It’s been 5 years since Death Strike, the solid second effort from this Dismember/Grave worshiping Dutch act, and although this was released on vinyl and digital last year, I waited with baited breath for the CD version from FDA Records, and it was worth the wait. The formula is the same; well executed Dismember meets […]
Though only a 5 year wait, down from the 7 year wait for Old Morning’ s Dawn, Summoning are back with another effort of their now predictable, but effective Tolkien inspired, dungeon synth based black metal and there is very little deviation from the last few efforts. And to many, the minimalist, tinny guitars and […]
I was fairly impressed with Discreation’s 2015 effort Procreation of the Wretched , a solid European death metal record from a group of Germans I had never heard of. The album took a while to get going, but its last 2/3 was pretty damn good. End of Day, does not take a while to get […]
There are some similarities between Germany’s Corrosive and Sweden’s Entrails. Both were active in the 90s but never really became fully productive until the reformed on the 00s. Also, both play a beefy, killer form of Old school death metal with a heavy emphasis on killer grooves and Stockholm based riffage. Corrosive isn’t quite on […]
Even though he has long championed his home country (India) and other Asian bands , Transcending Obscurity Records owner Kunal Choksi has outdone himself with the second effort from Mumbia’s Gutslit. You’d would have no idea these guys were from India once you hit play, as the band culls from a plethora of brutal influences […]
As usual. when the dust has settled on a year, a few late year releases find their way into my hands and miss the deadline for year end lists, but certainly need some attention, and this is the case with the second album from the UKs Monolith Cult, a new act to me. In my […]
Though still maligned as a genre, Deathcore had a a pretty solid year in 2017 with Aversion’s Crown, Thy Art is Murder, Oceano, Through the Eyes of the Dead, Fit For An Autopsy, Slaughter to Prevail, Conjonctive, Shadow of Intent, Boris the Blade and Reaping Asmodiea releasing solid efforts, and as the year closed out, […]
Holland’s Graceless are a new act, but feature a number of veterans from the Dutch scene from the likes of the excellent Nailgun Massacre and Soulburn, Master and Grand Supreme Bloodcourt. And the end result is what you’d expect from a collaboration of those folks. If you enjoy any of these band members other projects you […]
I’m not familiar with Portugal’s Process of Guilt, but considering the country’s quality output this recently (Goldepyre, Grog, Primal Attack, The Ominous Circle, Switchtense) I thought I’d see how the country’s post rock/sludge genre was doing, and based on a review at this very site of the band’s last album, 2012’s , FÆMIN , my curiosity was peaked. […]
Though hailing from Quebec, Canada, Цар Стангра (translating to ‘Tsar Stangra’) and founder Stan Stefanovski would have you imbuing the legions of Bulgar cavalry sweeping across the steppes to confront the invading Byzantines… The Ukrainian/ Eastern European vibe is strong here with the likes of Obest, Drudkh, Negura Bunget, Nokturnal Mortum etc, flowing through their veins […]
There is something foul afoot in the Iberian Peninsula. Some Portuguese and Spanish acts like The Ominous Circle, Morbid Flesh, Aversio Humanitas, Goldenpyre, have delivered some truly nasty black and death metal of late, and with their second effort Spain’s Altarage look to be the apex of the onslaught. I never heard the band’s debut, […]
Taking a break form the recent onslaught of old school and Swedish death metal, Germany’s FDA Records have delved into the death-doom genre with the 4th full length album from Hamburg’s Ophis (“snake”), and it’s as successful and consistent as you’d expect from the label, despite the genre. The aptly named The Dismal Circle is […]
“This is what happens. It indicates the non-frenzied feeding of a large squalus – possibly Longimanus or Isurus glauca. Now… the enormous amount of tissue loss prevents any detailed analysis; however the attacking squalus must be considerably larger than any normal squalus found in these waters. Didn’t you get on a boat and check out […]
Ever since Nile erupted forth with their Egyptian take on brutal death metal, ethnic, and cultural elements have crept into death metal more and from from Ade to Scarab and others. But here comes France’s Impureza to add one I have not heard before- at least not in this full on capacity: Flamenco. Sure, a […]
Every time I think Italy has rendered the most brutalist of brutal albums, it seems to quickly get superseded by something else. Whether it’s Hour of Penance to Blasphemer, to Hideous Divinity, then to Logic of Denial, Antropofagus and recently Daemusinem . Well, Devangelic is here to try and stop the buck. However, the best term I can […]
From the opening mid range chords of the introductory “Into the Fire” with strains of that classic Phantasm/”Left Hand Path” riff, you know exactly what you are getting from the debut of Germany’s Endseeker: Classic, Swedish styled death metal. And much like recent releases from label mates Lifeless and Blood of Seklusion, it delivers the goods, […]
Ne Obliviscaris‘s 2014 sophomore album Citadel was one of my top 3 albums for that year, and now 3 years later, the Australian progressive extreme metal collective look to have another of my top albums for 2017 in Urn. The incredibly ambitious and hard to describe sound of these guys is in force again, as […]
I really want to like these Massachusetts metallers more. They feature Colin Conway (ex- Cannae), one of the coolest dudes I’ve ever interviewed, and my reviewing brethren Luke Sanders gushed over their last record, 2013s Blood and Black. Throw in a beefy, modern take on East Coast death/thrash metal and you’d think the recipe was […]
Hailing from Rochester, NY, duo Mavradoxa play a form of atmospheric black metal that would be right at home on Bindrune Recordings. It’s a woodsy, Agalloch rooted form of black metal akin to the likes of Falls of Rauros, Alda, Wodensthrone and such. However, it does not mean its as good as those bands. While Mavradoxa […]
I rather enjoyed this bands second effort, 2013s Atonement, but the band waited a little long for a follow up ( four years is an eternity for brutal death metal), so me waiting a few months to get a review out is excusable. But not much appears to have changed. The band are as brutal […]
There are a few records that left an indelible mark on me as a young metal head. One such record was Fleurety’s 1995 debut, Mid Tid Skal Komme. And most of it was due to the vocals of Marian Aas Hansen, who added a bluesy, sultry sway to the avante garde black metal. Another more recent effort […]
It’s been quite a year for the old guard of American Death metal. Obituary, Immolation, Suffocation, Broken Hope, Incantation, Dying Fetus and such all releasing albums in 2017. But none may be more important to any band right now than Morbid Angel‘s 10th (proper) album, Kingdoms Disdained. After the controversial shit show that was Illud Divinum Insanus back […]
Hailing from Toronto, Decatur play a beefy from of groove/thrash metal inspired by the Northeastern US scene (Shadow’s Fall etc), but the selling point here is the debut effort was produced by Gojira’s Joe Duplantier. So you would expect this thing sounds great, and it does with Duplantier glossing the rhythm section with his heavy fingerprints, and […]
What we have here as an impressive self released debut of Lovecraft themed melodic black/death metal from Denver’s Crafteon. Eschwing the usual Lovecraftian throes (churning miasmal chaos or deep complex, atmospheric black metal), Crafteon go for a cleaner, sharper sound more akin to Dissection, Dimmu Borgir or Ancient’s better output. The guitars have a crisp clean […]
If there was one band I feel like I could copy and paste a review from a prior release, change to song titles and call it good, it would be Cannibal Corpse. And sometimes that’s not necessarily bad thing, and that’s the case with Cannibal Corpse‘s 14th studio album. Despite all the pre album talk […]