GOD DAMN. So, four albums in, most people familiar with the modern Metallic Hardcore scene probably need no introduction to the UK’s Employed to Serve. The explosive voice of Justine Jones along with her compatriot bruisers have made quite an impact in a world of heavy hitters the likes of Knocked Loose, Code Orange and […]

Sometimes as a reviewer here at Teeth of the Divine I will randomly click on something and just let it buck while I am working on something else.  That was the case for me with Shrapnel’s’ Palace of the Insane. Hailing from Norwich England this Shrapnel’s third full length and have been around since 2009.   […]

France’s chosen children of hard rockin’, Maryland doom tinged grooves return with their 5th full-length album, Banlieue Triste, which is their overall umpteenth release to date in a sprawling discography full of driving melody riffs, lamenting crooned vocals, a locked on rhythm section and generally damn good songwriting.  Hangman’s Chair have managed to survive a […]

Though considered a mere Children of Bodom clone early on their career, Finland’s Kalmah have gone on to have a decent discography that one could argue is more consistent than the band they were supposed to be ripping off. Through 7 albums, only 2008s For the Revolution stands as a slightly sub-par album (my opinion only mind […]

I loved everything Tuomas Saukkonen did with his Before the Dawn and Black Sun Aeon projects as well as Wolfheart, his latest endeavor. The band’s first two albums, Winterborn and Shadow World are near classics of Finnish melodic death metal that immediately put the band in the same conversation as as Insomnium and Amorphis, just without the lengthy discography. So here is album […]

Norway’s Blood Red Throne return with their eighth studio album. For those of you that are not familiar with this group was started by Dod (Satyricon) and Tchort (Emperor) and have been around since 1998 and they play a murderously American style of brutal old school death metal. Union of Flesh and Machine opens with “Revolution […]

Not content with dropping the reissue of debut, Winterborn on us earlier this year, former Before the Dawn and Black Sun Aeon founder Tuomas Saukkonen is already dropping his new project’s second album on us to fuck up 2015 year end lists everywhere. Whereas the template of the music is still heavily rooted in his past along […]

Wolfheart is the solo project of one Tuomas Saukkonen, who you might recognize as the brainchild behind such acts as Before the Dawn and Black Sun Aeon. Winterborn is the first project under this moniker after disbanding all his other projects, and though it was originally self released back in 2013, Spinefarm is now making this […]

Time To Die is Electric Wizard’s eighth proper full length in a little over two decades. Reading some of the press releases, interviews, and reviews for this album leading up to its release (and afterwards), I was anticipating an album that would be wholly abrasive and pissed off. I misunderstood because this album isn’t so […]

When it comes to progressive metal/rock I’m usually pretty careful with my selections. As much as I enjoy the stunning musicianship and fluid yet unpredictable arrangements, too often prog sacrifices actual songcraft by over indulging, or is simply too bombastic or cheesy for my tastes. Fortunately when the genre hits the spot it can also […]

The leaders of the entire Taiwanese metal scene, Chthonic has always been a band that has been both loved and criticized. On one hand, they’ve enjoyed an ever-growing fanbase for their style of symphonic black metal and sweeping atmospheres. On the other hand, they’ve always been labeled a cheap Cradle of Filth knockoff, one that […]

You are going to have a hard time believing this, but there was a time when I was actually questioning whether I should review the latest release from Finland’s epic folk metal stalwarts Ensiferum. You see, I actually seem to have soured a bit of folk metal in 2012, (I know, I know, its like […]

I’m gonna say this right out the gate – I’m typically no fan of softer areas of possibility in my metal; even when it fits into the particular painting I happen to stumble upon. That being said, when I approached this Swallow the Sun album, I had a feeling I wouldn’t be able to get […]

Medeia’s previous album, Cult, floored me with a blindside haymaker; the blend of melodic death metal and mainly Gothenburg-less metalcore really stuck out from the competition. The songwriting was tight, the riffs were tighter and the delivery was full of primal rage and enough technical finesse to make it all interesting. Three years later, the […]

I’ve been telling everyone who will listen about Kiuas since I first discovered them with 2005’s Spirit of Ukko. It was a convincing blend of power, thrash, folk and just a touch of death metal that was a highlight of my listening that year (looking at the recently posted flashback, I realize it should have […]

I’ve spent a lot of time with this record. New Moon is the definition of a “grower.” Swallow the Suns’ sound has progressed since their debut, yielding dynamics in writing that ultimately has lead them to this point in their career. This band is no longer a straight up death/doom outfit. The Swallow the Sun […]

And the award for ‘Biggest 180 of the Year’ goes to Finland’s Amoral, who I hadn’t heard of until receiving this in my review stack this month. I like to do my research though, and so I found that they used to be a pretty sick melodic/technical death act. Used to be. With the release […]

With 2007s Victory Songs, Ensiferum laid to rest any worries if Norther’s Petri Lindross could replace Jari Mäenpää who left to form Wintersun. From Afar not only cements Lindross as a competent replacement with serviceable blackened rasps and guitar playing, it also shows that new keyboardist (and female vocalist) Emmi Silvennoinen is a fantastic addition […]

Evangelical Christians are a productive lot – perhaps it’s something about building God’s kingdom on earth. Hack writer and huckster Tim LaHaye cranks out a kitschy Left Behind novel each year and ascends the bestseller list. It’s a different story for team Satan – perhaps it’s the time necessary to properly apply corpsepaint or elude […]

Bands like Kalmah are really true gems and they wear their hard work on their sleeves. Once labeled as a Children of Bodom clone, Kalmah have consistently matured and crafted their music into one of today’s most noticeable and dominating symphonic death metal sounds. Where Bodom and melodic death metal in general have failed, Kalmah […]

I’m probably the wrong person to be reviewing a prog album as for the most part the entire genre bores me. However I will try my best to explain where they lay in the progscape. My guess is that these guys would be right in the middle to be honest. They are accomplished musicians however […]

While I generally don’t care too much for female fronted, sugary Gothic metal, a couple of releases of late have broken from the ‘Naplam Records’ formula and piqued my interest; the debut from Jennie Tebler’s Out of Oblivion (Quorthon’s little sister) and this 2007 debut from the gorgeous French artist Eilera. With a voice as unique […]

Kiuas 2005 release, The Spirit of Ukko, was one of those records that I dream of finding in a stack of CDs by bands that I’ve never heard of before. A mix of power, death, thrash and folk metal, it was one of those rare albums that I can honestly say sounded like nothing else […]

With their sixth album, Children of Bodom have brought back some of the speed and classical influences that were missing from their last, Are You Dead Yet? The lack of those traits made it the most boring and uninspired sounding album thus far into their career, so to see them back to some degree is […]

Even though I don’t remember much about it now as it’s been so long since I’ve heard it, I recall Naildown’s debut album World Domination to be a relatively enjoyable and even somewhat original affair for melodeath – the same can’t be said about their follow up Dreamcrusher though. First off, the whole album is […]