Archive for the ‘Frontpage Feature’ Category

Now this was a fun and interesting interview. Well, we think so anyway and hope that you’ll agree. Considering Scott Alisoglu and myself both found the music of Wooden Stake – particularly new full-length Dungeon Prayers & Tombyard Serenades – to be an intelligently constructed (lyrically and musically), compellingly horrific, and rather unique brand of doom metal, we thought it a smashing idea to conduct a joint interview with bassist/vocalist/lyricist Vanessa Nocera. Vanessa constitutes exactly one half of the prolific pair and also runs the mighty Razorback Records with husband Billy. Wooden Stake’s other equally important half is ubiquitous guitarist/drummer Wayne Sarantopoulos, about whom you may have heard because of his membership in a multitude of other acts, including Decrepitaph, Festered, Encoffination, and Beyond Hell. All that’s left to do now is unleash the hounds, open the gates, let the games begin, and get this party started. Do it!

In news that are bound to make a long lasting impact on the metal kingdom, Seattle’s progressive riffing engine NEVERMORE is facing undeniably hard times as shred-god Jeff Loomis and drummer Van Williams have quit the band. We repeat, Jeff Loomis and Van Williams have left Nevermore. The band’s latest (and last?) album, The Obsidian […]

Have you heard of Singapore’s Wormrot? If you consider yourself a grindcore fan and have not, then chances are you’ve either been in and out of rehab the last year or just haven’t gotten around to securing a connection to that new fangled thing they call the Internet. Debut album Abuse kicked a ridiculous amount of grindcore butt; rubbed raw, frothing at the mouth and dragging you through shortened, shocked, and sharpened speed blasts and crust crushes. Follow up album, which I incorrectly termed an EP, Dirge is even rawer, dirtier, frantic, and deleterious to the immune system. Guitarist Rasyid (and vocalist Arif where noted) checks in from somewhere on tour in these United States of America.

It’s not rocket science, folks. It goes something like this. A guy like Tomáš Halama readily admits that he enjoys old school Stockholm Death Metal and recognizes bands like Dismember and Entombed as the official representatives of said style. Then instead of pretending that it’s a bad thing to play anything based on an existing blueprint, he takes what he enjoys and does his damnedest to write it, record, and play it with the utmost passion and authenticity. That’s exactly what Brutally Deceased Dead Lover’s Guide (Lavadome Productions) sounds like: passionately played, well written, Stockholm style death that rumbles, gurgles, and stinks of rotting flesh. Who the hell is going to argue with that combination? Not I and certainly not Tomáš.

Looking for some straight forward, old school death metal with grooves and traditional song structures? If so, then stay as far away as possible from any of Ulcerate’s three full-length releases. The New Zealand trio is the quintessential forward-thinking Willowtip act, even more so than most other groups on the roster, not to mention modern death metal in general. Angular, shape-shifting rhythms, guitar work that is more about the painting of sonic pictures than popular notions of riffing, and a vibe in both lyrics and music that is suffocating in its bleakness. As such, The Destroyers of All is in fact all that and a bag of chips. Drummer/composer Jamie St. Merat, uh, opens that bag to reveal its contents…something like that anyway.

Burn from Denver’s Havok left a very positive impression on me and I considered it one of the better vintage-sounding 2009 albums of the thrash resurgence. Then a couple of years later Time is Up arrives and I’m thoroughly impressed with the band’s songwriting improvement and compositional twists, not to mention a thrash attack that is even more blistering and memorable. But the game-changer for me was watching Havok perform live at The Riot Room in Kansas City, MO as the second band on a bill that included Full Blown Chaos, The Absence, Malevolent Creation, and openers Beyond Terror Beyond Grace. On stage Havok kills with a conviction that I’ve rarely seen from such a young band. They play with the skill and chemistry of veterans and perform with the fiery passion of youth. I was absolutely stunned and would hate to be in any band that has to follow a Havok performance. So on to the Havok van we went to conduct the interview with vocalist/guitarist David Sanchez. Finishing off the evening with cheap tequila and 24 oz. cans of PBR didn’t leave me in the best of places, but at least I left with a vivid memory of the Havok assault.

What’s the single sickest, most perverted thought your mind has ever spewed out? Go ahead…reminisce. Now imagine that 100 times worse, covered in blood, oozing with sores, and accompanied by an accursed shrieking — and you’ve got the core of BELPHEGOR’s madness at hand. Austria’s supreme black/death masters unleashed Blood Magick Necromance unto the world recently, and head hellmouth Helmuth corresponded with Teeth of the Divine about its gooey inner workings

Fourteen Twentysix are not metal. Nor do they claim to be. Nor do I. Yet, for some reason, they fit Teeth of the Divine’s bill just fine. Last year I reviewed the band’s latest effort, Lighttown Closure, and while I thought it showed a lot of promise, it just didn’t quite reach the premise. This was one of the reasons why I got into a discussion with the band’s primus motor, Chris van der Linden. The other reason was, that on their upcoming new album, Antimatter’s Mick Moss will be making an appearance. Bang! Newsflash! Chris wasn’t the only one to take part in the party though, as Jelle Goossens and Tom van Nuenen from the band popped in and answered a few questions as well. Some even, related to metal.

Week number 11 starts with DYING FETUS as both Erik Thomas and Scott Alisoglu take a look at the Dying Fetus reissues released by Relapse Records (no surprise there). If you originally missed the albums, then it’s about time you read if you’ve missed out on something good…

Well, we haven’t had a giveaway for a while here at teethofthedivine.com, so we thought we’d reward your patience with a killer giveaway from an upcoming new label. Not just a CD, not just two CDs..oh no amigo! This is a full on 4 CD giveaway and a sick T-shirt will be thrown in for good measure.

A confusing battle over intellectual property rights and trademark has left the Finnish heavy metal scene in tearful turmoil. Hevisaurus―the gold- and platinum record selling heavy metal band―has fallen into a limbo after the negotiations between self-proclaimed originator Mirka Rantanen and the group’s original label, Sony Music came to a halt. Primal rage inducing legal battles are ongoing and no doubt, more are firing up as the band’s GWAR-meets-Barney outfits were confiscated, grinding the performers’ tour plans to a halt.

Her laugh is infectious, her spirit is addictive, and her stage presence is second to none. The person to whom I refer is Veronica Freeman, a heavy metal icon and an incredibly powerful singer that deserves far wider recognition than she’s gotten, as does her band, U.S. traditional metallers Benedictum. Witnessing Benedictum bring the house down at the 2007 edition of Chicago PowerFest in support of debut album Uncreation was by far the most pleasant surprise of that weekend and I’ve been a fan ever since.

NEXT CHAPTER IN AWARD-WINNING BAND’s STORIED CAREER SET TO UNFOLD Celebrated progressive rock / cutting-edge metal band BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME (also BTBAM) has inked a worldwide recording deal with Metal Blade Records. The award-winning North Carolina quintet will kick off the partnership with the April release of its new album The Parallax: Hypersleep […]

When I first read about Kauan, there was something strange about it. A young fellow from Chelyabinsk, Russia doing neo-folk/ambient/post-rock in Finnish. He was no doubt inspired by Tenhi. My prejudice was proved wrong as the band’s latest output, ‘Aava Tuulen Maa’, became THE album of 2009 for me. After spinning it more times than I or iTunes could count in 2010, I decided to check up on Anton Belov ― the primus motor behind the music ― to see if I could become any wiser about what lies behind Kauan and Belov. Aside from the fact that Kauan’s upcoming album ‘Kuu’ is coming out soon on Italy’s Avantgarde Music.

Melodic death metal tyrants AMON AMARTH are proud to announce their 2011 U.S. headlining tour. Simply dubbed “An Evening With AMON AMARTH,” this very special trek will find the band touring without support and instead performing two separate sets each night! One set will feature upcoming album Surtur Rising in its entirety. The Viking-inspired festivities […]

Guitar-legend Gary Moore was found dead in a Spanish hotel room on February 6th. He was 58 at the time of passing. With definitive signs of alcohol use in the hotel room, speculation soon arose that the Irish guitarist had chocked in his own vomit. Official sources have yet to confirm the cause of death. […]

Three albums in and Shaun LaCanne’s Putrid Pile is something along the lines of a household name; death metal households anyway. Along with Shawn Whitaker (Insidious Decrepancy, Viral Load) and Peter Hasslebrack (Bloodsoaked), LaCanne took the one-man-band concept and turned it into a legitimate death metal form that rivals most trios, quartets, and quintets. Album number three, House of Dementia (Sevared Records) is the most accomplished Putrid Pile release to date. Having seen Shaun performed at the 2008 and 2010 editions of Central Illinois Metalfest, I can personally attest to his chops as a stage performer as well. As it had been several years since I interviewed Shaun for Metal Maniacs (R.I.P.), I figured it would be a good time to catch up and discuss his impressive list of accomplishments since 2003’s Collection of Butchery was released.

Some of you may remember that one year ago my first interview with Vetis Monarch of Canada’s Weapon was published here. Following the release of Drakonian Paradigm (one of my favorite albums of 2009), it was intended to explore Monarch’s musical/lyrical world of the mystical, the occult, and the brilliantly black metal. Here we are again and Weapon has released another masterpiece in From the Devil’s Tomb, a longer, denser, and indisputably heavier affair that retains the exotic flourishes and black/thrash basis, whilst delivering the goods with an approach that bludgeons with death metal force. As such, a Weapon album will again be included in my year-end Top 10 list. Vetis Monarch offers an insider’s view of From the Devil’s Tomb.

God Dethroned is one of those death metal bands that define reliability, consistency, and excellence, almost to the point where I think they are sometimes taken for granted and perhaps not afforded the level of recognition they deserve. Some will point to albums like 1992’s The Christhunt, 1997’s The Grand Grimoire, or perhaps 2001’s Ravenous as the classics, in many cases due to nostalgia associated with remembering that first album that sucked you in for good.

It’s that time of the year again, when it’s time to take a look back at the previous year and figure out what the end score was. And as it is with things over here at Teeth of the Divine, this thing is legen-waitforit-dary…but none the less open to debate. So take part in the fun and post your top 2010 lists too! Without further a due, 12 pages of all things 2010 (and more or less, metal). Enjoy!

Love it or hate it (which seems to be the general feeling around here) deathcore is here and here with a vengeance. A sure sign that the genre isn’t going anywhere? A band like Oceano is nestled neatly on Earache Records, one of the oldest and most respected labels and purveyors of “true’ metal. After releasing their debut, Depths in 2009, the band quickly rose to the top of the deathcore heap and with their latest release, Contagion dropping earlier this fall, they look to stay there despite a large line up shuffle. I caught up vocalist Adam Warren to delve deeper into Oceano….

Lots going on. Iceland and Ireland in economic ruin. Haiti in rubble. Israel’s right-wing regime kicking around a new World War. And nearly half the U.S. digging an anti-queer Barbie doll and would-be president who shoots animal snuff films.

Put in context, anything going on in metal may seem like small beans. But still, we have our subculture, and the big story—what I’m calling The Great Metal Fashion War of 2010 because I can—is no less lacking in cultural hysteria. It isn’t a war-war, of course, more a metaphor thing. Except when it kind of isn’t.

An odd spelling for the band name, a digital-only label that offers its releases to the masses for free download, and an approach to death metal that is traditional, song-centric, and just damn heavy… In the case of Contaigeon’s Death as the Gates of Delirium on UK label Works of Ein, the combination is a winning one.

You think you know the underground? You don’t know shit! Sorry, got a little carried away there; just exaggerating for effect, no offense. But seriously, folks, Serbia’s NadimaČ is about as underground as it gets these days, at least as far as exposure outside of the Slavic region and a staunch DIY work ethic are concerned. With a slew of releases (full-lengths, splits, comps, vinyl, DVDs, etc) on labels like China’s (yeah, China) Area Death Productions, and singing in their native tongue exclusively, NadimaČ is one band that truly puts the music first and money/fame a distant…ah hell, who are we kidding? It’s not a consideration.

‘Tis the season and all that. And in the spirit of all things festive and or Capitalistic, teethofthedivine is teaming up with Rotting Corpse Records to give 3 lucky winners, three of Rotting Corpse Records’ latest releases.