Author Archive

British thrashers EVILE have announced two special memorial shows in the UK to honour their late bassist, MIKE ALEXANDER, who tragically passed away while on tour in Sweden on October 5th, 2009. The two memorial shows take place on December 7th, 2009 at Rio’s in Leeds and December 8th, 2009 at the Underworld in London, […]

Though Cleveland Ohio’s Salt the Wound fit the annoying template of modern teen metal band complete with ever changing line up, cocked hats, tight jeans, pierced lips, pre packaged logo and loud shirt designs and an obsession of The Black Dahlia Murder, the bands 2008 debut was OK, and the follow up, complete with promising […]

Legendary and acclaimed Bay Area act LUDICRA are putting the finishing touches on their next full-length album (their fourth) entitled ‘The Tenant‘, which will be released through Profound Lore Records. Known as one of the initial acts to help spearhead the black metal underground movement of the Bay Area and featuring the line-up of guitarist […]

I’ve been eager to hear the debut full length from Canada’s Weapon since I read an article about them from the indomitable Nathan T Birk in Metal Maniacs Magazine (before its untimely demise). And while an excellent release, Draconian Paradigm is still a bit of a mystery to me, but I imagine that was the […]

Tampa, FL’s kings of groove laden death metal SIX FEET UNDER are back with their 3rd installment of the band’s cover series, Graveyard Classics 3, due out on Metal Blade Records January 19th 2010. Graveyard Classics 3 was recorded at D.O.I. Digital Audio in Tampa, FL, was mixed at Audiohammer Studios by Mark Lewis, and […]

Struck By Lightning is the new project of former Mouth of the Architect frontman/keyboardist Gregory Lahm, but those expecting an ambient, massive wall of post rock will be sorely disappointed. Instead, Lahm’s new iteration is a more traditional, dissonant, caustic form of angular hard core based metal rooted in the likes of Coalesce, Botch, Cable […]

On paper, the combination of female vocalist London Wilde (an experienced metal lass with various writing, engineering and vocal credits to her name since 1994, even performing bass tracks on the 2004 Chastain album In An Outage) and Dave Starr, a 25 year metal veteran who served as bassist for relatively legendary Bay area Thrashers […]

I kinda dug the last album from these young Minneapolis pseudo grinders, back when they were called A Second From the Surface. Though it was still sort of squealing, chaotic nu grind at its core, it had a hearty punk backbone and some surprising melodies thrown into the mix. Little has changed other than the […]

Another release on my hometown’s September Riot Records, this time from Dubuque Iowa three piece Lost Apparitions, and while label mates Estrus called themselves progressive, Lost Apparitions are actually a much more progressive, experimental act. Plying a sort of catchall, angular and jangly post rock/post hardcore that reminded me of instrumental acts like Sleeping In […]

How the fuck is it that 3 my favorite albums of 2009 are self released (two being Kalisia and Be’lakor) and one of them, Cephalectomy’s An Epitaph to Tranquility is a FREE FUCKING DOWNLOAD????? That’s right. The full length follow up to 2004 excellent Eclipsing the Dawn (not counting the 28 minute single track, The Dream […]

Following three very special US appearances this summer in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York (effectively breaking their streak of visa issues), Swedish black metal battalion MARDUK will return for a full headlining North American tour this November. The band will be joined by Nachtmystium, Mantic Ritual, Merrimack and Black Anvil (on select dates). An updated […]

Italian melodic-death metallers Disarmonia Mundi have finally completed their new record entitled “The Isolation Game”. The album has been recorded, produced, mixed and mastered at The Metal House Studio by Ettore Rigotti and contains 13 brand new tracks of wallshaking extreme metal also featuring guest appearances by Björn “Speed” Strid (SOILWORK) on vocals and guitarist […]

Greek modern metallers The Fallen Within signed with Coroner Records for the release of their debut album entitled “Intoxicated”. The album, presented as an avant garde melodic death work with many dark atmospheres, was recorded and produced by Bob Katsionis from FIREWIND, mixed and mastered by Ahti Kortelainen at Tico Tico Studio in Finland. The […]

I have a very vague recollection of this Swedish bands full length debut 2006, Serene Catharsis as a mix of gruff Swedish death metal with a slight melodic, progressive lean, and this re-issue of their 2005 WIll and Perception demo EP along with two new tracks and a reworked 2004 demo track (“Common Walls”) seems […]

Ok, I’ll admit I’m reviewing this because September Riot Records is based in my hometown, and even though the band Estrus hail from Central Illinois, its always nice to see some local folks get involved in an otherwise barren Central Missouri metal scene, even if it is pretty standard modern hot topic styled metalcore/screamo. Despite […]

“L’Eterno Maligno Silenzio“, the third album from enigmatic Italian Illuminates TENEBRAE IN PERPETUUM, is being streamed in its entirety at the following location : http://www.debemur-morti.com/ecards/DMP0058. Recorded & mixed at Necropalace Studio and mastered at 322 Studio, “L’Eterno Maligno Silenzio” will be released on October 30th via Debemur Morti Productions. The limited digipack edition is currently […]

Exclusive preview track unveiled at http://www.myspace.com/mantricofficial Prosthetic Records is proud to announce the signing of MANTRIC to the label for a worldwide, multi-album deal. Formed in 2007 in Oslo, Norway from the ashes of metal pioneers Extol, MANTRIC takes the visionary songwriting approach of its founding members to new, epic heights. Fusing a unique, distinctly […]

One could argue that in the space of just three full length albums , Liv Kristine and her spectacular cleavage , err I mean voice, have become Gothic metal’s premier act. The formula they ply has been done amply by the likes of Nighwish, Epica, Stream of Passion and a host of other boobie fronted […]

In advance of its October 27th release, all eight tracks of PELICAN’s upcoming Southern Lord debut album What We All Come To Need is now streaming on the band’s Myspace page! Stop by and check it out today: http://www.myspace.com/pelican. PELICAN is out on a full US tour with label mates Black Cobra now through mid-December. […]

Candlelight Records today confirms the upcoming release of a special deluxe version of ABSU’s popular self-titled album. Set for American release January 26, the limited edition format will include a bonus live DVD that was filmed in Montreal amidst the band’s first stateside tour in nearly eight years. The band recently kicked off a European […]

Ugh. I feel queasy. While not overly impressed with the last offering from this Netherlands madman who goes by the name of Mories, there’s something about this album that literally hooks me, reels me in an gives me a tangible sense of disgust and self loathing. Maybe it’s the more perverse, sexually depraved nature of […]

The last couple of years has been spectacular for old school classic Swedish styled death metal; you’ve had albums from the likes of veterans such as Bloodbath, Séance, Necrovation, Evocation, Dismember as well as new blood from Hail of Bullets, DeathEvocation and Fatalist just to name a few. Heck, even Entombed returned from the land of suck on 2007s Serpent Saints. What was missing was a big name reunion- a glorious name from the past, the return of a legend (Séance doesn’t quite count). And that happened earlier this year (at least here in the US) when Ibex Moon Records released Death …the Brutal Way from Dutch death metal legends, Asphyx. Complete with the duo that was mostly responsible for the legendary The Rack, suddenly busy vocalist Martin Van Drunen, founding member Rob Bagchus returned to the fray in spectacular fashion and I caught up with Mr. Bagchus to find out how this legendary comeback came about and other things….

Reactivated Swedish atmospheric black metallers ALGAION have set Exthros (“enemy” in Greek) as the title of their third album, to be released via Pulverised Records. Exthros was recorded at Helltower Studio by ALGAION live/studio drummer Robert Eng (Corporation 187) and mastered by Simon Söderberg at Mayfire Studio. Exthros track listing: 01. “Alpha” 02. “That Time […]

As when I heard the re-issue of Marduk’s Dark Endless last year, I had no idea that the current iteration of one of Sweden’s more respected second tier black/death metal acts, Necrophobic was so different from their more recognized, current sound. Like Marduk, Necrophobic’s first sound was one rooted in early Swedish death metal, namely […]

 Candlelight Records today confirms two limited edition versions of ABIGAIL WILLIAMS’ popular debut album, In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns. Set for release January 12, the special formats will kick off the band’s first tour of 2010, their fifth in support of the album. The deluxe edition will feature a bonus disc containing five […]