Talk about a match made in heaven…….Switzerland’s  Stortregn, a formerly pure 90s melodic black metal band turned more technical, surgical, shredding death metal with some of their black metal remnants left behind, on The Artisan Era, arguably the flagship label for this style with bands like Inferi, Demon King, Enfold Darkness and such. I’ve reviewed […]

These are the kinds of reviews that are only as hard as you want to make them. Here you’ve got a band celebrating its 25th year of making music with brand new material, and over that time they’ve never really missed a step – becoming true legends and pioneers of epic, bombastic Viking metal. Sure, […]

When Niklas Sundin left Dark Tranquillity early last year, I was genuinely bummed the fuck out. Mostly, I was upset about what it might mean for a band I held near-and-dear to my heart, but I was also bummed because I’d heard Sundin’s first solo offering from side project Mitochondrial Sun and came away pretty […]

Sometimes I like my black metal delivered in epic, rangy long albums like say Kjeld’s latest offering, Harakiri For the Sky’s vast double album or Utbyrd’s majestic foray. But sometimes I like my black metal in short sharp, icy bursts, like the debut EP, from New Finnish black metal duo Sarvekas, which is a perfect […]

The number-one rule in creating success, is to fully commit to whatever it is you’re trying to achieve. Trying to be successful in your career? Put in the extra hours and make yourself available whenever called upon. Want to be the best player on the field? Hit the gym and run practice drills like they’re […]

Germany, as usual, is host to yet another stellar band.  Wolves Den burst onto the scene in 2015 with their debut album Deus Vult.  A brutal display of black metal.  Due to the album being released without a record label, the band opting to independently release it, their great debut went relatively unnoticed, which is […]

Anyone who really knows me, knows I like it fast, raw, dirty and just this side of sadistic… What? No, get your fucking head out of the gutter ya dork. No, I’m not talking about my relations with your mom (heh heh), I’m talking of course of Japan’s young bringers of Blackened Speed/Thrash Evil, and […]

Hulder? I don’t even know her… Now that I have that joke out of the way and you’re recovering from squirting vodka through your nose (burns, doesn’t it), let’s talk about BM. USBM, to be specific. I purchased and somewhat recently finished reading Decibel’s USBM book. To my dismay, the book itself was not about […]

It’s always fun reading through the greetings that bands, promoters and labels write when sending out promotional materials. There’s a lot of “ETERNAL HAILS!” and “GREETINGS!” and “Dear media partners,” followed by some description like “born from the feral wastelands of Poland…” or superlative tropes like “the metal underground’s best kept secret…” yadda yadda yadda. […]

The craziness of 2020 just kept rolling in. Did it not? Hell, everytime I thought I was about to get somewhat caught up in my “real” job and life, another curve ball of some shape or form got thrown my direction, ultimately taking time away from one thing to give to another. Nine times out […]

It can be so easy to fall into a rut when it comes to discovering new music. You get comfortable in a certain lane, start seeking out a particular style of music, and next thing you know it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy where everything new you check out just ends up sounding really familiar, like you’re […]

Wisconsin based,  metal collaboration (Shroud of Despondency‘s Rory Heikkila, Khazaddum’s Luka Đorđević and Enabler’s Brian Serzynski), Prezir (Serb-Croatian for ‘contempt’) is back with album number 2 after dropping a vicious little ep in 2017 and a solid full length debut on 2018 and the now trio, appears to really have further honed in on a […]

Sometimes, timing is everything. A song, an album, even a single melody, given the right circumstances or moment in time, can leave an indelible mark on your life. Nearly a year ago, such an album was added to a lifelong playlist of works that will forever hold a special place in my heart – Cattle […]

“Is this too much? Is this not enough? If I don’t cover up, Does that make it my fault?”  OOF. For some time now, Svalbard – led by vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Serena Cherry, have been proving time and time again that real life is far more horrifying and brutal than any fictitious song about […]

Sweden’s Mörk Gryning  (‘dark dawn’) were in a bit of a grey area coming up in the late 90s early 00s Scandinavian melodic black metal scene. Never achieving the status of say Dissection or Naglfar or the underground gem status of say Catamenia or  Vinterland years later, but delivering 5 decent albums arguably peaking with […]

I’m not sure what made me check out the promo from Glasgow’s Necrocracy (the Exhumed album?). Bland cover, weird band name (I guess the band started out more death metal, which makes the name make a little more sense), unassuming album title, released last year digitally and re-released on CD earlier this summer by a […]

So here’s the thing – I’m going to come right out here and say that, in general, Black Metal isn’t really my favorite form of metal, let alone my strong suit. I know! I know. There’s a chance that a certain faction of our audience have already disregarded anything else I have to say on […]

For some reason, we didn’t review the last album from the British stalwarts, Anaal Nathrakh, A New Kind of Horror, despite reviewing the band’s album pretty consistently from blistering the debut, The Codex Necro, through personal favorite Eschaton, more direct Vanitas, to 2017s The Whole of the Law. But let’s be honest, does it really […]

It’s 1995 and every Friday night three close teenage friends gather in a typical suburban basement.  Each bring a homespun costume representing their character.  Old drapes for a cape, modified used cowboy boots, metal pans from Goodwill re-worked into armor, and sharp, real weapons bought from the big flee market last summer.  The two 30 […]

I thoroughly enjoyed the debut LP, Relinquishment, from Finland’s Ordinance, and it made my year-end for 2014. However, I never heard anything this else for the next 6 years- no splits, no EPs, no news, nothing. Then out of the blue, I get a promo from The Sinister Flame for a brand new album. And […]

If you didn’t enjoy 2019’s Of Rot and Ruin by Hath, I don’t know what to tell you. Despite the fact that I don’t much care for “Star Wars” and I thought the band was called “Hoth” in an homage, I still gave it a listen. When I realized my mistake, I was glad to […]

One of my best and oldest friends is a former metal and rock producer as well as FOH for a prominent metal band. He once told me: “With how cheap and easy it is to make a clear recording now, why would anyone settle for less?” That’s verbatim, of course. He’s not a fan of […]

Never judge a book by its cover. We all know this. Right? I mean it’s only an age old adage that has been around since…well, the dawn of ages. Naturally, one can apply this sage wisdom to the music/metal world when it comes to album covers, band names, song titles, and the like. So knowing […]

The promo for this new act got my attention because it is black metal on Purity Through Fire, and they have been killing it in that arena in 2020 with the likes of Mavorim, Kryptamok , SAD, Slagmark and Noidva. Also, Eisenkult features members of Mavorim as well as Totenwache and Meuchelmord, bands I am […]

2020’s run of high-quality black metal continues with the debut from Finland’s Gloom, a band that features members from Nekrokrist SS, whoever they are. And they are not Gloomy or depressive black metal at all as the name might lead you to believe. Blending a bit of Finnish black metal nastiness (especially the vocals) and […]