Once again, Halo of Flies Records ensures that I keep a record player in my possession by releasing an impressive 2 track split 12″ from California sludge doom act Amarok and Polish doom band Enth. Both bands are new to me, but I’ll be certainly looking out for releases from both in the future. I’ll […]
Despite the recent run of excellent album reissues both needed and unnecessary, there has been a large hole in my metal collection and in my heart. As much as I’ve loved and needed reissues of the likes of God Macabre, Burial, Gorement, Uncanny, Convulse and such, there’s been one release missing; Desecrator‘s sole, 1991 album, […]
Last year, Minnesota’s Your Memorial dropped one of the year’s best metalcore records, Christian or otherwise. And since then Facedown Records has struggled with a bit of staleness with their subsequent releases and even lost one of their best bands, Sleeping Giant, to another label. Well, Your Memorial is here as the savior to Facedown […]
Back in 2008 Sweden’s Necrovation dropped Breed Deadness Blood, an authentic, throwback but modern Swedish death metal record that was retro, before retro was vogue. It was widely regarded as a new classic of sorts and was a deservingly acclaimed record. 4 Years later Necrovation are back and have added a second guitarist, and those […]
Back in 2009 we reviewed the self titled, self released debut from this Australian doom outfit, and by most accounts it was a solid effort of European styled doom/death metal culling from the British and Finnish school of the genre, recalling the likes of My Dying Bride, Anathema, Shape of Despair and such. I recall […]
This spring/summer has seen the German death metal scene deliver the goods with the likes of Tombthroat, Sophicide and the second release from Deadborn. All three delivering something a little different, with Tombthroat going for the throat, Sophicide making people forget Necrophagist and with Deadborn you’ve got a band that lie some where in between. […]
So back in April I attended a show featuring All Shall Perish, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Carnifex, The Contortionist and Conducting From the Grave. Admittedly, the main attractions were All Shall Perish and Fleshgod Apocalypse, as while I own all of Carnifex’s albums, they aren’t a band I really crave — being a solid if unspectacular deathcore outfit. That being said their last CD, Until I Feel Nothing, as with many of their contemporaries, upped the death metal ante and in the case of Carnifex, a very slight symphonic element was added, giving the band a more dramatic, epic feel. So before the show, I hung out with amicable drummer and founder Shawn Cameron to discuss, Victory Records, fans and the dreaded D word…
Recently I’ve been on a bit of a symphonic black metal kick, dusting off the likes of Anorexia Nervosa, Skyfire, Stormlord, Arthemesia, Dagor Dagorath, Sirius, Covenant (when they had a a ‘C’) as well as good ol’ Dimmu and Cradle of Filth. And during this time, something struck me; Other than Carach Angren‘s Where the […]
So those of you currently enjoying the glut of old school metal bands fronted by smoky, female crooners (The Devils Blood, Christian Mistress, Witch Mountain, Jess and the Ancient Ones, Jex Thoth, Blood Ceremony, etc) here’s a short little EP that should appeal to you by way of the debut EP from Nevada’s Demon Lung […]
I had a hard time coming up with a description of Burnsred and their impressive debut album. So, I thought I’d simply lift the band’s own description of themselves as it sums the sound up perfectly: “Loosely fitting into the doom/sludge/post-metal genre, Burnsred play music which ebbs and flows through harmonic progressions, tempo changes, and […]
So I had to do a little research to discover that ‘Binah’ means ‘understanding,’ and is ‘the second intellectual sephira on the kabbalistic Tree of Life’. Oh yeah, it also happens to be the name of a new young English death metal trio, and their debut album is the best retro Swedish-styled death metal album […]
For four albums I reviewed and extolled the virtues of War of Ages as a top notch Christian, melodic death metal/ metalcore act who were deserving of As I Lay Dying type attention, peaking with 2008s Arise and Conquer. However, with 2010s Eternal, the band shifted into more commercial territory morphing into a more predictable […]
Released around the same time as Malfeitor‘s Dum Morior Orior and on the same label, Intestinal are also an old school Swedish death metal band who are actually from Sweden currently enjoying the genre’s resurgence. This is the band’s second effort after 2010’s Human Harvest, which I have not heard. And while I enjoy The […]
I had no idea what to expect from the debut from Ireland’s Eternal Helcaraxe. The cover and logo hinted at something Viking or Pagan, the moniker just reminded me of US death metal act Helcaraxe, and the album title was just ‘meh’. And they were from Ireland- with a few exceptions (namely Cruachan, Waylander, Primordial […]
I’ve been struggling with this review for several weeks now. On one hand I feel its typically strong Dark Descent release that adds another quality act and release to their excellent roster. But on the other hand, it’s a strange record that struggles with influences, identity and consistency. Notably featuring members of Belgian black metal […]
Yeah, I know, I have not done one of these in a few months. But I’m trying to be particular about what I review here, and my bargain bin hauls tend to come in bunches. I just don’t want to review every 99 cents early 90s Metal Blade or Pulkas CD I find in the used bin.
And this episode of bargain bin reviews is slightly relevant as you will read shortly. I found this CD for 99 cents in the clearance bin at Hastings. The unreadable logo and esoteric title immediately drew me in to a blind purchase, thinking it had to be metal of some sort….and I was right.
Being from Norway I was hoping that Kraanium might offer up something a little different with their third album in their chosen style of burpy slammy gore addled brutal death metal, but as it stands, Kraanium stick to the tenets of the genre rigidly and the end result will no doubt appease the genres fans. […]
So here is another dusted off unearthed Swedish death metal band back from the grave to join in on the genre’s resurgence. And while not a elite act akin to Entrails, Horrendous, Binah or Revel Flesh, Malfeitor to bring a little something different to the reanimation of the genre by way of less direct or […]
Hailing from the same neck of the woods as the recently reviewed Ectovoid, Alabama’s Chaos Inception have dropped a fine death metal album by way of their sophomore album, The Abrogation. And for those that are a little disappointed with Nile‘s At the Gate of Sethu, (or a least its production) and are still miffed […]
In my recent quest to discover as much quality D-beat/crust as possible (in part to Southern Lord’s recent releases by All Nails, Black Breath, Pigs Must Die, Acephalix, Dead in the Dirt, etc) two names came up over and over again as a must listen band in the genre; Tragedy and their apparent European equivalent […]
The fifth release from young Canadian label, Blast Head Records is easily their best. It’s the fourth album from veteran, but new to me German death metal act Tombthroat, and it’s a scorcher of a death metal album. The 11 tracks contained on Eden Apocalypse are completely relentless, delivering pretty much blast after blast of […]
I feel a little bad for California’s Coffin Texts. They released a Egyptian/Middle Eastern themed death metal album back in 2000 called Gods of Creation, Death & Afterlife, and by all counts it was a pretty solid affair. The only problem was there was also band around at the same time called Nile, maybe you’ve […]
So after a couple of line up juggling, transitional post Destroy the Opposition albums in Stop at Nothing and War of Attrition, American stalwarts Dying Fetus trimmed down to a three piece for 2009s Descend into Depravity with impressive results. And now finally, John Gallagher has put together two album with the same line up […]
I love getting my hands on obscure, previously unheard (to me) metal bands, and they turn out to be enjoyable – case and point Malaysia’s Humiliation, and their third full length album, From Strength to Strength.Admittedly I had zero expectation whatsoever, but amid all the proggy, tech death and deathcore ringing in my ears, Humiliation […]
Hailing from Philadelphia, Fisthammer are a young band who have decided to eschew the current retro, throwback trend and go for a modern, clean take on death metal and throw in a smorgasbord of elements. The result is a pretty solid album that takes a while to get going, but has a lot of promise […]