If you consider yourself an Emperor fan, there are 2 releases this spring/summer of 2022, that you need to be aware of. If you are a fan of the more technical,  latter, Prometheus, IX Equilibrium era stuff, then the upcoming release from Sweden’s, Katharos, Of Lineages Long Forgotten, will be right up your alley. However, […]

Oh fuck yeah. This is fun. Long before Glenn Danzig became the ill-advisedly shirtless butt of countless metal memes and jokes, the man was responsible for at least 3 excellent albums of darkened blues-meets-rock/metal before things started getting a little… wonky. It’s easy to poke fun at the guy now, but Danzig I-III are goddamn […]

Göden is the spiritual successor to Long Island NY’s death/doom band Winter.  Never did I envision this possible and Winter’s 1990 debut and only album Into Darkness is my favorite death/doom album of all time.  I have seen them live prior to their debut and after their debut was released in NY.  So damn heavy […]

The thrash genre largely misfired in 2018 but for nostalgists and enthusiasts alike, 2019 has been far more fruitful in delivering solid thrash goods. Boasting a hard-hitting style and no-frills old school attitude, Ohio’s War Curse offer a familiar blast from the past with just enough modern sensibilities and crunch to avoid being another cog […]

The Three headed Finnish Death Doom Monster have returned with their second full-length record Verenvalaja. Verenvalaja translates into Blood Caster – the twisted one derailing the flow of life to stream towards his own creation. For those not familiar with Vainaja’s 2014 debut Kadotetut,  Vainaja play a style of concept death doom that is rooted […]

You never know what you’re going to get from Finland’s Svart Records. I suppose you could say that their staple genre is doom, but within that it could either be the stoner/doom of bands like Domovoyd, Acid King, and Pombagira, the death/doom of Vainaja, Kuolemanlaakso, and Heavydeath, Essenz’s patented black/doom, or the more progressive/psychedelic approach […]

It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since the Busse Woods stranglers, Acid King have released any new music.  They put out their fuzzed-out, blown amp masterpiece III on Smallstone and there hasn’t been a recording since…until now!  Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere is their first album in a decade.  My fanship […]

I don’t think many of us will dispute the fact that the Fins know their metal.  They’ve given us headbangers a lot to enjoy and admire over the years, and the pattern has continued long beyond the storied bands of old.  Named after a King Crimson song, and often billed straight to the chin as […]

Despite Ulvaja being the band’s debut EP, the story of Rippikoulu goes all the way back to 1990, when they started out playing punk. Within just a couple years’ time, they somehow morphed into one of Finland’s darkest and heaviest death metal bands of all time. If you’re familiar with Finnish death metal, you know […]

Convulse return from the grave with their long over due 3rd album, Evil Prevails.  I had never heard the band before until recently until a friend recommended I get up off my rear and get the reissue of their 1991 debut, World Without God and I love the album.  I heard their second album, Reflections […]

Finland’s Demilich are considered a legendary band, yet only released 1 album, the 1993, Nespithe.  How can this be??  Well if you have lived under a rock your entire existence and never heard this album, you need to be dealt with.  This is a classic album in the sense that after its release it is […]

Kuolemanlaakso, a hell of a mouthful if you’re not Finnish, means Valley of Death. Tulijoutsen, their second full-length and third release, is a wholehearted, enjoyable slab of the slower side of extreme metal. Opener “Aarnivalkea” puts all of Kuolemanlaakso’s proverbial cards on the table – what is featured in this song is a fair summary […]

Death By Burning, the debut from Hamburg-based German/Turkish duo Mantar, is an arresting album of raw power, electric energy and ironclad riffage. Hanno (vocals/guitar) and Erinc (drums/backing vocals) showcase the intuitive chemistry and songwriting gift of any great duo, delivering colossal sludge rock grooves reminiscent of classic Melvins, coupled with the blackened attitude of later-era […]

Throw some more incense on the fire, here comes another flaxen-haired acolyte come to join the coven of female-fronted, psychedelic and devil-worshipping hard rock. Last one of these I covered was Finland’s Jess and the Ancient Ones; here are their labelmates/countrymates in Seremonia. This variety of 70s proto-doom is shaggy like a forest nymph in […]

Jess and the Ancient Ones are: a) an improvisational theater group at an old folks’ home b) a rival band on ‘Josie and the Pussycats’ c) the latest entry to the female-fronted occult/psychedelic hard rock revival B would be cool, but yep, it’s c. And that’s a good thing, ‘cause it’s been one of the […]

First we were treated to the awesome Mantas compilation, and now this. Long out of print and virtually forgotten about the world over, Svart Records is kind enough to deliver the lost demo collection of Abhorrence, one of the pioneer death metal bands of Finland. Comprised of guys who eventually left to play in Amorphis […]