Split albums are common in metal but yield mixed results. Far too often, listeners labor through 20 minutes of crap to get to five minutes of goodness. Here’s a combination that works – a dual platter from the bowels of the San Francisco Bay Area featuring death metal veterans Abscess (formed by two members of […]

CONFIDENTIAL INTAKE REPORT, RHODE ISLAND STATE MENTAL HOSPITAL: Presiding psychiatrist:  Dr. Paul Fritz Examination Notes: At approximately 19:00 hours on Nov. 16, 2009, three subjects without any names or aliases other than White Mice were presented for psychiatric examination. The subjects were discovered in a small house in Providence, R.I., after neighbors complained of noxious […]

This young Boston, MA based power trio first caught my attention earlier this year when I came across their debut full length from last year, Empire of the Obscene. It was an impressive mix of technical ability, classic thrash hues, hints of modern death metal, catchy melodies and pummeling groove – it was all over […]

GEORGE took a mammoth hit off the bong, coughed, and leaned back in the beat-up recliner. Eager to get even more stoned, he took yet another hit, let the acrid smoke fester in his lungs, and closed his eyes. Death metal blared from the box stereo system, which was obscured by a seemingly infinite number […]

You know its been a great year for metal when the fifth album from Between the Buried and Me arrives with relatively little fanfare, takes two weeks for me to review and wont be an immediate shoo in for my album of the year like 2007s Colors and 2005s Alaska. Not that The Great Misdirect […]

So a couple of recent Rise Records releases have broken away from the label’s recent trend of emo vocals filled metal or Hot Topic core (Attack Attack!, The Devils Wears Prada, The Bled, Sleeping With Sirens, Miss May I, etc). With two stout death metal/deathcore releases by way of Australia’s impressive The Red Shore and […]

Sweden’s Katatonia have posted a new music video for their new single “Day and Then the Shade” on MySpace. The track taken from their new album Night is the New Day was directed by Lass Hoile (Opeth, Porcupine Tree) and you can check it out here. Night is the New Day is Katatonia’s eighth studio […]

I’ve learned over the years that I am too quick to judge. Actually, most would probably confess to hastily disregarding a certain CD or band, only to find down the road that you neglected something you really enjoy. This is where we start with Timeline Symmetry. This thing sat in my review pile, shunned, while […]

Many bands talk the talk of file sharing being something to be embraced, rather than eschewed, but how many bands do you know that walk the walk and actually release an album for free, especially a band on a big metal label? You’ll know at least one now, as Ireland’s Gama Bomb have done it through Earache Records with Tales from the Grave in Space, the follow-up to the extremely well written, balls out thrash masterpiece Citizen Brain. At the time of this interview I had not yet heard the album, as it was not available, so the idea was to focus on the band’s/label’s decision to release it for free, a preview, if you will. Now that I’ve gotten my own digital copy of the album (and you can too), I can tell you that it is every bit the rip roaring, fun-filled vintage (with modern sensibilities) thrash extravaganza that is Citizen Brain. Vocalist Philly Byrne fills tells that tale of Tales and how file sharing can be a good thing for metal bands.

Germany’s The Ocean have issued an update on their vocalist situation and the progress of their follow up to 2007’s epic double-disc master piece, Precambrian. After many weeks in the dark, The Ocean have finally found a new vocalist. “We are happy to announce Mr. Loïc Rossetti as tour new vocalist. “We are looking forward […]

British thrashers EVILE have announced two special memorial shows in the UK to honour their late bassist, MIKE ALEXANDER, who tragically passed away while on tour in Sweden on October 5th, 2009. The two memorial shows take place on December 7th, 2009 at Rio’s in Leeds and December 8th, 2009 at the Underworld in London, […]

Though Cleveland Ohio’s Salt the Wound fit the annoying template of modern teen metal band complete with ever changing line up, cocked hats, tight jeans, pierced lips, pre packaged logo and loud shirt designs and an obsession of The Black Dahlia Murder, the bands 2008 debut was OK, and the follow up, complete with promising […]

Sometimes an evocative band name and a striking piece of cover art is all you need to guess at the music within. No, I’m not talking about your average goregrind album either – anyone can figure that sort of thing out. I’m talking about the more esoteric treasures out there, such as this peculiar release […]

I-Tunes today premieres “Powershifter,” the first song from Fear Factory’s upcoming new album as an exclusive digital download. Due in stores February 9th, Mechanize is the first album to feature the lineup of vocalist Burton C. Bell, returning guitarist Dino Cazares, bassist Byron Stroud and veteran drummer Gene Hoglan. The anticipated album also welcomes back keyboardist/producer Rhys Fulber (Front Line Assembly).

Slayer bashing. What’s up with that these days? If they’re not being hailed as the best metal band ever, it seems they’re everybody’s favorite whipping post. I myself don’t get it. Sure, their output over the past 15 years hasn’t always been of the greatest quality, but they’ve always undoubtedly been Slayer. Through cries of […]

Like death metal, if you’re into metallic hardcore, you’ve been pretty spoiled this year, what with various amazing comebacks (Earth Crisis, Kickback, Merauder), the underground churning out a plentiful amount of high quality releases (a lot you will probably not know) and even the genre’s principal mainstream standard bearer (yes, Hatebreed) coming back with a […]

Legendary and acclaimed Bay Area act LUDICRA are putting the finishing touches on their next full-length album (their fourth) entitled ‘The Tenant‘, which will be released through Profound Lore Records. Known as one of the initial acts to help spearhead the black metal underground movement of the Bay Area and featuring the line-up of guitarist […]

I’ve been eager to hear the debut full length from Canada’s Weapon since I read an article about them from the indomitable Nathan T Birk in Metal Maniacs Magazine (before its untimely demise). And while an excellent release, Draconian Paradigm is still a bit of a mystery to me, but I imagine that was the […]

Century Media must be stock piled with cash, absolute mountains of it I reckon. The question that keeps popping in my brain is how this has come to be? Is it thanks to their massive back catalog bringing in the bacon, or something more sinister ala a takeover by a middle eastern monolith or some […]

Poland’s prog scene is a proximate successor to the UK premier representation of the genre, which is expansively reflected in the music conveyed by Polish most ardent disciples, among whom Riverside certainly march in the first ranks, never ceasing to stun progheads all over the globe with their demonically beautiful amalgam of Pink Floyd, early […]

Tampa, FL’s kings of groove laden death metal SIX FEET UNDER are back with their 3rd installment of the band’s cover series, Graveyard Classics 3, due out on Metal Blade Records January 19th 2010. Graveyard Classics 3 was recorded at D.O.I. Digital Audio in Tampa, FL, was mixed at Audiohammer Studios by Mark Lewis, and […]

I’ll come clean. I love Converge. Ever since discovering them when The Poacher Diaries came out, I became a manic obsessive, drooling over Petitioning the Empty Sky, and When Forever Comes Crashing, frequently and almost to a point, lovingly. Now, since Jane Doe, came out, my interest hasn’t waned in the band. Far from it, […]

While all the ‘retro’ thrash bands are trying to sound just like 1988, Skeletonwitch has a different take. Sure, their sound hearkens back to the same time period, but a carbon copy they ain’t. Fusing thrash riffs and rhythms with a distinctly black metal vibe (both musically and vocally) and NWOBHM flavored melodies here an […]

Australian metallers BE’LAKOR have inked a deal with Italy’s Kolony Records for the European release of their 2nd album ‘Stone’s Reach’. The release of the album will be 30.11.2009. Quickly come to be regarded as one of Australia’s most promising and creative metal acts, BE’LAKOR has recently ventured across Australia for the first time, taking […]

When reviewing the latest release by a group with a back catalogue such as Hypocrisy‘s, the question comes up of whether to compare it to previous releases in terms of “success” or whether to let it stand alone. I’ll try to do a bit of both in this review, because it’s only fair. Hypocrisy‘s timeline […]