I’m not overly familiar with Dutch black metal duo Fluisteraars, (“dreamers”)  as Bloem is my first real exposure to the band, even though it’s their 3rd album. Their 2014 debut, Dromers was reviewed in these pages, and that’s where I started my research and decided to give album number three a go. I’ve since promptly […]

I had high hopes for the second effort from Pete Helmkamp’s latest post Angelcorpse endeavor, especially after the nasty little slab of black/death filth that was the debut, Larvae Offal Swine. But alas, Proselyte Parasite Plague is a disappointing, flat (literally) follow up. The main reason for the album’s failure is the guitar tone and production. […]

For a while there, in the mid /late 00s, at deathcore’s peak, Suicide Silence were mentioned in the same breath as genre darlings the likes of Whitechapel, Oceano, All Shall Perish, Despised Icon and such. Even after the tragic death of vocalist Mitch Lucker in 2012, the band were joined by Eddie Hermida (ex-All Shall […]

I have not been a big thrash guy since my teens (Sabbat, Metallica, Toranaga, Slayer etc), and none of the ‘nu thrash’ (Municipal Waste, Toxik Holocaust etc) has really grabbed me. The only 2 ‘new’ thrash bands that I have really enjoyed have been Germany’s Mortal Infinity and The Netherlands’ Anger Machine, as they have […]

I’ve been listening to New Jersey’s Lorna Shore since 2013/14’s EP, Maleficium,  and 2015 debut full length Psalms . And while I enjoyed the band’s synth tinged take on deathcore, I never expected them to blow up into the full on symphonic blackened deathcore act that delivered Flesh Coffin in 2017. Well, after some delays […]

I last heard this Swiss band back in 2014, with their debut Morning Wood. It was a solid if forgetful stab at 00s American metalcore/ groove metal with songs like “Big Dick”, “Sex For Free”, Cock n Bulls”, and “Welcome to the Stud Farm”, it all seemed a bit tongue in cheek. Well the band […]

From the label that brought you last year’s excellent Dauþuz album, Monvmentvm, comes the debut of Finnish trio Marrasmieli (‘death of the mind’) and you can go ahead and block a spot for your 2020 year end list, because this is going to be on it. This isn’t just a good album, or a great […]

They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. If that’s the case Chris Reifert and Autopsy should be flattered as fuck by this German trio and their second full length album, Outcome of Obnoxious Science. If you like Autopsy and their sinewy oozing ilk like Slaugterday (also from Germany), Nailgun Massacre, Obliteration, Execration and […]

The last time I checked in with Indiana’s Psychomancer was 2015s Inject the Worms EP, And I wasn’t that impressed with the band’s generic and forgetful if competent American death metal. But it appears  as if some HM2 boss pedals have found their way to Michigan City, Indiana as the quartet has developed what was […]

I discovered this  7 piece fur-clad, face painted, power metal collective back in 2018 with Prophecies of Ragnarok, after AFM picked it up after a self release in 2o17. And I’ve been waiting for a follow up for a while, and it’s worth the wait. As with most power metal, don’t come into this with […]

When Massive Assault vocalist Fredde Kaddeth reaches out to you directly, asking if he can send you Massive Assault‘s, 2 song, 7″ limited edition single for review, you say ‘yes’. Especially when you have been a fan of the band’s Dismember meet Grave Swedish styled goodness since 2012s Death Strike and 2017s Mortar. Side 1 […]

One of the more under the radar reunions of late is the reformation of Germany’s Fleshcrawl, one of the country’s early 90s death metal bands along with Morgoth (who ironically shared the same band name with Fleshcrawl at the outset) , who seemed to get the lions share of the attention. Fleshcrawl eventually settled into […]

I’m always up for some bombastic, symphonic black metal, but other than maybe False, Belzebubs, Northwind Wolves and Kull (if they don’t really count as ‘new’) and some other Black Lion Records bands, there are few new, exciting young purely old school bands in the genre, as I typically rely on the old guard of […]

Waaaaay back in 2017, California’s Northwind Wolves released their aptly named debut, Dark…Cold…Grim, a superb and authentic delivery of 90s symphonic black metal that made my year end list. Well, as expected for a second album, the follow up delivers the same sound, expands on it a little, but never quite reaches the dark cold […]

I was immediately intrigued by this release as it’s another symphonic/tech black/death whatever release from The Artisan Era who have already wowed me in 2019 with the likes of Singularity, Oubliette, Mordant Rapture, The Odious Construct, Warforged and such, but also that the band features former members of Council of the Fallen, one of the […]

If you haven’t checked out Virginia’s Construct of Lethe, do so now. Their 2018 effort Exiler, was one of 2018s best death metal albums, and now founder Tony Petrocelly has gone back to Construct of Lethe‘s past to deliver a vision of the band’s future…bear with me here. Back in the early 00s , before […]

Here is a remastered reissue of Ungfell’s self released debut album, and for those unfamiliar with Swiss duo Ungfell, as I was, they play a form of raw, demented black metal inspired by medieval times and the dark ages. Think Peste Noire meets Lugubrum and early Abigor (Verwüstung / Invoke the Dark Age/Orkblut). It’s a […]

Occasionally I get sent some pretty obscure, late stuff in the mail, and one such release is the second effort from Italy’s female fronted act 5Rand (grand? five rand?), released earlier this Autumn. It’s clearly marketed to ride Jinjer’s current wave of popularity, but actually stands on its own as a pretty solid release, largely […]

Here is some fall of 2019 black metal I’m just now getting to, and this one is worth it for the band’s veteran Norwegian black metal line up alone: Vocalist ‘Vicotnik’ (Dodheimsgard, Ved Buens Ende, Strid) , guitarist ‘Haavard’ (ex Ulver, ex Satyricon), bassist ‘Cerberus’ (Dodheimsgard),  and drummer ‘Myrvoll’ (Dodheimsgard, Ved Buens Ende, Nidingr, ex […]

Sometimes I get in the mood for some good old fashioned, no frills, second wave black metal, and occasionally a release comes along that fills that void perfectly. Earlier this year it was Germany’s Darkened Nocturne Slaughtercult and their album, Mardom, and here in the fall/winter as the nights grow longer and darker, the fittingly […]

Gatecreeper’s 2016 debut album Sonoran Deprivation, caused a bit of a stir as Relapse Records signed and released a US based death metal album after a few years of lagging behind in the death metal arena. It was a solid, near great album of Swedish styled lumbering death/doom, and the follow up, Deserted follows suite, […]

If you were to poll die hard Cradle of Filth fans  and even casual black metal fans and ask what the long running UK black metal band’s best album was, it would likely be a mix of 1996s Dusk and her Embrace and 1998s Cruelty and the Beast, maybe with a few votes for 2000s […]

Strigoi is the new death/doom/crust project from Paradise Lost‘s guitarist/vocalist Gregor Mackintosh after he disbanded Vallenfyre, after 3 albums. And even though hes joined by a slightly different line up (bassist Chris Casket of Extreme Noise Terror and session/studio drummer Waltteri Väyrynen, also of Paradise Lost), the result sounds exactly like Vallenfyre’s latter, crustier output, […]

Ave! Italy’s Romanic death metal warriors ADE are back with yet another new line up,  another label and another quality album..despite that Dance of Death level artwork… Lone original member/founder/primary song writer Fabivs again has a whole new legion surrounding him including bassist Cornelvuis  and vocalist/lyricist Diocletianvs  (both formerly of Suicidal Causticity/ Oredreth), the band’s […]

Despite being the arguable top act in the Swedish death metal revival since 2010s Tales From the Morgue, I had some reservations about the band’s sixth album. Mostly due to yet another line up change surrounding founder Jimmy Lundqvist, this one involving the addition of Markus Svensson on guitars but mainly, Penki Samuelsson moving to […]