Ok, will someone please explain to me how this isn’t an Asphyx record? It’s the trio that released the legendary The Rack (Eric Daniels, Martin Van Drunen and Bob Bagchus) two of which went on to form the post Asphyx band Soulburn, as well as a  current member of the the new Asphyx (Alwin Zuur) […]

Nachtmystium´s progression has been almost Odyssian in nature. Starting as relatively by-the-numbers black metal, the Chicago act, led by vocalist/guitarist Blake Judd, took a fork in the road to explore their own experimental and progressive journey over the course of a few releases while the glut of black metal dabbled in post-metalisms and writing aimless […]

Century Media Records is proud to welcome Swedish black metal extremists WATAIN to its worldwide family. Legitimately labeled as genre leaders, deservedly awarded with a Swedish Grammy, playing the world’s biggest stages and touring the globe constantly while reaching numerous top positions in the annual reader’s polls, WATAIN have worked hard and achieved a lot […]

How do I love thee Grave? Let me count the ways. It is the heart and soul of demonic growler, guitarist, and sole original member Ola Lindgren and the way he keeps the machine running in such a well-oiled manner. It is the rottenness and sheer weight of those riffs, the ugly enormousness of the […]

It’s time to play the spin the wheel of metal genre label creation!!!! What do we have here from Seattle’s 7 Horns 7 Eyes? prog-djent-death-core? death-djent–prog-core? Christian-djent-melo-core? Whatever you call it and whatever the hype surrounding this release  what with teaser trailers, a Jeff Loomis (ex- Nevermore, who apparently made Century Media aware of these […]

Finnish crusaders of epic heathen metal, MOONSORROW, and Century Media Records are proud to announce a worldwide deal! In regards to the signing, the band comments: “MOONSORROW are thrilled to start working with Century Media, a label that is home to many fellow artists already! We never make our music half way or with compromises […]

Naglfar’s second album, Diabolical, is still one of the most successful ‘cold’ purchases I’ve ever made. And by cold, I don’t mean frosty black metal, although that obviously applies. No, in this case, I mean that I’d never heard the band before, and bought the album on a whim. This was back in 1999, the […]

I’ve always had a soft spot for Borknagar‘s brand of melodic, blackened, folky, progressive, epic metal. That’s not a genre, just a lot of well-deserved adjectives. Their self-titled debut set a blueprint for what was to come, and though they’ve improved their production quality and changed members over time, main man Øystein G. Brun has […]

As Lacuna Coil’s sound has drifted more and more commercial, my opinion has been here and there on them. I love Comalies, but the bouncy, nu-metallish stuff of Karmacode didn’t connect with me. The catchy melodies of Shallow Life, though, managed to win me over despite the fact that it was easily the poppiest release […]

Ladies and gentlemen: Napalm Death have entered the building. This is their new album, Utilitarian. It kicks ass, just like their other albums. Go download it, stream it or steal the money from your grandmother to get your hands on a copy. End of review. So what more is there to be said? Why are […]

Few bands can lay claim to the fact that their guitar style spawned a whole genre, but Meshuggah is one such band. Their heavily palm-muted, distorted guitar style known as “djent” has spawned many a copycat. Some bands such as Periphery, Animals as Leaders, Putrescent Secretancy, Textures and others have done a good job of […]

In their four album transition from typical Finnish doom death outfit to a melancholic melodic (melocholic?) death metal, Insomnium have done no wrong. Each album being better than the last. And album number 5 is no different as the band manages to take slivers of recognizable influences like Rapture, Amorphis, In Flames, Paradise Lost, My […]

There has been a fair bit of buzz about the debut from England’s Vallenfyre, and rightfully so. It’s a super group of sorts featuring Gregor Mackintosh of Paradise Lost, Hamish Glencross of My Dying Bride as well as mercenary drummer Adrian Erlandsson (Cradle of Filth, At the Gates, The Haunted to name a few) , […]

Upon hearing In Flames’ Sounds of a Playground Fading, one of our other esteemed writers here at Teeth of the Divine dubbed it Sounds of a Career Failing. I’m sure many fans will feel the same, but being the contrarian that I am, I’ve got a slightly different take. I’ll say off the top that […]

Wow, now this was unexpected. I haven’t been this disappointed, this…disgusted, with a new album in quite some time, though I remember the last time quite clearly. I was 15, my summer vacation had just started, and I was eagerly anticipating this album. I got a ride to the record shop, picked it up, and […]

Firewind has long been one of the steadiest, most reliable acts in the power metal genre. Despite guitarist Gus G.’s newfound stardom as Ozzy Osbourne’s latest guitarist, nothing has changed on the band’s latest record Days of Defiance. The record comes blazing out of the gates with “Ark of Lies,” a tune that has everything […]

Upon hearing the news that The Crown, one of the most revered, and one of my personal favorite death/thrash bands were reuniting, I was ecstatic. I was slightly disappointed that vocalist Johan Lindstrand would not be involved, assuming he’s too busy with his lame post-The Crown band One Man Army, but ultimately thought things should […]

Fuck yeah, Witchery. I can say this with even more enthusiasm now after being disappointed with their last studio output, Don’t Fear the Reaper – an album I couldn’t get through 4 tracks of without being bored to tears – because Witchkrieg finds the “super group” of sorts back in prime form, new vocalist Erik […]

Nevermore’s latest outing, The Obsidian Conspiracy, is at once recognizable as a Nevermore effort yet still not quite like anything they’ve done before. The primary hallmarks of the band’s style are there: tight performances, fantastic musicianship and the unmistakable combination of Jeff Loomis’ blazing guitars and Warrel Dane’s distinctive vocals. But there’s something of a […]

Assassins: Black Meddle Part I, the first chapter in Nachtmystium’s post-black metal transformation, was aptly named in that it mashed up Floydian psychedelia with the band’s gritty, scuzzy and vaguely punk brand of USBM. When I reviewed the album two years ago, I latched more onto the rippling, expansive sections than the fiercer black-punk explosions […]

I’m willing to stretch my metal arms pretty wide to accommodate a wide variety of the sub-genres that have sprung up in the past decade. This new wave of black metal that Nachtmystium has been courting for a couple albums now was a pretty big deal a few years ago. I still remember the first […]

Nevermore‘s long-awaited follow-up to 2005’s This Godless Endeavour, The Obsidian Conspiracy, is set for release on May 28th in Europe and June 8th in North America via Century Media. The album was recorded with renowned producer Peter Wichers (who previously worked with vocalist Warrel Dane on his solo debut Praises To The War Machine). Longtime […]

I killed Deacon Frost, I will find you girls as well, Lost in the Shadows, full of shitty pop music, for it you deserve to die.

Imagine getting trampled by a galloping horse, no, imagine getting stomped by a prancing pony, each hoof raised high and thumped on your head over and over and over because that pony is not making forward progress, that is “Osiris”. Monstrously oppressive riffing with enticing melodies that make you dare the collapsing sky, this is […]

No, you’re wrong; it’s not deathcore, well, not quite. Despite the artwork, the elaborate band name, the slightly sarcastic song titles (“Cradle Your Filth?” oh Drowningman, this is what you created with your genius back catalog) and the fact that CM has gone all gooey for deathcore makes it all the more surprising that this […]