After the success of Death, notably Leprosy and Spiritual Healing, a number of European clones also became successful in the early ’90s. England had Cancer, Germany had Morgoth, The Netherlands had Pestilence and Asphyx, but France’s scene lagged behind a bit comparatively speaking, really only offering Massacra, Loudblast and Agressor until Mercyless entered the fray in pretty spectacular fashion in […]

In their relatively short existence, Germany’s Revel in Flesh have returned with their third album in 3 years. Revel in Flesh play a brutal form of old school death metal rooted in the late 80’s Swedish death metal scene, as well as Bolt Thrower-ish moments of rumbling and teutonic heaviness. Deathevokation from 2012 and Manifested […]

While everyone goes nuts for Electric Wizard’s painfully pedestrian Time to Die, I myself will clutch tightly the hearty entrails of NYC’s Blood Farmers, and their third horror doom masterpiece, Headless Eyes.  The trio hasn’t lost a step since they proudly stalked the halls of legendary riff label Hellhound Records back in the 90s.  If […]

When it comes to progressive metal/rock I’m usually pretty careful with my selections. As much as I enjoy the stunning musicianship and fluid yet unpredictable arrangements, too often prog sacrifices actual songcraft by over indulging, or is simply too bombastic or cheesy for my tastes. Fortunately when the genre hits the spot it can also […]

“I see behemoth coming/I see a serpent coming/I see a beast is coming/I see a deadly heat is coming” –”There Is A Serpent Coming” Being as this is the first song to contain vocals on an Earth record since Pentastar: In The Style of Demons, it’s very appropriate and telling. One could use any of […]

The whole female fronted doom/occult rock format has reached saturation point in recent years, with it becoming more and more difficult to isolate the more credible bands with some actual decent songwriting talent amidst the scores of pretenders. Birmingham’s Alunah have been kicking around on the doom scene since 2008, but up until now have […]

After listening to Harbinger, I am kicking myself for not having listened to Mutilation Rites earlier. Apparently this is their second full-length. From what I can gather of their previous work, Harbinger seems to represent a significant step in a more caustic, less melodic direction in the vein of many a band nowadays purveying in […]

Though around long before, since 2005’s The Gathering Wilderness Ireland’s Primordial has accomplished 2 things; became one of metal’s best bands, and second, locked doggedly onto a sound that’s unmistakably theirs, that none have recreated. So, if you were a fan of The Gathering Wilderness, as well as 2007’s To The Nameless Dead and 2011’s Redemption at the […]

Call me a homer but I’m always a little excited when a local, or Missouri band does well. But pickings have been slim of late. I mean Scholomance, Anacrusis, Angel Corpse, Lye By Mistake; long gone. And promising young bands like Vampire Moooose, Harkonin or Recrudescence never made it further than local favorite. But canada’s Blast Head Records have managed to unearth, not one but two fine death/black metal acts from St Louis in Symphonic death metal act Eternium and blackened death mongers Tyranny Enthroned.

Job For a Cowboy has been quite the polarizing band in their relatively short 10 year career. They rocketed to the top of the deathcore genre very early on, and gained likely as many fans as they did haters during said rise. I really liked and own their first EP, Doom, as well as the […]

Never judge a book by its cover. Or in this case, don’t write off a band simply because they have a goofy name and used to be a scenester deathcore act. ‘Cause holy hell, this cowboy has learned some new tricks at the rodeo. Granted, that’s because the band that catapulted to MySpace stardom and a Metal […]

St. Louis, Missouri is hardly a hot bed of premier metal like say Texas, Chicago or the East Coast. Heck, even Kansas City has more notable bands. I can count the numbers of excellent extreme metal bands I’ve heard from St Louis than had a larger impact on metal out side of Missouri? You can […]

Coming out of left field (well, Sweden) is the second album from Gormathon, a band I had never heard of but has provided me with an early Christmas present, as this album is absolutely phenomenal and easily one of the best I have heard all year.  Pulling all the best elements from power, thrash, melodic […]

Gorgasm is smarter than you think. That being said, let’s talk about misogyny for a minute. This band was formed when you couldn’t rummage through a metal cd rack without getting slapped in the face with album cover upon album cover of dismembered women, and in today’s PC climate that doesn’t really happen anymore- maybe […]

Microtonality seems to be creeping its way into black metal as of late. Aside from a brief implementation on Blut aus Nord‘s revolutionary album The Work Which Transforms God, Adam Kalmbach (better known as the sole member of Jute Gyte) was the first to really use it as a central concept, pushing the boundaries of […]

I’m not much of a hardcore guy.  Hardcore for me was the old DC shit often associated with Dischord Records.  I still think Lungfish is a “hardcore” band, or more recently Bullets In, so that should illustrate to you just how damn out of touch I am.  Okay, I’m into a few of the early […]

When Nick Holmes of Paradise Lost was announced as new singer of death metal supergroup Bloodbath, filling the considerably large shoes of Mikael Åkerfeldt and Peter Tagtgren, i thought is was a genius move. Not only getting a big name, but a name that many wanted as they were clamoring to hear Nick growl again once […]

Despite the integrality of palm mutes in thrash metal, Rigor Mortis‘ lauded, 1988, self-titled debut was at its core, little more than a blitz of rapid tremolo riffs, performed with an unfailing precision and feverish velocity that could only come from Mike Scaccia. It’s almost as if he never considered palm muting worth his time; […]

An oubliette, from the French word ‘oublier’ – to forget – is a dungeon. A particularly horrible and lonely sort of dungeon, little more than a hole in the ground. In you go, curled and cramped, and then a lid or stone is slid across the opening, trapping you in blackness while your body succumbs to pain, hunger, […]

As painful as it is to say, death metal is probably the most stagnant, saturated subgenre of metal right now with the majority of its practitioners either content to simply regurgitate the most well-known sounds of the early ‘90s or soullessly hammer away in only the most “brootal” fashion. How many early Entombed clones does […]

The cover art of The Depths’ Preaching Death is drawn in the rotten, decrepit style of Justin Bartlett, perhaps best known for crafting the artwork of Lord Mantis’ Pervertor and Dragged into Sunlight’s Hatred for Mankind, albums which blurred the line between misanthropic sludge and scorching black metal. Preaching Depth isn’t too far off from […]

WOW! I’m a newcomer to Australia’s self proclaimed ‘extreme progressive metal’ act Ne Obliviscaris, but after hearing Citadel, the band’s second album, there’s no doubt in my mind that this act has to be one of the more special and ambitious bands I have heard in some time. So much so, that I’m actually having a […]

John D. Reedy’s Writhe, a one person outfit from the United Kingdom, is a self-described atmospheric/post metal band. As I can’t claim to be an expert on anything post-any kind of metal, so my opinion is very simple. When I first listened to this self released, two-song demo EP, I got about halfway through the […]

From the same label and country that brought us the excellent The Great Old Ones, comes a similarly black/shoe gaze/crust  project with a dash of cascadian ambiance and ambition that shows great promise the the rather lengthy 2, twenty or so minute tracks that comprise this impressive debut album. Sliding comfortably in amid the likes […]

Just Before Dawn is a project started by Blood Mortized guitarist Anders Biazzi, just like the 2013 debut, the formula is devastatingly effective:  war themed, mid paced death metal rooted on Bolt Thrower and Hail of Bullets and a seemingly never ending parade of who is who in Swedish metal metal providing other instruments and […]