Life is complicated. Reviewing albums can be complicated as well, especially if you’re torn between loving and just sort of liking an album. What’s even worse is when the band in question has been around forever and you’ve been a fan for a long time. Such is my dilemma with Hooded Menace and their 7th […]

Long Island’s Internal Bleeding has been through it; from arguably being one of the progenitors of ‘slam’ death metal with their first two albums, (featuring our own Frank Rini on vocals) then mixing even more hardcore elements, which seemed to divide fans, then lots of member turnover, label jumping, a 10 year hiatus where they […]

What can be said about Switzerland’s Coroner at this point, right?! A few things to point out before getting into Dissonance Theory, their 6th album. Their last album, the disjointed Grin, released in 1993, polarized fans, and this new one, quite honestly, is the comeback album Dark Angel should have written. That is how great […]

I don’t know anyone who just ‘sorta likes’ Sabaton. They seem to be one of those ‘love it’ or ‘hate it’ bands that truly divide heavy metal fans. Personally, since I heard “Winged Hussars” back in 2016 from The Last Stand ( still my favorite Sabaton album), I have fallen on the ‘love it’ side. Unashamedly […]

Lately, I’ve been trying out different genres, stepping out of my comfort zone and looking for something dynamic and brand new. I’m happy to report that Terra Atlantica has been added to the list of great bands that I’ve been exposed to in this quest. This is some epic Power Metal with more Pirate Metal […]

New Jersey’s Condition Critical have been rather quiet since their second album, Extermination Plan in 2016. They had followed their 2013 debut, Operational Hazard, with that killer album. Brazil’s Marquee Records did remaster reissues of both albums, which I reviewed here. The band is made up of Mike Dreher on bass/vocals (backing), Ryan Donato on drums, […]

From the murky depths of Missouri comes the fourth full-length from native sons Degrave. If you recall, I covered their previous, jaw-dropping release Volume from 2023. That was a metal as fuck album and… good news, everyone! Metalithic fucking kills! I mean that too, in no uncertain terms, this record is solid as a rock, […]

There has been some excellent symphonic black metal released this fall: Old Machines, Gjallahorn’s Wrath, Maahes, Carach Angren, Argesk, Mystic Circle, Rotting Demise, Mourniaty, The Gloomy Radiance of the Moon, Echoes of Gloom, Execrari, and Withering Soul.  But if you want something that truly and authentically imbues the 90s nostalgic spirit and sound of Emperor, Gehenna, Ancient, […]

It’s safe to say I’ve never heard of Esoctrilihum. I have, however, heard of the bands that were included in the presser FFO… Leviathan, Xasthur, Ruins of Beverast, and Inquisition. But even my familiarity with those bands couldn’t prepare me for what came out of my speakers when I hit play. This is what Hell […]

  I have reviewed all of Sanguisugabogg’s prior releases, so it would make sense that I reviewed their latest album, Hideous Aftermath. I predicted years ago the band was going to blow the F up, and that is precisely what has happened – I am Nostradamus. With their incessant worldwide touring, huge social media presence […]

Italy’s brutal death metal act, Demiurgon, has returned with their third long player, Miasmatic Deathless Chamber. Fans of the Italian brutal death metal scene, who are fans of Septycal Gorge (RIP), Putridity, Hideous Divinity, Devangelic, etc., must check this out. Some of these bands lean on the side of tech-death metal, and not to say […]

How do I even begin to cover a band with a 30th anniversary looming on the horizon? Not only that, but due to the lyrics on their albums, four have been banned in their native Germany and not for dodgy politics, but because the government was disgusted by the violence of the lyrics. OH MY! […]

It’s weird. I own a bunch of Soulfly albums. When recently checking my CD collection, I saw that I actually possess albums like Savages, Ritual, Archangel, Dark Ages, Omen, Conquer, as well as the band’s first three or four more tribal, famous/popular efforts, such as Soulfly, Primitive, 3, and Prophecy.  But the thing is, because […]

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have heard of Oklahoma’s PeelingFlesh. With many bands incorporating the illegible band logo technique, PeelingFlesh, believe it or not, has one of the more legible ones, and you can actually make out the letters. I have reviewed their last several releases, and hot on the heels […]

Back in 2008/9, Dutch symphonic black metal act Carach Angren released their much-lauded, ghostly debut Lammendam. They followed it up with 5 more albums since, most excellent, some OK, but they are still widely regarded as one of the genre’s top acts. And now, 17 years later, the band is revisiting the local tale and […]

Let’s get this out of the way immediately: Last Retch is a “meat and potatoes” death metal band who plays “meat and potatoes” death metal. Abject Cruelty is 8 songs, 28 minutes rounded up, and will hit you with literally zero surprises, except perhaps how badass it is. It’s very easy to get things rolling […]

I’m not familiar with Finland’s Enragement, but a former writer, K Allred, enjoyed their last effort, 2022s, Atrocities, and he is in a pretty fine death metal band (Crungus), so I trust his opinion. And this sounds nothing like typical cavernous Finnish death metal. This is a very European-meets-American-sounding death metal that covers all the […]

I’ve been a fan of Der Weg Einer Freiheit since their inception back in 2009. Born out of Würzburg, Bavaria, their self-titled debut took the world of Black Metal by storm in 2010. Since then, they’ve released five amazing albums filled with Black Metal venom. Each one surpasses the other in terms of raw emotion […]

NY Hardcore legends Biohazard have returned with their 10th studio album, Divided We Fall, with the original band back together, once again like their last album, in 2012 – Reborn in Defiance. Evan had left right after, but returned in 2014. So Billy Graziadei – vocals/guitar, Bobby Hambel – lead guitar, Danny Schuler – drums, […]

Imagine for a second that Enthrone Darkness Triumphant-era Dimmu Borgir or Old Man’s Child leaned a little more into Egyptian history, myths, and legends.  Then you would have Germany’s Maahes. Maahes is an ancient Egyptian lion-headed god of war, protection, and the weather, and Nechacha, their second album, is an Egyptian symbol of dominion held by pharaohs […]

Gjallarhorn’s Wrath is a Barcelona-based symphonic black metal act with members also residing in Poland and Canada, and was formed from the ashes of Oblivion, a short-lived Spanish black metal band from the early 00s. But the new project has a very clear, very obvious new influence and fan base they are going after, and […]

Canada’s brutal knuckle-dragging slam death metal band NecroticGoreBeast returns with this 5-song ep, titled Brute. With three full lengths already under their belt, alongside their debut demo and split ep, the new ep should tide us all over until their next album. This year has been quite the year for ultra-brutal slam death metal with […]

The Devil’s Bridge is the second full-length from Belgian Black Metal Kvlt Lvthn after a handful of splits and demos, including an EP, The Spider Goddess (2017), and their Eradication of Nescience debut full-length from 2016. This is a genuinely good Black Metal album. Its direction is clear, each foot stuck solidly in the 1st […]

I don’t know what YOU expect from a project that consists of  Brian Kingsland (Nile, Enthean), bassist Alex Rush (Olkoth, Enthean), and drum legend Derek Roddy (ex-Hate Eternal, ex-Malevolent Creation, ex-Divine Empire, etc). But I know what I was expecting it to sound like, and it sounds exactly like that. Yeah, this debut is blistering blackened […]

I was trying to think of the perfect album to describe how my morning was going. I scrolled down and back up, looking at what I have, and I remembered that El Jefe had sent me the 20-minute reissued LP from these guys, them being Organ Dealer, and the album is Visceral Infection. This motherfucker […]