One way to get my attention is to open an album with a glorious epic, galloping melodic black metal riff, even if only 47 seconds log. And that is how Beansidhe ( Celtic/Gaelic for ‘banshee’) debut full length Mont opens, and from that point I’m hooked as the rest of these Swiss metallers’ take on various forms […]

So here is yet more symphonic, keyboard drenched metal adding to this year’s plethora of quality orchestra and keyboard filled releases, they cover all genres. This time it’s in the form of the third album from Israel’s 7 piece act, Winterhorde, and it resides in a sort of melodic, symphonic black metal, but with expansive, progressive […]

Though not normally recognized for its black metal scene outside of Cradle of Filth and maybe Wodensthrone and  Winterfylleth, there’s is something foul afoot in the English  black metal underground. Cacophonous has exposed gems like Necronautical, Old Corpse Road and The Infernal Sea. And now Halo of Flies has chipped in with the vinyl release of the stunning […]

Despite featuring Steve Tucker from Morbid Angel (whose return to Morbid Angel is fantastic news), the debut of then, post Morbid Angel project Warfather Orchestrating the Apocalypse was surprisingly bland. It was just OK USDM with a few orchestral flourishes that didn’t have anything really memorable to hangs its hat on other than Tucker’s involvement. […]

Those in the know are aware that Lay Down Rotten were one of Germany’s most consistent but underrated death metal bands, releasing 7 fine albums from 2003 to 2015, when they split up. Well, 4 Lay Down Rotten members have regrouped and formed Demonbreed and continued the former bands chunky take on death metal, but […]

The last time I heard this long standing but overlooked Swedish melodic death metal act was 2008s The Gallery of Bleeding Art, a promising album that scattered some orchestral/symphonic and choral flourishes around a sold Swedish death metal/melodic death metal backbone. I missed 2013s Neogenesis, so I can’t comment on the bands development between those two […]

While Texas is more know for its brutal death metal and pure black metal, lying amid the reeds is Vex. Vex are neither. Instead, the band plays a form of hybrid between atmospheric black metal and melodic death metal. They have been around since 1999 but only have three albums under their belt — including the just released ‘Sky Exile’ on Eiwaz/Bindrune Recordings (a perfect fit) and those with a taste for more progressive, organic metal, will find a lot to like about them.

For me, Sweden’s Vanhelgd , are a lot like label mates Undergang; a bit of an anomaly to me. They seem to be critical darlings, I enjoy and own all the albums, but never seem smitten with them. When I’m listening to them, I’m truly digging the big Finnish crumble meet old school Swedish must, but never crave […]

I recently discovered Texas’s Vex on a Bindrune/Eihwaz Recordings compilation as the track “To Anacreon (Strangling the Muse)”  completely enthralled me, and reminded me of Cales, (a killer, folky Root side project from a few years ago). So I picked up the band’s 2013 album Memorious, and immediately loved it and waited with baited breath for the […]

Little did I know that arguably my favorite Cradle of Filth album, 1996s Dusk and Her Embrace was actually the second iteration of that album. Unbeknownst to me, before the 1996 Music for Nations version, another version of the album was fully recorded in 1995 with essentially the same line up as the band’s debut […]

While a fine label, Napalm Records isn’t exactly a death metal powerhouse, but with the recent release of Be’lakor‘s Vessels and now this, the third album from Germany’s Dawn of Disease, they appear to be getting into the flow. And while not into brutal, guttural death metal just yet, they have an ear for the […]

Ive been a big fan of Atlanta’s Withered since 2005s Stockholm meets Mastodon lurch of Memento Mori. Even the bands foray into blacker realms with 2008s Folie Circulaire and 2010s Dualitas were impressive. Even more so since I got to hang out with and drink a beer with frontman and founder Mike Thompson back in […]

Ireland’s Underground Movement label, previously unknown to me, has jumped on the Swedish death metal wagon with two pretty damn solid releases; Deathless and Fleshless from Venezuela’s Nocturnal Hollow , and this, a compilation of 2 self released demos from this Dutch band. Both deliver pretty damn solid examples of the classic HM2 Stockholm death metal sound. This […]

After more grindcore beginnings, one could argue that the modern deathcore movement peaked with either 2005s The Healing Process or The Ills of Modern Man, this Canadian act’s third full length album, in 2007. My vote is for the latter. But after 2009s Day of Mourning, the band split up as deathcore began to fade and wane under […]

I’m not a big ‘thrash guy’. Not since the classics of the 80s/90s has a thrash band captured my attention unless injected with a little more grit or death metal like Dew Scented. So here is the third album from long running, nu metal named, thrash band from Portugal, hardly the thrash or metal mecca or […]

Finland’s Gloria Morti, despite having been around since 2001 and have 4 previous albums are new to me. But being on Willowtip and having members in its ranks with ties to Wolfheart/Black Sun Aeon/Before the Dawn, Swallow the Sun, Morbid Vomit and Gorephillia, was enough to make me check them out. And I  glad I did. […]

Back in 2010 Aborted’s Sven De Caluwe got with some of his Aborted cronies and his wife Miri Milman and formed System Divide. They released one album, The Conscious Sedation, a more melodic death metal/metalore release that was a little heavier than the usual female fronted/Naplam Records Gothic metal, but it was merely an OK […]

Here’s an interesting one. A self financed and released effort from a Swiss band playing Egyptian/ Middle East themed deathcore. No there is no punchline I’m afraid, and this is actually pretty decent stuff, even though deathcore haters will still fume. Actually despite sticking rigidly to modern deathcore paradigms (pick whomever), the band’s little Egyptian […]

From the label that brought us techno and flamenco inspired nu metal/deathcore in Bolu2death, comes a more easy to pigeonhole release in Eel from this long running Spanish black metal/crust group Absenta (Absinthe). It’s my first exposure to the band but I immediately thought of bands like Deluge, Celeste and Regarde les  Hommes Tomber. Not necessarily […]

What’s this you say? a female fronted tech death metal/ djenty/modern death metal supergroup featuring former members of Animosity ( a must have from the early 00s deathcore scene), Animals as Leaders (Navene Koperweis) and The Faceless (Evan Brewer)? Well, color me interested…. While certainly The Faceless and Animosity influences ( as well as many modern bands like Textures, Veil of […]

I’m not familiar with the back catalog from Canada’a Forteresse other than they seem pretty well respected in the scene and I had seen them mentioned in the same breath as Neige et Noirceur, (early) Alcest. They have delivered a few albums varying between raw, minimalist black metal and more folky black metal and the songs are in […]

Here’s a very cool little 3 song, 30 minute EP out of Southampton England from a female fronted blackgaze/atmospheric black metal act that really hits on all notes for the genre and adds a little of its own angelic character to the mix. The clear, ignorant comparison is Myrkur, as this is female fronted black metal with […]

Here is something that is a little out of my wheelhouse, but considering my interest in keyboard drenched metal and the plethora of releases I’ve covered recently with said keyboards, this is an intriguing release that captures my interest here and there. Elvaron hail from France and have 4 prior albums under their belts dating […]

India’s Transcending Obscurity is becoming a pretty reliable source for simple, no frills death metal of late, (Primitiv, Third Sovereign, Affliction Gate, etc), and the duo comprising Indian newcomers Strangulate is no exception. Using old school American Death metal as a template, the Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation influence is immediate and obvious, but these guys do […]

While Killswitch Engage desperately tried to revive the ol’ metalcore corpse earlier this year, I have stumbled across a late 2015 release that just showed up in my mail box that deserves as much attention as Incarnate. And truthfully, I’m enjoying Justice is… a hell of a lot more than I did Incarnate. Confidently straddling the line between […]