Recently, I’ve been on a bit of a super heavy, metallic hardcore/beatdown,  ‘not quite deathcore/slam’ bender with bands like Orphan, True Temper, Misery Whip, Beyond the Styx, Glassbone, Unfazed, Braces, Grounds For Assault, Silverlake Murder, Hounds of War, Traitors, Nailwound, Pintglass, Mugshot, No Cure, etc. But when this came across my desk, I thought it […]

After covering 2020s Old Old Death back in 2020, I missed 2023s Fandens Skall, Tulus’s 4th effort since reforming in 2007, after the band’s successful  Khold offshoot. As I stated in my review of Old Old Death, Tulus and Khold are/were essentially interchangeable in terms of sound and style; simple, cold, riff driven Norweigian black […]

I rather enjoy Italy’s Dusktone Records; they have a solid offering of symphonic black/death metal bands/releases (The Gloomy Radiance of the Moon, Voland, Obscura Qalma, Svartghast), that I enjoy, as well as a very solid stable of reissues and compilations (Einherjer, Stormlord, Aborym, Spite Extreme Wing, etc). The latest of their offerings that has caught […]

Listen, I know I’m late on this one. I know it’s a pretty high-profile release from a revered band with a tragic backstory. But truth be told, I have not really heard much of this post-Windir act past 2006’s Pitch Black Brigade. In fact, I had no idea they were still active, let alone released an […]

LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR: Chicago Destroyers Return With First Album In Sixteen Years, I HAIL I, Set For May 1st Release; Title Track Streaming + Maryland Deathfest Set And Release Show Booked Stream LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR’s “I HAIL I” HERE.   Chicago’s savage trio LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR will deliver their monstrous fifth album – their first in […]

Serpent Icon is a brand spanking new melodic death metal project (they aren’t even on metal-archives yet), formed by Tobias Dahs (King’s Winter, ex Living Abyss), but he’s joined by some notable guys in the scene: vocalist Christian Müller (Night In Gales) and drummer Hartmut Stoof (Gloryful, Symbiontic). And this is one of those rare […]

Band name from the early Grave demo and 4th album title – check. Intro song named “Into the Grave”- check. Gothic font logo- check. So I’ll give you one guess what the debut release from Ataraxy’s Santi Racaj sounds like? Yeah, though hailing from sunny Spain, this is 100%  Grave worship, so HM2 buzzing death […]

If you were listening to black metal in the mid-90s to the early 2000s, you might be familiar with Germany’s Solistitium Records. They were pretty productive in that time, releasing records from bands like Isvind, Helheim, Darkwoods My Betrothed, Tsjuder, Horna, and even Behemoth’s earlier albums. They went on hiatus in 2006, but reactivated in […]

After 4 albums on FDA Records, Germany’s Autopsy Worshipping duo, Slaughterday (an Autopsy song title for the newbies), has jumped to Testimony Records for album number 5, but that’s the only thing that has changed. While 2022s Tyrants of Doom added a cleaner, clearer sound and some other old school death metal dynamics to the […]

I quite enjoyed 2021’s Land of Darkness from this Greek (now relocated to Scotland) solo artist (‘Soulreaper’), but for some reason I missed 2024’s Echoes of Primordial Gnosis. So I thought I’d better get to this, his fifth album, before he drops another one. Now, I did listen to Echoes of Primordial Gnosis to be able to […]

The last time we covered Poland’s Banisher was 2016’s Oniric Delusions, and it wasn’t me covering it. But considering I like Polish technical death metal, really, really liked Dormant Ordeal‘s Tooth and Nail from last year, AND saw the band has members that are or have been in/helped out the likes of some Polish heavy hitters […]

After 2024s Hunger album, one of the best in the blackened deathcore genre of that year, there was a considerable shake-up in the Worm Shepherd camp, who were already functioning in a reduced capacity as a duo and some guests. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but original vocalist Duane Duarte was let go […]

I can’t say I’m too versed in the Austrian Sludge/Doom scene, but the internet tells me that Axis Mundi is the third album from this Austrian trio, who are not in any other projects. Either way, I’m kinda digging this. Occasionally, I need a break from deathcore and symphonic black metal, and a couple of […]

Some bands are subtle in their chosen influences; some wear their influences on their sleeves. Australian trio Graves For Gods, have their influences carved into their fucking chest and mope around topless for the whole world to see. Their influence? The Peaville doom trinity: My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, and Anathema– of course, classic/versions of […]

Though they have been pretty heavy on the deathcore of late (Lorna Shore, Mental Cruelty, Signs of the Swarm, Distant, Ov Sulphur, Vomit Forth, etc.), Century Media still has actually also done a pretty good job of finding some excellent death metal on their roster, too. There is, of course, Sanguisugabogg, but also  Blood Incantation, Frozen […]

I’m not familiar with Hungary’s Symphonic/Epic/Gothic Melodic death metal troupe Meteora, but I’m always up for some symphonic stuff, and I do have a soft spot for the classic ‘beauty and the beast’ dual female vocal styled stuff (Nightwish, Epica, Leaves Eyes, Tristania, Love History, Thalarion, Draconian, etc). With 4 albums under their belt, you’d […]

So, like Sigh’s I Saw the World End-Hangman’s Hymn MMXXV, here is another favorite album of mine from the 2000’s, this time it’s Rotting Christ‘s Aealo from 2010, getting a whole new recording and release. I never covered the original here, as I covered it for a different webzine at the time, but it made […]

Game of Thrones fans will recognize the moniker of this new-ish New York based black metal band that features members of bands like Hollow Voice and Nascentum (neither of which I’m familiar with). And you have to respect the fact that they are leaning into the Game of Thrones thing on their new EP. 6 […]

I have had the promo for the debut album from this California-based symphonic black metal act for a few months now, and it continues the strong 2025 that the genre had, with a fine early entry in 2026. Formed by members of some acts I have not heard of like Mortal Filth, Wartroll amd Horrorborn, […]

Well, that didn’t take long for 2026 to drop an early contender for an album that will be on my 2026 year-end list! Upiór (a Polish word meaning ‘Revenant’) is a newish project formed by Tomasz “Josh” Jaskuła, based out of France, and he has some fairly notable folks helping out, including Ben B on […]

Much like that weird week between Christmas and New Year’s where time doesn’t exist, there’s a similar fugue in the new year when it comes to reviewing albums at the end of the year/start of the year. We have plenty of 2026 releases to cover, but the tail end of 2025 still saw plenty of […]

After dropping not one, but two albums in 2024, including Graveworms, Cadavers, Coffins and Bones, Sweden’s Carnal Savagery elevated their status in the Swedish death metal ranks from being merely productive and OK, to a solid second-tier act. Especially as the increased Autopsy stench was far more prevalent on the last few efforts amid the […]

You are familiar with the expectations vs. reality memes, right? Here’s one for you: Expectations: Promos sheet that teased brutal death metal like Suffocation and Immolation, with added cinematic atmospheres, keyboards, and tales of brutal torture and serial killers, or specifically ‘a blood-soaked manifesto of riffs, madness, and horror, dragging the listener into a world […]

It’s been 10 years since I last heard the Chicago Black metal act Withering Soul. It was 2015’s Adverse Portrait, where the band delivered a far more aggressive and improved take on symphonic black metal, and dropped some of the more gothic/November’s Doom influences from the 2011 debut, No Closure. Now, I have not heard […]

There was some fine symphonic/melodic black metal towards the end of 2025 (Argesk, Mystic Circle, Maahes, Achathras, Rotting Demise, Gjallarhorn’s Wrath, etc), and as 2026 starts, there is still a trickle of excellent releases in the style that need your attention from 2025, like WitcherR‘s Öröklét or this effort from Haimad. A few years ago, […]