Black metal’s bad boy Varg returns to the rock’n’roll scene with Belus, the first Burzum album in ten years or so — and the first since the man got out of the prison system. Read what Teeth of the Divine’s own Grimulfr has to say about the new album.
The rest of the world got this disc late 2009, those of us in North America had to wait till January 26. The limited edition contains a bonus DVD recorded Live at Peace & Love -festival on June 28, 2008 in Borlänge, Sweden. This is almost reason enough to get this album…
Ignoring the DVD releases and Best of -compilations, Armored Saint have been occupied elsewhere, unable to thrash out like they should. It’s been 10 years since their previous full-length album “Revelation” and the crowd has been left wandering in the dark, looking for the saint that is armored to set them free. This year, the band finally returns to the meat factory with their newest album “La Raza” (via Metal Blade Records). But the question remains… can they deliver? Read Shawn’s take on it.
When I first listened to Sybreed’s latest album The Pulse of Awakening, I didn’t know how I felt about the band’s Marty McFly shenanigans (read: ’80s influence). While it was different compared to their previous two albums—Slave Design and Antares—the band’s sound had still remained somewhat intact… go figure. And figure out I did as I got to interview the main man behind the controversy, lead singer Benjamin.
Bindrune Recordings and Teethofthedivine.com are teaming up to give one lucky winner a copy of Celestiial’s “Where Life Springs Eternal”. Blood of the Black Owl’s – “A Banishing Ritual”, Nechochwen’s “Azimuths to the Otherworld” and Wodensthrone’s “Loss”.
The last chapter has been written and the book of Catholicon has been closed. The Baton Rouge band, which formed in 1994, has disbanded with some members going on to form Heir to the Throne. Throughout Catholicon’s career, which includes four full-length albums and multiple demos, the unique, creative, blasphemous, and downright diabolical style of black/death metal has not only gotten better with each release, it has stood the test of time. The culmination of that improvement comes in the form of Of Ages Past, the final Catholicon album and one that features the act’s best songwriting to date within the quasi-parameters of its unconventional, yet more refined/conventional (relatively speaking, of course) this time around, brand of sonic sacrilege that chills to the bone and melts the face. The release comes with a DVD-ROM containing a veritable treasure trove of material from across the band’s career (more on that below). With that I present to you a Q&A session with Chad Kelly (a.k.a. Blasphyre) the former Catholicon member who was an integral part of the creative/professional process and who has chosen to simply let sleeping dogs lie, rather than continue on in a new incarnation (ala Heir to the Throne) of it.
I won’t blather on about how Exodus is one of the greatest thrash bands of all time or that over their last several albums they’ve proved to be better than ever at delivering violent thrash metal. We all know this and if you don’t, you better find out soon, lest you miss out on the excellence that is Exodus. Instead, we thought that an update on the band after the release of the outstanding DVD, Shovel Headed Tour Machine: Live at Wacken (and other assorted atrocities) and before The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit B – The Human Condition drops in May. I caught up with iron man guitarist Gary Holt at his band’s Tyrants of Evil tour stop in Seattle.
The Ocean’s upcoming albums are going to be entitled Heliocentric and Anthropocentric. They are due for April and October 2010 releases. The concept at the base of both albums is a critique of Christianity from different philosophical and personal angles. While the songs, art and lyrics of Heliocentric tell the story of the rise of […]
Over the last ten years, Fear Factory has tarnished even the most dedicated fans’ view of the band. Under pressure from Roadrunner, the band bridged a gap between their heavy industrialized sound and the mainstream, causing a downward spiral of events that eventually led to what we all thought was the band’s ultimate demise. Chug-master Dino Cazares left the band due to mounting tension with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell, and pursued Divine Heresy, which was a lackluster copycat of Fear Factory in most fans’ eyes. Though Bell and company kept the motor running with Archetype, 2005’s Transgression was a clusterfuck of an album that sealed the deal for most followers. Well, those days are ancient history and I am ecstatic to say that the machine has returned, and someone has switched it to kill mode.
I last interviewed Overkill vocalist Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth for the Killbox 13 album in 2003 and since that time have held the man in even higher esteem, not only for his steely resolve and unwavering devotion to thrash metal, but also for the enthusiastic and amiable way he comes across. Why I waited seven years to interview him again is beyond me. His is an interview to which you look forward because you just know it’ll meet the gold standard. This time was no different.
After many, many years stuck in the wilderness, the UK is finally getting back into the Death Metal arena with legions and legions of quality bands. Despite the intricate nuances of these new minions, they all comfortably sit under the encompassing banner of “Death Metal,” be it the blitzkrieg insanity of Infected Disarray, the guttural perfection of Embryonic Depravity or the freakishly bizarre Crepitation and Amputated, these bands are Death Metal to the bone. Ingested, produced one of my favourite (and most played) albums of 2009, they are another cast iron example that extreme music is healthy and vibrant on these shores. Ingested first came to my attention as the standout band of the North-West Slam Fest 3 way split extravaganza that was released in 2007. The potential demonstrated on that juicy entrée was mouth watering, and they satisfyingly outdid themselves on their full length. I spoke with drummer Lynn Jeffs, on whom the band’s guttural insanity is pivoted, he had plenty to say on the scene, his tenure in Annotations of an Autopsy, and the future plans for Ingested.
After two excellent splits, UK-based pagan black metal outfit Wodensthrone has delivered one of the most impressive debut albums I’ve heard in years. Grand, savage, epic and beautiful, Loss has not only found itself high on my year-end list, but it’s also quickly become one of my favorite albums in the genre. Much of this has to do with the sweeping songcraft, but it’s the evocative, atmospheric nature of the music that really transports the listener. No surprise, given that these guys take their history, their heritage and their philosophy quite seriously. Read on and you might even learn a few things…
You know its a stellar year for metal when all the the staff asked if they could submit more than ten favorite albums this year, and then snuck in numerous other top albums by way of honorable mentions, new discoveries and such. Still, you cant argue with 2009s wide array of quality albums. The year was dominated by technical death metal, and littered with unsigned gems and unexpected surprises. I mean, when was the last time a year see releases by the likes of Mastodon, Isis, Behemoth, Napalm Death, Nile and Suffocation and they only get cursory mentions?
Thanks to everyone who all who made the site what it is and thanks to all the readers who make it what it will be. Here is to another great year of metal in 2010.
Where available, reviews have been linked so you can read our highly specialized, professional, humble and opinionated reviews of these albums.
As usual feel free to ridicule, mock our picks, add your owns lists and ensure that the old fashioned saying about opinions holds true…
I’ll get straight to it. One of my favorite releases of the year, and indeed of the last few years is the debut from California’s Fatalist, “The Depths of Inhumanity”. Why? well, I’m a sucker for old school Swedish Death Metal, and Fatalist, right down to the logo, song titles and even some promo photos are Entombed incarnate. I caught up with band founder Neil Burkdoll to take The Left Hand Path and discover The Truth Beyond….
Though we spend most of our time mired in all elements of the extreme, dark, violent and misanthropic, we here at Teethofthedivine.com still understand the importance of things like family, friends and whatever religious implications come with this time of year. So with that, we here at Teethofthedivine.com would like to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as we take some time off and gear up for 2010.
Also, we’d like to take a moment to wish all those in the Military serving their respective countries around the world at this time, a safe Holiday Season and thank them for their continued service.
Vetis Monarch – vocalist/guitarist/leader of Canada’s Weapon – is a thoughtful sort and one whose art cannot simply be explained by alter ego\ or the commonly accepted conventions of artistic expression. Weapon is his living, breathing personification. Taking a far deeper philosophical approach to concept/lyrical development, Monarch’s worldview is somewhat atypical for black metal in that it is based not on a Christian, and ultimately anti-Christian background, making the exploration of Satanic philosophies far more refreshing. But it is the music of Drakonian Paradigm that sucked me right in and kept me coming back for more, making the album an immediate 2009 Top 10 selection in the waning weeks of the year. Black metal at its core, yet not solely traditional in a tremolo-picked and blast-beaten sense, Drakonian Paradigm brilliantly mixes in elements of thrash, death, and even traditional metal, in the process creating memorable songs and varied arrangements all wrapped up in the kind of palpable genuineness and sinister atmosphere that is lacking on so many BM releases. And now to answer my feebly probing questions, I give you Vetis Monarch.
World-renowned power trio HIGH ON FIRE has completed work on its long-awaited, fifth studio album and follow-up to 2007’s Death is This Communion. Titled Snakes for the Divine, the record will drop on February 23, 2010 via E1 Music. Recorded at The Pass Studios in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, Snakes for the Divine […]
Blackened-thrash masters, SKELETONWITCH have announced a US headline tour this February. The band, who is just wrapping up a wildly successful co-headline tour of Europe with GOATWHORE and TOXIC HOLOCAUST, will be bringing IRON AGE from Austin, Texas and Rhode Island’s HOWL on the entire run. DOOMRIDERS and BLACK TUSK will lend support on select […]
Earache Records is very proud to announce the signing of Canadian thrash metal pioneers ANNIHILATOR to a European deal. Since releasing their classic ALICE IN HELL debut in 1989, ANNIHILATOR has consistently played heads-down, no-frills metal, led by guitar virtuoso JEFF WATERS. Now, in 2009, Earache is proud to welcome one of the originators of […]
Like the deadly bacteria lying dormant at the bottom of your gut, Witchmaster sits and waits until the time is right for them to resurface in a choking, splattering, sickly mess that ruins your golf game or whatever the fuck else you had planned for the day. Their last grime-encrusted offering, a self-titled album released on Agonia Records, came out five years ago, and now the wait is over for Trucizna, a hellacious, gnashing beast that saw its US release in November courtesy of the invulnerable Ibex Moon Records. Axe-slinger and original member Kali talks about the new album, Polish extreme metal, and just not giving a fuck.
Welcome to the first of (hopefully) many band spotlights here at Teeth of the Divine .com. Think of this as our version of VH1’s Behind the Music. The aim with these features is to take you a little deeper into some of the more influential, important and respected band in metal. Band’s that through their albums, shaped genres, defined sounds and for many, changed lives. Some bands are still charging on, continuing to adding to their legacy, while other have since call it quits, allowing their recordings to continue their impact and legacy…
One of many thrash bands of the 80s firing up the engine again in the 21st century, New Jersey’s Whiplash have released an album in Unborn Again that is outstanding on numerous levels. In large part it is due to the dynamic and varied songwriting, which includes not only neck snapping thrash, but also groove based heavy metal and hard rock. Most surprisingly is how well it works as a complete listening experience. Although the band followed up 80s classics Power and Pain and Ticket to Mayhem with a handful of 90s albums, 1998’s Thrashback was the last we’d heard from Whiplash until the release of this year’s Unborn Again. Certainly the passing of original member and bassist Tony Bono in 2002 put a damper on things, to say the least, but the Jersey boys are back and without a doubt better than ever. Guitarist/vocalist Tony Portaro and drummer Joe Cangelosi check in with TOTD to bring us up to date.
Formed in 2007 with the intention of honoring England’s proud ancestral heritage and rich national culture, WINTERFYLLETH (comprised of members culled from the UK’s most devastating doom contingent Atavist) set a solidified mission statement to bring awareness to England’s historical stories, folklore, landscapes and ancestral past through their folk-influenced vitriolic black metal. Coining the term […]
Many bands talk the talk of file sharing being something to be embraced, rather than eschewed, but how many bands do you know that walk the walk and actually release an album for free, especially a band on a big metal label? You’ll know at least one now, as Ireland’s Gama Bomb have done it through Earache Records with Tales from the Grave in Space, the follow-up to the extremely well written, balls out thrash masterpiece Citizen Brain. At the time of this interview I had not yet heard the album, as it was not available, so the idea was to focus on the band’s/label’s decision to release it for free, a preview, if you will. Now that I’ve gotten my own digital copy of the album (and you can too), I can tell you that it is every bit the rip roaring, fun-filled vintage (with modern sensibilities) thrash extravaganza that is Citizen Brain. Vocalist Philly Byrne fills tells that tale of Tales and how file sharing can be a good thing for metal bands.
I-Tunes today premieres “Powershifter,” the first song from Fear Factory’s upcoming new album as an exclusive digital download. Due in stores February 9th, Mechanize is the first album to feature the lineup of vocalist Burton C. Bell, returning guitarist Dino Cazares, bassist Byron Stroud and veteran drummer Gene Hoglan. The anticipated album also welcomes back keyboardist/producer Rhys Fulber (Front Line Assembly).