Archive for the ‘Frontpage Feature’ Category

The metal universe is chock full of legendary, long lasting acts who delivered album after album of excellence or at least some level of  consistency, even with a misstep or two; for example, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Bolt Thrower, Dismember, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Incantation, Deicide, Suffocation etc.

But for every one of those bands that had the right recipe for longevity and quality, there are 50 or more that never ‘made’ it. And my made it, we mean they just had one killer album or EP and for any number of reasons, never followed that release up.

This was a heavy duty order for me to review, Senjutsu, the 17th album from my favorite metal band of all time, Iron Maiden.  Maiden’s earlier output from the debut up until Fear of the Dark are all my favorite Maiden albums.  The first time I heard them was when I was 10 years old […]

“Our stories won’t be written with ink and mirth. But carved in flesh and the soul of the earth. The whispers of the wind will cease to be. All we hear is the wailing of the oceans plea” – “The Archive”. Arkivet (Archive) is the third album from stellar, fast-rising new Swedish melodic black metal […]

Finally we get the anticipated and delayed new Carcass album Torn Arteries.  Last year I reviewed the stop gap EP, Despicable and explained it was kind of a mixed bag with some great moments, but far too many average moments thrown in, with more Swansong moments.  So let’s get to the review to see how […]

I wish I had heard Canadian, one person act Unreqvited, before I reviewed the excellent EP from Christian Cosentino earlier this spring as they would have been an excellent reference point for that review. And there are so few for this style of outside of the box, happy but despondent, organic shoegaze/black metal past the […]

Despite being one of the early deathcore bands to successfully add keyboards to their repertoire and become more of a blackened deathcore band 4-5 albums ago, Carnifex has been surpassed by the likes of Shadow of Intent, Mental Cruelty and Lorna Shore when it comes to this supposed  ‘blackened deathcore’ sound (and you could make […]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh Nunslaughter… We’re creeping up here on 35 years of relentless, blasphemous chaos from the band now – and everything about a career as illustrious and heralded as theirs, has been as far removed from conventional as you can possibly imagine. This is, after, only the band’s 5th full-length studio release in all that time, […]

Sun of the Suns is a new band from Italy featuring members of tech-death act Carnality, deathcore stompers The Modern Age Slavery, and symphonic death metal band Nightland, but also features  Francesco Paoli from Fleshgod Apocalypse helping out on drums. And for once, the FFO recommendations in the promo actually nail it pretty hard, mentioning […]

Joey Jordison, founding member and ex-Drummer of Slipknot, has passed away. His family made the announcement Tuesday, July 27th, saying that the legendary drummer “died peacefully in his sleep.” Thus far, a cause of death has not been released. Regardless of whether you’re a fan of his music, there’s little arguing the immense influence he […]

You are starting to hear and feel the impact of covid and the chaotic final year of Trump’s administration on some albums being put out now. Albums that were written in seclusion, online, in depressive states, in rage. I think we are seeing a real creative burst in the metal scene, that might be one […]

Fuck. So back in February, I swore that Ominous Ruin‘s Amid Voices That Echo in Stone would be the tech death album of the year. Then shortly after that, Stortgren’s Impermanence,  was definitely going to take that mantle. But then Hannes Grossman dropped To Where the Light Retreats, earlier this summer, and THAT album was […]

GO! Now that I have that totally necessary exclamation out of the way, let’s talk about At The Gates’ new album, The Nightmare of Being. A title I totally feel right now, guys… but this isn’t about me, although I’ll probably inadvertently do my damnedest to make it. On full length #7, and the third […]

In my 20 plus years of music ‘journalism’,  I’ve had the pleasure of meeting lots of folks at shows, for interviews, over the phone, etc. However, a few dudes standout out as absolutely the nicest , chillest guys I’ve met; all the chaps from Between the Buried and Me, Carnifex drummer Shawn Cameron, and Mike […]

By the time I’m even beginning to write this review, anyone who has wanted to listen to Crypta’s debut album, Echoes of the Soul, has already had plenty of time. You know the story by now, but for those keeping score, bassist/vocalist Fernanda Lira and drummer Luana Dametto left Nervosa in 2019, that band then […]

I was fortunate to review the first 4 Pestilence albums when they were reissued through Hammerheart Records, as well as the last Pestilence album – Hadeon, which was also released on Hammerheart Records.  I went into this review as objective as I could possibly get.  I say this because I love all the Pestilence albums […]

Sometimes, if you get the opportunity, there’s nothing sweeter than doing something just because you friggin’ want to. For example (and I understand this is sorta an extreme one) – no one buys a vintage sports car because it’s practical, safe, or smart. No, you do it because you want a friggin’ vintage sports car! […]

Hannes Grossman is a busy dude. The talented drummer extraordinaire has had his fingers in many pies over the years, earning great respect and admiration with his work in bands including, Necrophagist, Obscura, Alkaloid, Blotted Science and Gomorrah amongst many others. Along the way Grossman has also established a solid solo career, showcasing his songwriting […]

I’m going to do my best to leave the drama out of this review because I’m sure everyone, myself included, has opinions of Dino, Burton C. Bell, and Fear Factory in general. So, I am going to do my best to just talk about this album and the band in general. If I fail, well […]

This is not the same Solstice, who are from the UK and play incredible epic and heavy doom, no this is the death/thrashy bastids who originated from Florida in the 90’s.  About a decade ago I reviewed the excellent compilation Pray for the Sentencing which included their first 2 outstanding albums – I reviewed that […]

I’m really enjoying what French label, Antiq Records is doing of late. I first discovered them with 2019s Par le sang versé from Véhémence, which made my 2019 year-end list. And now, here is 2021, they have a trio of excellent releases that could all end up on my year-end list from Hanteroz, Ascète, and […]

Listen, I’ll be quite upfront- Heralds of Strife is my most anticipated album of the year. Both the previous albums from this criminally underrated Indonesian black metal act, (2015s Homeward Path and 2018s Fortress of Primal Grace) were my top albums of the year respectively. So this review not going to be very objective, as […]

As I made clear in my review of 2018s Nyárutó, Hungary’s Dalriada is one of my new favorite discoveries of the last few years. Their infectious brand of bouncy but still crunchy, ethnic folk metal is just fun as heck even after 10 albums. And album number 11 is no different. Continuing the seasonal/month named […]

“Well, I don’t know how many years on this Earth I got left. I’m gonna get real weird with it.” -Frank Reynolds… and probably Vreid. On full length number 9, Vreid are back to do two things; prove sweaters are metal and get weird. After all, being cold isn’t very metal. It’s difficult to be […]

Holy poop on a stick – did you know Chicago’s Trouble have been around since the end of the 1970’s??   – Holy smokes I had no idea.  What we have here is the review/summation of the reissues Psalm 9/The Skull/Trouble/Manic Frustration Hammerheart has put out.  In order, this is the first, second, fourth and fifth […]

Can you believe Violence Unimagined is the 15th album from Cannibal Corpse?  Talk about an achievement in death metal.  Seriously is they wanted to break-up now who could blame them?  They have accomplished more than enough and have given back to the death metal scene an enormous amount.  Of corpse I do not want that […]