I’ve noticed a bit of trend in hardcore/metalcore/American metal of late; First, some really good clean vocalist are starting to surface in these acts and second some bands seem to be injecting true blue progressive metal into their sound. Not just piecemeal stuff or even scatter shot BTBAM styled stuff, but actual, structured, epic and […]

The Ocean’s upcoming albums are going to be entitled Heliocentric and Anthropocentric. They are due for April and October 2010 releases. The concept at the base of both albums is a critique of Christianity from different philosophical and personal angles. While the songs, art and lyrics of Heliocentric tell the story of the rise of […]

Italy’s STIGMA has set Concerto for the Undead as the title for its follow up to 2008’s When Midnight Strikes! The sophomore effort is due out April 30th in Europe, May 3rd in the UK and May 4th in North America via Pivotal Rockordings. Concerto for the Undead features lyrics centered on the cult-classic comic […]

I think there are a few comparisons between Snowblood and Fall of Efrafa. Both are from the UK (Snowblood hail from Glasgow) and are (were) relatively unknown. Both have a trilogy of Cds, both have the same recycled, cardboard Cd sleeves with simple effective artwork, and both are utterly magnificent. And unfortunately both have called […]

After a nigh on seven year recording silence ASTRIAAL are now poised to return with their sophomore album entitled ‘Anatomy of the Infinite’. This next opus is due to be released in the Autumn of 2010 for the southern equatorial territories via Australian label Obsidian Records. With this their follow up album to 2003’s debut […]

Spewing forth from the same sick Dutch mind as Gnaw Their Tongues’ Mories, Migdal Bavel is the second album that Mories has created under this moniker and while still a sick, nasty record, its more of a black metal based record than the droning insanity of Gnaw Their Tongues. And I say that very loosely […]

MP3 Giveaway and Pre-Order Information Available Now Phoenix, Arizona’s LANDMINE MARATHON have unveiled the cover art of their forthcoming record “Sovereign Descent ,” due out March 16, 2010 on PROSTHETIC RECORDS, the same week the band will play Scion Rock Fest and South By Southwest. The cover art was handled by acclaimed artist Dan Seagrave, […]

The successor of Alcest’s highly acclaimed debut album “Souvenirs D’un Autre Monde” will be entitled “Ècailles De Lune“, and the release is scheduled for March 29, 2010. Its cover artwork (see below) is definitely one of the most beautiful we have ever seen, and thus we are very pround to unveil it. The “Ècailles De […]

Released last year independently and now more recently distributed by Saturnine Media, California’s Cormorant has released a stunning melodic death metal album that that’s adventurous, ambitious and brilliant. I’ve seen the likes of In Flames, Opeth and Slough Feg mentioned in reference to this band due to the prevalence of melodic riffage, heavy metal backbone, […]

Here’s another late 2009 release that is worth your while even if you can look past the fact that the moniker, label, logo, cover art and band’s looks scream Hot Topic deathcore. The fact is though, Australia’s The Red Shore, despite all the above going against them they are more along the lines of As […]

As usual for this time of year, I’m trying to get onto 2010 releases for review, but there are always a few worthwhile, late 2009 stragglers that I feel deserve a mention and your ear. One such release is the debut from Tennessee’s Enfold Darkness. I know Sumerian Records get a lot of flack for […]

IN MOURNING Announce US Release Date; Full Album Stream Available Swedish melancholic metallers IN MOURNING will release their upcoming full-length entitled Monolith via Singapore’s Pulverised Records on February 16. Monolith is currently streaming in its entirety at the following location: http://www.inmourning.net/monolith/. The mini-site also includes band bio, photos and videos taken from the Monolith recording […]

If you think about it, for gruff metal heads a lot of us are accepting of some pretty mellow non metal acts: Tenhi, Nuen Welten, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, old Mortiis, Summoning, Dornenreich just to name a few, seem to get a free pass with metal heads and as artistically brilliant as many non metal […]

When I reviewed (for another site) the 2008 album, Behind Enemy Lines, from New Zealand’s Christian metalcore/hardcore act, I suggested that Facedown/Strikefirst Records would be a good fit for this band for their next album. Booyah. Ok, enough of that – onto the album. The fact this album is on Strikefirst (Facedown’s baby brother) should clue […]

Phil McSorley of progressive black metal act Cobalt (Profound Lore Records) was interviewed on the Fox News show “Red Eye” today. The piece starts with a clip from the song “Arsonry”. Then, the 6-minute interview discussed McSorley serving as a Staff Sgt in the US Army, the bands recent album, Gin, its lyrics, being in […]

‘Curse of the Red River’ Out in March on Peaceville Records HELSINKI, FINLAND – Finland’s up-and-coming progressive/death metal act, Barren Earth, has announced the release date for their debut full-length record, entitled Curse of the Red River. The new record, which hits stores in the US on March 29th via Peaceville Records, is the follow […]

DAWN OF ASHES teams up with special FX group ADI (Amalgamated Dynamics Inc) for outfit and mask designs! Los Angeles – January 8th 2010 – Metal Blade Records is pleased to announce it has inked a deal with the Los Angeles horror inspired black/death metal band DAWN OF ASHES. DAWN OF ASHES is a band […]

New Track, “Skepsis” To Premiere on Liquid Metal South Carolina’s THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD have announced they will be supporting OTEP, alongside BURY YOUR DEAD and DESTROPHY from February 15th though April 2nd. The band will be supporting their third full length, “Skepsis,” which will hit the streets on February 2nd on Prosthetic […]

First off, the packaging from this EP is pretty unique, though its bound to drive storage-o-phobes nuts: the CDEP comes in a LP sized sleeve, with the CD resting in the middle on a spinner and the inlay is an LP sized folding poster. I just wish the music was as adventurous and creative as […]

Featuring members of black/doom act Eyes of Ligeia and Crimson Moon, Atlanta’s Legions of Astaroth have been plying their trade since 2004, culminating in this solid debut of frosty, grim and mildly atmospheric black metal. While most of the metal media seems to take heed of the more artistic side of US black metal (Krallice, […]

2009 was a pretty strong year for grindcore (and Willowtip) with the likes of Blood I Bleed, Napalm Death, Defeatist, Insect Warfare, Afgrund, Mumakil, Magrudergrind and such delivering the grinding goods, and Willowtip put the cherry on top of 2009 with the 5th album from Polish stalwarts Squash Bowels. If you are familiar with European […]

Candlelight Records today confirms the recent signings of KRIEG, WOE and YAOTL MICTLAN.  All three add to the English label’s growing American roster, a concentrated effort of the label the past several years. Currently celebrating its ninth year of US operation, the label opened US offices January 2001 with the release of its first album, […]

With 2009 now coming to a close, GRAVEHILL would like to announce that our partnership with ENUCLEATION RECORDS is officially concluded. We’d like to thank our friend and Brother Greg Drudy / ENUCLEATION RECORDS for all his support of GRAVEHILL. As the saying goes “When a door closes… a window opens!” thus moving into a […]

Without fail, the same thing happens at the end of every year; I submit my year end picks to various outlets, only to have a release cross my path that would have made the list. In this case the second self released EP from Long Island’s Painted In Exile would have hands down been the […]

Death metal icons MASTER recently completed the recording of their upcoming Pulverised full-length The Human Machine. The mixing/mastering process is currently underway. Said MASTER founder/frontman Paul Speckmann of the new long player: “I’m very happy with the way things have turned out; it’ll be killer to finally have a CD released once again on a […]