Aeturnus’ past achievements hold little comfort in this release of uninspired mediocrity. Sounding washed-up without remorse, the Bergen-based band’s sixth-full length can only appeal to bargain-basement shoppers. This album is a grindy, dull affair which sounds more like sophomoric hopefuls than the original veterans who brought forth …And So the Night Became and Beyond the […]
When metal-archives.com went online I started systematically entering bands in alphabetical order with a few exceptions for some of my favorite bands that no one else had submitted yet. Among the first was Kampfar. I remember where I bought the Kampfar mcd back in 1994, one of those defining moments like where were you when […]
As if Candlelight wasn’t already having a great year with the likes of Daylight Dies, Enslaved, Ihsahn, Keep of Kalessin, Zyklon and Bal-Sagoth, here is arguably one of the most anticipated ‘reunion’ albums of the year within its respective genre. I wont bore you with the history of Starkweather, but one could argue that without […]
I can’t be the only one that thought these guys broke up years ago, can I? Understandably I was rather shocked to receive in the mail Metal Black, the latest album from metal’s original satanists Venom. I was even more shocked to find that it didn’t completely suck.This year commemorates the 25 th anniversary of […]
Belenos is back with their 4th crusade of brutal Pagan black metal. Chants de Bataille has been finally released by Adipocere after the last several releases on Sacral Productions. Other than a jump from one French label to another French label, not much has changed. The most obvious change is the inclusion of seven interludes. […]
Do not click off this review, you will miss one of the most surprising and stunning albums of the year from a completely unknown band.The first release from the longtime hardcore webzine, and by god it?s a fucking scorcher. I initially saw Lye By Mistake at a local show in St. Louis and I was […]
Though most think Metal Blade are more miss than hit with their recent metalcore offerings (i.e Phoenix Mourning, Machinemade God), their sub label, Ironclad have had a little more success (The Classic Struggle, If Hope Dies) and continue that with this debut album. Though named after a bee farm, not a very metal moniker I’ll […]
The first time I put in this record it was my first experience with Decapitated. This very young band from Poland has created some major hype since their first release Winds of Creation in 2000. And even though this was my first Decapitation album, I sensed the stir in the death metal world over this […]
Let’s put aside for the moment the overly complicated concept about DNA mapping and molecular regeneration on Vision Divine’s fourth album and just focus on the music. Timo Tolkki of Stratovarius fame steps into the producer’s chair here and takes the band in more of a prog direction than their previous power metal outings, and […]
“The Heaviest Album of the Year. Period” – from Prosthetic’s promotional sheet. Folks, there is not denying that the ‘heavy’ in heavy metal takes many form; the blazing speed of Nile, the rumble of Bolt Thrower and the dirge like oppression of Catacombs; all heavy in their own right, but regardless of what you term […]
Though this is the fifth outing from the Swedish power metal act Steel Attack, it’s my introduction to them, and my first impression is pretty good. Diabolic Symphony features some nice, cutting power/traditional metal that’s not overburdened with keyboard flourishes or overbearing vocal harmonies. Singer Ronny Hemlin reminds me a little of Tim Owens (in […]
People, pay attention. What we have here is a very, very special US Black Metal record, a landmark even. While Wrest has been sucking up all the USBM glory with his well-deserved plethora of EPs and splits, no band has truly challenged the USMB throne occupied by Leviathan. Until Now.While most USBM seem to try […]
Certainly, Twin Method is by far the most commercially oriented act on the roster of Crash Music. Listening to this single, which is intended to build anticipation for the band’s forthcoming summer release, The Volume Of Self, it’s pretty apparent that Twin Method has a certain affection for Mudvayne. Toss in a touch of Linkin […]
Once upon a time, I valued technical proficiency above all other musical attributes. It probably had something to do with the musician crowd that I was hanging around with. Then one day, I was sitting in my room and the sad truth struck me. I’m a lousy guitar player, and even though I love playing, […]
Now that the post-Bloodbath, Stockholm homage glow seems to have passed, with even Bloodbath moving away from their Entombed/Dismember/ Grave worship for Nightmares Made Flesh, here comes Lord K (The Project Hate) and his second super group of old school Swedish death mongers featuring Emperor Magus Caligula – Vocals (Dark Funeral, Hypocrisy, Dominion Caligula), Tomas […]
Apparently Myspace has some uses other than unsolicited porn and self promotion (my main use) as out of the blue I get a message from Kostas, the main man of Pantheist, who has read my reviews of Amartia and O Solitude on this very site and asked me to review their latest release. Don’t get […]
I‘ll admit, I’m not the biggest Emperor fan in the world as only Into the Nightside Eclipse still gets any regular play from me, however I can appreciate the artistry and elegance of the band’s last three efforts, especially the swansong Prometheus. Now as far as Ihsahn’s first post Emperor side project, Peccatum, I think […]
Those that remember the formative years of the death metal underground will have no problems differentiating this collection of early material from Vital Remains from the modern day, Glen Benton-fronted Vital Remains. As the death metal style has matured and evolved into a more horrific beast, recordings such as these are as critical to understanding […]
I’ve found myself listening to a lot of 1970s Aerosmith lately, so it’s really probably not fair to review this album at this point. It’s hard to judge a blues-based hard rock band with the echoes of the best still rattling around in your head. But Sweden’s The Quill manage to stand up to the […]
Sadness prevails in my musical taste. I marvel in the beauty of despair. Even as a musician, I find my compositions to be filled with gloom. Nevertheless, I have always found it difficult to explain to people why I hold this type of art close to my heart. That is until I met with North Carolina’s kings of gloom, Daylight Dies. On April fool’s day 2006, I ventured down to R.F.Ds of Washington D.C. for Daylight Dies CD release party of Dismantling Devotion. Hanging with the band is always a good thing, especially if you want to get drunk, and lead vocalist Nathan Ellis took care of me on that end by supplying me with beers from Belgium and Germany that I couldn’t pronounce. Weinstephaner was definitely the favorite of the night. Talking throughout the evening with the band and their many fans I heard tale of Daylight Dies own brand of beer. That is something I would love to try one day. Proceeding to get drunker and discussing our metal tastes, the party went on until the early hours of the morning. Somewhere in the mist of all of this I got a chance to sit down with drummer Jesse Haff and discuss the happenings with Daylight Dies thus far.
Add ‘Phillip K Dick-core’ or “Sci-Fi-core” to the ever growing sub genres of ‘core’ styled metal, and though I have not read the Philip K. Dick book of the same name, nor any of his other works, this noisy, sci-fi themed slab of noise is mighty impressive. Essentially mixing the likes of Ed Gein and […]
This is the German band named Cerberus, formed in 1998. They play slow to mid paced melodic black metal, like old Hades with a bit of thrash and doom thrown in. Klagelieder – Grabesgesang is their second album and third release. They managed to release a live album before any studio material. The album contains […]
With a legacy forged in -16- and Cavity, the two piece offering up the aptly named Bestial know a thing or two about caustic, sludgy and ear drum dissolving metal, and flex their experience with suitable with their debut record.With an obvious nod to their former bands, Jason Landrian and Rafael martinez stew up some […]
Shed the high profile members, keep the audience. Historically the strength of Keep of Kalessin was drumming and vocals. Both positions changed hands for Reclaim, and both have changed again here, with original drummer Vyl back in the fold where he belongs, replacing Frost. Thebon replaces the pinch hitter Attila, who also jumped on board […]
Album number two from these, grimy, filthy purveyors of Celtic Frost meets Sabbath, meets Slayer, meets Cyanide wrought noise, and everything seems to be upped; the artwork is spectacular, the riffs are sludgier, the bottom end is heavier and the density is more oppressive. A few good crusty records have passed my desk of late; […]