Here is one of those rare, blind promo grabs that works out, works out really well, as a matter of fact, as Chicago newcomers Burned In Effigy has delivered an exceptionally competent and enjoyable debut album of neoclassically inspired melodic death metal. Starting as an instrumental duo citing The Black Dahlia Murder, Between the Buried […]

So this release came out in late 2021, but just recently showed up on the TOTD emails, but when it name-dropped the likes of Wintersun, Ensiferum, Wolfheart, and Stormlord, it sure as fuck got my attention, and I had to check it out. I’m very glad I did, as the name-dropping, while a bit heavy-handed, […]

When was the last time you smiled from ear to ear while listening to a metal album? I mean a full-on, ear-to-ear grin, that you ‘felt’ in your soul? For me in 2early 2022, it’s every time I listen to the self-released debut from the self-proclaimed ‘peasant metal’ band from Wisconsin, Pillaging Villagers, a DIY […]

Every so often a band comes around that makes me just childishly giddy. In the past its been Between the Buried and Me, Blind Guardian, Wilderun, and more recently in the symphonic/blackened deathcore explosion, bands like Sin Deliverance, Until We Die, and Lie to the Silence have added to bands I already enjoyed ( Lorna […]

San Francisco’s progressive metal band Hammers of Misfortune released their debut album The Bastard in 2001.  They would go on to release 5 more incredible albums, their last one the phenomenal Dead Revolution in 2016.  HOM is an eclectic band with influences ranging from Manilla Road, Fates Warning, Iron Maiden, Solstice (UK).  But they have […]

January of 2020, specifically January 14th, was quite the day for deathcore. You had releases from Worm Shepherd, Fit For An Autopsy, Enterprise Earth, and a new Ingested single, as well as album number four from Connecticut’s Shadow of Intent, one of symphonic deathcore’s top bands As with 2019s excellent Melancholy, which tackled mental health […]

My first 2022 release review is the self-released and self-titled album from Canada’s Maule.  This four-piece act plays straight up balls to the wall heavy metal.  9 songs just shy of the 40 minute mark.  “Evil Eye” opening up the album and Iron Maiden are a true inspiration for this band – think vintage Maiden, […]

Brian Eckermann is a prolific solo artist from San Antonio, Texas who has also served in other local obscure Texas bands like Scars of the Flesh, Winters Plague, and Wings of Abaddon.  Plague Bringers is his eighth solo album and a direct follow-up to 2018s Winters Plague (The Final Eclipse), telling the story of an […]

Denmark’s Crocell’s 5 previous albums have all been great. A nice mix of brutality intertwined with melodic death metal and some black metal influences as well.  Still operating as an unsigned act is a shame as this is a quality death metal act.  This is a rather interesting dual release. 2 ep’s, Baptized in Bullets/Funeral Bliss each […]

Canada’s one-man project Haiduk (a term for Balkan freedom fighters) came out of the gate like barnstormers back 2021 with Spellbook, a pretty blistering black/death/thrash combo that had a lot of energy and influences from Dew-Scented Hypocrisy and even Dissection. However, the follow-up, 2015s Demonicon, with an increasing mechanical/programmed tone (especially the drums), came across […]

If I had a 2020 “do over” for my top albums of the year, I can confidently say Witnesses’ Doom II would be on it. Not only on it, but easily in the top five. Not number 1, as I picked Unleash The Archers’ Abyss and will stand firmly by it as it’s a god […]

Chicago’s Black Sites make a welcome return with third LP Untrue, the follow-up to 2019’s impressive sophomore album, Exile. Since their inception in 2016, Black Sites have been on a steady upward trajectory, bringing their old school trad metal sound into the here and now, adding modern crunch and progressive elements into the mix. Now […]

A freshly minted project comprising members of Rimfrost, Sweden’s Son of Sam features dynamic duo Throllv (vocals, drums, guitars, keyboards) and Khratos (bass, guitars, backing vocals), joining forces to create a vastly different and uniquely separate entity from their main project. Although the album seems to have flown under the radar since its mid-year release, […]

Let’s start off by saying “female-fronted metal” is not a thing. Well, let me walk that back. It’s definitely a THING, it’s just not a genre. If you’re one of those who thinks it is, I pose to you; Do Jinjer, Arch Enemy, Brutus, Nightwish, Capra, Lady Beast, and Cripper all sound the same? I […]

Well I’ll be damned, as far as this Texas boy is concerned, Brooklyn, New York’s melodic death metal troupe, Winter Nights, just released about as perfect of an EP as you can get, I tell you what. Sky Burial is four tracks, eighteen minutes and fifty-one seconds, and some of the best melodic death metal […]

A little while back in the Teethofthedivine break room, we were talking about our favorite albums so far this year. Someone mentioned one album gave them a “holy shit” moment, and I realized I had yet to experience such a thing this young year. While I choked down my microwaved frozen gas station burrito on […]

Back in 2018 when I was back again with Internal Bleeding and we headed up to Canada, for part of the Bloodletting Tour, I met Phil Brousseau and Nickolas Lauzon and took a picture with these young gentlemen.  They really enjoyed our set and super cool dudes.  Fast Forward to 2020, a little bit right […]

Hannes Grossman is a busy dude. The talented drummer extraordinaire has had his fingers in many pies over the years, earning great respect and admiration with his work in bands including, Necrophagist, Obscura, Alkaloid, Blotted Science and Gomorrah amongst many others. Along the way Grossman has also established a solid solo career, showcasing his songwriting […]

If you’re at least a casual fan of my reviews or personally know me you’re aware of my wide range of genres of music I listen to.  I’ve been a fan of Long Island, NY’s Bile since their 1994 debut – Suck Pump.  Bile play industrial metal and if you’re a fan of Ministry, early […]

I’m not gonna lie. I grabbed this debut album promo as it said it was current and former members of Allegaeon,  Unflesh (who recently released one of my favorite albums of the year so far) and Seven Spires, and I was really hoping it was vocalist Adrienne Cowan. However, it was not, but still it […]

Remember the movie rule of 2? (i.e Armageddon vs Deep Impact) that so often applies in music? So I recently discovered two US symphonically laced, shreddy, tech death/deathcore/metalcore/melodic death metal /The Artisan Era core bands and the same time. First is Tempe, Arizona’s Dead World Reclamation, and their second album, Aura of Iniquity, and second, […]

This is neat. Stone Healer are about to unleash quite the progressive metal record on the world and I don’t know if I was quite ready for it. Listing as influences such bands as Alice in Chains and Ulcerate, this could have turned out to be a masterpiece or a complete mess. Conquistador is the […]

Generally speaking, when Black Metal introduced classically inspired symphonics (Emperor, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle fo Filth,  etc) to its frosty or satanic visages in the early 90ss, it was broad, epic, Wagnerian, tempestuous brush strokes that matched the more often than not, darker atmospheres with regal bombast. Some exceptions came about as symphonic black metal branched […]

If you’re into metal, you probably don’t expect to hear anything groundbreaking very often. Sometimes, bands try new things and fall flat. Sometimes it sounds like they just input strange instruments or passages just because they want, not because it serves the song. This happens often in the attempt to be “different.” On the other […]

So far in 2021, there’s been some excellent symphonic metal from power metal band Dragony, stalwarts Epica, the orchestral bombast of Abstrakt, the majestic Utbyrd, the epic  tales of Aussies Stormtide, the reformed Phlebotomized,  the avant garde chaos of Exanamis and aa few others as well. One such band is Belgium’s InHuman, who were formed […]