Author Archive

My introduction to Skeletonwitch goes back to 2007 when I first heard their second album, Beyond the Permafrost. I had wanted to get their debut, from 2004, At One with the Shadows, but it’s out of print and one day it will be reissued for the masses. However I was really digging the band and their blackened death/thrash attack. One of the main ingredients of a good band is songwriting and the band excels in that category. I could not believe the guitar melodies on the album, that not only were the songs brutal, but they were memorable and played with emotion. A lot of feeling goes into how the band constructs a song and how they incorporate the riffs. I love the albums after BTP, Breathing the Fire and Forever Abomination and own quite an array of Skeletonwitch shirts.

Ossuary Anex is a brutal death metal band from Russia, so you know what to expect, since Russia is putting out some of the most vicious slam death metal bands right now.  My iTunes, when, I loaded the cd in, said it was a 2013 release, this was released pretty much on New Year’s Eve […]

What we have here is the complete discography, 26 songs in total, of now defunct Swedish act, Fulmination, who were around for a few short years in the early 90’s and featured yet to be members of Uncanny, Centinex and Entrails but never actually releasing a full length album.  The band played a pretty straightforward […]

Mega thanks to Matt, from Dark Descent Records, for not only having one of the best underground record labels out there, but for also being such a cool dude.  This ep was a surprise that he sent me, I never heard of this Australian act, and San La Muerte plays a filthy dirty raw brand […]

Embalmer is a brutal death metal band from Cleveland, Ohio that have been around since 1989. They have gone through band members coming and going, going on hiatus, but most of they are a major influence on the brutal U.S. death metal scene, as well as many overseas bands associated in this particular genre. When I joined Internal Bleeding, in 1994, their Rotting Remains demo became one of my favorite demos of all time. Beyond brutal, fantastically brutal vocals and just well played extreme underground death metal. Back in the 90’s we played with Embalmer many times live, and they were one of the heaviest and best brutal bands that I was fortunate enough to be on the same bill with them.

Pathology has been one of the most, if not the most brutal death metal band to come out of San Diego, California and the band has only been around a mere 7 years. When vocalist Matti Way departed after the 2010 release of Legacy of the Ancients the band still plowed forward and the 2011 […]

The year is 1991 and the debut album from Netherlands act, Asphyx is released, The Rack. One of the greatest death metal albums of all time that merged doom metal seamlessly into their sound. Only 1 year later, saw the release of Last One on Earth, even heavier than their debut and just as crushing. The band released other scorching albums/eps; Crush the Cenotaph, Asphyx, God Cries, On The Wings of Inferno and their unofficial 1990 debut Embrace the Death. Now while all these other releases had some other members here and there on the releases they were still excellent. Throughout the years this wonderful band has influenced not only numerous bands, but now generations, since the band has been around for over 2 decades.

Soulfly return with their 9th full length album and Max Cavalera has been in Soulfly now longer than when he was in Sepultura.  Boy time flys by so quickly and Soulfly, by and large release a new album every 2 years, although they did release Enslaved in 2012.  Savages is a pretty good album and […]

Well Big Al, has said this Ministry album, their 13th, will be the last Ministry album…We’ve heard that before and my only question is WHY???  This is one of the strongest Ministry albums ever and one of the most extreme the band has ever done.  From Beer to Eternity features a variety that encompasses the […]

Coldsteel is a Long Island, NY melodic thrash band that were formed in the 1980’s and they released a bunch of demos before their full length album, Freakboy, came out in 1992, on the now defunct Turbo Music. I used to see Coldsteel in NY and they always put on an energetic set and connected to their fanbase due to their down to earth and fun personalities. Vocalist, Troy Norr, actually became a family friend and came to my parents house a bunch of times and the band were nice enough to include my brother and myself in their album thanks list. Anyway the band could thrash with the best of them, like Overkill and had enough Anthrax style in your face gang choruses to stomp people in the pit too. The other side of the band were their incredible melodic edge with beautiful solos, bass lines and some excellent vocal variations, by Troy.

Coldsteel reformed last year and are a melodic thrash band from L.I. NY and their singer, Troy Norr and I go back to knowing each other for close to 25 years. I won’t give you a history lesson, I’ll save that for my interview with him forthcoming. I’m here to review their new ep, America […]

DODECAHEDRON is yet another home run of a recommendation from my boy Graham Landers at Deepsend Records. What drew me to the band was the bleak cover design, reminding me of a lot of the Finnish death metal bands that I love, with their designs. DODECAHEDRON are from the Netherlands playing a hybrid form of black metal, with some death metal influences, however this band creates some menacing atmosphere that reminded me a bit of Ulcerate and Mitochondrion, and I was hooked once I heard their debut self titled album, which was released last year.

I buy pretty much every new release Deepsend Records puts out and label owner Graham Landers is always giving me recommendations from his label & outside his label.  He knows me and he’s always on the money with his recommendations, which my wife appreciates, with all my cds coming in every week.  I never heard […]

Chicago based Born of Osiris return with their fourth album, Tomorrow We Die Alive. I know there are strictly a lot of people on TOTD that do not like deathcore and BOO definitely still retain those influences on this, however they also incorporate djent styled industrial influences as well as full on death metal, with […]

Suicidal Causticity is an Italian brutal death metal band and The Spiritual Decline is their debut album. Italy is not only known for their delicious pasta and pizza, but is also becoming known, in the underground death metal scene, as one of the hotbeds for brutal and extreme music. Fans of Hour of Penance, Vulvectomy […]

Not only is Finland home to some of the best death metal bands on earth, but also savage Grind Kings, Afgrund. In their short existence, they have unleashed some of the most brutal grindcore, this side of their fellow countrymen, Rotten Sound, as well as the stripped down brutality of Pig Destroyer. So this mini […]

It should come as no surprise that Deserted Fear hail from Germany, where killer metal is coming out, literally on a daily basis. Also on the killer FDA Rekotz German label, the band’s My Empire debut last September should be picked up by fans of not only the Swedish/Asphyx sound, but also the 90’s Floridian dm sound. One of the things that was eye catching when I first saw the album cover is the killer artwork, surrounding a cemetery-it’s good to see bands still putting time into creating killer artwork and this reeks of old school through and through. Mr. Dan Swano helping to create a massive sledgehammer sound and really Deserted Fear are amazing.

Murder Made God are a brutal death metal band from Greece, around for about 2-3 years. This marks their debut album and if you like your music fast and furious with hints of technicality to it, then buy this. If you’re looking for something original, that has not been done to death time and time […]

This is a remastered/reissue of the first 2 classic albums from Hypocrisy, the 1992 debut, Penetralia and the 1993 sophomore release Osculum Obscenum. I’m not here to give a history lesson on this legendary Swedish act, but suffice it to say, these 2 albums have become huge influences in the death metal genre, even over […]

Last year Sevared records put out one of their best albums ever, in my opinion, from Unfathomable Ruination- Misshapen Congenital Entropy was a highlight for releases last year. Massively heavy, brutal blast beats with guttural vocals, but also some technical aspects to the well played songs. I thoroughly enjoyed the enormous bass bomb drops that appeared in various parts of the album, which created a more brutal environment for the songs to even sound more lethal. Around for a mere 3 years the band has seen their popularity grow as they perform with national acts and devastate crowds and they are one of the best bands coming out of the UK, at the moment. Just look at the fuckin crazy looking album cover. That ginormous monstrous plant thingy looks to wreck havoc upon your mere mortal soul if you fail to purchase their debut cd. Their guitarist, Daniel Herrera, was super cool in getting the answers back to me quickly and here is what he had to say regarding the inner workings of this great young band.