This spring, two US-based, keyboard-heavy, melodic death metal bands will be releasing their second albums respectively. One, Philadelphia’s Malphas with Portal (via M-Theory Audio), and this album from Seattle’s more old-school influenced Veriteras. And it’s not even close to who the winner is as The Dark Horizon is absolutely stunning.  Part of my enjoyment of […]

In Demonology, Malphas is a demonic grand president of hell and is second in command to Satan. He commands 40 legions of demons and he appears as a crow to any summoners. It’s also a melodic death metal band from Philadelphia that uses its demonic namesake as the basis for all its lyrics, songs, and […]

So here is a reunion I’m not sure anyone was really clamoring for. Fall of Serenity came up with fellow Germans Heaven Shall Burn, releasing their first material on a split with HSB in 1999. They released four albums between 2001-2007 that all delivered the same sort of metalcore/hardcore/melo death sound (although their debut was […]

On its surface, the third album from this German solo act doesn’t seem like a very “Prosthetic Records’ styled release. It’s a synth and choir-drenched slab of European melodic death/power metal in the vein of Ensiferum, Wintersun, Brymir, and such. But then I remember Prosthetic Records has released two albums from Foretoken. The gentleman at […]

Cariosus is a new young Chicago duo comprised of Alex Pfister on vocals/bass and Kevin Kryszak on guitars (I can’t find any drummer information, so maybe programmed? They sound fine if so). The duo plays a form of modern metal that pulls from metalcore, melodic death metal, deathcore and such that leans into bands like […]

I’ll be honest with you, dear reader – usually when an established artist strikes out on their own, regardless of how much I may respect and admire them or their prior work with their respective bands, I just cannot care less. I don’t think it’s going out on too big of a limb to say […]

Formerly known as ‘Gyze‘, and with four albums under that moniker from 2013-2019, this Japanese melodic death metal band has themed their music as ‘Samurai metal’, using copious Eastern instrumentation and influences (dragon flute, erhu, shamisen, etc) and visuals to bolster their energetic, shredding take on melodic death metal. And now armed with a new […]

Jesus Fucking Christ. Has it really been 20 years since Israel’s Nail Within released their self-titled debut? That was three jobs ago, I was a baby; only 27 years old, and my daughter was only 3. She’s now graduated college and had a job for almost 2 years….FUCK! I mean the absolutely killer tracks “Dirty […]

I’m new to Spanish veterans Æolian, but after hearing Echoes of the Future, they, like the recent KING I covered, are one of those bands where I instantly pre-order the album and then go back and purchase the entire back catalog. Fuck this is good. I mean from start to finish, every note and exquisitely […]

Shade Empire, if nothing else, is a band who has time and again shown a willingness to let their sound morph and mutate into new forms, almost with every single release. When they entered the chat back in 2004 with their debut Sinthetic, they brought with them a Melodeath attack akin to fellow fins’ Mors Principium […]

Remember Seattle’s Black Breath? They released 3 solid albums from 2010 to 2015 on Southern Lord. They were one of the earlier, really good US bands playing a Swedish death metal/hardcore hybrid that was a bit of a precursor to the Gatecreeper’s et al of this world. Well, while Black Breath is indefinitely ‘on hold’, […]

When I heard Japan’s Imperial Circus Dead Decadence‘s 殯――死へ耽る想いは戮辱すら喰らい、彼方の生を愛する為に命を讃える――。 last year, it ended up being my second favorite album of the year. It was the utterly bonkers love child of Sigh, Cradle of Filth, and an anime soundtrack, and I thought I’d never hear anything quite like it ever again. I was wrong. Enter Countrymates […]

Ever since I saw Exmortus with Amon Amarth I’ve been a fan. Their absolutely over the top performance was amazing, the guitars shredded like a fucking meat grinder and the energy of the band made for a memorable experience. Following that show, I picked up Slave to the Sword, Ride Forth and The Sound of […]

As the days and months and years keep piling up, it’s become more clear to me than ever that the idea of growing “mature with age” can mean two very different things: There’s the literal, more widely recognized notion where time and experience allows you to take stock of the things that actually matter in […]

Ohio’s Astralborne is back with the follow-up to 2021’s excellent debut, Eternity’s End. The debut was a very enjoyable slab of meaty American melodic death metal with nods to Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames ( there is a cover of “December Flower” from The Jester Race on this album), and the usual suspects, but […]

Logistically speaking, there’s only so many bands that can reach that legendary status of “true originators,” a band that for a period of time – maybe a few years, maybe generations – creates a sound that gets endlessly copied, replicated, ripped off, paid tribute to, call it whatever you want. Obviously, we’re talking the Black […]

I generally like to think myself a pretty positive kind of guy – or at least, I try not to add any more negativity to the world than what already exists (and I think we can all certainly agree, it’s already too much). To date, I can only recall one album review I’ve ever done […]

It’s amazing the perspective you gain in life when you find someone you truly want to spend your life with – that person you feel you were always meant to be with. For those of you who haven’t found that person yet, I apologize for throwing that in your face right out the gate here, […]

As human beings, there’s a certain amount of structure we all crave in our lives. Perhaps some more than others, sure, but even the most ardent agents of chaos amongst us still rely on the wick of that stick of dynamite lighting and leading to detonation. I can’t imagine The Joker would find it so […]

I know that a lot of you out there are ready for the oncoming warmer weather – and to be fair, there’s certain aspects of the summer that I do certainly look forward to. The fishing, the hiking, the outdoor cooking – you’ll get no argument from me that these are just some of the […]

Italy’s Graveworm has been around since the mid/late 90s, plying their form of gothic/ melodic black/death metal, and by all accounts have been a pretty respectable act over their career. They found themselves on Nuclear Blast Records with 200s Engraved in Black when the label was saturated with the likes of Agathodaimon, Godgory, Sculpture, Crematory […]

Dystertol is a veteran Austrian melodic death band with 2 albums under their belt since 2014, but as is often the case in this vast realm of metal, they are a new act to me. Classifying them is difficult, as while they are certainly a melodic death metal band in the vein of say newer […]

German Christian death metal band Sacrificium has been around since the 90s, released their debut album in 2002, and have released 2 albums since then, with 2013s Prey for Your Gods being their last offering. And I say this because up until Oblivion, I had no idea these guys even existed- even in the Christian […]

Portland’s newcomers Idolatrous are here to answer the age-old question… what would it sound like if Amon Amarth were from Oregon and used epic keyboards/synths in their chunky form of Viking-based melo-death? Well, it sounds fucking amazing, and certainly, if you are a bit tired of Amon Amarth‘s tried and tested, safer last couple of […]

I haven’t listened to anything from Rogga Johannson (Wombbath, Revolting, Catacomb, Reek, Massacre, Paganizer, Ribspreader,  etc), in a while, so I thought id check the latest releases from his Furnace project (along with Catacomb bassist Peter Svensson), as its one I had not heard before. Big mistake….. as it was like a recovering drug addict […]