Author Archive

As You Drown‘s first album, Reflection was one of my top 25 albums of 2009, so I was pretty psyched to hear these Swede’s follow up. I’ve sort of mentally linked As You Drown to Australia’s The Red Shore,who released their 2nd album ( I know its their third but here in the US, albums […]

So if Ov Hollowness‘s Drawn to Descend was my favorite of recent Hypnotic Dirge Records’ and Ekove Efrits’ Conceptual Horizon was my least favorite, Pandemic Transgression from Canada’s one man black metal maven Vultyrous, is my middle release. As with any good one man black metal project, there’s boons and pitfalls. The pitfall here is […]

Here’s an interesting release from the label behind the recent and solid Ov Hollowness CD, Hypnotic Dirge Records, so you can expect something…well… hypnotic and dirge-y. And in the case of Ekove Efrits, it’s a one man black metal act from Iran, helmed by Count De Efrit. I use the term black metal very loosely here, […]

After various splits, demos and EPs it’s finally time for the first full length from obscure death metal masters OMINOUS CRUCIFIX! Hailing from the crypts of Mexico, OMINOUS CRUCIFIX offers the world The Spell of Damnation, eight new tracks of crawling, rancid and occult death metal that will tear the ribs out of your putrid […]

ENTHRONED has two full-length releases on the horizon after signing a deal with Agonia Records. The black metal combo recently finished recording their follow-up album to Pentagrammaton (out on Regain Records in 2010). It is expected for an early 2012 release and entitled Obsidium. Located in Brussels (Belgium), band’s current line-up is:   Nornagest – […]

I swear, I have every intention of trying to make this a somewhat regular blog.

Here is the true definition of a Bargain Bin Find!!!!. I located this CD in the clearance rack of a Hastings, and grabbed it for a mere 25 cents- though technically it was a dollar, seeing as the bin was 4 for a dollar. So I had to grab a Boys 2 Men Christmas CD, a Jose Stone CD and an album by some Latin rap group.

IRON SAVIOR, currently one of the most popular German heavy/power metal bands return with their new album this January. Following their acclaimed Megatropolis album over four years ago, the Hamburg-based are ready to douse fans with their scorching classic metal thunder once again with the release of their new opus, The Landing, with a confirmed […]

Milwaukee’s ENABLER have announced plans to record a new album in January, 2012. The band will hit Howl Street Studios as well as Fuck City, with Greg Thomas (With Honor, Shai Hulud) producing. The record will be called “All Hail the Void“, and will be the first ENABLER record to feature the band’s three newest […]

So I reviewed the demo compilation by this New York tech metal act a couple of years ago and was rather impressed, especially by the shredding abilities of guitarists Nick Llerandi and Billy Anderson who added some very nice sweeps and solos to the semi deathcore/tech death metal/metal core stylings. However, my only real gripe […]

Swedish deathcrust ensemble BOMBS OF HADES are the latest addition to the ever-pummeling Pulverised Records roster! Spawned in 2002 as a crustpunk act, BOMBS OF HADES quickly mutated into a gristly old-school Swedish death metal direction, while still retaining a strong d-beat/crust vibe. Fronted by Jonas Stålhammar (ex-God Macabre, ex-Utumno, etc), who recently served briefly […]

  Atlanta-based sludge miscreants SONS OF TONATIUH  (pronounced “tahn-ah-tea-ah”) have been slowly building steam since 2008. The band — drummer Tim Genius, guitarist/vocalist Dan Caycedo and bassist/vocalist Mike Tunno — released their debut via Michigan’s Hyodro-Phonic Records in early 2011 and are currently putting the finishing touches on the follow-up. The as-yet-untitled second full-length, recorded by Kyle Spence […]

FDA Rekotz is pleased to announce the addition of Spanish zombies GRUESOME STUFF RELISH to their roster. FDA Rekotz has plans to release the band’s next full-length album on CD and vinyl in the Spring of 2012. GRUESOME STUFF RELISH is one of the most intense death/grind bands to ever emerge from Spain’s metal scene. […]

The second half of Seattle drone icons EARTH‘s Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light is being prepared for release on Southern Lord in North America this February 14th on CD, LP and digital download formats. Recorded in the same two week session as 2011’s lauded Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I by Stuart Hallerman […]

Still a musical anomaly residing on Facedown Records , Finland’s Immortal Souls are four albums in to their career and have yet to truly impress me. Their form of melodic “wintery” death metal has always been solid, but I’m never craving this band. So I’m not sure what’s more impressive, the fact they are still […]

Relapse has reissued some pretty good stuff over the last couple of years, namely the Death reissues as well as General Surgery, Convulse and Nirvana 2002, but along with a couple of the recent Dying Fetus reissues, this one is a bit of head scratcher. For some reason Relapse Records has decided to dust off and […]

Portugal’s Major Label Industries is hardly prolific with their releases, but when they release something it’s usually something creative or unique like Crushing Sun, The Firstborn or Before the Rain. However, with the release of E.A.K‘s second effort, the label appears to have succumbed to releasing an underwhelming home grown effort that does not match the […]

There’s a fine line between plagiarism and homage. And in metal, that line is even thinner as many acts have simply said, ‘you know what? We like this band we are going to sound just like them, not to rip them off maliciously but they just rock’. For every Suffocation, Entombed, Morbid Angel and Slayer […]

Bringing two energetic but diversified contemporary hardcore acts together in one pure and primal slab of wax, NAILS and SKIN LIKE IRON will collaboratively self-release a split 7” EP this January. San Francisco’s SKIN LIKE IRON have already become a well-known entity in modern hardcore with nearly ten releases on such admirable dissident hardcore labels […]

Formerly Italian, currently US based band EPHEL DUATH, known as a modern mixture of avant-garde metal and progressive rock with jazz-fusion and hardcore punk elements, has inked a worldwide deal with Agonia Records for the release of an EP and two full-length albums. Under the leading role of talented guitarist and songwriter Davide Tiso, the […]

As death metal legends Incantation are currently writing new material to be released next year, drummer Kyle Severn wanted to pass this on to fans as something to look forward to. “The new material we have been writing with new members Alex (Bouks also of Goreaphobia) and Chuck (Sherwood also of Bloodstorm) is beyond brutal, […]

Mexican extreme metal label Chaos Records has announced a December 5th release date for BLOOD MORTIZED‘s Bestial EP. This is old style, dirty-rotten-unpolished Swedish Death Metal the way it was truly meant! Bestial is a 4 track EP of supreme crushing Swedish death metal with collaboration with members and ex-members of CRYPT OF KERBEROS, AMON […]

If there is one label that’s almost on par with Dark Descent Records as far as old school Swedish death metal worship, its Pulverized Records. With the likes of Crucifyre, Morbius Chron, Interment, Tribulation and Desultory‘s comeback, they have created their own nice little stable of retro Swedish death metal acts. Well, add Sweden’s awesome […]

When initially approached with the prospect of reviewing this album I was a bit leery. A Montreal band calling them selves ‘trombone core’, named after a Shakespeare character and with a masked trombone player called ‘the hitman’ in their ranks. It all seemed to have the potential to add up to a giant pile of […]

I wasn’t overly impressed with the nu grind, caustic, programmed drum based output of Harpoon‘s last release, Double Gnarly/Triple Suicide, so when this showed up in my mail box I was hardly overly enthused. However, it appears, even with a drum machine still present, the trio of guitarist Tony Costello, bassist DJ Baracca (Lair of […]

In their four album transition from typical Finnish doom death outfit to a melancholic melodic (melocholic?) death metal, Insomnium have done no wrong. Each album being better than the last. And album number 5 is no different as the band manages to take slivers of recognizable influences like Rapture, Amorphis, In Flames, Paradise Lost, My […]