After a bunch of mid-paced tunes, “Nadir (No Consent)” picks up the pace, again, more of that Goatwhore blackened death thrashing speed. The gallop at the 50-second mark is terrific, and you’re going to want to hold up the metal horns on this part. The song slides right into a mid-paced, double bass-heavy groove, before that blackened death thrashing madness erupts. The vocals are enunciated well, and he has a pissed off tone to his style – really well done. The mid-paced section allows for the rhythm section to shine. These moments would be quite a lot of fun to witness in a live environment. Scorching song and a lot of fun. There are some nods to Skeletonwitch as well, so that is a plus in my book. Talk about a band that has not released an album in forever – come on Skeletonwitch – what’s going on??

“A Séance” has a ferocious opening moment, and the speed and intensity, although never getting into blast beat territory, are pretty damn intense. The galloping madness afterwards is absolutely catchy as hell, and as I mentioned earlier, this production is amazing. Some nifty drum rolls are all over the place on this song, and he hits those cymbals as if they done him wrong. This song truly sounds like Goatwhore, and the blackened death thrashing intensity never lets up on the accelerator. Dejan lets out some excellent screams and growly vocals.. About midway through the song, we are greeted with an atmospheric slow part. Check out the guitar harmonies in this section. This moment stretches almost the distance until the fast section returns, and boom – this song is a favorite of mine for 2025.

Miseria was being touted as a black metal release, until I delved further into the album, and Shadows incorporates thrash, death, and even some stylistic influences not far removed from Midnight. The organic production adds a warmth and natural sound to their menace. There are many catchy moments throughout this album, and as far as debut albums go, for 2025, this may be the best. I am very much looking forward to future releases from Shadows.

I’m going to admit that I didn’t like Midnight at first. I don’t know why they play this DIY style of Punk, Death Metal, and old school Thrash. Stuff I like and by this point they’re pretty fucking good at it.

Athenar is a workhorse, putting out a slew of singles, splits, compilations, even a live album, before he unleashed Satanic Royalty in 2011. They flew under my radar until I saw them live (I forget with who. It might have been Gwar…). Anyway, I didn’t get it. Poof, right over my head. But now… shit, I can’t get enough of these crazy Ohioans. Cleveland definitely rocks, in fact, so much that the first track on Steel, Rust and Disgust is called “Cleveland Metal”.

This is a covers album, which is fine; I can dig it. That means that only “Cleveland Metal”, the title track, is an original song.

It’s still Midnight playing though and the works of stalwarts Screamin’ Jay Hawkins “Frenzy”, David Allen Coe “Rock n’ Roll Fever” and Dead Boys with a ripping rendition of “3^rd Generation Nation”.

They fuck shit up on “Agitated” a scorching Electric Eels cover and Midnight makes it their own, sounding like Mötörhead on crack. “Iron Beast” is another baddie, a blistering rendition of Kratos’ track. There’s not a bad song on Steel, Rust and Disgust. I mean if I’m going to be honest, I’ve never heard some of these songs or bands. David Allen Coe is a fucking legend, as are the Dead Boys and Screamin’ Jay fucking Hawkins, hearing their songs in this manner is exhilarating and super fun.

The fact that you haven’t heard some of this is a moot point (I used moot for the first time in a review), but you know what I mean. “Carrions Keep” from False Hope and “Black Leather Rock” by the Electric Eels are automatic favorites.

To say that Steel, Rust and Disgust is an enjoyable record is an understatement. It’s an unrelenting banger, a tribute to the Rebels of Rock’ n Roll. “I’m Insane” by Synastryche gets a psychotic adaptation as does “Final Solution” by Rocket From the Tombs.

I am aware that Midnight’s fan base is rabid as hell. Fortunately for me, this has been a positive review, therefore securing my safety from any hate mail.

Midnight is in a class by themselves, that’s been obvious since the first album Athenar released in 2003 under the moniker of Midnight. Worship at their altar because they are gods. For you sickos that like Venom, Hellhammer and Bathory (pre-Viking era). Get it!

Sharpen your ceremonial daggers and pass around the ‘shine, boys and girls. This party is gonna get a little wild.

I was actually interested to see what might happen with the band heading back to a smaller label (Atlanta-based Terminus Hate City Records) following a two-record run with Prosthetic Records. To give Prosthetic credit, they genuinely have grown into one of the most diverse and unique labels in metal today, but somehow the pairing with All Hell just never really seemed to quite line up with me. Regardless, the immediate effect for the band seems to be a renewed sense of urgency, as Black Leather Wings comes screaming out the gate with its title track, armed with some absolutely blistering Blackened Thrash riffs, and a much punchier production than we got with The Witch’s Grail or The Grave Alchemist. Where those albums struck me as being much more Punk-forward, this track is giving more metallic Witchery or even Skeletonwitch vibes. Appropriate then, that the latter’s own Nate Garnette should be here lending his talents to the track, making for a raucous, hellacious collaboration that gets this EP off on a rip-roaring start.

The band follows with the super catchy “Neon Babylon,” utilizing some cool synth work here and there to give the track some eerie horror vibes, and while it’s the kind of song made to easily get itself stuck in your brain, it still carries a bit more of that edge laid down on the opening track. It is, to be fair, a pretty straight-forward track, but its driving main riff can’t help but get your head banging or foot tapping in rhythm with the relentless kick drum attack. It’s a similar sort of formula they carry over to the EP’s final new track, “Let the Night Run Red,” although this time around you get the sense that they’ve put together a future fan-favorite here, with a great mix of catchy riffing and a chorus that should get crowds singing along in short order. Again, it’s another track that thrives in its simplicity – giving fans a hit of the material they’ve been looking for, and getting out before making too big a fuss about it.

But perhaps the biggest treat on Black Leather Wings are the three re-recordings of tracks from the band’s first release, 2014’s The Devil’s Work. Again, the production work is pretty great (recorded by Black Tusk’s Chris Adams and mastered by Toxic Holocaust mastermind Joel Grind), and gives the trio of “Suffer for Me,” “Breaker” and “Devilwolf” the sonic experience those three tracks deserve. If anything, I’m a little hopeful that revisiting these tracks ends up rubbing off on the band moving forward, as they prove the band doesn’t really need to stretch much further beyond the 2 minute mark to really make a compelling track (as much as I enjoyed the new content, I can’t necessarily say they needed to last as long as they did).

All told, Black Leather Wings sees All Hell operating just as effectively as ever, and perhaps even more self-editing to hit their audience with even quicker hits might not be the worst idea ever. Either way, I dig the slightly more metallic-leaning tones found here, and the band certainly show they’re still capable of giving listeners a real good time.

What I’m saying is that if you’re looking for killer black thrash, let this dead panther into your home and heart, or some shit. These guys have been putting out killer albums since 2016, this new one is no different, and it’s certainly an early 2023 highlight.

It has everything you could want. Riffs? Fuck yeah. Leads? Bring it on. Grooves? Also yes. With an excellent modern production to top it off. If you haven’t heard them, you might even mistake them for the previously mentioned Athens, OH band. Paul has that black thrash snarl that sounds, yeah like early Skeletonwitch’s long since departed Chance Garnette. The first track, “One and Only” gives you all of this in just about 3 minutes.

They’re no copycat, though. Take “Into Danger” for example. There are hooks along with the normal galloping riffs and guitar heroics. It’s not just riff piled onto a riff, which is then piled onto another, which is something the early material of the many times mentioned above band enjoyed. What I’m saying is that cool riffs don’t overshadow songwriting every time, kids.

In my opinion and therefore yours, the best track is “Out to the Sand,” as I like black thrash, but far more enjoy when the bands get into a dirge/groove, and this one is relatively downtempo, giving it a menacing feel. Its only goal is to brutalize you before the closer.

That closer is of course the title track, “Betrayal,” and is the longest on the album. However, it’s not some 15-minute epic, it’s barely over 5 minutes. This is, however, the band at their most anthemic. The last two minutes of the track are definitely expected of a closer. Amp feedback follows the final guitar strumming, and it’s over at around 40 minutes, but feels like a lot less.

It’s safe to say I dig this and would highly recommend it if you’re even slightly into black thrash. I don’t expect to be covering my tattoo anytime soon, but if the boys in Necropanther keep this up, maybe I’ll get some of the alluring artwork from this beast permanently marking my skin.

Of course, there’s a delicate balance of “the way things used to be” and progression that needs to be struck, right? Civil rights, LGBTQ+ rights, Women’s rights – hell yeah, let’s bring that shit into the 21st century. Actually, so far it’s not really going so well, so maybe let’s get that shit into the 22nd century just to be safe. But social media? Let’s blow it all directly into the sun (yes, I see the irony,  here).

Enter Italy’s purveyors of self-proclaimed “Regressive Metal,” Barbarian – who are turning back the clocks once again to give us a break from the perils of the modern age. Don the leather and spikes and lets get vintage weird!

Now, I have reviewed plenty of these sort of throwback, slightly blackened heavy/thrash/speed metal affairs over the past few years, and to a certain degree, it can be difficult at times to really differentiate one band from another. Barbarian succeeds in avoiding that big ol’ generic pit by leaning fully into their most anthemic qualities. Soaring, earworm melodies, backing chants and vocals that just beg for crowd participation, and the kind of classic, tried-and-true heavy metal pacing that creates a perfect base to let guitarist/vocalist Borys Crossburn’s fantastic riffs truly thrive (BTW don’t read too much into the moniker, there’s no evidence that it has anything to do with the KKK or anything like that). And there are some doozies on here! The back half of the title first track alone has enough top-tier-quality riffs that they could hand one out to 5 or 6 lesser bands as charity, and still have enough left over to make for an impressive album opener. The band also pulls off the impressive trick of keeping things tight as a drum while still maintaining a sense of real grit and grime. It’s like the orc army in Lord of the Rings – they may look janky as hell, but make no mistake, that’s a massive, well-oiled machine of death and destruction ready to come and fuck up your day. It’s a difficult balancing act that results in a lot of bands sounding unnecessarily sloppy for the sake of, I dunno, sounding more evil? Instead, songs like “A Feast for the Beast” and “Fourteen Daggers” sound legitimately sinister and hit with a much greater impact than you get with a lot of similar acts.

You also just can’t fuck with the simple, down-to-the-basics execution of a power trio. Everyone’s performance shines through with purpose, leaving no room for fluff or over-indulgence. With the amount of riff and tempo changes taking place over the album’s seven tracks, nearly all of which clock in over 5 minutes, it’d be easy for it to feel longer and more drawn out than it actually is, but Barbarian manage to pull off the opposite. This album zips right along with sadistic intent, taking you on it’s joyride of mighty, triumphant highs and evil, churning lows with nary a note wasted. Even Crossburner’s solos, impressive as they are, stay restrained and fit perfectly within the context of the song – the best examples in my book coming from track “Chant of the Inflicter,” which carries the kind of fist-pumping, air-shredding leads and melodies that give and self-respecting metalhead an impressive man, lady or otherwise boner. But the band does show they can strip things back even further, and with equal success. The album’s two shortest tracks, “Charity Defiler” and “Regressive Metal,” ditch the solos and just bury the pedal to the floor, hitting you with a barrage of no-punches-pulled riffs and pummeling drums that will undoubtedly open up the pits and work any crowd into a fevered frenzy.

Finding the perfect marriage between a band and it’s record label can often, quite literally, make or break an artists’ career. Obviously, there’s plenty of factors to consider and contend with, but in order for the relationship to work, it really needs to be the right fit for the band and the label alike. To that end, I don’t think I can possibly think of a band to better represent Hell’s Headbangers than Italy’s blackened heavy metal heathens, Barbarian, and Viperface only further solidifies the band as one of the genre’s finest. This one is going to stay firmly in my rotation for the foreseeable future, and I implore you to make it a regular part of yours ASAP.

Doppelherz sounds like what I imagine their post rehearsal playlist might be.  Knocking back dark lager after a two hour rehearsal In the dim, moist cellar of a Swedish flower shop as the likes of mid period Satyricon, The Birthday Party, Cardinal’s Folly, Angel Witch, obscure 70s Dutch prog, and Blue Oyster Cult echo off of the cool, irregular fieldstone walls on into the evening while the band carries on important discussions such as what the best doom record is of each European country of each decade since 1980.

This is not to say the songs merely sound like an exhaustive list of ingredients of their myriad influences.  They’re quite deftly combined and baked to perfection recipe’s of these influences. Opener “Cocoon (Bitch Regalia)” burns at the altar of deranged 70s proto-metal rock riff deities.  Vintage blown tube guitar solos  compliment spring reverb throbbing vocal accents but by 2/3 through they break into a seamless black metal paced blitz.  I’d simply call it black & roll if it didn’t seem like too cheap of a qualifier.  Certainly when your album is in the same league with such masters of style as Negative Plane.  Maybe more specifically they perform a blackened doom & roll.   In this case, ‘doom’ being the candle lit dirge of early Pentagram, ‘roll’ the transcendent nether-blues riffing of Blue Oyster Cult, with ‘blackened’ shifts in the spirit of Bathory and Dark Throne. 

Peeking back at Reveal!’s catalog I realize I’m passingly familiar with their 2019 album Scissorgod.  I recall checking it out but not committing to a full listen.  To my ears it was a bit more challenging, finding the band exploring the more out there avenues of 80’s freaks of rock like Jesus Lizard if their aim was reinterpreting Bathory songs.  Where Jesus Lizard, and album Scissorgod, could be angular and staggering, Doppelherz hones in on the all important groove.  Something even Jesus Lizard found by Shot, their fourth album.   “Angels Bend” is the most perfect example of this chiseled groove. For Doppelherz, Reveal! drape occult rock, NWOBHM, and black metal like a leather and sheep wool cloak over the skeleton of Scissorgod and fit it with a detailed bronze helmet that features the Blue Oyster Cult logo.  At all times evoking the strangely familiar into highly effective churns of clang-tankerous, burnt offerings of blackened cabaret. 

Tone freaks will absolutely appreciate the dialed in, period legit depth of each instrument.  The production, like their style crossing, is a barely perceptible bridge between current capabilities of definition and the gritty pastel greens and browns like that of the interior of a mid-70’s European headshop. The undoubtedly well curated amping and guitar effects are emphasized in a way that puts you in the rehearsal space.  It recalls a remastered Tyranny & Mutation with beefed up frequencies across the board.  Remarkably, despite all the way back referencing of classic rock and doom, Reveal! don’t lean into any stoner or 70’s throwback tropes that often make me scoff.  They took these classic influences and interpreted them in an organically original way, backing up the nostalgia with that factor which is of utmost significance: god damn RIIIIIIIIFFS!

Going even further back to sample their first few releases it’s clear Reveal! have been apprenticing long and hard and Doppelherz is their induction as journeyman.  Having cut and crafted their long ship with new contours in search of the detailed refinement that yields the form of themselves that is most right. So tastefully fabricated of beloved worn influences into a newly constructed, spell enhanced vessel.  The thrill of hearing an album like this is, while it may inevitably be overlooked, I know this is going to light up the right listener and stay in their rotation.  It’s the type of album that inspires one to throw on the studded jean jacket, jump in the ‘88 brown Volvo and take a scenic cruise on Sweden’s E4 for a few spins of the record.

“Wonders” at over 6 minutes has more early black metal riffing, with black metally type of vocals mixed in with a thrash metal speed, as the backdrop.  The speed slows down to a nice mid-paced moment.  The vocals are a little too high in the mix, for my liking, they needed to be scaled back and the guitars a bit louder.  The isolated guitar riff at the 2.15 mark is excellent-it’s one of the best moments on the album, before the singer let’s out a vintage Tom Warrior, circa 1986 Celtic Frost grunt.  This next section is slower and the guitar riffs, even has a little bit of Mercyful Fate to the guitar melodies.  Therefore this part with the Frost and Fate influence, is quite killer.  The speed eventually returns and the song gallops along at a brisk thrash metal pace with more excellent guitar riffing.

After a brief instrumental, “Second of the Season” comes forth.  This begins as a doom/death plodding opening sequence, before going into a speedier section.  I forgot to mention earlier this band is run by 2 dudes.  One plays drums/sings and the other guitar/bass/vocals.  So unsure, but one of them does more of the gruff death metal vocals.  Interspersed the styles mix nicely.  I prefer the death metal vocals to the raspy black metal vocal, but just my proclivity.  This song moves along really nicely and the slow down riff and spoken whispered vocals at the 3.15 part is atmospheric and listen to this with headphones-it’s a bit spooky and enhances the listening experience.  The song ends in an epic fashion with the doom part erupting and it’s plodding and depressing.

The Cruentus debut –  Night Embrace Me is a lot of fun.  It’s loose in some places and has some spotty areas with the mix.  Yeah, you’ve heard these riffs before, but they are a lot of fun.  More natural and organic bands I appreciate more, than plastic sounding ones, because you can tell there was less studio trickery.  The black n white cover works well with some of the stark overall contrast to the music.  Nicely crafted debut.

That’s the bio Colombia’s Witchtrap have written on their Instagram page, and… I mean, that’s job done, really! What the fuck do you need me for?

Seriously though – this is just what I needed right now. Simple, un-fucked-with, old school, high-energy Thrash/Death that kicks you again and again in the teeth, then shares a beer with you and has a good laugh about it.  A singularly focused, one-track mind for all things goddamn METAL, stopping at no point to apologize for their lack of nuance or subtlety.

No need to get too fancy about describing this thing. Do you like Sodom or Benediction? Maybe a little Midnight or Destroyer 666? Welllllll then you’ll probably like Evil Strikes Again a whole lot. And what a fun ride it is! Every metal trope makes an appearance here without a shred of shame: Murder! The Occult! Satan! (Actually, A LOT of Satan. I’m honestly surprised Beelzebub himself doesn’t make an appearance in the liner notes). They even throw in an anthemic subjugation against the crimes of false metalhood on a track called… uh… “Death to False Metal.” Succinct!

But don’t be fooled into thinking this is an entirely mindless exercise in being metal for the sake of just being metal as fuck – there’s plenty of genuinely inspired, even if not entirely innovative musicianship and songcraft on display here. The riffs alone on “Return to Hell” and “Born to Kill” are enough to keep you coming back, and the bridge/solo of “Madness and Poison” is legit one of my favorite minute+ stretches of metal I’ve heard all year – calling to mind the This Is Hell/Deathrace King glory days of The Crown and giving me a warm dose of nostalgia.

The band deserves a lot of credit for self-awareness, too. They know exactly who they want to be as a band and execute that vision to near-perfection. The vocals, the overall tone, their brash, tongue-in-cheek approach, it all lends itself to the experience. Just raw and messy enough to make for a heathenistic joyride, but musically deft and well-produced enough to avoid it being anything close to a chore of a listen. 3 and a half minute burner “Dealing With Satan” serves as a perfect example – it’s raucous, thrashy riffs would whip any crowd into an all-out frenzy. And it’s chorus, a metal anthem for the ages, might not inspire any critical introspection, but it sure as shit puts a stupid grin on my face:

I’ve been dealing!

I’ve been dealing with Satan!

And I owe it,

I owe it to metal! 

I mean come on! If that doesn’t give you a little laugh and get your head banging and horns raised, then you and I might have some differences that just cannot be bridged. But the song doesn’t just rely on its on-the-nose message and general fuckery to carry the load – it also features a solid-as-hell bridge and solo that offers a legit helping of musicianship to the table as well. The best of both worlds.

Anyway, I’ve probably gone on longer about this thing than is strictly necessary. This is metal for headbangers, thrashers and good-time-havers. It’s nothing you need to think a whole lot about – just press play and get ready to rage. I think we could all use some of this in our lives these days.

The Funeral Corridor is a bit of a massive album clocking in at 50 minutes plus.  Recorruptor play a unique hybrid of old school and new school black, thrashy death metal.   The album opens up with the title track which has a pretty quick ambient intro which transitions into a nice build before going into a thrashier progression and then going into a quick blast beat section (Josh Moore is really good a blast beats).   The guitar work of Seth Earl and Dustin Cook is pretty on point and spans a great deal of different influences.  The are plethora’s of layered harmonies going on through the album.  There is also many tempo changes.

“Tormented Egress” has a great deal of interesting layering going on riff wise towards the beginning the 2^nd track.  I hear a little bit of Angel Corpse and Ripping Corpse influence on this one.  Nice bass break later on by Alex Schmidt. “Souls of Limbo” is my favorite track.  For some reason, the opening riff reminds me of the movie Spaceballs when Spaceball One scrolls across the screen left to right.  Probably the strangest reference I will make in a review this year.  “Souls of Limbo” moves way quicker towards the begin and then has some really sick Immolation/ Hate Eternal rhythms.  “Watchful Eyes in the Temple of Aspiration” has a nice clean guitar intro before building into a dissonant chug section.  The drumming on this one rules with rolling double kick complementing a pretty gnarly sounding arpeggiating picking line before picking up tempo.

“Amidst the Breathless, I weep” opens with some interesting acoustic guitar lines with some spoken word over it.  One of the more experimental sounding tracks on the record.   My only real complaint with The Funeral Corridor is that maybe the tracks get a little bit longer than they need to be.  That being said the approach here is pretty unique and for the most part pretty enjoyable.   Check it out.

For example, if the bulk of hiking and exploring you’ve done in your life has been done vicariously through hours spent playing Zelda or Red Dead Redemption, suddenly deciding to buy a bunch of expensive gear to hike the entire 2,000+ mile Appalachian trial probably seems a bit… lofty. And that’s fine! You do you, gamers! If you know what you like and it makes you happy, go nuts, my friend.

So when a band called Battlemaster comes on your radar, armed with a new album brandishing somewhat crude, but fucking AMAZING artwork depicting a depraved-looking wizard fellow, and song titles like “Chaotic Dwarven Mischiefism” and “Hectored Bugbearean Wrath,” I ain’t expecting some grandiose, uber-serious product here. Some down-and-dirty, tongue-in-cheek fuckery seems to be the better bet and frankly, that’s exactly the shit I’m looking for.

BERSERKER MODE: ENGAGED!

Richmond’s Battlemaster isn’t here to blow you away with a dizzying technical display or surprise you with layered, complex subtlety. These dudes don’t do subtle. It’s not in their vocabulary. What they DO do, is attack you with a super upbeat canon-blast of thrashy, blackened death metal akin to the likes of Skeletonwitch or Necropanther, but delivered with a gutter aesthetic that gives the whole package a grimy, depraved feeling that’s purpose-built for heathenistic fun. They take classic Heavy Metal fantasy themes and inject them with grotesque Fritz the Cat perversion. To make a shameless (but appropriate) Middle Earth reference, if a band like Revocation came from the Elven land of Rivendell, Battlemaster would be their filthy Orcish equivalent. They’re 3 Inches of Blood’s estranged, paint-huffing cousin. I promise, that’s a compliment.

Don’t mistake my focus on the band’s lo-fi attitude as a questioning of quality or talent, though. Ghastly, Graven, Grimoireless is filled to the brim with super-clever and catchy songwriting, along with some absolutely quality musicianship, it’s just that its impact is all in its attitude and delivery. The album comes out with battleaxes swinging freely and wildly; hitting you with blistering guitars layered over a relentless blast beat and the gravely, tortured war screams of vocalist Andy Horn, before settling into a dirty, thrashy onslaught that is gives me some really great This Is Hell-era The Crown vibes and gets me grinning ear-to-ear like a battle-hungry lunatic.

The whole experience feels like being at a basement show in some seedy tavern of drunken, raging gremlins. “Chaotic Dwarven Mischiefism” sounds every bit the part, calling in some almost early Dillinger Escape Plan-like elements that paint a free-for-all picture of pandemonium, while “Hectored Bugbearean Wrath,” with its depiction of some seriously pissed-off D&D monsters, is an absolute thrasher that moves like a whirlwind from one section to the next. The final two tracks continue to showcase the band’s adeptness at balancing the fun and unhinged lunacy with more than enough serious songwriting and playing to keep you coming back, the final title track especially providing some really catchy riffing and shout-along-inspiring lyrics, and another thrashy, headbanging, The Crown-inspired bridge that gets under your skin and crawls around for a bit and just makes you wanna move.

I’m ready for battle. I don’t care what we’re fighting, don’t care what odds are stacked against me. Owlbears? Manticore? FUCK ‘EM. I’ve got a 30 rack of Genessee Screamers and Battlemaster on repeat to help carry me through. This is a band who knows what they are, and they deliver the goods in spades. There’s more polished examples of this kind of thing out there, but few are delivered with this kind of tenacity, and this album is launching me into weekend warrior mode like a friggin’ freight train. BRING IT, CREEPS.

Just like the question of where babies come from, I’ll probably never know the answer to the above. Some mysteries aren’t meant to be solved. Anyway… After a somewhat typical introduction, the first track, “Reigning Armageddon” begins. These gentlemen seem to have an infatuation with Armageddon. The first thing I notice is that the production is a lot cleaner than I expected. I won’t claim to be an expert, but any previous album to which I have listened in the “war metal” sub-genre, while not produced poorly, has been rough around the edges, and a bit dirty. While this production is certainly not what one would call “pristine,” it is quite a step up from what was expected.

With that being said, even from the first track, everything sounds like controlled chaos. It’s just about to go off the rails at any moment because of the speed and ferocity, but it doesn’t. I’m reminded somewhat of Mayhem’s A Grand Declaration of War in the production and guitar tone. At times, it feels like a mix of that, as well as latter day Marduk. “Reigning Armageddon” has the tease of a solo a little over a minute in, but then goes right back into the ferocity. Around 30 seconds later, we’re treated to a quick, yet speedy and proficient solo. Another solo happens about 30 seconds from that. This one is a little longer than the first two teases, but holy shit snacks, what a start!

As I go down through the track listing, I say out loud many times; “Oh, fuck yeah, this song is great!” I want to mention just a couple more, though. With its “fuck” leading into a pummeling, “Dajjal United” grabbed my attention, but “Interstellar Deathfuck” might just steal the show. Firstly, the song title deserves recognition, but the main hook actually includes the song title. It also includes some ethereal female vocals, which caught me by surprise. I could go into a deep dive as to what the song title means and in fact have in my mind several times, but who cares? It’s killer and I think too much.

The closing track, “Magickal Wrath,” is a little long for a war metal track, but once again, who cares? If it weren’t for the guitar tone, blasting, and furious double bass, one could be mistaken for thinking this is a NWOBHM track in parts. As is the case with a great number of the tracks on this record, there are fast, killer guitar leads interspersed throughout, and they’re all enjoyable.

If you somehow can’t tell by now, I thoroughly enjoy this record. It makes me want to buy some Impiety merch and deck myself out in corpse paint and leather gauntlets. I expected nothing new brought to the table. Perhaps with my somewhat limited knowledge of the sub-genre, the tricks Impiety have up their sleeve may have been done before by others. However, to call them tricks might be doing them a disservice. These songs are fast, passionate, brutal, virtuosic, and feel like they were written by dudes who were on fire. I’m not sure they are entirely the same sub-genre, but the last war metal record I recall enjoying this much was Destroyer 666’s Wildfire.

I believe Versus All Gods crushes it. More appropriately, lights it on fire, stabs a monarch with it, slays a dragon, and wins a world war or two. That metaphor may be terrible… Anyway, this is the best war metal record I have ever heard, which admittedly is coming from someone who is less than a scholar when it comes to it, but you need to do yourself a favor and give this album a go. You may just end up not listening to anything else.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA nope. Wrong. J/K.

So maybe now is a good time to instead take a look back – to cozy up to the familiar and comforting sounds of yesteryear. What we need is a healthy dose of traditional heavy metal to invigorate and inspire us. What we need is San Francisco’s Nite.

OH SHIT YEAH.

Nite have taken the familiar and celebrated sounds of bands like Diamond Head or Saxon, and given them a modern “blackened” treatment; Think Judas Priest with Fenriz on vocals. Manowar with spiked loin cloths. It’s the tried-and-true with a dark twist, and it’s a hell of a good time.

“Genesis” gets things rolling nicely with an epic intro that gives way to an almost Ghost-ian little number, complete with rousing guitars, a rumbling bass background, and super catchy chorus that’ll get your fists pumping and head banging in short order. An epic, Bathory-inspired lead bridges into the final, rollicking chorus and sets this album off onto its mighty path.

As it should be for a Heavy Metal ambush like this, guitarists Van Labrakis and Scott Hoffman really lead the way here, deftly trading beautiful and tightly crafted leads and solos throughout the album, and pulling their influences from all over the Heavy Metal spectrum. On “The Way” and “Lucifer,” they bring multiple eras of Judas Priest’s illustrious catalogue to the fold (the former being one of my personal favorite tracks on the record), while tracks like “Chains” and the super-catchy album-closer “Acolytes” break out some of the more melodic, epic stylings of Iron Maiden – the final track boasting a bouncy, headbanging chorus that can’t help but put a little pep in your step.

The band isn’t afraid to break things down a bit, either. “Night Terrors” hits with a more rocking Ozzy Osbourne feel that conjures the ghost of Randy Rhodes out of the grave and back into the studio, while “Bright” is a straight-up ballad that, again, really leans in to that 80s Ozzy-meets-Dio vibe that avoids sounding tired or dated.

I wasn’t sure how this was all gonna work. On paper, it seems like putting raspy, demonic black metal vocals over a very clean, crisp traditional heavy metal backbone would be distracting and stand out like a shattered thumb – but it just sorta… doesn’t. It pulls off a neat trick of bringing me back to black metal’s infancy, when bands like Venom and Mercyful Fate were first shaping the genre. Really, Darkness Silence Mirror Flame is kinda a celebration of Heavy Metal history as a whole, while also being its own thing entirely. I think that’s pretty fucking cool.

Like a point blank, sawed off shotgun blast to the face, O. o. C. destroys right from the get-go. “Pounding Hooves of Shrapnel” tears out of the gates brandishing the bands speedy and visceral take of old-school blackened death; the song slices and bludgeons in that “Maze of Torment”(Morbid Angel) styled influence of fast, twisting riffs, ripping solos and blastbeats of yesteryear, and not a downtuned to Satan’s bowels moment to be found. No, this is just gloriously old-school patterned, denim and leather, furious real deal metal. The track sets up the rest of the album’s sound and presentation perfectly, letting listeners know where O. o. C. stands and what can be expected form the remaining offerings found on Summary Execution At Dawn.

With nary a dud or bad track to be found on Summary…, where you stand with Oath of Cruelty‘s said style is what will ultimately determine how their material will hit and stick with you. Though I have a hard time seeing any fans of extreme metal passing on the beatings of “Pathogenic Winds of Swarm”, or having a distaste for the likes of  the album’s title track, with its speedy thrashing assault, ripping solos, and blasting battery, or turning a fickle nose up to the wonderfulness of the Hell Awaits meets Altars of Madness pummel of “Into the Chamber of Death”. Hell, they even tackle a cover of Merciless‘ “Denied Birth” in true ripping form. From top to bottom, Summary… reeks of nostalgic brutality in a most superb way. A sturdy and primal, but not lo-fi, production bolstering these songs adds to the old-school essence of Summary…, and it works marvelously at rendering these tracks even that much more authentic. Oath of Cruelty doesn’t come across as a band plagiarizing the old-school, they simply come off as old-school. An awesome feat in and of itself.

When I was a younger kid in the early to mid ’80’s, my two older sisters shared a bedroom. In this bedroom hung a fold out magazine poster of Van Halen‘s David Lee Roth in all of his trying to be seductive douchey glory, sporting spandex pants/leggings, pulled way to low (nobody wants to see your pubes Dave!), a frilly/puffy shirt, and a multitude of pink scarves, all while making some atrocious kissy duck face sneer. I hated this poster, and I credit it for my continued distatste of all that is Diamond Dave. My sisters, on the other hand, loved it. Gazing fondly into this blasphemy, I can only imagine the type of thoughts they must have had. It’s sickening to both the mind and body. Alas, who am I to scoff or belittle the worship of a fan’s idol?

Why do I bring this little tid bit of useless knowledge from my life up in this review? Well, because I can see the members of O. o. C. having a few of these posters hanging about in their garages or jam space. Not of David Lee Roth mind you, but with the sneering images of Trey Azagthoth, David Vincent (Morbid Angel), Pete Helmkamp, Gene Palubicki (Angelcorpse), or even Tom Angelripper (Sodom). It only makes sense that they too have stared fondly at the images of their mighty influencers as well, much like my demented sisters did with old Diamond Dave, though for way different reasons. At least their images are surely 100% free of dick hair.

Hell-fucking-YES, Necropanther.

Be honest, you’re only here because of that name. Don’t be ashamed! It’s sure as hell the reason they caught my attention. You see a name like that, and you pretty much HAVE to see just what the hell that’s all about.

It’s really a bold, but risky strategy. Yes, the name alone is going to attract some attention. But Necropanther? Man, that’s a BIG name to try and live up to, and for me, my mind comes up with three likely scenarios here:

• They’re a silly band with a silly, gimmicky name, who completely lack any real musical substance.
• They’re a way-too-serious band completely lacking in any self-awareness of just how silly their band name is.
• They’re literal cartoon characters.

Brothers and sisters, I’m SO happy to report that Necropanther is none of these things. What they’ve done here, is hit the sweet spot: a group of dudes with some serious musical chops, delivered with an upbeat, frenzied fervor that can’t help but put a smile on your face. A band serious enough about their craft to create quality, highly respectable material, but not so serious that they forget the thing most vital to pulling of a name like Necropanther: FUN.

As it turns out, I’m late to this party, as the band has been around since 2014 – The Doomed City being their third full-length release. This Denver-based quartet offer a brand of blackened thrash/death similar to the likes of Skeletonwitch or Revocation, with a distinctly upbeat kind of delivery that brings a band like Battlecross to mind. They get right down to business with opener “Renew.” After a familiarly thrashy intro, vocalist and guitarist Paul Anop breaks in with a raspy, “ALRIGHT!” and things rarely slow down from there. They may not have turned out to be literal cartoons, but 50 seconds into the song, lead guitarist Joe Johnson busts out catchy-as-hell melody that almost immediately made me think of Dethklok. 

And that’s not the last time the fictional metallers come to mind, either. After another thrashy start to “Death at Hand,” the band launches into another epic melody that could easily have come from Brendon Small’s musical catalogue, before barreling back into a more blackened thrash frenzy. And you can’t tell me that Swisgaar isn’t lending a hand on the intro to “Perricide – Genocide.” That’s him, goddamn it, I know it!

Epic melodies aside, the band does an excellent job over the 13 tracks interweaving elements of thrash, death and black metal throughout the album. “Arcade” and “Hell” taking decidedly thrashier approaches, while songs like “Deep Sleep” and the title track slow things down a bit, opting for a more plodding, hefty death/doom attack akin to early Asphyx or Benediction. “Tiger” and “Sanctuary” lean heavily on more on the blackened influences that permeate much of the album. Luckily, the band avoids the trap of trying to do too much. Everything blends together nicely into a cohesive sound and attitude that never really feels out-of-place or out of left field.

The whole package here is just a hell of a lot of fun. This is a band seemingly happy to wear their influences on their sleeve, and rip out a brand of metal that has something to offer for almost everyone. I can picture younger versions of these guys popping Dissection’s Reinkaos into their car’s CD player for the first time and saying, “Yes. I want to do that.” and dedicating the rest of the lives to that pursuit, picking up other little influences here and there along the way to create a gripping, thoroughly enjoyable and impressive fury of sound that is altogether their own. I may have been late to the Necropanther party, but this band and indeed this album have hit such a sweet spot for me: A little bit silly, with a whole lot of muscle.

If that doesn’t sound appealing to you… I mean, I don’t know what to tell you. We probably can’t be friends.

Culling from  the first wave of black metal and a little dash of their inherent bestial, South American tones, Profound Evil Presence is a by the numbers black thrash record with an organic feel that’s cleaners that some of the more intentionally nasty or dirty sounding peers in the genre. Founder, songwriter and vocalist Sodomic has a reverby, distant, throaty rasp that’s neither evil or menacing sounding and the guitars are surprisingly flat for a genre that usually at least has a more tetanus inducing bite (case and point, the recent Necromutilator), even if the songs are flat.

And thusly the record’s 42 minute, 11 song run time is neither evil or profound, if barely present. But I’m sure fans of the style will still clamor for it’s old school, if forgettable charms. And it appears the band has had a bit of a stylistic shift , where they were more direct, nasty tits ‘n’ spikes black metal, but on these 11 songs there’s nothing that imbues that sleazy, satanic vibe. Even with song titles like “Lust … Sacrilege & Blood”, “Nocturnal Desire” or ” Elizabeth Needs Blood”. There’s just nothing beyond, fuzzy but somehow clear tremolo riffs  like  “Lucy’s Curse” or dull plods and canters like “Unholy Dimension”.

Unfortunately, even though fans of the genre might like this, i still think they would be a bit forced to really enjoy it of give it more than a passing listen.

Fast forward a dozen years, and Usurper is back. Lords of the Permafrost is the band’s first offering in fourteen years, and with 3/4ths of the line-up returning to the fold, the band continues in fine form , making it sound as if their hiatus had never happened. Though happen it did, and the boys of Usurper have only grown older and wiser in knowing what they wanted to achieve with Lords of the Permafrost. Not only has the band trimmed back a lot of the fat from previous releases, but the group strikes in a much more straightforward death-thrash aesthetic akin to something much like (older) Skeletonwitch, though in somewhat comparitive style more than comparitive sound. Not too many actual black metal leanings can be found in modern Usurper, and even the Frost-isms that are present are done, for the most part, in a less overt presentation. Usurper in 2019 is more of a Slayer meets Celtic Frost meest Deceased in a back alley bar fight with a tad bit of the more straightforward/ traditional moments of influence from bands like Anacrusis and Believer.

Lords of the Permafrost is more than just solid, and at a thirty-eight minute run time, it’s almost the perfect length. Unfortunately, the album is clearly back-loaded , with the record’s last half being better than the first half. Not really a huge problem, as all of the songs on LotP are good, but the true winners of the LP reside on the albums latter offerings. While Lords of the Permafrost starts off safely with the Slayer-esque thrashings of “Skull Splitter” and follows suit with the Slayer-y/Frost-y vibes of “Beyond the Walls of Ice”, albeit wrapped in a feeling akin to The Grotesquery, though with a thrash centered aesthetic as opposed to death metal, it’s that aforementioned second half of Lords of the Permafrost that will ultimately bring the listeners back for more.

With the onset of “Warlock Moon” things start getting a bit more interesting and engaging. The track is a chunky, upbeat, in your face, thrasher with some great blasts and fills accommodating some blackened tremolo runs. Throw in some rocking swagger around the halfway mark and a Kenn Nardi (Anacrusis) like scream, and this bad boy is quite the burner. At just about three minutes and twenty-four seconds, the track does its job perfectly, getting in there, kicking your ass, and getting out.

A straight-up rocking feel a`la the NWOBHM starts “Gargoyle” out before slyly shifting into some quality death thrash, reminding me of the mighty Deceased more than a few times. The song takes you on quite the trip, as that NWOBHM swagger rears its head again, but this time mixed with an OverKill punch to it, ultimately, bouncing back, to and fro, to previous riffs. “Black Tide Rising” ends up being a midpaced thrasher for most of its five minutes, but it flows well and is nicely put together. There’s a Frost-y OverKill-ish feel that seems to permeate with that aforementioned vibe of The Grotesquery. The track does shift into speedier terrritory towards the end, even managing to throw in some good old late ’80’s death blasts.

Lords of the Permafrost closes out on what is probably my favorite track off the album, “Mutants of the Iron Age”. It’s a fast, blasty thrasher that really opens up when vocalist, Dan “Tyrantor”, hits that Anacrusis– like scream and that fat groove takes over, at times even  reminding me of Mortification‘s “Scrolls of the Megilloth”, especially in the vocal phrasing of the song’s chorus. The 2:22 mark brings a tasty change-up that leads to Ghoul-ish fields, lending just enough off-kilter-ness to keep the track fresh and exciting. This review ended up taking a few different shapes before becoming what you just read, as my opinion of Lords of the Permafrost ran the gamut from being unimpressed, to being overly impressed, to now being quite firm in my stance that LotP is definitely a solid album that is both commendable and enjoyable. It’s probably going to end up in more honorable mention lists than in top-ten albums at the end of the year, but when it’s all said and done, it’s simply good to have Usurper back in the game.