Author Archive

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, […]

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 […]