I reviewed the debut album, Crypt of Ice, in 2021, from newcomers Frozen Soul. I really enjoyed their previous demo material and the debut album furthered their sound in terms of musical ability and the songs fleshed out more. The comparisons to old-school bands like Obituary and mainly Bolt Thrower were some of the reasons […]
I do not purport to be an expert on all things Immortal, the long-standing Norwegian Black Metal band, but I do have some interesting things to share, probably more opinions than anything else, before delving into the band’s 10th album, War Against All. Until now I only followed the band from 1992-1996, so that is […]
Cattle Decapitation needs no introduction. Their trajectory has been astronomical since The Harvest Floor and they’ve yet to disappoint. Death Atlas let me down, but only because it was simply pretty good, and not the greatest album in the history of mankind. I saw them live back in November of 2022, the new one was […]
Boy have I been waiting for this one. Ever since these Russians dropped the killer video for “Protonemesis” over a year ago. I’ve been salivating for this release, as it’s been 10 years since Serial Urbicide and the new song showed a bit of a direction shift into a more ambitious form of slam with […]
Italy’s Graveworm has been around since the mid/late 90s, plying their form of gothic/ melodic black/death metal, and by all accounts have been a pretty respectable act over their career. They found themselves on Nuclear Blast Records with 200s Engraved in Black when the label was saturated with the likes of Agathodaimon, Godgory, Sculpture, Crematory […]
I think it’s safe to say the Tri-State Area East Coast thrashers Overkill regained their mojo with 2010’s Ironbound album. They were also armed with a new label Nuclear Blast Records, where they have remained since. The four albums which followed were also pretty damn ass-kicking and that trend continues with Scorched, the band’s…wait for […]
Well, well, well, what do we have here? The 12th album by the biggest metal band in the world. I consider it their 11th, because Garage Inc., while a great covers album, is an album of.. whelp, covers. I reviewed the last Metallica album Hardwired… to Self-Destruct in 2016 and I really enjoyed it and […]
When listening to the latest full-length from Sermon, I am reminded of a few bands. Namely Tool, Enslaved, and Soen. I used to be a huge Tool fan, but now just feel like they believe their shit doesn’t stink. I am still an Enslaved fan, but Soen doesn’t do it for me. Sermon does. This […]
Swedish death metal played in the USA is more of a needle in a haystack type of deal. California’s now-defunct Fatalist was one of the better USA type of bands and they had a short run, with minimal output but their material still owns. Trying to find another band that, captured that buzzsaw Swedish sound, […]
One could argue, that along with Distant’s Heritage, To the Grave‘s Director’s Cuts, Chelsea Grin‘s double album, and Suicide Silence’s newest, the debut from Ov Sulfur is up there as one of 2023’s early high-profile deathcore releases. Featuring former Suffokate vocalist Ricky Hoover (who has beefed up considerably in the 9 years since his Suffokate […]
There is only 1 Suicide Silence album I do not have in my collection and if you guessed it was their self-titled affair from 2017 you would be correct. I am not a fan of that album or the musical direction they went in. I was especially disappointed in it after they released the great […]
France’s tech-death metal gods, Gorod, return with The Orb – their seventh album. Holy smokes I did not realize how time has flown by and the band is self-releasing this through Bandcamp. For me, the best tech-death metal bands are First Fragment, Gorod and Obscura. I know, I know there’s like a bajillion of tech-death […]
In 1994, I was a twenty something working at Best Buy. We had received a copy of the Emperor/Enslaved massive split Hordanes Land and it caught my eye. I had no clue what Black Metal was, had never heard of the genre at all. Of course, Emperor comes first, and those four tracks alone had […]
If you get naked, cry, and sacrifice babies at the altar of death doom, you probably like Insomnium. So, I guess the GOP can start looking for pedophiles at their shows (or in their mirrors). I’m only here to help. I’m no fanboy, but I do enjoy their output, particularly my favorite of theirs, One […]
The Netherlands’ Distant has the unenviable task of now being on the same label as Lorna Shore after a stint on Unique Leader. And then, as one of the first, larger profile deathcore bands to release an album in 2023, after Lorna Shore‘s Pain Remains changed the game for deathcore (labelmates Ov Sulfur look to […]
Imagine, if you would, finding a way to beat the odds and make a legitimate career for yourself in music. Dope! You’ve already lived out the dream of myriads of artists around the world. But not only are you making a living, you’re literally spearheading an entire musical movement – laying a foundation and becoming […]
Now on album number 5, the UK’S Memoriam should not need an introduction. But for those that don’t know, Memoriam is a project involving Bolt Thrower and Benediction members and was started as an homage to fallen Bolt Thrower comrade Martin Hearns (RIP). And if you also have not heard the band yet, I’ll give […]
As I’m sure most of you know, …And Oceans returned after an 18-year hiatus ( not including the Havoc Unit years) with 2020’s superb Cosmic World Mother. And after a relatively quick tuned around have returned with their second post-hiatus album, As in Gardens, So in Tombs. Now, there is sometimes potentially a bit of […]
I’m always a little dubious when a band is claimed to be the “fathers of (X-Genre)” these days, especially when that “X” is something really hyper-specific. Take these Germans, AHAB for example: 19 year veterans in the metal scene, so certainly not a newcomer trying to make a name for themselves or anything like that […]
For a band known more for it’s morose atmospheres, downtempo paces and overall depressive tones, Katatonia sure has a way of getting albums off to a quick and, at least in my case, startling beginning. I swear, it’s like the band is fucking with me, or at the very least trying to catch us all […]
Florida’s Obituary needs no introduction, being one of the legitimately legendary American Death metal bands, if not the godfathers of the genre. From genre-defining classics like Slowly We Rot and Cause of Death to their post-hiatus offerings like Inked in Blood, Xecutioner’s Return, and Darkest Day you know what you are getting. That said, 2017s, […]
We say this every year, but 2022 was a fantastic year in metal. With literally too many killer releases to cover, especially with the increase of digital-only/Bandcamp releases.
And as usual, there was a mix of veteran acts that are still at the top of their game, and fresh new blood to get excited about and the future of metal seems to be in good hands.
Our carefully cured lists cover a whole gamut of styles and releases, so feast your eyes on our best of 2022 staff lists, check out the linked reviews and feel free to comment, let us know what we got right or wrong, and post your own lists in the comments.
Here’s to 2023 continuing the trend of great years as we get the likes of Metallica, Obituary, In Flames, Insomnium, Distant, Ne Obliviscaris, Extermination Dismemberment, Sanguisugabogg, and no doubt, exciting debuts from up and comers.
As always, thanks for reading, sharing, liking, and commenting. You are why we do this (and maybe some early free music). So please keep coming back here for your metal reviews, features, and general metal fuckery.
For this one, I want to take a trip back to heavy metal city where the mustachioed man wearing the trench coat from my last Veilburner review resides. Turning the corner once again past the mainstream shops, I see the man and two masked men standing over his lifeless corpse. Oh shit, the Veilburner duo […]
I’m not a huge thrash metal guy. Other than some that were my gateway bands into death metal like Slayer, Possessed, Metallica, and Holy War (and for some reason never heard or purchased a Megadeth album). However, in the late 80s, I did have a soft spot for thrash from my homeland of England mainly […]
Way back in the late 90s/early 2000s, The End Records were arguably the best independent record label around that wasn’t one of the ‘big’ four- Nuclear Blast, Century Media, Relapse and Metal Blade- when it came to underground metal.
With releases from bands like Agalloch, Ulver, Arcturus, Anathema, November’s Doom, Crisis, Love History, Sculptured, Scholomance, Unexpect, Virgin Black and others, the label was diverse, ambitious and often genre bending.
But for me personally, one of the band’s early flag ship US bands that was able to compete with their European brethren was Tennessee’s black metal act Epoch of Unlight.