Comprised of the band’s 2005 EP of the same name and 2002’s What Completely is Not EP, both re-mastered for this re-release, the ‘debut’ album from LA’s Exhausted Prayer is a adventurous foray into genre mixing resulting in a solid, if over ambitious affair that shows tons of promise. With a big dash of Opeth, […]

Moribund has been in a bit of a slump recently, having to dig up various obscure one man USBM metal projects and re-issue or release some pretty mediocre stuff, so when the oddly titled , Lovecraftian named Brown Jenkins came in my mail box I was a little leery. The brain child of now sole […]

Here’s a pleasant little surprise from Portugal’s long running Simbiose; classic Discharge, Doom, Extreme Noise Terror, Driller Killer, Terrorizer and Righteous Pigs styled grindcore/crust with no frills, no pig vocals, no squawking chaos, no breakdowns, just earthy, punky power chords, grooves and a hint of catchiness. Granted, this is far from earth shattering, but it […]

So after a string of utterly brilliant releases, Profound Lore seems to be on a bit of mini ‘whiff’ streak with Caina and this release, the new incarnation of former Thralldom/Unearthly Trance brainchild Killusion (Ryan Lipynsky). Less ambient and cosmic than Thralldom, The Howling Wind is a dirtier, thrashier, grimier set of songs, though a […]

Hailing from Hungary, Aetherius Obscuritas is a prolific (4 albums since 2004) one man black metal project that does a little more than the usual Burzum worshipping woe is me, moping in self despair act. Coming across as more like a full band (with the aid of a session drummer), main man Arkhorrl renders a […]

While I initially wanted to lump this in with the plethora of grating, squealing, pseudo grind kids, after a few more, less jaded listens to the debut, there appears to be a much less superficial and have a more convincing, classic grind/crust/punk and hardcore undercurrent rather than the snivelling wannabes of the current musical climate. […]

Continually reminding us that the band was once comprised of 2 original Vital Remains members on the Let Us Pray album, Godless Rising are back with their full length debut after their decent but rather non descript old school death metal EP. What we have here is some classic old school death metal from the […]

And so another bunch of kids has decided to add a Southern Rock element to their hardcore base, and the end result while not terrible sounds like a virtual clone of the genres current kings, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. Though far from a bad release, and will have some appeal to those that […]

As with their unassuming debut, Paths of Possession simply shows that a big name guest vocalist, big time producer, high profile label (which also happens to be the label of the guest vocalist’s other much higher profile band) and concept based album do not a great record make. Started initially as a project of Richard […]

Listen, as much as I try to wrap my head around sheer ambient, noise acts like Japanese Comedy Torture Hour, Zweizz, Einsturzende Neubauten, Diagnose: Lebensgefahr, Merzbow, Namanx, (James Plotkin produces this release for you fans out there) and such, I simply can’t do it. Though this French trio utilizes traditional instruments (guitar, drum, bass), mistakenly […]

Continuing their brand of heavily (and I mean heavily) Immolation and Incantation inspired form of consistent, muddy, torrid yet forgetful death metal, Seattle’s Drawn and Quartered are back with album number 5, and while it’s certainly not a bad album, it’s not really an album we need this year. Admittedly, Drawn and Quartered make no […]

There was a time when a new Agnostic Front album, especially one graced with a King Leonidas tattoo ripping out from a hardcore dude’s back would have really excited me, and even their Nuclear Blast ‘comeback’ debut Another Voice, with its modern gloss was a inspiring modernization from one of hardcore’s true legends. However, 10 […]

So let’s say you like heavy metal/black/thrash/melodic death metal stylings of 3 Inches of Blood but the vocals of Jamie Hooper and Cam Pipes are just a little too much or maybe Destroy Destroy Destroy show a little too much ass as for you liking, then maybe Ohio’s Skeletonwitch will fit the bill. Basically plying […]

Eschewing the expected ‘Louisiana’ metal sound, Baton Rouge’s long running Black/death metal act Catholicon deliver only their third full length album in their long but rather obscure career, and despite it’s unusual approach, it’s destined to be as unrecognized as their previous offerings. On the surface, Catholicon’s mix of muddy, murky Satanic death metal and […]

Despite really not being a pure black metal act any more, Anaal Nathrakh’s hideous transformation into a more refined but still seething black/death/grind outfit still sees the band delivering some of the most vitriolic and intense yet intelligent extremity around. Where Eschaton had the clean tones of Domine Non Es Dignus, it still reverted to […]

This is my first exposure to Norway’s Pantheon I, the new-ish project of former 1349 guitarist Tjalve (André Kvebek) but I must say I enjoyed the bands mix of traditional and experimental black elements into one, above average, polished and slightly forward thinking slab of blackened extremity. With longer than usual songs and extended segments […]

So what if a band from Denmark mixed the happy go drinking folkish pep of Korpiklaani and the earthy, battle weary death metal heft of Amon Amarth or the first Amorphis album? You’d get Svartsot and their simple but thoroughly enjoyable debut album. With a mix of simple, mid paced chunky death metal, deep cavernous […]

So apparently this lot won the 2005 French Rock Hard Magazine contest and as a result got a record deal with Mascot Records. I wonder who the other bands were as this is a pretty mediocre release of solid but uninspiring, progressive, melodic death metal with a hint of thrash. The sort of Death meets […]

Arguably the poster child for the current trend of squawking, screeching chaotic pseudo grind, Louisiana’s The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, despite their silly name, song titles, skits and irreverent humor are actually musically more in line with the likes of early Ion Dissonance as well as labelmates From A Second Story Window, Architect and Khann […]

North Carolina’s Jonin are an interesting prospect. They play a sort of haughty and complex Progressive Metal or AOR but with American Metal or metalcore undertones and they have a superb vocalist that sounds like a mix of Maynard from Tool and Tuomas Tuominen from Fall of the Leafe. On paper, it’s a very intriguing […]

I rather enjoyed this Christian metalcore band’s debut LP, Lay Waste the Poets, so I was looking forward to this follow up, but despite a solid attempt at some Life in Your Way/Misery Signals styled harmonics and shimmering guitar work, once again the curse of the clean vocals and commercial acceptability bring the album down […]

Last year, Indiana’s Demiricous burst on the scene with their debut, (One) Hellbound, a thrash homage in a sea of metalcore and rockstars, and while not my personal cup of thrash tea, I can appreciate the follow up, (Two) Poverty, for what it is: an ode to the Bay Area Thrash scene with a little […]

Quick history lesson for you young’uns out there: Before Shadows Fall had their breakout album, Of One Blood in 2000, they actually released their (far more death metal sounding, and still my favorite SF release) debut album Somber Eyes to the Sky in 1997. That album featured original vocalist Phil Labonte, who, as most of […]

So, in light of Earache recently re-releasing the hugely hyped yet stunningly average debut, Count Your Blessings, from this suddenly popular Yorkshire men, Earache have re-issued the debut EP (both originally released on 30 Days of Night and Visible Music respectively) that got the band signed to Earache in the first place. Yup, I smell […]

Though most may take a look at the band moniker, album title and label and pass this off as yet another Christian metalcore bands trying to clone As I Lay Dying, the fact is with former members of Between the Buried and Me and short lived rock act Terminal in their ranks, Oh, Sleeper are […]