Author Archive
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › E on Thursday, May 18th, 2017
It’s been 5 years since Sweden’s Evocation released Illusions of Grandeur in 2012, and frankly I thought the band was done. After transitioning from a pure, mid range, Swedish death metal band akin to their Cemetery/90s roots, to a more melodeath/Amon Amarth-ish styled band the band has returned with only 3 remaining members from Illusions of Grandeur, […]
Tags: 2017, Erik T, Evocation, Metal Blade Records, Review
Posted in Frontpage Feature, Reviews, Reviews › E on Monday, May 15th, 2017
Has it really been 15 years since Colorado’s Excommunion released Superion? I reviewed the album for digitalmetal, and the review has been lost on the mists of time, but I recall really liking it. The two members (Christbutcher- bass/vocals and less creatively named Kyle Spanswick- guitars/vocals) have since blown up in Nightbringer, releasing 5 fine […]
Tags: 2017, Dark Descent Records, Erik T, Excommunion, Review
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › N on Wednesday, May 10th, 2017
Yep. That Nightrage is back. I had to do a double take as well. After bursting onto the scene as an international super group featuring guitar maestro Gus G (Firewind, Dream Evil) and the legendary Tomas Lindberg with 2003s debut Sweet Vengeance and 2005s Descent into Hell, Nightrage were the supposed saviors of a waning melodic death metal […]
Tags: 2017, Despotz Records, Erik T, Nightrage, Review
Posted in Features, Frontpage Feature, Interviews on Monday, May 8th, 2017
Brooklyn’s black metal act Woe has been to the top of the mountain and the bottom of the valley. From stunning debut as a one man black metal act almost a decade ago, to almost breaking up, founder Chris Grigg has seen it all. After a 4 year layoff, Grigg is back with a new album, some new members and the return in “Hope Attrition”, which drips with a cathartic venom of a man and a band that has something to prove. Ive known Chris for a few years, back when he was called “Xos”, and thought I’d reach out to see how hte new album and lineup came about as well as the last couple of albums….
Tags: 2017, Erik T, Interview, Woe
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › G on Monday, May 8th, 2017
After splitting in 2011/12, founder and lone remaining original member Henri Satler as well as long time drummer Michiel van der Plicht decided to reform the band. They are joined by veterans Jeroen Pomper (Absorbed) and Mike Ferguson (Detonation), but even after 5 years and the new line up, the results are the same, reliable, consistent and […]
Tags: 2017, Erik T, God Dethroned, Metal Blade Records, Review
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › W on Wednesday, May 3rd, 2017
Chris Grigg (then known as Xos) burst on the the USBM scene with Woe on 2009s stunning debut, A Spell for the Death of Man, a nigh perfect black metal album. Then a year later released Quietly, Undramatically on Candlelight Records and the now full band was starting to get mentioned in the same breath as […]
Tags: 2017, Erik T, Review, Vendetta Records, Woe
Posted in Frontpage Feature, Reviews, Reviews › L on Monday, May 1st, 2017
Back in 2011, I questioned the need for another Lock Up album in Necropolis Transparent, and resultantly, got my ass handed to me by one of the year’s best grindcore albums. Well, the band is if anything consistent in both their lack of productivity (3 albums in 15 years) and kick ass-ness when they do […]
Tags: 2017, Erik T, Listenable Records, Lock Up, Review
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › O on Wednesday, April 26th, 2017
Back in 2015, I ordered a Solium Fatalis CD from Canada’s Galy Records, as part of the order, I was granted a free bonus CD. I chose Ordoxe’s May Death Be My Shepard as a completely arbitrary, blind selection. As it turns out, I really enjoyed the band’s super melodic take on Scandinavian black metal, so […]
Tags: 2017, Erik T, Horror Pain Gore Death Productions, Ordoxe, Review
Posted in Frontpage Feature, Reviews, Reviews › W on Monday, April 24th, 2017
I loved everything Tuomas Saukkonen did with his Before the Dawn and Black Sun Aeon projects as well as Wolfheart, his latest endeavor. The band’s first two albums, Winterborn and Shadow World are near classics of Finnish melodic death metal that immediately put the band in the same conversation as as Insomnium and Amorphis, just without the lengthy discography. So here is album […]
Tags: 2017, Erik T, Review, Spinefarm Records, Wolfheart
Posted in Frontpage Feature, Reviews, Reviews › G on Monday, April 17th, 2017
So yeah, Ghost Bath is from North Dakota, not China. Let’s move past that and get right to the issue at hand- the band’s 3rd full length album and one which sees founder Dennis Mikula add members from the band’s first 2 releases as opposed to go it alone as he did on 2015s Moonlover, my […]
Tags: 2017, Erik T, Ghost Bath, Nuclear Blast Records, Review
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › M on Friday, April 14th, 2017
I have to admire Arizona’s Murkocet. They are stuck firmly in the early 00s American/thrash/groove slightly Nu metal scene, firmly influence by the likes of Lamb of God, Slipknot, Machine Head (circa The Burning Red/Supercharger), Devildriver, Chimaira, God Forbid and such. It’s a scene I wasn’t totally into, ( I never really got into Lamb […]
Tags: 2017, Erik T, Murkocet, Review, Self-Released
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › S on Thursday, April 13th, 2017
I’ve been following the development of this project for a while now, as for a small label and one man band, Dusktone and Scuorn‘ founder Guilian have thrown and a lot of resources and money at promoting and producing this project. And it apepars to have paid off. Touting it sound as ‘Parthenopean Epic Black Metal’, […]
Tags: 2017, Dusktone, Erik T, Review, Scuorn
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › H on Tuesday, April 11th, 2017
It looks like we have another burgeoning Rogga Johannsson in the making by way of Sweden’s Johnny Pettersson. Not only did he feature in the reactivated Wombath, he is in Ashcloud, Gods Forsaken, Human Harvest, Just Before Dawn, Syn;Drom, Skineater, Vholdghast and produces/mixes or masters in all of those projects. On Henry Kane (The creepy […]
Tags: 2017, Erik T, Henry Kane, Review, Transcending Obscurity Records
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › G on Thursday, April 6th, 2017
After 2 fine albums on Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions in 2012s Al Azif, and 2014s Teliki-Li, I was curious how this fast rising Lovecraft themed black metal act would fare after the jump to the big leagues on Season of Mist. Well, after a while to grasp the effort, it seems the result is a […]
Tags: 2017, Erik T, Review, Season of Mist, The Great Old Ones
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › F on Monday, April 3rd, 2017
Maine’s Falls of Rauros improved greatly from their 2011 debut, The Light That Dwells in Rotten Wood, to 2014s Believe in No Coming Shore, which made my 2014 year end list. And now with album number four, I feel these guys have absolutely reached elite status, as Vigilance Perennial, isn’t just going to be on my […]
Tags: 2017, Bindrune Recordings, Erik T, Falls of Rauros, Review
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › B on Friday, March 31st, 2017
I’ve been listening to France’s Benighted ever since I reviewed 2004s Insane Cephalic Production for Digitalmetal.com and it blew me away. And it struck me as I prepared for this review that the band is 8 albums and 17 years into their career and all the albums are simply killer (how many current, active death […]
Tags: 2017, Benighted, Erik T, Review, Season of Mist
Posted in Frontpage Feature, Reviews, Reviews › C on Monday, March 27th, 2017
As I stated in my review of 2015s Forensic Nightmares, it would be easy to simply look at Cut Up as Vomitory 2.0, seeing as the band is comprised of 3/4 ex Vomitory members (drummer Tobias “Tobben” Gustafsson, guitarist Anders Bertilsson, and vocalist/bassist Erik Rundqvist), and you know what? When it’s this solid, that’s perfectly OK. Still delivering the […]
Tags: 2017, Cut Up, Erik T, Metal Blade Records, Review
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › A on Friday, March 24th, 2017
Whoa! Here is a stunning little 4 song EP from Spain’s Aversio Humanitas (Aversion to Humanity) a completely new band to me, but hopefully one I will be hearing more from in the future. The Madrid trio has one full length debut and some splits/EPs under their belt, but this should be the release that gets […]
Tags: 2017, Aversio Humanitatis, BlackSeed Productions, Erik T, Review
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › D on Thursday, March 23rd, 2017
I’m not sure what’s worse; that I know exactly what this is going to sound like before I it play or that I’m still going to enjoy it. I mean is there a label that has a more predictable output that Comatose Records? And I mean that in a good way. You know exactly what […]
Tags: 2017, Comatose Music, Desecrate the Faith, Erik T, Review
Posted in Frontpage Feature, Reviews, Reviews › M on Monday, March 20th, 2017
Those following this project know that Memoriam is a UK death metal super group of sorts born of sadness, loss and friendship. With the passing of Bolt Thrower drummer Martin “Kiddie” Kearns in 2015 and the death of Benediction’s Frank Healy’s father just 3 weeks later, former members of both bands came together to form a cathartic […]
Tags: 2017, Erik T, Memoriam, Nuclear Blast Records, Review
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › R on Friday, March 17th, 2017
I’ve been keeping tabs on this Minnesota act since the demise of With Dead Hands Rising, one of the oos early and better deathcore/metalcore acts, as they feature some former WDHR members. And finally they have released a follow up to 2014s self released debut, Poison of the Earth, and it’s quite the follow up. […]
Tags: 2017, Erik T, Prosthetic Records, Reaping Asmodiea, Review
Posted in Frontpage Feature, News on Thursday, March 16th, 2017
TeethoftheDivine is excited to present the exclusive world premiere stream of the third album from The Netherland’s FUBAR. Already reviewed here, the album delivers a killer take on grindcore with emotive crust and hardcore elements. FDA Records press release: “After a bunch of split releases and 2 brillant full length albums, Netherlands finest Grindcore act […]
Tags: FUBAR
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › F on Wednesday, March 15th, 2017
So in a recent mail package from the always reliable FDA records, I got the promos for the new Rude and Wound albums, and you’d think that in itself would be enough reason to be excited. However, tucked away in the package was a CD from a band called FUBAR, a band I was not […]
Tags: 2017, Erik T, FUBAR, Review
Posted in Frontpage Feature, Reviews, Reviews › O on Monday, March 13th, 2017
Ever since Metallica’s infamous 1991 album, self titled albums have always made me a bit leery. They always seem to scream sell out, contract out out or flat out of ideas. Throw in the simple ‘just our logo’ cover, the 10th album, and a song from a prior stopgap EP, and my spidey sense is […]
Tags: 2017, Erik T, Obituary, Relapse Records, Review
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › S on Thursday, March 9th, 2017
I vaguely remember seeing these guys pop up on my Facebook feed a year or so ago for the video for “
Tags: 2017, Artery Recordings, Erik T, Review, She Must Burn