This review is long overdue – about four months late – but can you blame me? There was a lot to take in on this one! And since it’s going to wind up high on my year-end list, I figured it’s time. I’ve been an Opeth fan since late 1997, when I first heard “Nectar” […]
As one of the godfathers, if not THE godfather, of the deathcore genre, Despised Icon have enjoyed a special place at the top for fans of the style. Though the band themselves have rejected the label, they have no doubt played a huge part in spearheading a genre that is oft-hated, but no doubt has […]
Gatecreeper’s 2016 debut album Sonoran Deprivation, caused a bit of a stir as Relapse Records signed and released a US based death metal album after a few years of lagging behind in the death metal arena. It was a solid, near great album of Swedish styled lumbering death/doom, and the follow up, Deserted follows suite, […]
If you were to poll die hard Cradle of Filth fans and even casual black metal fans and ask what the long running UK black metal band’s best album was, it would likely be a mix of 1996s Dusk and her Embrace and 1998s Cruelty and the Beast, maybe with a few votes for 2000s […]
Ave! Italy’s Romanic death metal warriors ADE are back with yet another new line up, another label and another quality album..despite that Dance of Death level artwork… Lone original member/founder/primary song writer Fabivs again has a whole new legion surrounding him including bassist Cornelvuis and vocalist/lyricist Diocletianvs (both formerly of Suicidal Causticity/ Oredreth), the band’s […]
Despite being the arguable top act in the Swedish death metal revival since 2010s Tales From the Morgue, I had some reservations about the band’s sixth album. Mostly due to yet another line up change surrounding founder Jimmy Lundqvist, this one involving the addition of Markus Svensson on guitars but mainly, Penki Samuelsson moving to […]
Hailing from Denver, Colorado Blood Incantation return with their sophomore album Hidden History of the Human Race, the follow-up to the monstrous 2016 debut, Starspawn, which I reviewed on this very site. In their existence since 2011 Blood Incantation has garnered a well-deserved reputation for their raging live show and yes live, they’re one of […]
Shortly after its inception in 1995, France’s Blut Aus Nord started traveling two separate, but parallel paths. The first two albums Ultima Thulee and Memoria Vetusta I: Fathers of the Icy Ages fell right in with the other second wave black metal of the time: lo-fi, buzzy, fast, and melodic. Then the band split off […]
When I reviewed Nile’s fourth album, Annihilation of the Wicked way back in 2005, I mused how long the band could keep up the high quality and continue the long running Egyptian themes. Well 14 years and 5 albums later, that answer is pretty clear. Even with a bit of a lull with 2012s At […]
What the Fuck? Have I gone back in time to 2006-2008? Unearth released a great album last year, Killswitch Engage released a great album earlier this year, and now As I Lay Dying have released a great album!!!! I digress. But personally I have found the story arc of AILD frontman Tim Lambesis more interesting […]
I’m not very familiar with the UKs Infant Annihilator, other than the ridiculous prices their first 2 albums are being sold for, and that some of the members are in down tempo act Black Tongue. But The Battle Of Yaldabaoth is my first time actually hearing them, and if it’s any indication, those prices are […]
Lots of long overdue comeback albums this year: Possessed, Sacred Reich, Nocturnus and add Exhorder to that growing list too. Longtime original members from the first 2 classic albums Slaughter in the Vatican from 1990 and The Law in 1992, Kyle Thomas-vocals and Vinnie LaBella-guitar return to the fold to resurrect this once great, but […]
Spain’s Wormed, I can’t believe it, have already been around for 20 years. Holy crap how time flies. I would assume this little ditty of an ep, in the spherical form of Metaportal is a precursor to Wormed’s fourth full-length album. I have been a huge fan of the band and have met them on […]
I’m not going to lie, I’ve been waiting for ICS Vortex to be the full time singer again in Borknagar for a while now. No disrespect to Andreas Hedlund (Vintersorg) and his contributions on the last few albums, or even Garm’s superb early efforts, but I think most would agree the ICS Vortex albums (Quintessence, […]
I’m not sure what is more surprising- that this is Pathology’s 10th album since 2006, or that its released on Pavement Music/Entertainment, once a prolific extreme metal label, now home to the likes of Dishwalla, Puddle of Mud, Flaw and Tantric. Either way, album number 10 sticks to the tenets of the last few albums, […]
While most are out there blowing their loads over the Tool album, I’ve been sitting here patiently awaiting the arrival of another long awaited progressive metal album, Disillusion’s reunion effort after 13 years!. Yep- it’s been 13 years since the divisive Gloria, which while a solid album, had the herculean task of following up a […]
Arizona Thrash veterans , Sacred Reich, return with their first full length since, Heal, from 1996. Awakening is their 5th full length and after reforming years ago the band has made it more than a reunion, because unlike a lot of bands reuniting Sacred Reich actually recorded a new album, rather than continuing to rest on their laurels and tour […]
I’m on a bit of a symphonic metal kick of late, especially deathcore,jamming the likes of Carnifex, Ov Lustra and When Plagues Collide on a regular basis. So here is Connecticut’s Shadow of Intent, who are one of the online deathcore community’s darlings with 2 albums under their belt (Primordial and Reclaimer). They have made […]
A seasoned veteran and stalwart of the Swedish death metal scene, the prolific Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Ribspreader, Down Among the Dead Men and countless other acts) has dipped his toes into solo waters again for sophomore album, Entrance to the Otherwhere. The multi-talented artist handles all lyrics, music and songwriting duties, ably assisted by session […]
After Whitechapel’s The Valley, you could argue that Thy Art is Murder’s’ Human Target, and Carnifex’s 7th album are 2019s other ‘big name’, veteran deathcore releases. And while I have yet to hear Human Target, The Valley was phenomenal, so where does World War X stand? Well, I had some reservations when I saw/heard first […]
In my review of Falls of Rauros‘ last record, Vigilance Perennial, I stated: 1) I was listening to something special, and 2) how can that top that album (which was my number 3 album of 2017)?. Well, despite switching from perfectly suited label in Bindrune to lesser known but also solid Gilead Media, they have […]
2019 is turning out to be a banner year for Power Metal- all the heavy hitters like Sabaton, Gloryhammer, Battle Beast, Beast in Black and two Rhapsody related projects have all dropped excellent albums, and next week, genre grand fathers Hammerfall release a new album, and then later this year Dwarven warriors Wind Rose drop […]
The sophomore effort from Australia’s Disentomb, Misery was a very late discovery and addition to my 2014 year end list, but that won’t be an issue with the band’s stellar third effort, as I’ve had this beast for a while now, and it’s easily one of the year’s best death metal records, even as we […]
Chug…chug… chug….blast…blast…blast…limbs are crushed…sinkholes erupt…lava explodes….ripped off heads…atomic blast…sky is torn…chest collapsing…atmosphere no more…planet dies……………….Yes, Devourment are back with their 5th album-Obscene Majesty, and their longest album yet at 47 minutes. They figured let us just bludgeon the listener more and more and if we do it longer than the beginning above part of this […]
From the depths of Cleveland’s legendary metal scene emerges Curse of Denial to devour the innards of the weak and unsuspecting. Vicious old school thrash-inspired Blackened Death Metal carnage that will keep your head steadily banging into utter oblivion. A juggernaut of hellfire awaits with Curse of Denial’s 2nd full length album that carries the […]