I’m not a big ‘stoner’ metal guy, but I do like me some big fuzzed out riffs and sludgy guitars, and the press sheet for Outlander, the second album from Norway’s  Mammüth dropped both, so I checked it out on a whim. I’m glad I did- though outside of my usual musical strike zone, Mammüth deliver a pretty […]

For three albums now, Finland’s Decaying have delivered their Bolt Thrower/Asphyx take on war themed death metal with solid results. But with the switch from Hellthrasher Productions to FDA Records, the band appear to have deiced to change things up a bit and spread their creative wings a little. Not that the band still does […]

I’ve been impressed with new label Raw Skull Recordz and their early releases from Bullcreek and Graceless, but the debut full length  from Sweden’s Gravestone is clearly the label’s best effort so far (at least until the new Just Before Dawn?) . You know exactly what you are getting here as the band features Penki Samuelsson from […]

When I fall for a band,  I fall HARD. In 2015 it was Vallendusk, and early last year it was Sabaton, and my latest infatuation has been with Hungary’s prolific Celtic/folk metal act Dalriada (formerly known as Echoes of Dalriada). I discovered them on Spotify while listening to the Asmegin radio station, the song “Hajdútánc” […]

I’m not familiar with The Netherlands’ Bleeding Gods, but they have some Dutch scene veteran’s in their fold (Houwister, Grind Minded, Debauchery, Divine Sins) and a 2015 debut album under their belt. And with a few key words like ‘symphonic’ and ‘Hercules’,  ‘war’ and ‘death metal’ popping up, I decided to give their second effort a […]

If you have ever asked yourself “what happened if black one man black metal was rendered with a classic Swedish death metal guitar tone?”, Frenchman Stephane Thirion is here to answer your question with his self released third album,  A fleur de peau (‘Sensitive’? ‘On edge’?). First off , I was thankful this wasn’t a Kataklysm […]

It’s been 5 years since Death Strike, the solid second effort from this Dismember/Grave worshiping Dutch act, and although this was released on vinyl and digital last year, I waited with baited breath for the CD version from FDA Records, and it was worth the wait. The formula is the same; well executed Dismember meets  […]

Though only a 5 year wait, down from the 7 year wait for Old Morning’ s Dawn, Summoning are back with another effort of their now predictable, but effective Tolkien inspired, dungeon synth based black metal and there is very little deviation from the last few efforts. And to many, the minimalist, tinny guitars and […]

I was fairly impressed with Discreation’s 2015 effort Procreation of the Wretched , a solid European death metal record from a group of Germans I had never heard of. The album took a while to get going, but its last 2/3 was pretty damn good. End of Day, does not take a while to get […]

There are some similarities between Germany’s Corrosive and Sweden’s Entrails. Both were active in the 90s but never really became fully productive until the reformed on the 00s. Also, both play a beefy, killer form of Old school death metal with a heavy emphasis on killer grooves and Stockholm based riffage. Corrosive isn’t quite on […]

Even though he has long championed his home country (India) and other Asian bands , Transcending Obscurity Records owner Kunal Choksi has outdone himself with the second effort from Mumbia’s Gutslit. You’d would have no idea these guys were from India once you hit play, as the band culls from a plethora of brutal influences […]

As usual. when the dust has settled on a year, a few late year releases find their way into my hands and miss  the deadline for year end lists, but certainly need some attention, and this is the case  with the second album from the UKs Monolith Cult, a new act to me. In my […]

Though still maligned as a genre, Deathcore had a a pretty solid year in 2017 with Aversion’s Crown, Thy Art is Murder, Oceano, Through the Eyes of the Dead, Fit For An Autopsy, Slaughter to Prevail, Conjonctive, Shadow of Intent, Boris the Blade and Reaping Asmodiea releasing solid efforts, and as the year closed out, […]

Holland’s Graceless are a new act, but feature a number of veterans from the Dutch scene from the likes of the excellent Nailgun Massacre and Soulburn, Master and Grand Supreme Bloodcourt. And the end result is what you’d expect from a collaboration of those folks. If you enjoy any of these band members other projects you […]

While Tomas Lindberg’s other 2017 project and release by The Lurking Fear (which I found to be a real snoozer), might get more press and recognition, possibly  due to the Century Media label or more prominent former and current bands members from At The Gates, Bombs of Hades, Edge of Sanity and Disfear . But the fact […]

I’m not familiar with Portugal’s Process of Guilt, but considering the country’s quality output this recently (Goldepyre, Grog, Primal Attack, The Ominous Circle, Switchtense) I thought I’d see how the country’s post rock/sludge genre was doing, and based on a review at this very site of the band’s last album, 2012’s , FÆMIN , my curiosity was peaked. […]

Though hailing from Quebec, Canada,  Цар Стангра (translating to ‘Tsar Stangra’) and founder Stan Stefanovski would have you imbuing the legions of Bulgar cavalry sweeping across the steppes to confront the invading Byzantines… The Ukrainian/ Eastern European vibe is strong here with the likes of Obest, Drudkh, Negura Bunget, Nokturnal Mortum etc, flowing through their veins […]

  Every once and a while a release comes out that truly drops my jaw and leaves me salivating for more.  Such is the case with Cracow Poland’s Redemptor fourth full length record Arthaneum.  I consider myself a fairly well traveled connoisseur of polish technical death metal.  This record goes beyond being a technical death […]

There is something foul afoot in the Iberian Peninsula. Some Portuguese  and Spanish acts like The Ominous Circle, Morbid Flesh, Aversio Humanitas, Goldenpyre, have delivered some truly nasty black and death metal of late, and with their second effort Spain’s Altarage look to be the apex of the onslaught. I never heard the band’s debut, […]

Taking a break form the recent onslaught of old school and Swedish death metal, Germany’s FDA Records have delved into the death-doom genre with the 4th full length album from Hamburg’s Ophis (“snake”), and it’s as successful and consistent as you’d expect from the label, despite the genre. The aptly named The Dismal Circle is […]

“This is what happens. It indicates the non-frenzied feeding of a large squalus – possibly Longimanus or Isurus glauca. Now… the enormous amount of tissue loss prevents any detailed analysis; however the attacking squalus must be considerably larger than any normal squalus found in these waters. Didn’t you get on a boat and check out […]

Ever since Nile erupted forth with their Egyptian take on brutal death metal, ethnic, and cultural elements have crept into death metal more and from from Ade  to Scarab and others. But here comes France’s Impureza to add one I have not heard before- at least not in this full on capacity: Flamenco. Sure, a […]

Every time I think Italy has rendered the most brutalist of brutal albums, it seems to quickly get superseded by something else. Whether it’s Hour of Penance to Blasphemer, to Hideous Divinity, then to Logic of Denial, Antropofagus  and recently Daemusinem . Well, Devangelic is here to try and stop the buck. However, the best term I can […]

From the opening mid range chords of the introductory “Into the Fire” with strains of that classic Phantasm/”Left Hand Path” riff, you know exactly what you are getting from the debut of Germany’s Endseeker: Classic, Swedish styled death metal. And much like recent releases from label mates Lifeless and Blood of Seklusion,  it delivers the goods, […]

Ne Obliviscaris‘s 2014 sophomore album Citadel was one of my top 3 albums for that year, and now 3 years later, the Australian progressive extreme metal collective look to have another of my top albums for 2017 in Urn. The incredibly ambitious and hard to describe sound of these guys is in force again,  as […]