There’s was a nice little run on under the radar technical death metal to finish 2012 and start 2013; relatively new or obscure acts like Inanimate Existence, Devolved, Ophidian I, Scent of Death, and  Nebulous aren’t household names in technical death metal, but if you are looking for some solid examples of the genre from […]

Wormed, Spain’s brutal purveyors of tech-death, have been gestating for about a decade before finally dropping Exodromos; the much-anticipated follow-up to their widely acclaimed 2003 debut, Planisphaerium.   Maybe it was my mindset at the time but their debut didn’t really move me in the way it rumbled the underground.    Not that it’s a bad album […]

Those of you who enjoyed releases from Canada’s Cephalectomy including their sophomore effort Eclipsing the Dawn and their final release- the free download- An  Epitaph for Tranquility take note. Barra Xul is basically the same band and sound by two of Cephalectomy‘s main guys, founder/guitarist/vocalist  Cory Andrews (also of Select and Dismember) and bassist Scott […]

UPDATE-CONGRATULATIONS TO PALLBEARER, WHO BY A SERIES OF COMPLEX FORMULAS AND CALCULATIONS WON THE TOTD STAFF ALBUM OF THE YEAR WITH ‘SORROW AND EXTINCTION’. ANAAL NATHRAKH’S ‘VANITAS’ TOOK SECOND PLACE, WITH DYING FETUS TAKING THIRD WITH ‘REIGN SUPREME’.

. Another year, another winter spent threatening physical violence upon the staff here to get their year-end picks in. Now that the dust has settled, here are the results – the definitive list of critical picks of 2012’s best and worst releases. It’s all here: top albums, top EPs, top songs, biggest letdowns and the woulda shoulda coulda’s, as hand-picked by the TOTD staff. Feel free to comment, critique and tell us your own favorites for 2012. Thanks to all you guys for reading our little site in 2012 and here’s to another epic year of metal in 2013. Salut!

You kind of know what you are getting just by looking at the cover of the debut from Pittsburgh’s Kamikabe; the logo, the artwork, the label, etc; yup- techy, brutal death metal/deathcore that culls from the likes of label mates like Fallujah and Halo of Gunfire, early The Faceless and Born of Osiris (minus the […]

It’s been four years since the release of The Faceless’ ambitious last album, Planetary Duality. That’s plenty of time for some kind of musical or sonic metamorphosis (and plenty of band member change-ups as well), and on their new concept album Autotheism, the band truly spreads its mutant wings. I was impressed with Akeldama, their […]

Along with Dark Descent and Willowtip, Deepsend Records are one of my favorite independent US based labels, especially when it comes to pure death metal. They’ve had a solid spring summer releasing quality albums by the likes of Offending, Synapses, the always reliable Dawn of Demise and even got into the reissue game with reissues […]

The sophomore release, Formshifter, from Allegaeon refines and polishes what they had established with their debut on Fragments of Form and Function – tight, technical, groove and hook-laden riffs with catchy choruses and blazing shredding all along the fretboard and deep, commanding death growls. Unlike a lot of other technical death metal bands, that like […]

For the last entry in my 2011 Shiver Records catch-up run we have the debut release of Belgium’s Marche Funèbre, a swampy ooze of melancholy death-doom. One thing I need to just get out of the way is that I simply despise the clean singing on this disc. It’s a warbly, pseudo-operatic, sadghost voice that […]

While bigger named brutal/technical death metal acts (Cannibal Corpse, Spawn of Possession, Gorod, Nile, Dying Fetus) will get the lions share of the attention in 2012, as usual there are a number of under the radar acts that deserve your death metal ear. Recently, the likes of Nocturnal Torment,  Stalwart, Tombthroat, Fisthammer, Never to Arise […]

It has been fabled that the Australians are an extremely friendly bunch of people, and that myth was put to rest when this writer interviewed Psycroptic a day before (25th April, 2012) their first live performance in Singapore (26th April, 2012); an island famed for being one of the world’s smallest countries, one of the world’s foremost educational hubs and probably the most well-known Asian metropolitan after Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Having been on Nuclear Blast’s roster for 4 years, it is surprising to see that the band is still as down-to-earth as your average Joe (or perhaps even more than that) and don’t dabble in the sophisticated art of breathing with their noses pointing skyward. Main founding member and drummer David Haley met this writer outside the hotel, exchanged some very normal greetings, and then casually led this writer right into the band’s hotel room to conduct the interview. It was a modest room that only barely had room for two, but Jason Peppiat (vocalist) and Joseph Haley (David’s brother and Psycroptic’s only guitarist) were both in it as well to join in the fun.

Clad in casual T-shirts and shorts, all three members of the band looked as at home as a kitten in a 9gagger’s arms. David looked around for a while, seemingly searching for something, before he pulled a seat out from under the humble coffee table and invited this writer to have a seat. Thus began the friendly interrogation of Psycroptic regarding issues ranging from their thoughts on Singapore, why they don’t consider themselves to be a “technical death metal” band, meat pies, beer and more.

After six long years, Spawn of Possession are back to toss their hat into the tech-death ring with their third full-length – Incurso. The band has gone through a lineup change since the last album, with drummer Dennis Rondum trading in his sticks for a microphone, and Obscura’s Christian Munzner taking over on guitars. Right […]

Well, another year. Another late year rush to get staff picks together, which is a lot like herding cats. Another year of rotating staff members. Another year of departed metal icons. But despite of all that, another year of seemingly endless awesome metal. Its seems like each year is always better than the last with a mix of old acts returning, newcomers bringing the thunder and of course the perennials and old reliables. Sit back and feast your eyes on this years cream of the crop according to the staff here at Teethofthedivine.com. And of course feel free discuss, dissect and discredit, but more importantly tell us your picks, good and bad of 2011.

Oh. My. Fucking. God. Imagine, metaphorically speaking, that two high speed trains are careening towards each other on a unavoidable collision course. One train is Origin‘s ultra technical, brutal, but intelligent form of death metal. The other train is Sigh and their over the top orchestral symphonics and theatrics. BAM!!!! They collide, each train melting […]

Right-wing yahoos in this country may still hold the French in contempt, but those of us in the underground know better. Not only has France been dominating horror the past few years with brutal films like Inside, Martyrs and the work of Alexandre Aja, but it’s also got its share of stylish, unfuckwithable metal acts. […]

Expectations are high for Decrepit Birth’s third album. The wide spread acclaim for 2008’s Diminishing Between Worlds set the bar high, and many, including myself, thought the band simply peaked at the right time with their choice to add melody to technical death metal. Throw in a shift from Unique Leader to Nuclear Blast and […]

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…

Man, not only has death metal seen some excellent , label released goodness in 2009 (Augury, Gorod, Obscura, Ulcerate, Man Must Die, Nile, As You Drown, The Red Shore to name just a few), along come bands like Cephalectomy, Avicularia, Unconventional Disruption, Burial Ritual, Zealotry and Quebec’s Vengeful to self release some death metal awesomeness […]

Italy’s Faust brought in the big dogs for the recording of From Glory to Infinity. Luckily, the musical aspects of said disc far exceed the visual ones (i.e. the cartoon cover of the amply bosomed nun). Feast your eyes on this lineup and you will understand why the musicianship on the album is top notch: […]

Credit the Czech Republic’s Lacerated Enemy Records for nabbing the license for this Skull and Bones Records released debut from these young (and now split up) Australian upstarts Hiroshima Will Burn, a modern tech-death act that came along just soon enough to catch what is looking like the tail end of a minor trend of cherubic […]

Hailing from the craggy depths of New Jersey, Helcaraxë are one of the resurgent US bands plying Viking inspired forms of metal (Oakhelm, Hammer Horde, etc) and is one of US metal very best kept secrets. After their impressive debut, Triumph and Revenge, the trio has tightened up their form of gruff, dense and loose […]

There’s a recent thread on the boards decrying the shitty scenester music that kids today are listening to, including the infamous BrokeNCYDE (which Erik Thomas just wiped his ass with a few weeks ago). Now, I’ve ignored the vast majority of all this stuff for the past ten years, going back to when pop punk […]

I knew little about Canada’s Augury prior to hearing this album but was aware that their Galy Records debut caused quite a stir in the tech death metal world. My interest was however truly piqued when I discovered that vocalist/guitarist Patrick Loisel was in Canadian act Kralizec who were responsible for one of my very […]

Holy hell. 2008 saw tech death metal explode with the likes of Origin, Decrepit Birth, Brain Drill, Trigger the Bloodshed, Severed Savior, Psycroptic and such; a year hard to top right? Well, 2009 already has seen brilliant releases from Obscura and Ulcerate as well as solid releases from Inevitable End, Gory Blister, Trigger the Bloodshed […]

Things have been relatively quiet in the Willowtip camp in 2007. Though we’ve had the likes of Odious Mortem and Electro Quarterstaff, the label hasn’t quite reached their usual level of brilliance so far this year, and while the recent Malignancy release and the upcoming licensed Neurotic releases look to up the ante, Italy’s Illogicist […]