Poland’s Azarath return with their sixth studio album, In Extremis.  Founded by Behemoth’s drummer Inferno, Azarath play a style of blackened death metal a kin to Krisiun, Behemoth, and maybe Diabolic to throw an American band in there. In Extremis opens up with “The Truimph of Ascending Majesty” which opens up with cackling whammy bar […]

Swedes In Mourning have made a solid impression over the past five or six years. Their brand of melodic death has matured greatly in the past three albums that they’ve released, and with The Weight of Oceans (2012) the band were being lauded as possible heirs to Opeths death metal throne. Rightfully so, because Afterglow […]

I have always been a death metal fan, from the moment I first heard it all them years ago – the textures, the percussiveness, the shear brutality. But I have been very slow and finicky about black metal. I was never taken in by the undergrounder-than-thou shit, which I found to have the same amount […]

Despite being around since 1991 and releasing 8 decent eight albums, Sweden’s Centinex were always sort of an after thought in the Swedish death metal scene of the early 90s, especially since after the first couple of albums the band sorted of cleaned up their sound to be more melodic and with a blacker sheen. The […]

“This should not be seen as a gathering of two humans playing music, for it doesn’t simply stand for “music” but a real Communication between an incarnated being and vibrations coming from a non-manifested paradigma where the Essence of what has suffered thousands of incarnations and names wanders eternally through the halls of it’s last […]

Continuing the harrowing black metal stylings of the landmark III, former Antaeus vocalist MkM has fulfilled the expectations of arguably one of 2012s most anticipated black metal releases. No ifs and or buts, Arrow in Heart is and will be one of the most striking and regally filthy black metal releases of the year and […]

Kongh hit a bit of a sophomore slump on their last album. Enjoyable as Shadows of the Shapeless was, it was hurt by some monotonous riffing and a one dimensional atmosphere. Certainly nowhere close to bad, but it didn’t exactly have me craving a follow up. Now it’s four years on and a lot has […]

There are a few misleading factors surrounding this album that left me feeling a little duped. First off, the colorful, painterly cover art looks like something you would see for sale on a coffee shop checkout counter (well, except for the figure’s bare breasts and tentacled pubes). Secondly, the label describes the music as a […]

I’m admittedly one of those criminals that only first got around to discovering Forgotten Tomb‘s work with their fifth (previous) release, Under Saturn Retrograde.  That being said, I immediately dug the way this project’s mastermind came up with a brand of black metal that simply isn’t solely comprised of the elements shaping up this genre […]

Back in 2008 Sweden’s Necrovation dropped Breed Deadness Blood, an authentic,  throwback but modern Swedish death metal record that was retro, before retro was vogue. It was widely regarded as a new classic of sorts and was a deservingly acclaimed record. 4 Years later Necrovation are back and have added a second guitarist, and those […]

Norwegian black metallers Svarttjern (which means ‘black tarn’) are back with their second full-length, Towards the Ultimate, a follow up to 2009’s Misanthropic Path of Madness.  The band is the brainchild of vocalist HansFryste, who is also the front man for Ragnarok.  In addition to taking a lot from that band, if you’re a fan […]

Following up on 2010’s Ashes of Angels, former Antaeus vocalist MkM has returned to his Aosoth-project to deliver sermons of blackened fury. And while the last effort had slight tinges of Deathspell Omega/Blut Aus Nord styled discordance and atmospherics, with lengthier songs, more dissonant, harrowing and atonal hues, Aosoth appears to have morphed into a […]

Back in 1999, Italian guitarist/vocalist Ferdinando Merchisio a/k/a “Herr Morbid” made a savvy career decision, turning his hatred inward and transitioning from early and unremarkable bland metal to a pitch-grey blend of doom ‘n’ gloom dark metal heavily influenced by classic era Katatonia and Bethlehem. Eventually perfecting his take on this sound, and in the […]

Agonia Records proudly announce signing of Legendary Czechish Dark/Black Metal band ROOT. ROOT’s new, 9th full-length album will be released in autumn as a CD and a noble vinyl. It is being currently recorded. You can expect more epic, slower compositions as well as some more agressive and faster parts. More information about the new […]

I wasn’t sure what to think of this one upon the first spin and multiple spins later I still don’t know what to think, which translated means it’s just not very damn memorable. That’s a problem, unless you’ll all about meaningless musical experiences. That sounds pretty shitty of me, doesn’t it? Well friends, it sounds […]

With France’s scourge of black metal, Antaeus on hold since 2006s blistering Blood Libels, Antaeus vocalist MkM has decided to forge on with his on project, one that’s been simmering and brewing now for the better part of a decade and one relatively overlooked full length album. With the help of Bestial Satanic T (ex-Aborted) […]

Inferno’s Black Devotion is another 2009 release that got stuck in my pile of discs that didn’t see the light of day until recently. Better late than never, right? Anyway, it seems appropriate that this one stayed buried until the coldest time of the year because it is utterly without warmth. These 11 tracks of […]

Dead Man’s Hand hail from Norway, play a modern sort of European death/thrash, and The Combination is the bands debut full-length. It’s not much of a stretch to compare them to early period The Haunted, Dew-Scented or Hatesphere, but it’s probably a little too soon to be including them in that same class of ass-kicking, […]

Perhaps a better name would be Temple of Balls because Lightslaying Rituals is ballsy black metal from France. And yes, I realize I referenced a swinging pair of elephant balls in my recent Die Hard review, but goddamnit it is applicable here too! Temple of Baal consists of a group of veterans of the heavy […]

After initially turning up my nose at a band named Mr. Death, I somehow got to be ok with the moniker, which may have had something to do with the cool faux VHS movie cover for Detached from Life. The old school, primarily Swedish style, death metal performed on the disc is pretty decent too, […]

Now we’re talking! Die Hard’s Nihilistic Vision is old school thrash metal with a swinging set of elephant balls and a death metal attitude. Featuring members of Watain, the style owes as much to early Slayer and Venom as it does to Exodus or the Bay Area School, and it hits like a pair of […]

I guess I missed the debut album from Italy’s Malfeitor, but I sure am glad I got a copy of Incubus to review. It is one hellishly righteous cauldron of boiling black metal. Featuring bassist/vocalist M. Fabban (Aborym), Malfeitor play in a traditional Scandinavian style, in this case one that crosses the ferociously fast and […]

The only thing more satisfying than human misery is a new Impiety disk. You know those days when you are mightily pissed off at the world, bright sun, not a cloud in the sky, smiling faces everywhere you look. Tourist season is upon us and in anticipation I have been out blasting Impiety in public […]

Keep reading if blistering death metal is your thing. You’ll probably dig this album. These guys kind of strike me as a mix between Skinless, Nasum and Witchery (though just a bit). They’re not technical, they’re not artsy, they’re not innovative. They’re just fast, heavy, ballsy and damn good. I did kind of expect something […]