As I sit down to write this review, it is currently 108° in my backyard, 94° in the house (with the swamp cooler on 73°, mind you; it’s a dry heat). Fortunately, I don’t live in Arizona, where the maniacs in Sunscorched are from. I have visited there twice, and both times in the summer, […]
What do you get when you throw The Birthday Party, Fields of the Nephilim, and Swans into a pot and stir? You get Portland’s Dry Wedding, and if you’re from Portland, then you’re probably familiar with them. The whole reason I grabbed this promo was because of the mention of The Birthday Party; they’re such […]
I’ve never heard of Colorado’s Bestia Arcana until now, and what I’ve got here is a re-release of an album I didn’t hear when it came out in 2017 via Dark Descent Records. Holókauston was the follow-up2008’s008s To Anabainon ek tes Abyssu (which I’ve also never heard, but intend to remedy that soon). Holókauston makes […]
Back in 2022, I covered Ad Finem Omnia and their blistering debut No Peace-No Dawn. I climbed mountains to shout about how good it was, and it remains one of my favorite Black Metal albums of that particular year. Four long years later, Ad Finem Omnia have returned from their Chilean tomb to unleash a […]
Now, this. This is what I’m fucking talking about! First of all, any Black Metal album I cover from here on out is going to be measured against this crushing slab of Finnish ice-cold Black Metal. Goddammit, this is possibly AOTY material, and that’s just a cold, hard fact. I don’t even know where to […]
Well. My gasts have been flabbered recently by this til now pretty dormant band called Seven Chains. Their debut Seven Chains came out in 2016, followed by Thus She Speaks, the Spiraling Maranatha (2020)… and then crickets. Now here we are in 2026 with Swollen, In Flux, and it’s my first exposure to their weird […]
This is not a fun album. Nirriti don’t want you to have fun while you’re listening to their debut album Dhrupad Anutpada (ধপদ অন$ৎপ&দ): Apophatic Ragas Of Non- Origination. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to like it. It’s ugly, it’s abrasive, and that was after the first spin. Many hours later… Song […]
Nunslaughter has been spreading their joyful filth since 1987, when their Ritual of Darkness demo was unleashed upon the unsuspecting Death Metal community. Two fistfuls of various split albums were released until they put out their first full-length album, Hell’s Unholy Fire (2000). That’s when I first heard them, and I’ve been a fan ever […]
There have been cover bands since the dawn of music. Now, I realize that Left to Die is a bit more than just a cover band. The band features Death alum Rick Rozz and Terry Butler, as well as Matt Harvey, who also basically has another Death cover band in Gruesome. For years now, they’ve […]
It’s safe to say that, for the most part, Swedish Black Metal sounds nothing like Norwegian Black Metal. Marduk sounds nothing like Satyricon, nor does Satyricon sound like Dark Funeral. Flykt are from Sweden, Stockholm to be precise, formed back in 2016 apparently. It’s also safe to say I’ve never heard them before… until now. […]
Mork has been spreading their disease since 2007. That’s a pretty long time in dog years to be sure, but those years have sharpened their sound to a razor-sharp edge, and with Monolitt, their follow-up to 2024s Syv, they are bringing more ferocity to the table and some absolutely deadly riffs to boot. For those […]
Norway’s Trelldom is back with another mind-boggling release, filled with cosmic horrors and coiled malevolence. Gaahl (Gaahls Wyrd, ex –Gorgoroth) has this Black Metal Midas touch that ensures anything he releases is going to be at least amazing. …By the Word… is a bit of a slower-paced album than 2024’s…By the Shadows… (which I covered […]
From what I’ve heard, everything in Australia wants to kill you. Fortunately, I don’t think the bands that come from there do (well, maybe Destroyer 666), but Australia has a pretty rich, non-murdering history of bands. Add to that legacy Black Sea of Trees, a pleasant doom/progressive death metal quartet out of sunny Melbourne. Celebrating […]
The Formula for a raw Black Metal album: take some stomach bile, mix it up with some menstrual blood and a pinch of salt, and pour it on the band members’ heads in some sort of blasphemous ritual. Featuring members of Finnish Black Metal royalty (True Black Dawn, and …And Oceans, to name two). Accelerated […]
From the Dictionary: The meaning of HUBRIS is exaggerated pride or self-confidence: arrogance. How does that translate into scalding Black Metal from Buffalo, NY? I’ll get to that shortly. Hubris isn’t going to rewrite the Black Metal blueprint anytime soon, but that’s just fine. Acts of Sedition is a satisfying album, a meat and potatoes […]
“This is a big release for them. First in over a decade. Sound of the new single is their best sounding recording. There’s my 2-second review”. Fellow scribe Frank Rini said he would punch me if I didn’t quote him regarding this fantastic new offering from international mutilators (but mostly from Jerusalem/ Bethlehem, having relocated […]
I’ve been a Corrosion of Conformity fan since Animosity (1985), and while I do miss those days of early Hardcore brutality, the band has become something more massive than I ever thought they would. By the time they had released their eponymous, much lauded 1991’s Blind, they were strong as fuck with tracks like “Vote […]
This is my first time reviewing a Darkthrone album. I know, right?! I’m shaking my head too… lame as fuck joke but whatever. I’m pretty jazzed about it. I found out about Darkthrone through the classic Transilvanian Hunger; picked up from an Albuquerque bookstore, used. It wasn’t some hole-in-the-wall store either; no lit candles guided […]
Last year, I reviewed one of the most unusual albums I think I have to this point… The Harvest by :Skull & Dawn: was my AOTY, and it was well-deserved (I even got a victory lap because I got the other guys to like it too). I digress because Twin Serpent is a bit similar […]
Part 1: History and Memory I first heard Sepultura in 1990. It was Beneath the Remains, and from that opening acoustic guitar, I was hooked. It was brutal, beautiful, and violent. Its predecessors Morbid Visions/ Beastial Devastation and Schizophrenia, were still unheard mysteries to me, and I later was able to get a hold of […]
There have been stellar Black Metal bands coming out of the Middle East for years: Melechesh, Akvan, and Orphaned Land, to name three. Nile, while playing Middle Eastern Death Metal, is still from South Carolina, so they barely qualify (in sound only). So, having said that, I’m here to talk about Gomma, a one-man outfit […]
Relationships can make your spirit uplifted, and you’re invincible with your partner. But then something happens, and the spark goes out, there are accusations and distrust; both of you are trying to break each other down until you’re shells of your former selves. Loss, disconnect from the joyful aspects of life, and venomous anger are […]
Poland is a literal hotbed of Death/ Black and Folk Metal. Their most notable outputs are Behemoth and Vader (among others), but you can add Varmia to the mix of solid extreme music bands from the region. I last spoke about them with high praises for their EP Prolog (2023) and Nie nas widzę (also […]
Like a bolt of lightning piercing your eardrums, Texans Necrofier have returned to deliver their blistering third full-length called Transcend Into Oblivion. Twelve saber-toothed tracks of prime USBM, and let me tell you friends and neighbors, it’s a fucking wild animal. There’s nothing better than a solid banger Black Metal album, and that’s what Necrofier […]
Oh man! This brings back memories. I spent my formative years for music absorption in England circa 1990-1993. During that time I discovered Carcass, Bolt Thrower and so many other killer Death Metal bands that my brain was rotting from all the sickening gore I was exposing it to. I was also a Punk kid […]