So back in 1998, one of my many blind purchases back then was New Dark Age, by this Bradford, England classic doom act. Of course, at the time I was all about death metal and because of ‘England’ and ‘doom’ was fully expecting something akin to Paradise Lost, Anathema or My Dying Bride. Of course, […]
From the label that brought us arguably my favourite Stockholm Death metal album of the last few years (Evocation’s Tales From the Tomb)comes the debut from Sweden’s Demonical, and featuring basically most of the productive but now defunct Centinex line up (As well as current Grave drummer Ronnie Bergerståhl), there no secrets as to the […]
The sound Irish metallers Primordial have developed over the last few albums is actually a lot like Ireland (namely Eire); it’s sweeping, rugged, majestic and also barren and beautiful at the same time. There’s also a sense of sadness and loneliness built into the fiber of both band and land. Nowhere is this more prevalent […]
As their album titles have become less wordy, Ohio noisemongers Harlots have become increasingly more experimental in their discordance. Though still steeped in technical, angular and caustic hardcore a la Ion Dissonance,Animosity, Engineer, Architect (and most of the Black Market Activities roster) and their ilk, Harlots have now successfully managed to weave in some moments […]
While hardly a ground breaking release of thrashy, energetic ATG drenched metalcore, the debut from Arise and Ruin is a solid entry into the saturated genre and certainly is a lot better than some of Victory’s other recent/upcoming releases (Taking Back Sunday, Farewell to Freeway, Moros Eros, The Audition, etc). Canada’s Arise and Ruin are […]
After a promising debut of caustic tech grind metal, Tennessee’s Nights Like These, much like similar sounding act Harlots, Khann and Yakuza, have injected a sense of droning, sludgy experimentation into their lumbering dissonance and while a decent effort, it’s not quite as good as the recent Harlots release. What you get is an album […]
So here is the third and worst recent ‘metal’ release from Victory. A few years back I reviewed the promising Stillborn Records debut from this then metalcore act, but then with Embrace the Gutter, it was obvious the band wanted to be lumped in with All That Remains, Diecast, God Forbid and Lamb of God […]
Ok, so there is ambitious, and then there is Germany’s The Ocean Collective…. Now on a label that is letting them release a double album (FluXion and Aeolian was supposed to be a double album), The Ocean have delivered a 14 track, 2 disc, 83-minute concept album (complete with lavish accompanying separate CD booklets) “based […]
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 […]