Swedish progressive death metallers SKYFIRE have wrapped up the recordings for the follow-up to 2004’s “Spectral,” entitled “Esoteric.” The album’s music was self-produced at Powernest Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden, while vocals were produced by THE FORSAKEN guitarist Patrik Persson. “Esoteric” is set to be mixed by Jonas Kjellgren (SCAR SYMMETRY, SONIC SYNDICATE, ZONARIA, THE ABSENCE) […]

This Finnish black metal band play primitive “raw grim black thrash”, and it’s nothing we have not heard before, and usually done better as well. Take the best of Bathory, Darkthrone and Mayhem and remove those aspects of the music, Bloodhammer is what’s left. Advertising such inventive slogans as “play it loud, sucker!!” and “kill […]

Austrian death/black metal band Belphegor is back with their third release, titled Necrodaemon Terrorsathan. This band has been around for nearly ten years and shows no signs of softening their approach. It is still fast brutal technical satanic death at it’s finest. With messages like “keep your country clean, burn your local church,” prominently featured […]

Virgin Steele is a band that has been around for many years. With now eight albums under their belt, they are apparently loved worldwide by power metal fans. Well, after suffering through the painfully longwinded double CD release The House of Atreus Act II, all I can say is I’m amazed at the fact that […]

The sticker affixed to the jewel case of the new Vanishing Point CD describes its contents as “Melodic Progressive Metal.” After several spins of this Australian sextet’s sophomore release Tangled In Dream, I can honestly say, “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.” In smaller print the same sticker reads “…brilliant second album…” Excuse me, […]

Rising from the ashes of Minneapolis’ Disembodied comes Martyr AD. Although Martyr continues in a similar vein of heavy hardcore, this is clearly a new band. Naturally, traces of the deceased unit still surface (mostly in the form of dissonant guitar shrieks and pounding palm-muting), but Martyr is faster, smarter, better, and (believe it or […]

The Haunted finally return with what may be one of the best metal album of the year! Picking up where the band left off on the self-titled debut, The Haunted waste no time expanding upon the thrashfest that made the band an overnight sensation with fans and media. Humorously titled, The Haunted Made Me Do […]

Brooklyn’s governors of gloom check in with the inevitable rarities comp that spans their entire career of misanthropic melancholy. Kicking off the grim festivities with yet another track of digital silence-this one is a “remix” of “The Misinterpretation Of Silence And Its Disastrous Consequences” from their 1991 Slow, Deep And Hard debut – the usual […]

After a mildly disappointing second full-length, Finland’s Thy Serpent returns with four songs of the most emotive blackened metal I’ve heard in ages. I’m not too sure if it’s the fact that Thy Serpent mainman Sami Tenetz nabbed Rapture guitarist and songsmith Tomi Ullgren. Whatever the situation may be, Death is moving, engaging and inescapably […]

If Miami prog-metal purists Cynic were still around, this album would be the modern-day equivalent of their one and only release, 1992’s unrivaled Focus. Ironically, Miami’s Aghora are one-half Cynic-the better half, in fact, of bassist Sean Malone and drummer Sean Reinert, along with guitarists Santiago Dobles and Charlie Ekendahl and female vocalist Danishta Rivero. […]

Yngwie Malmsteen is very much a living legend in heavy metal, for it’s his inclusion of classical music within metal that’s set him apart from his string burning peers. Yet, with his immeasurable skill, Malmsteen also comes with a reputation – he’s rumored to be the most difficult person in music. For the sake of keeping […]

Subtitled The Dark Metal Compilation, this double-disc European compilation collects the top acts in goth metal and others who’ve forsaken their heavy roots for the love of money. Aesma Daaeva’s “O Death (Rock Me Asleep)” is reminiscent of old Paradise Lost but colder and with female vocals. Tiamat and resident freak Johan Edlund check in […]

Captured at the famed Elysee Montmarte in Paris during a sold-out performance in February of 2000, Vanden Plas’ Spirit of Live is a powerful, energetic live album! Live albums, for me, are usually hit and miss. Either the mix is bad, I don’t like the song choices, the vocals are way below par or, sometimes, […]

Nevermore’s previous album Dreaming Neon Black punctured metal’s stale world with daring yet impossibly catchy songs only a year prior. The possibility that the band would write and record an album of equal or greater impact, especially after losing guitarist extraordinare Time Calvert (ex-Forbidden), seemed like a distant goal. Fortunately for Nevermore Dead Heart, in […]

From the land of beer, metal, and’well, more beer come melodic/prog metallers Avalon. And with them, the German quintet brings their fourth album, Eurasia. I consider myself a fan of the melodic/prog metal genre, and many of the records I come across that claim to be a part of it, I find to be sub-standard, […]

Let’s be honest, shall we? When one thinks of death metal, the state of Kentucky doesn’t automatically spring to mind. Well, Abominant is out to change that with its indie release Ungodly. Abominant plays a mix of early 90’s death metal with black metal tendencies. Lot’s of guitar harmonies, blast beats, old-school metal rhythms and […]

What can be said about this cosmic rock act that hasn’t already. Surpassing every rock and metal trend, The Gathering can do no wrong. Everything they touch turns to gold and this release seems to glimmer brighter than all before it. For some bands, there is a point in a career, where everything clicks – […]

This Italian darkwave gothic rock band seems to have quite the following, but as soon as I heard that they play a combination of later Katatonia and Dead Can Dance I knew I was in for a tough review. I hate reviewing bands that play a style I can’t stand. While I can appreciate musicianship […]

OK, the liner notes say that this is a re-release of a promo, and is not reflective of the band’s current direction or talent; which is a lot like the “My Other Car’s A BMW” bumper sticker commonly seen on Pintos. This is so, so bad. It’s unredeemable badness doesn’t necessarily reflect a lack of […]

It may seem somewhat trendy, but I really dig this “goth metal” genre. I love the blending of the ambient keyboards with the heavy guitars. I also dig the combination of deathy vocal growls and operatic female vocals. One reason I find myself being drawn to this style, is that the music produced by such […]

Well, here’s a band I have never heard of. What we have here is straight up power metal, complete with fantasy lyrics, medieval melodies and tons of guitars. Surprisingly, The Storyteller comes off as more authentic than some of the newer bands in the genre. It’s hard to explain, but where bands like Rhapsody and […]

Thergothon is, for whatever it’s worth, almost universally credited with bringing true extremes into the happy-go-lucky world of doom metal; the slowest tempos, the deepest, most guttural vocals, and the most depressive and depressing atmosphere ever heard. With only one demo and one full-length album to ther credit before disbanding, the two-man project smashed the […]

Quite a pleasant discovery from the increasingly impressive Napalm Records, Third Moon rise forth from the untapped talent well of Austria. Difficult to classify, but definitely melodic death metal in the Swedish vein, they ache of Lunar Strain In Flames, modern Hypocrisy, Naglfar, and dare I say – Intestine Baalism. This palette is super crunchy, […]

The Deicide bio this time around flaunts a quote from Slipknot about how influential those death pioneers have been to the development of these masked neo-metallers. True rivetheads might interpret this ploy as sheer blasphemy, using sell-out rockers to market Deicide, of all bands! Truth is, Deicide doesn’t need anyone to tell fans how cool […]

No, this is not that excruciatingly annoying fat honky rap outfit. This is one of Sweden’s greatest hardcore groups on an album that will knock you flat on your face! Allday Hell is like a more bitter and violent combination of Discharge, Nausea, and Disrupt with a heaping helping of Motorhead. The majority of this […]