]

Getting their start over the past decade with a demo and EP, The Netherlands’ Malicious Dream has been picking up the pace more recently. After meeting some positive reception for their live performances, their debut has apparently been awaited with some anticipation by those with the fortune to have heard the band before this. Complete […]

Shoot ‘em Up, the self-released album from Canadian death-thrashers Mortör is one of those efforts that you hear every once in a while that makes you think it could have easily been released on a metal label of some repute. It’s catchy, it’s grooving, and it’s just plain tough. With nary an ounce of fat […]

Recommended to me by a fellow teethofthedivine forum member, Mare Cognitum‘s second release, was released back in June as a mere ‘pay what you want’ bandcamp digital download. But now, An Extraconscious Lucidity is now available as a limited CD from the band’s sole member and brain child Jacob Buczarski. But whatever format you decide […]

After a demo and a few EPs, New York City-based grim black metallers Imperial Triumphant have finally released their debut full-length album. Sporting a rather primitive, crude sound to coincide with their blend of (mostly) American and (some) Scandinavian black metal, Abominamentvm is a raging slab of manic, war-torn blasphemy. In essence, Abominamentvmis a relenting […]

Aussie Doomsters Myraeth were formerly known as Mona’s Lament but have released one EP and this, their debut under their new moniker and its very good stuff.  Although adding to their country’s fine doom stock with the likes of Mournful Congregation, Futility, Paramecium, Inverloch, Clagg  and such, Myraeth is far more rooted on the Scandinavian, […]

If you’re a progressive metal nerd like myself, chances are you’ve heard of Scott Mosher. On top of having a great character and sense of humour, he has four solo albums under his name. If you have heard him before, you’ll probably agree that he’s one of the best guitarists in the world of melodic […]