Most releases I get sent for review nowadays are produced by a team of big name folks, mixed and mastered by a big name superstar and all done with pro tools and such. Not with the case of Mur, the one man atmospheric/folk black/doom project of Cam Sather. His third album, Heartworn was recorded in […]

Before Horrendous, Unwilling Flesh, Spinebreaker, Terminate, Skinfather, With Burning Contempt and others threw a US made hat into the Swede death arena and made it cool, there was Invasion and Fatalist.  Fatalist were formed from members of Uphill Battle and Exhumed and released an album/demo compilation back in 2009, The Depths of Inhumanity,  that was […]

Prior to this month, I had no idea who Rottweiler Records or Florida’s Death Requisite were. But In comes the ‘here’s some shit for you to review’ email, I see the ‘symphonic death metal’ keyword and I check it out, as I a sucker for symphonics in any kind of metal. So what we have […]

When I received this promo, I questioned the need for another Dave Ingram (Benediction, Bolt Thrower, Hail of Bullets), Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Revolting, Ribspreader, Johansson & Speckmann et al) collaboration, despite my enjoyment of both guys’ previous and current projects, even more so considering they both recently collaborated on two Down Among the Dead Men albums […]

You know how they say your taste buds change every few years? Well I think the same is happening to my musical tastes. The debut from these Fins, Unending Degradation, made my 2013 year end list, but this year, this hulking, cavernous form of Dark Descent death metal just isn’t doing it for me. And by […]

I did not discover Poland’s Furia until 2015 when i got around to hearing Nocel after seeing it littered on a a few 2014 year end lists. So I really can’t talk about the bands past releases and development etc, past that album and this new one, an album that appears to be even more […]

I have to hand it to Germany’s Finsterforst, purveyors of epic, rangy Bathory/Monnsorrow sounding viking/pagan metal. They have taken quite a gamble here with this EP and while it is hopefully a one off effort, it is certainly going to upset a lot of fans. What we have here is a release of 4 new, […]

The word super group gets thrown around a lot, but in the case of Crator, it’s pretty fitting as  Crator features Colin Marston (Gorguts, Withered, Krallice Etc) on bass, Jason Keyser (Skinless, Origin) on vocals and Jon Longstreth (Origin and everyone else) on drums. The only member who I didn’t instantly recognize is guitarist Jeff Liefer, who […]

Amid all the black and death metal I get sent to review, occasionally I get some more off the wall stuff that gets my attention (i.e Duobetic Homunkulus). Here is one such release from France’s Stangala, and its not just off the wall, it’s out of the house and running naked in the yard. I really […]

More often than not, supergroups are a collective of guys or gals trying to get out side the box and deliver something more outside the realm of their full time endeavors as the folks try and spread their creative wings or whatever. But sometimes, one only need look at the members involved and get a […]

You’d think a post black metal band featuring Rob Morey of Fallujah and young upcoming drummer Alex Bent who has performed for Arkaik, Brain Drill, Battlecross and Dragonlord would get a little more attention considering Fallujah’s popularity and post black metal is still relatively popular. But here we are and the band’s debut album, self released […]

Unless You live under a rock, and this is the first time you have ever visited this site or another heavy metal/extreme metal webzine, I’m going to assume you have heard of Arizona’s Gatecreeper, Relapse Records latest heavily hyped darlings. Partly because this is the first new band playing old school death metal Relapse has pushed in a while (let’s […]

Swedish styled death metal is coming from all over the globe now. And adding to Polish bands playing the style like Ulcer and labelmates Kingdom, is the debut album from Eteritus. I have not heard the band’s previous 2014 EP Tales of Death, but Following the Ancient Path is a solid if unspectacular take on the […]

With Finntroll taking their sweet time between albums, Ensiferum going a little bit off the beaten path and Equilibrium’s latest album, Armageddon being a bit of a let down, I have been searching for new and under the radar bouncy, happy folk metal bands to get me by, as the genre appears to be in […]

A number of bands are vying to replace Dismember; Notably Interment, Infected Chaos, Smothered, Unwilling Flesh and others. However, here come the Czech Republic’s Brutally Deceased, formerly a much more Grave/Entombed inspired band with album number 3 to arguably jump ahead of everyone and claim the Dismember throne. Whereas the band’s last two fine albums, […]

Unlike Necromance’s last batch of 2 releases I reviewed (Bolu2 Death and Absenta) which were completely different, the labels next pair of releases is at least in the same wheelhouse. While both hail from Spain,  Blinded For Lies is a classic old school take on US metalcore and Goddamn’s debut, More Human Than Us is a […]

Here is yet another awesome band from Switzerland, adding to the countries fine 2016 efforts from Beansidhe, Buried Side, Deathcult, Schammasch, Colossus Fall and others (and hopefully Bolzer). This time it’s in the form of progressive tech death metal cut from the same cloth as First Fragment, The Faceless, Decrepit Birth, Gorod and Obscura in […]

From the label that brought us Flamenco inspired deathcore in Bolu2Death and some blackened crust in Absenta, comes 2 more releases a little more similar to each other. Both from Spain, we have Goddamn and Blinded For Lies, both residing in the metalcore realm, but both being rather good- if you are into that sort […]

It’s been a busy couple of years since Italian death metal act ADE released their widely acclaimed second effort, Spartacus on Canada’s Blast Head Records in 2013. The band has switched to a label a little closer to home with Xtreem Music and undergone a significant line up change, with only two members from Spartacus remaining. […]

One of the things I love about this reviewing gig is being completely blindsided by a new young act. Sure, you get to hear new Nile albums early and the occasional guest passes, but when a bright eyed young band has poured all their money and energy into a self released CD, send it to you […]

Germany’s Equilibrium has resided atop the viking/folk metal hill for a while now, with 2005s Turis Fratyr and  2008s Sagas remaining two of the very top albums in the genre. And while Rekreatur was a transitional solid release after a line up shift, the band stormed back with Erdentempel in 2014. So now here with album […]

Tucked in between all the high profile technical and brutal death metal that labels like Comatose and Unique Leader has churned out in 2016 is this solid little debut record from France’s new act Red Dawn,  and no it’s not a concept band based on the movie. What it is though is well crafted and well […]

I was pretty disappointing with the latest Hatebreed record, and thusly it left a void in my metal psyche that was craving some pure beatdown hardcore. So when this showed up in my promo emails, citing Hatebreed and as a bonus, The Acacia Strain, I thought I’d give it a listen. And beat down hard core […]

Plutonium is the brain child of one J. Carlsson who does everything in this Swedish industrialized black metal project. It’s been a while since I’ve heard a good example of the style (Havoc Unit  maybe?) , and while Plutonium checks all the boxes, it’s not a release I’m enamored with. The check boxes that Carlsson fills […]

Musician, artist and writer Alex CF has provided some of my favorite, emotional moments in music over the last few years. From Fall of Efrafa‘s Warren of Snares trilogy, to the incomplete Light Bearer saga, to the more recent Anopheli and Archivist releases, his deep concepts and various takes on crust/d-beat and post rock have been, […]