Not counting former Meads member Jaldaboath and his recent solo effort, my last experience with England’s The Meads of Asphodel was 2001’s The Excommunication of Christ, an album that I still find very difficult to absorb, but still enjoy in spurts (particularly “Bene He Elohim”). That still appears to be the case with the band’s […]

Finally after three years since their debut EP, Diskreet present us with their first full length album and what an album it is. Hailing from Topeka, Kansas this quintet plays a form of devastating technical death metal that annihilates all who oppose. If machines started to decimate and take over humanity this would be their […]

As I expressed here, Woe’s debut album, A Spell for the Death of Man was one of the best USBM releases of the last few years. So I was curious how Chris Grigg (no longer known as Xos) would deliver a follow up now residing on a legendary black metal label and having a full […]

Back in the symphonic black heyday of the mid to late 90s, Norway’s Limbonic Art released three albums in a highly pompous, gothic, orchestral style: Moon in the Scorpio, In Abhorrence Dementia and Epitome of Illusions. 1999’s Ad Noctum: Dynasty of Death and its follow-up, The Ultimate Death Worship, switched up the Limbonic Art sound […]

Fredrick Norrman’s departure from Katatonia has unlocked a door that personally, I never thought we’d see open. October Tide, the revered doom/death side project once helmed by Jonas Renkse and Norrman has been reincarnated without Renkse, a new line-up has been devised, and a new album is here in all its glory. After years of […]

Let’s not beat around the corpse. Waking the Cadaver is a death metal band, even if their debut had detractors screaming otherwise. Believing or even promoting otherwise is absurd, and maintaining the perception that they are anything but death metal is a weak argument. However, determining how good their gore slamming racket is, and determining […]

Over the last ten years, Fear Factory has tarnished even the most dedicated fans’ view of the band. Under pressure from Roadrunner, the band bridged a gap between their heavy industrialized sound and the mainstream, causing a downward spiral of events that eventually led to what we all thought was the band’s ultimate demise. Chug-master Dino Cazares left the band due to mounting tension with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell, and pursued Divine Heresy, which was a lackluster copycat of Fear Factory in most fans’ eyes. Though Bell and company kept the motor running with Archetype, 2005’s Transgression was a clusterfuck of an album that sealed the deal for most followers. Well, those days are ancient history and I am ecstatic to say that the machine has returned, and someone has switched it to kill mode.

Is there some sort of unspoken mandatory rule that a band has to have a live album after their 4th or 5th studio album? The reason I ask is that I’m not sure what the point of this release is. It’s only 8 tracks long – most live albums are packed to the brim with […]

Candlelight Records today confirms the recent signings of KRIEG, WOE and YAOTL MICTLAN.  All three add to the English label’s growing American roster, a concentrated effort of the label the past several years. Currently celebrating its ninth year of US operation, the label opened US offices January 2001 with the release of its first album, […]

Ihsahn’s work has always been forward-thinking and progressive, but its roots have also been easily traceable to that of earlier masters. From the Wagnerian fury of Anthems-era Emperor to the baroque intricacies of Prometheus, The Adversary and angL, it’s obvious that Ihsahn has studied and absorbed classical music and theory in a way that few […]

French export Glorior Belli became critical darlings two years ago after the release of the powerful Manifesting The Raging Beast. The praise was deserved; although they stayed closer to traditional black metal than experimental countrymates Deathspell Omega the album offered a well-lit and immaculately produced pathway to Hell. Of course the inevitable question is whether […]

While the thrash revival appears to be on its last legs the death knell sounded for deathcore at least a year ago. That doesn’t stop labels from signing new bands parroting a sound that’s been beaten past the point of originality. Take a look at the roster of many of the “most pissed off and […]

As many of you faithful death/doom fans will recall, previous album Above the Weeping World largely dropped the flowing acoustic passages that made Since the Day It All Came Down such a haunting (and enduring) listen. It was actually a smart move, because there are more ways to communicate grace and introspection than by simply […]

*Rant mode ON* You know, I love thrash, and when this whole thrash resurgence came about, I was pretty damn excited. But truth be told, I’m flat out tired of it now. Why? Because the labels won’t stop signing every last one of them they find. Every label has to have one in order to […]

On its face, Imperial Vengeance seems like a fascinating proposition. Symphonic black metal courtesy of two dapper British gents, with inspiration from British military history, mythology and literature? And mixed and mastered by Brett Caldas-Lima, creator of the stunning progressive death masterpiece Kalisia: Cybion? I was really eager to hear this. The symphonic intro instantly […]

According to their website, UK-based Xerath has but one purpose: “to remain on the cutting edge of symphonic metal.” Combining bombastic, sweeping film score elements with chunky guitar chug and groove is certainly one way to do it. In fact, the band has referred to this hybrid sound as “chugscore” (although that could also just […]

Years back, most who where lucky enough to hunt this band down regarded their first record, Tears of Mortal Solitude, as an obscure gem. Best described as Opeth-like, this band mixed dreary doom with a blackened atmosphere that really held something esoteric. I was ecstatic, to say the least, when I heard they were releasing […]

As England’s most extreme export since Napalm Death have made their transition from apocalyptic black metal to grindcore, they have managed to retain some of intensity and ferocity of The Codex Necro, though far less caustic, and have been able to introduce some love ‘em or hate ‘em clean croons amid the mechanical, robotic blasting […]

It would be easy for me to simply cut and paste my review Obituary’s real comeback album, 2007s Xecutioner’s Return considering this has the same sort of throwback glorious artwork, sense of album ranging classic Obituary riffage, Ralph Santolla’s leads and oppressive, murky production that made Xecutioner’s Return so good. Ultimately that’s what most of […]

Ugh. I hate when I’m let down by an album I’ve been anticipating. Coming into Attitude, I was curious to see where Susperia would take their catchy and melodic death/thrash – back towards the phenomenal Unlimited from 2004, or continue down the path set by their last, 2007’s Cut From Stone, which felt rather lackluster […]

You’ll have to excuse me in advance, because this is gonna be less a review and more the journalistic equivalent of a blowjob. Seriously, this really is that good. This is retro Thrash done right, peppered with a gnarly Black Metal edge. It’s nasty, it’s mean, it’s raw – it’s about as raw as Mike […]

When Ondskapt members announced a side project a few years back, I jumped at it, who would not? I must say I was underwhelmed with IXXI, the self titled debut, though I still picked up Assorted Armament. I will freely admit that I was not planning on buying Elect Darkness but then it arrived in […]

Finally getting a US/Worldwide release after coming out 2 years ago on Japan’s Toy Factory Records, the third album from super group Dimension Zero holds up not only after two years but as an album that would have sounded fresh and energetic whatever years it was released in. For me, the 2002 debut, Silent Night […]

Learn the Old Ways, pass them on, oral tradition was strong in the north in the old days. Throne of Katarsis carries on the tradition, continues telling the tales, songs inspired by the old masters. Can I call them that if most of them are younger than me? In the oral tradition individual storytellers adapted […]

Candlelight Records today confirms the worldwide signing of England’s Anaal Nathrakh. The popular extreme metal duo are currently in the studio working on their label debut titled In The Constellation Of The Black Widow. The album is expected for a summertime release. Vocalist V.I.T.R.I.O.L. says, “Candlelight have shown a strong belief in Anaal Nathrakh and […]