On a recent road trip, I was literally telling my wife how I was wanting another Jaldaboath album, as the band had seemingly gone dark after 2010 Rise of the Heraldic Beasts, one of my very favorite albums form that year. Well, lo and behold Grand Master Jaldabaoth, via the sorcery of email sent me […]

Fresh from celebrating their Tenth Anniversary and with two North American tours in one year under their belts, Norway’s TROLLFEST are starting 2014 by announcing details of what will be their sixth full-length album as well as details of their first headlining European tour.  The thirteen-track album will be titled “Kaptein Kaos” and is expected […]

Hailing from France, Hypnos is a doomy post rock act that instantly reminds of the likes of Morne and Mindrot, that’s to say they are fucking excellent, and their self released debut album, The Fall is an artfully crafted, elegant and powerful album that any Post Rock fans should check out as well as fans of […]

I stumbled across this London duo while browsing the Facebook feed from fellow Brits, Dyscarnate  and after a few preview listens from the band’s page, immediately ordered a physical copy of the CD.  What we have here is a band that seems to initially cull from British metalcore act Sylosis, but adds a more epic, […]

Despite being one of the US’s longest running, oldest and most consistent death metal bands, Master never seemed to get the acclaim and recognition of say Obituary, Decide or Cannibal Corpse., and founder Paul Speckmann is OK with that. But by the same token, I think most would agree the band simply did not have […]

Germany’s FDA Rekotz has unearthed yet another homegrown band playing the classic Stockholm sound to join country mates  Revel In Flesh, Slaughterday, Lifeless and Wound, by way of Harm and their debut, Cadaver Christi, a fun little romp through Dismember and Grave styled mid range goodness. All of of the above mentioned bands, Harm is the […]

Here is one of those reviews I hate writing. The debut from the UK’s Craven Idol has gotten a lot of buzz in media metal circles. Playing a form of black/thrash death and replete with band member names like ‘Scourger’ and ‘Immolator of Sadistic Wrath’, this British trio were the apparent second coming of Destroyer […]

Dang it. I wanted to like this sooooo much more. Oblivion sees former All Shall Perish founder and guitarist Ben Orum reunite with buddies Nick Vasallo (vocals) and Luis Martinez (drums) from his pre ASP band, Antagony, a vastly under rated progressive deathcore act from a decade ago (seriously, go listen to the bands second […]

Graced with with one of 2013’s most striking artwork (courtesy of Paolo Girardi also responsible for Inquisition’s Obscure Verses for the Multiverse), the second release from San Francisco Vastum  is a simple, yet tense affair with lyrical themes based on Oedipal complexes, incest, child abuse and patricide. With former members of Acephalix, Vastum share  a similar crusty/death […]

I’ve always had a hard time reviewing material that involves people I ‘know’ whether in person or e-friends. Such is the case with Rae Amitay,  former co scribe from my Metalreview.com days. Luckily, she has given me so such reason to worry as displayed on Thrawsunbalt’s stunning 2013 release, Wanderer on the Continent of Saplings, […]

My first exposure to Sweden’s Blood Mortized came by way of the 2012 EP Bestial, and subsequent album, The Key to A Black Heart , a solid but unspectacular addition to the Swedish death metal revival and . Since then  the band members have been busy with other projects including super group Just Before Dawn and […]

New York’s So Hideous is the kind of black metal band that purists love to hate. No spikes, no corpse pain, no Satanic lyrics or imagery. Just four dudes in flannel shirts and jeans. Throw in some gorgeous orchestration and you get the perfect storm of supposed pretentiousness that linked to the likes of Liturgy and Deafheaven. But, for those willing to look past all of that bullshit and actually listen to So Hideous and their recently self released full length debut, the result will be fulfilling.

Even after a name change from So Hideous….My Love, this New York post black metal act is still going to be labeled a ‘pretentious’ band and lumped in with the likes of Deafheaven, Liturgy and such, but personally I don’t give a fuck, as Last Poem/First Light improves upon the same taught, orchestration filled, post black metal […]

Deprecated were a band who featured bassist Derek Boyer  (Deeds of Flesh, Disgorge, Decrepit Birth) before he joined Suffocation, and now reunited, the band now features Terrance Hobbs (Suffocation), Matt Sotelo (Decrepit Birth) for this, the rerecording and rereleasing  of the band’s sole release, the 1998 EP, Deridng His Creation. And a scorcher it is. […]

Several years ago, I was reviewing a steady string of super heavy, angular, metal bands like The Minor Times,  The Red Chord, Apiary, Swarm of the Lotus, Harlots, Engineer, Animosity,  Ion Dissonance and Into the Moat. Well, Dallas TX’s Seeker has tapped into that sound on their Victory Records debut and unleashed arguably one of Victory […]

Man, I am loving this record! Other than Mortal Infinity’s District Destruction, not much of this thrash revival has grabbed my attention, so the likes of Revocation, Havoc, Toxic Holocaust and such hasn’t really floated my boat , but here comes Canada’s Besieged to kick me in the nuts and remind me why I loved so many metal […]

If you were to listen to the second album from Serocs blindly, with no knowledge of the band at all, you would be forgiven for assuming the band was from Canada rather than Mexico. The band has a distinct Canadian tech death metal sound akin (OK, not akin, exactly like)  to mid era Cryptopsy (Whisper […]

There was nothing particularly striking about the debut from Christian hardcore act Leaders, Now We Are Free back in 2012. It was a pretty standard metalcore/hardcore effort that you’ve come to expect from Facedown. However, on the follow up, Indomitable, California’s Leaders, after a significant lineup shuffle, have taken a page from label mates Those […]

I completely disregarded this release for a few months because the recording level on this album was so damn quiet, that I could barely hear the music in regular volume. However, while jamming some songs on a large home stereo, these guys popped up and I was actually able to hear the album without really […]

While most of the current old school death metal revival leans towards either the Stockholm worship side or the Incantation-y, ‘caverncore’ side, a few bands are simply going pure old school. The likes of Deserted Fear, Skeletal Remains, Chapel of Disease, Navalm, Resurgency, Wound, Deus Otiosus, are culling from classic death and thrash metal. Add […]

When samples of this relatively hyped Metal Blade release started dropping, I had several folks hit me up via email, Facebook and even Myspace telling me I should check these guys out and they were something I’d enjoy. And to some extent, they were all right: The Conscious Seed of Light is a pretty solid […]

Back in 2009 I reviewed the debut EP from this aptly named Italian act, and came away rather impressed with the heavy, lurching salvo and a after a 4 year wait, a debut full length via Italy’s own Memorial Records album has surfaced and it was well worth the wait. The band’s moniker fits perfectly […]

After giving the Prosthetic records debut of Skeletonwitch, Beyond the Permafrost a relatively lukewarm review, I simply didn’t give the band’s follow ups, Breathing the Fire or Forever Abomination, the time of day, despite the band growing immensely in popularity with their modern, black thrash meets melodic death metal spin off. I simply lumped them […]

Somewhere in the Ukraine, Metal Scrap Records must have unearthed a lost cache of mid to late ’90s melodic death metal and just now unleashed it on the world. That or the label and the underground metal scene in Eastern Europe has just now discovered the genre, as the label has recently released a slew […]

Like a small child I’ve watched Scotland’s Man Must Die grow from their 2003 demo Season of Evil, through 2 albums on Relapse, the first Scottish band to be signed to the label. A decade later the band is releasing their 4th album, Peace Was Never An Option on Lifeforce Records — and boy is it a scorcher! A revamped lineup and a 4 year break seems to have really invigorated the band as it is easily their strongest effort since 2004’s Start Killing -debut. In these 10 years, I’ve visited with vocalist Joe McGlynn a few times, as well as other lone remaining original member, guitarist Alan McFarland, and deciphered their thick accents enough to have some great conversations. So with the band reappearing on the metal map, I reached out once more and spoke with Joe McGlynn to do some catching up…