Well, here is 2010s first top notch tech death metal release (the re-issue of Obscura’s Retribution does not count). After 2008s promising little The Nameless, The Faceless EP, this California trio have made all the necessary improvements and developments to start flirting with the likes of Severed Savior, Odious Mortem, Abysmal Dawn and such: busy […]

In the tradition of other Facedown/Strikefirst releases, North Carolina’s Onwards to Olympas deliver solid Christian metalcore/ hardcore/ deathcore that straddles the line between burlier, heavier acts like label mates Earth From Above and slightly more melodic styled stuff like For Today and such. Now most of you have left, I’ll continue… There’s nothing to earth […]

“The Descent” To Hit Streets April 27th via PROSTHETIC  Norway’s MANTRIC, formed from the ashes of metal visionaries, EXTOL, have set the release date for their debut album, “The Descent,” which will be issued on Prosthetic Records worldwide. The album will hit the streets on April 27th in North America and April 26th in the […]

I’ve been on a bit of a black metal kick of late, jamming the likes of Carach Angren, Unholy Ritual, Oblomov, Lux Divina and other more amicable, often symphonic versions of black metal. And while France’s Aldaaron are not Symphonic black metal, they do have some keyboards here and there, and their delivery is just […]

I truly thought that the self released EP from Australia’s Brazen Bull would be the most absolutely bat shit insane band I would hear in 2009.  Wrong.  Apparently this is this Italian band’s second album (along with 4 Ep/splits), and it has to be some off the most of the wall, experimental grindcore/spazz tech metal […]

Ive always championed Italy’s Disharmonia Mundi as one of the more underrated melodic death metal bands in the scene. Obviously overshadowed by the likes In Flames, Dark Tranquility and Soilwork, the band has still managed to hang around and are now on album number 4 (not including last years re-issue of Nebularium and The Restless […]

Deathcore is off to an explosive start in 2010 with the new, improved Annotations of an Autopsy, the solid new Carnifex, the keyboard drenched The Breathing Process and the full length debut from Utah’s Chelsea Grin. After a promising EP (off which two tracks “Cheyne Stokes” and Recreant”, reappear on this album) Utah’s now three […]

Band to Tour North America with Cannibal Corpse (Los Angeles, CA)- Prosthetic Records is proud to announce the release of the brand new album from Norwegian black metal legends 1349 in North America via an agreement with Indie Recordings. The new album, which promises a return to their more traditional raw, yet technical black metal […]

Re-issues are a hit or miss affair, but Poland’s Metal Mind have generally been spot on with their re-issue catalog (Godgory, Annihilator, Artillery, Atrophy, Believer, Brutality, Defiance just to name a few) but when the source material is as oddball and divisive as the 2002 release from Disharmonic Orchestra, they are a bit hamstrung. I […]

Ive always been a fan of the underrated Danish death metal scene; Chunky, simple (and often intertwined) acts like Illdisposed, Iniquity, Corpus Mortale, Usipian, Koldborn, The Cleansing, and arguably one of the better recent additions, Dawn of Demise. After a solid debut in 2008s Hate Will Take Its Form and a cover based EP in […]

As part of the second tier of melodic death metal in the mid to late 90, Sweden’s Godgory never got the international acclaim or attention of their more energetic peers despite a solid four album catalog from 1996 to 2001. Partly mired in the middle of Nuclear Blast releasing endless mediocre stuff like Agathodaimon, Crematory, […]

Danish Metal Award nominees HateSphere will hit North American shores later this month in support of newest album To The Nines with The Black Dahlia Murder, Obscura and Augury. Unfortunately, drummer Dennis Buhl is quitting due to severe back problems and the band is therefore forced to cancel their upcoming European tour with Hypocrisy. However, […]

It’s no real surprise that this unsigned Austin, TX based group is vying desperately to win a competition that would have them open for Killswitch Engage, but truth be told- if they did play right before, fans might think they are seeing a KsE cover band or a group of KsE imposters. Not that Die […]

In the grand French tradition of eclectic, experimental and mindfuckingly heavy acts like Gojira, Comity, Overmars and more recently Erin Non Dae, come Hypno5e and their debut full length album which bundles dreamy ambience, crushing angular heft and musically artistic curveballs into one unpredictably brilliant and bipolar release of typically avant-garde French metal. I’d throw […]

Woe Of Tyrants spent the entirety of 2009 criss-crossing the US on a multitude of tours. After the grueling schedule came to a close, did they head home to rest and take some time off? NOPE! They dove right into songwriting for the follow up to their sophomore album and Metal Blade debut, Kingdom Of […]

Ive been is somewhat of a musical/critical funk recently, unable to filter the stacks of avant-garde black metal, tech death metal and acoustic non metal that’s filled my head of late. Its time to strip down to bare basics, and listen to some simple bludgeoning music that requires no thought, no in depth analysis and […]

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, […]