Now that the post-Bloodbath, Stockholm homage glow seems to have passed, with even Bloodbath moving away from their Entombed/Dismember/ Grave worship for Nightmares Made Flesh, here comes Lord K (The Project Hate) and his second super group of old school Swedish death mongers featuring Emperor Magus Caligula – Vocals (Dark Funeral, Hypocrisy, Dominion Caligula), Tomas […]
Apparently Myspace has some uses other than unsolicited porn and self promotion (my main use) as out of the blue I get a message from Kostas, the main man of Pantheist, who has read my reviews of Amartia and O Solitude on this very site and asked me to review their latest release. Don’t get […]
I‘ll admit, I’m not the biggest Emperor fan in the world as only Into the Nightside Eclipse still gets any regular play from me, however I can appreciate the artistry and elegance of the band’s last three efforts, especially the swansong Prometheus. Now as far as Ihsahn’s first post Emperor side project, Peccatum, I think […]
Add ‘Phillip K Dick-core’ or “Sci-Fi-core” to the ever growing sub genres of ‘core’ styled metal, and though I have not read the Philip K. Dick book of the same name, nor any of his other works, this noisy, sci-fi themed slab of noise is mighty impressive. Essentially mixing the likes of Ed Gein and […]
With a legacy forged in -16- and Cavity, the two piece offering up the aptly named Bestial know a thing or two about caustic, sludgy and ear drum dissolving metal, and flex their experience with suitable with their debut record.With an obvious nod to their former bands, Jason Landrian and Rafael martinez stew up some […]
Album number two from these, grimy, filthy purveyors of Celtic Frost meets Sabbath, meets Slayer, meets Cyanide wrought noise, and everything seems to be upped; the artwork is spectacular, the riffs are sludgier, the bottom end is heavier and the density is more oppressive. A few good crusty records have passed my desk of late; […]
First of all, thanks to Candlelight for giving this album a US deal. I don’t think Nuclear Blast has any idea how many Bal-Sagoth fans there are in the US… Truth be told, as I’ve gotten older, Bal-Sagoth have become less relevant to me. Whether it is my aging process or the fact Bal-Sagoth have […]
Adding to an already stellar year for Candlelight (and it’s only March!), comes the fifth album from Viking metal stalwarts Thyrfing, who with Vansinnesvisor took a far darker, more foreboding, death metal take on the traditionally pompous Viking metal. However, with Farsotstider (Times of Plague), Thyrfing seem to have found some balance. That’s not to […]
So not only has this Washington, D.C., band changed their name (from Love in a Time of Cholera), we have a pretty significant stylistic change and both are for the better. Their self released full light The Sun Through Glass was solid, catchy of Hot Topic-y styled ‘core record that showed promise, but on this […]
I’ll forgo the usual introductory band history and opinionated opening paragraph and get straight to it; With their second album, North Carolina’s Daylight Dies have masterfully yet subtly elbowed their way into the international metal elite. Not only does Dismantling Devotion separate the band from what is essentially a two band race within the US’s […]
Dismember need no introduction or lengthy dissection, so I’ll get right to it. Of the patriarchal Swedish death metal bands of the early 90’s they have been the one band that stayed true and stayed together. However, their last effort on the ill-fated Karmageddon Media, Where Ironcrosses Grow was a little disappointing even if still […]
A bland thrash blemish on Candlelight’s exceptional year from ex-members of Einherjer that shows that you should just let sleeping Vikings lie. Norway’s Einherjer were on of Viking metal’s early darlings with a level of creativity and experimentation that set them apart from the sword swinging hordes. Then how is that a thrash band formed […]
It’s been a good year for black metal for me so far; Thyrane, Lugubrum, Grand Belial’s Key, Oblomov, Dark Funeral, Leviathan’s 35 split CD’s and this superb effort all have made black metal interesting for me again. Frankly, I’ve never really delved to far into Aborym’s discography, so this album came as a surprise to […]
For some reason, I always compare France’s Yyrkoon with Poland’s Trauma; both are underrated and in the shadow of their respective country’s other higher profile bands, yet both are just as talented and skilled. I reviewed Trauma’s Imperfect Like a God right around the time I reviewed Yyrkoon’s Occult Medicine and both were excellent releases […]
Furious straight edge hardcore from Ft. Lauderdale on tap here, and while it’s rife with tired hardcore cliches and structures, it?s one of the better and most conviction filled efforts I’ve heard. There’s not much to explain here: 14 angry breakdown laden anthems of societal/political disgust (“Tight Lipped Politics”), straight edge pride (“Let’s Get Free”) […]
Shame on you death metal labels. While busy churning out mindless hordes of gore grind and releasing mediocre efforts from bands like Torture Killer, Hate Eternal, Divine Empire, Bile, Krisiun or even rehashing the past with the likes of Obituary and Cryptopsy and a band like Vore remains criminally unsigned.While most of the underground is […]
Four guys up in Ontario Canada really , really like Dark Funeral, Immortal and Marduk and they do a pretty admirable job of paying homage to them on their blistering debut (label released) album Black Northern Storm. Now this is my first exposure to these lads, so I’m not sure how Black Northern Storm stands […]
Rounding out my recent gamut of quality sludge/noise comes Wisconsin’s Desolate Void, who measure up favorably to the likes of Lair of the Minotaur, Ultralord and Black Cobra but with bit of a nasty, Southern tinged grindcore sheen that brings about a bit of Eyehategod or Soilent Green.At the center of Desolate Void’s caustic tantrums […]
A taster EP from this progressive, post black, avant-garde, Winds meets Arcturus meets Solefald collaboration. A collaboration, that to me, comes across like a slightly more diverse and edgy version of Winds and has the benefit of Solefald’s Lazare (Lars Nedlund) on vocals rather than Winds’ rather underwhelming Lars Eric Si (who play bass in […]
I hate to gush about a potential record of the year so early in 2006, especially with albums from In Flames, Eyes of Fire, Thryfing, Bal-Sagoth and Skinless lurking on the horizon, buts it’s not just the sheer quality of Misery Inc’s sophomore effort, Random End that impresses me, it’s compressed by the fact it’s […]
Christ, now THIS is retro kids. Just look at that artwork. This is raw garage thrash punk crossover circa 1986 fronted by an annoying female screamer/yeller (who has since departed), that will appeal to those that enjoyed the recent Municipal Waste album, only if you can get past the squealing banshee doing vocals. Personally, I […]
As much as I wanted to make some snide remark about this being watered down hardcore, and Victory’s watered down hardcore roster, I couldn’t because for what it is (screamohardcore, metalcorrepunkrock), it’s pretty solid and certainly better than some of Victory’s other more aggressively promoted bands (ahem, Hawthorne Heights, Bayside).Hailing from Germany, veterans Waterdown sound […]
First thing’s first; great cover.Now, I really wanted to like Bleeding Through’s third album. I really wanted it to be a huge middle finger to metalheads that look down on Bleeding Through with disdain and I wanted The Truth to remove Bleeding Through from the hated Hotopicore trifecta that also includes Avenged Sevenfold and Atreyu. […]
Though I really only regard this album as a competent and solid entry into the female fronted Goth rock album category that I will rarely listen too, I will concede that it is one of the sexiest albums I’ve heard in a while.Beseech has undergone a considerable lineup overhaul since I last heard them on […]
With their long awaited second album, France’s Aes Dana (who once featured various members of Antaeus and Arkhon Infaustus), have delivered a perfect rendition of folk and Celtic/pagan artistry and frosty black metal nihilism and arguably one of the finest pieces of folk based metal I have ever heard. Graced by the flutes of Amorgen […]