Right out the gate, I expected to be floored by this new release of Omium Gatherum‘s, and I’ll suppose the hype was at *least* partly right on the money. I can’t say I absorbed everything on the whole ordeal without cringing a single time, or that I drank it up like it’s the finest lager […]

The obvious way to kick start this beast of a review is blatant as all heck, but since I won’t go outta my way to repeat the info all across the board, and I intend on treating the analysis the same way I always do with any kind of a band, be it a super […]

From the minute I first heard Germany’s Chapel of Disease, I immediately thought they’re not only a great fit for FDA Rekotz (that label has a ton of affection for Death-tinged, 90s inspired death-thrash) but also that without attempting to shoot for the hilltop or reinvent the wheel and all of its components, they truly […]

Having some Hirax and Metal Church blood in their ranks at one point or another, and hailing from L.A. in quite the audible fashion, I gotta say Heretic gets quite the hype sauce a’boilin’ as they’re rushing back into the scene after almost a quarter of a century with this record. Still, I find it […]

I’m admittedly one of those criminals that only first got around to discovering Forgotten Tomb‘s work with their fifth (previous) release, Under Saturn Retrograde.  That being said, I immediately dug the way this project’s mastermind came up with a brand of black metal that simply isn’t solely comprised of the elements shaping up this genre […]

The best possible analogy I came across as a main descriptor for Pathology is the ”press play; get your ass handed to you for 30 minutes” type of endearing imagery. I wouldn’t go to an album from these guys with any other real expectation in mind; they satisfy this craving for uncompromising violence without a […]

The guys in BTBAM are absolutely adamant about one ultimate goal with this very singular monkey of a release; doing whatever the heck they damned well please with absolutely each and every opportunity opening they get throughout the 70+ minute-span. They also happen to seriously succeed in the art of having the music truly express […]

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 […]

For those that are unfamiliar with The Forsaken – the first and foremost thing you have to know, before throwing this one on, is that they’re very traditionally Swedish in sound. They’re the melodic death metal band rather than the technical and grindy godzilla. That being said, they sure as hell know how to jampack […]

If my memory doesn’t fail me, I was a pretty damned vocal fan of King of Asgard‘s even before they signed on to Metal Blade. They made an extremely impactful entrance in the industry with their first record, and were quick to establish themselves as one of the modern driving forces of the Viking metal […]

I gotta hand it to Relapse – Results is one hell of a cut-throat release in terms of deathgrind songwriting. It’s experimental, without departing from the outlines of what defines this genre as the game-changer of extreme metal throughout the ages; still, it dares go into whatever direction it damned well sees fit, and I’ve […]

”Scooping the Cranial Insides’‘ is the type of release that has me wondering how I could possibly miss out on Grog‘s existence up until now. Originally released last year and surfacing on Murder Records in vinyl format this summer of ‘012, it sure as all heck goes to support the statement that grind is in […]

An album title like ”Vulgar Darkness” doesn’t BS about how it’s gonna sound. And for damned sure, those seven cuts on Morbid Execution‘s first, brief full-length literally spike up my morning coffee with a certain pinch of whiskey. Those Polish dudes evidently primarily hail from a punk background, and strong Motorhead worship. Throw in a […]

Right after blasting District Destruction, I have this prompting, and deliciously fucking overwhelming need to throw myself into a chaotic, earth-shaking, and universe-rippling moshpit of the bloodiest kind. Mortal Infinity are, quite simply, a new thrash force imposing itself on the very forefront of the game; much like the press releases say it, they’re playing […]

It goes without saying that The Cory Smoot Experiment is truly a fitting name for the material found on When Worlds Collide (for absolutely all the material on here is one daring science project in its own right). It was initially going to be a collaboration between Smoot and a good number of his mates […]

ACID DEATH’s reunion is, without a doubt, an event of considerable proportions in the Greek metal scene. Hailing from the depths of the 80s thrash scene, this band has known chaos and havoc throughout the years, fighting their asses off to get heard, and to live for their craft – they reunited in the 2000s with one venomous and vengeful packaging with ‘’Eidolon’’, an essential of a record that meshes elements of the thrash of yore with bullet-spitting and kickass grooves, coupled with progressive death metal of the finest kind. Diversity and dynamics certainly don’t lack, and Savvas Betinis (bassist/vocalist) sure as hell gets very animated when talking of the thought-process throughout the evolution of this disc, and the context of his band’s (and the scene’s) development in the Greek scene from the 1980’s right towards the present day. Not long after giving a strongly apeshit rating to ‘’Eidolon’’, I conducted an email interview with Savvas, who eagerly responded to my elaborate and very interested questions with top-class honesty and humble appreciativeness.

It’s not for nothing that Acid Death has been getting so many accolades in the Greek scene since day one. Their return, with this fifth release is one that is all about broad and boundary-less sonic landscapes, diverse and, for the most part, intricately-forged experimentations, abstract riffage delivery and absolutely meaty groove, in addition to […]

Pensylvannia’s Order of Nine come up with a particularly proficient record in their fifth offering Seventh Year of the Broken Mirror. It’s a tactical and reflective journey that speaks volumes about large-scale introspection and vivid, tenacious emotion, albeit don’t be mistaken; it ain’t no lyric-centered album that only uses music as a foundation to lay […]

Almost equal measures of technicality, melody, and intricate groovery can be found on this unclassifiable modern death metal offering that is Offending‘s Age of Perversion. Hearing them get name dropped in the same breath as the likes of Vile, Hate Eternal, and Immolation (especially in these Frenchies’ state-of-the-art knack for suspense and profound unpredictability characterizing […]

‘Elegy of Blood is one of them power metal records I have mixed feelings about. There’s no doubt at all about the fact that Marauder (what’s with the longevity of their career so far) have the right energy going. They also have the chops, and the attitude to cook up a mean sound that is […]

The US of A’s All Too Human come up with a particularly huge bite of mathematically precise prog rock on Juggernaut. These knowledgeable lads’ range of influences goes from Symphony X to Nevermore, and even to a more remote place with what I recognize as a hint of back-catalog melodic Priest tendencies, topped by a […]

Dan Moore’s  (sHeavy) new band Wizards of Kaos is one particularly astonishing phenomena that came ’round the bend at the end of ’09. It’s hard to conceive an album like this new self-titled of theirs isn’t some kind of trippy direct export from the 70s; I’m hearing major influence from Sabbath, Led Zeppelin (especially in […]

The round-up of dudes busting their chops behind Barnes this time around certainly is bringing the Six Feet Under sound into one much needed metamorphosis on Undead, making it one impressively varied and positively lethiferous affair that took me aback. The addition of Rob Arnold (ex-Chimaira) to the band’s ranks has been breathing a considerable […]

Italy’s Natron sure aren’t getting exhausted. Grindermeister is one aggressive hellion that goes far beyond the run of the mill take on deathgrind; the urgency of the tempo variations and tight as fuck subtleties in these songs stoutly backs up the fact that this band has been refining their approach and observing the Death Metal […]

I have to admit I wasn’t at all familiar with Gianluca Divirgilio’s works in Arctic Plateau before digging into this release, but I’m quite pleasantly surprised and satisfied with what I’m hearing. The Enemy Inside isn’t a metal album by any means. Once that fact is straight out of the woodwork and looking you in […]