Credit where credit is due, Hungary’s Ektomorf have been playing their version of Soulfly’s 1998 self titled album for nearly a decade now with little sign of letting up of changing style five albums in, even with a label change from Nuclear Blast to AFM Records. At least you know exactly what you are getting […]
You’ve got to respect a band like Eluveitie. To make such a bold move like this after a highly impressive album like Slania is rather bizarre, especially when your fan base is just starting to grow. Evocation I – The Arcane Dominion, departs far from the melodic death approach and firmly embraces the bands desire […]
I can’t honestly recall having heard Elvenking before, and as I understand it, this isn’t a record I should judge the band by as it’s an attempt to do something different from their normal sound. This record, however, sounds like a band in need of an identity. Is it folk? Is it power metal? Is it 1980s pop rock? […]
Despite being world’s apart musically, there is one thing that ties Earth Crisis to the band of one of my previous reviews (Victims’ Killer), this being honesty. It’s a quality that has been apparent in Earth Crisis since their inception, even when they besmirched their legacy musically in 2000 when they put out Slither they […]
Holy sh– No that wont work. Jesus Chri– That wont work either. God damn– Crap. Well roger me with a Yorkshire terrier and call me Sally- man this is good. Those Christians sure are bringing the pain this year. Not only is the debut from California six piece Earth From Above arguably the heaviest Christian […]
This solo project by Polish artist Stanislaw Wolonciej mixes metal, prog, avant-garde and ambient, with some tonal parallels to the work of off-kilter acts like Frantic Bleep, Manes or Blake-era Ulver. Don’t get excited yet though – this is not as richly textured or as immersive as those bands, mostly due to the largely arrhythmic, […]
This is what I call a bullshit-free release, an attribute that always scores points in my big book ‘o reviewing. One might even call it an unmitigated mofo. The “it” to which I refer is Evil Army’s self-titled album, an offering that is pedal-to-the-floor vintage thrash metal without an ounce of pretension, studio gloss, or […]
If you still think of classic Metal bands as veritable dinosaurs, not dying off soon enough to make way for more advanced and sophisticated contemporaries, then you are sadly misinformed about the current state of the genre. In fact, it’s as large as ever, and more often than not, a trove of new ideas being […]
Here’s another one I’ve been putting off for some time. Each time I put it on, I just couldn’t quite wrap my head around it, and had to shut it off. But as of late, I’ve been digging on a little more oddball, left of center and/or progressive stuff from my norm, and Frozen Circus […]
I avoided this one for awhile, because well, truth be told I haven’t really dug on any new metalcore in quite some time, and all the albums I actually wanted to check out, with expectations and everything, failed me. So here we have this fresh band from the UK, The Eyes of a Traitor (TEOAT […]
Back out dad’s El Camino, move the paint cans and grab a bunch of extension cords, it’s time to rock! Eighteen Wheels Burning are here to piss off the neighbors on a Tuesday night with their brand of loose, raw, aggressive Rock And Roll. It’s equal parts Garage Rock & Stoner Rock with hints of […]
Melodic Hard Rock certainly has its own underground niche. Bands like Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Firehouse and Europe may not command the sales figures or radio airplay they once did, but their influence resonates in the music of underground bands/studio projects across the globe; bands that still use overdriven guitars, bands that still stack their chorus […]
Elder play a form of heavy, grooved out Sludge/Doom Metal with hints of Stoner/Space Rock sprinkled in for good measure. The tones are vintage and dry, which gives it a timeless sort of vibe. I’m tempted to throw in the typical Black Sabbath references here, but honestly, it’s more of a subtle influence than an […]
John Ricci and company break an eight year silence with the release of Thrash, Speed, Burn. Anyone who’s heard Exciter knows what to expect (as if the title of the album didn’t give it away) and the boys do not disappoint here. Decidedly old school, full of venom, energy and ready to teach the world […]
METAL, fuck yeah! Initially, before hearing Enforcer, I was under the assumption that they were another thrash revival band – I was wrong. Retro they are, yes, but they went back even further, to sounds that for the most part, predate thrash. Say, circa 1982, Enforcer combine the galloping nature and traditional/NWOBHM style of Iron […]
Many lovers of Metal music tend to venture into the realm of Prog Rock from time to time. Take into consideration the popularity of bands like Spock’s Beard, Enchant and The Flower Kings among certain Metal fans (usually those into the more Progressive side of Metal) and this is easy to see. Lucky for these […]
This is my first experience with East of the Wall, an all-instrumental prog/rock/sludge outfit formed from the rubble of The Postman Syndrome and Day Without Dawn, and featuring current members of Biclops. Comparisons to Pelican are close enough, but there’s an even more unusual, jazzier prog influence here, like Mastodon covering Steely Dan. And big […]
This is a band that would appeal to only a small percentage of extreme metal enthusiasts. So let me start with this: if you don’t like your doom/death mixed with serious amounts of experimentation, then you probably won’t dig this. But to the nuts like me out there, this is a whole new realm of […]
Considering my love of Between the Buried and Me, you’d think I’d be all over the debut from Indiana’s Exotic Animal Petting Zoo; Off kilter, jazzy, Dillenger-ish styled alternative rock and impossibly scattershot structures littered with lengthy ambient, introspective strains of clean vocals and progressive experimental textures. A must have right? Well not just yet. […]
Well established bands re-recording their past work has never really gone over well with fans. Most fans hold to the notion that not even the band itself can do anything that will even come close to capturing the magic of the original versions. To some fans, it’s outright blasphemy. Now, whether that’s a case of […]
Round 3 with Bridge 9, and yet again evidence that the palette within their roster is expanding ever further as a release of this ilk would have been unthinkable in the label’s formative phase. Even more unthinkable would be that the label would even consider releasing a record by a band that has artwork like […]
“In this world people will always throw stones in the path of your success, it depends on you what you make from them, a wall or a bridge…” Being one of Sweden’s most controversial and widely debated outfits, Evergrey seem to have been ignoring any disrespect they keep getting year in year out, constructing one […]
“Why is it you and not me?” and “but you’re strong enough to live on,” both lines from Destruction pop into my head. I’m undecided if the mighty have fallen or if it is me. On the first few listens the music is too mellow and stripped bare of metalness. I don’t like the new […]
If you enjoy midpaced metal soaking in keyboards then you might as well stop reading this review and go right out and buy this. However I’ll keep going if you want a bit more detail to help you make up your mind. The vocals are of the clean variety and while they sound decent enough […]
While I generally don’t care too much for female fronted, sugary Gothic metal, a couple of releases of late have broken from the ‘Naplam Records’ formula and piqued my interest; the debut from Jennie Tebler’s Out of Oblivion (Quorthon’s little sister) and this 2007 debut from the gorgeous French artist Eilera. With a voice as unique […]