In 1991 Wild Rags Records released the debut album from Los Angeles, California, grind/punk act Nausea.  I bought it on cassette and cd.  The album is essential grind and we all know that guitarist/singer, Oscar Garcia, had already sang on one of the greatest grindcore albums of all time, World Downfall, from Terrorizer, in 1989.  […]

Near Death Condition is a brutal Swiss death metal band who have just released their 3rd brutal offering, Evolving Towards Extinction. It’s one of the best in brutal tech death metal for 2014, for sure and the band has grown quite a lot since their debut album, Delusional Perception of Reality back in 2004. Their second album, in 2011, The Disembodied – In Spiritual Spheres, was one of the standout releases for that year. However the band expanded on that sound, became heavier and added a human drummer to the mix, the new cd really crushes

California’s Deathevokation released The Chalice of Ages, back in 2007. It has been finally repressed and comes with a bonus second disc containing their infamous 2005 Blood demo, their split eps (with Graveyard and Lie In Ruins) and some live songs. All of their music ever recorded is on here and I have to say when I […]

Hiss From The Moat is a pretty intense death metal band from Italy. Incorporating brutal blackened death metal, alongside a few corish sounds, similar to Whitechapel, but by and large this is ferocious evil death metal. Their debut 2013 album, Misanthropy is quite a brutal offering and there are a lot of brutal elements on the album. While there are plenty of blast beats and such the band does give the songs a chance to breathe. There are some incredible groove elements that are beyond heavy and just kicks ass.

Convulse return from the grave with their long over due 3rd album, Evil Prevails.  I had never heard the band before until recently until a friend recommended I get up off my rear and get the reissue of their 1991 debut, World Without God and I love the album.  I heard their second album, Reflections […]

Cognitive is an up and coming young band from New Jersey, playing death metal that is of the brutal variety with a strong emphasis on technicality.  Their self released 2012 ep, The Horrid Swarm is an incredible piece of Tri-State area brutality.  They have finally secured a record deal with Spanish label, Pathologically Explicit Recordings; […]

Thanatos were the first extreme metal band to burst onto the scene, from the Netherlands, in 1984. As any band that has been around for so long they have had their highs and lows in the metal scene, seeing the band breaking up in 1992, then reforming 7 years later. I first heard the band in 1990/91 with their debut album, Emerging from the Netherworlds and I really enjoyed their blend of thrash metal with sprinklings of death metal. The band would then take their songwriting to another level on their 1992 album, Realm of Ecstasy, with even more memorable songs and the death/thrashiness still kicking asses all over the place. Their reformation album, Angelic Encounters, in 2000, is a phenomenal piece of music but the production, during that time period, hindered the drum sound quite a bit. That album saw more of an emergence of their old school death metal influences. 2004 saw the band expand on their brutality as well as having a pretty sick looking album cover, with Undead.Unholy.Divine. Justified Genocide, in 2009, saw Thanatos just getting better as the years ticked on by.

Angelic Encounters 8 long years had passed since the second album, Realm of Ecstasy, was released from Thanatos and I had eagerly anticipated Angelic Encounters, but was let down by the production and this had nothing to do with the songs, as they are some of the best the band had ever done.  Armed with […]

Sweden’s Sorcery is considered one of the more obscure founding fathers of the Swedish death metal sound.  This compilation was released 2 years ago, but towards the end of 2013 Hells Headbangers Records reissued this onto a deluxe 2 cd set, with a new cover and this includes all their demo material. Disc 1 contains:  […]

Without going into an entire back story of Thomas (Warrior) Gabriel Fischer’s musical back story, I will save that for my forthcoming interview with him, it is undeniable the impact he has had on the metal community.  The Celtic Frost reformation album from 2006, Monotheist, is one of my all time favorite extreme metal albums […]

Finland’s Demilich are considered a legendary band, yet only released 1 album, the 1993, Nespithe.  How can this be??  Well if you have lived under a rock your entire existence and never heard this album, you need to be dealt with.  This is a classic album in the sense that after its release it is […]

Last year when Lacerated Enemy Records were back in business, one of the smartest things Zdenek did was sign Arizona brutal slam death metal act, Necrambulant. The band unleashed Infernal Infectious Necro-Ambulatory Pandemic, their debut album, which contains 8 vile gore soaked secretions that can give any band a run for their money, when it comes to sheer heaviness. The music is well crafted with extremely memorable songs. Plus what more could you want than the absolutely disgusting toilet bowl brown effect vocals that will fill your ears with filth and pustulating sores? The answer is nothing, because, as I stated in my review, not too long ago, this album is one of the heaviest and best slam death metal albums I have heard in a long time and I’ve pretty much heard ‘em all.

Cognizance is a brutal technical death metal duo from the UK.  Their 2013 debut release was a 4 song ep that the record label just sent me and my god this is some of the best and most memorable tech-death metal music you will hear.  The ep features some guest musicians, with The Faceless drummer […]

Los Angeles Californian, grind/punk/crust act Nausea, FINALLY return with their sophomore album, hell it’s been over 2 decades since the unleashing of Crime Against Humanity, for crissakes.  But we know how life is.  It’s really tough to keep a band going, especially when you throw in life responsibilities, on top of band responsibilities.  I will […]

I was able to acquire Calmed by the Tides of Rain debut album, Phaeton, last year and was mightly impressed by their ferociously heavy sound. I called them the Russian equivalent to The Acacia Strain, but much better and more of a focus on slower groove oriented death metal. The album is punishing and the slams will make you want to lift houses up from their foundations and toss them around like Legos

Chalk up yet another winner in the Finnish death metal community, with Desecresy, a 2 piece act. In 5 years they have released 2 full length albums. The 2010, Arches of Entropy and 2012 The Doom Skeptron are among some of the finest death metal you will find anywhere. I agree with Tommi’s answer, when you read it, that they do have a strong Bolt Thrower influence. This is in terms of their rumbling mid paced heaviness that steamrolls all in its path, taking no prisoners. The band also has a thick Finnish atmosphere in terms of the riffs in that they’re heavy, memorable and played with feeling.

Hailing from AustraliaGaped is 1 man death metal project, from Ryan Huthnance, & is some killer death metal.  He was formerly in Mortal Sin and my forthcoming interview with him will delve into how he does all the instruments, etc… The Murderous Inception is a 6 song ep that all lovers of Chris Barnes era […]

2008 saw the emergence of this Arizona based guttural death metal act, that due to line-up troubles saw the band almost breaking up. Necrambulant put the pieces back together and their signing to Lacerated Enemy Records helped bring about Infernal Infectious Necro-Ambulatory Pandemic, their debut album. If you have bands like Epicardiectomy, Abominable Putridity or […]

Vulvectomy is a brutal gore/grind band from Italy. They have 3 albums under their belts and their latest album that came out last year, Abusing Dismembered Beauties, on Sevared Records is their best one yet. Showing more maturity in their writing and song structures. With drum machines, it can be a hit or a miss, but Vulvectomy really goes the extra mile in making sure it sounds close to organic as possible and they do an excellent job of this. I swear listening to their latest album, there were times, that it feels like a human drummer. Really if you love ultra brutal music, with tons of memorable slams and if you have failed to buy a Vulvectomy cd, than you need to be given a beating.

Temple Nightside is an Australian black metal band that venture quite a bit into the ambient atmospheric textures of music. Their 2011 ep, Prophecies of Malevolence can best be described as extremely raw black metal with a production that is so low fi, it makes early Dark Throne sound like it was recorded at Morrisound […]

Derogatory is from California and play a mid 90’s Floridian style of death metal that is quite good. Not quite up to par with the likes of labelmates, Skeletal Remains, but still kick ass nonetheless. After an instrumental intro “Into the Depth of Time”, comes out the starting gates and I’m instantly reminded of classic […]

2011 saw the debut album from Visceral Disgorge, Ingesting Putridity. This Baltimore, Maryland brutal guttural death metal band were only interested in creating some of the most punishing death metal out there and they did it with ease. The album contains 9 songs of sheer extreme slam brutality with songs that are super catchy so that you can hum the tune while bashing holes in your house from creating circle whirlwind pits! I’ve seen Visceral Disgorge live several times and they deliver an extremely tight and brutal set and the local crowd just eats it up every time. I have been in touch over the years with their singer, Travis and have hung out with him at the local shows. A true underground supporter of the scene and he wants the best for his band, as well as the local death metal scene. Just a really down to earth dude who just so happens to have a super killer death metal voice

Xtreem Music return with a classic reissue of Dissect’s debut album Swallow Swouming Mass in a killer 2cd set.  This Holland based death metal act released this debut album some 20 years ago and it was overlooked by a lot of people, which is a shame, because it’s a kick ass record.  Sometimes presentation also […]

Back in 2012 Unique Leader Records released one of their best albums that year, Obeisance Rising, the debut from Hideous Divinity. I love the Italian death metal scene and it has nothing to do with me being Italian. It goes all the way back to Necrodeath and their stunning debut album, Into the Macabre, back in ’87, when I purchased the beautiful double gatefold vinyl. Over the last decade the Italian death metal scene has continued to grow and transform itself into a country that is a force to be reckoned with. The bands are getting more and more vicious and the Hideous Divinity album last year, for me, was spectacular.

Emblazoned, burst onto the scene in 1999 and put out a demo in 2001 called Nocturnal Arsonist and then an ep in 2005 A Ceremony of Hellfire. This past year they unleashed a brand new incredible ep The Living Magisterium. The band incorporates killer blackened death metal with elements of thrash and some doom/death metal. I gave this ep high marks a while ago and think it’s fantastic. It’s really powerful and everything from the singing to amazing guitar riffs will stay embedded in your head for days on end. They hail from the midwest in the U.S. and anyone that knows anything about American death metal knows that some of the sickest and most depraved bands, as well as serial killers, come from this area. Kevin Forsythe is the guitarist for the band and I’ll forgive him for calling the Cowboys, the Cowgirls, since he’s a cool dude and sent this interview back to me quicker than Aaron Rodgers can say “My collarbone hurts”. My interview with him is below and be sure to pick up The Living Magisterium right after you read this.