Y’know, I’ve been debating on whether do review the new Asphyx album for a while now, but a few things weighed heavy on my mind; first, Century Media never sent any sort of promo, digital, physical or otherwise, showing arrogance and confidence in the fact they don’t need press coverage, which considering the band is […]
All you really need to know about Blood Label to figure out how they sound are three things ; They are from Denmark, Existence Expires was recorded at Tue Madsen’s Antfarm Studio (Hatesphere, Illdisposed, The Haunted, etc) and the vocals were recorded at the studio of former Hateshphere/Allhelluya and current The Kandidate front-man Jacob Bredahl. […]
Some bands wear their heart and their influences on their sleeve, and none more so than the current crop of retro, old school Swedish death worshiping acts. For instance you’ve got the font and ‘tomb’ references of Entrails, Funeral Whore, who named a demo after a Grave song, Brutally Deceased is named after a Grave […]
There’s an old adage that states ‘never judge a book by its cover’, and that applies aptly in the case of the debut album from Columbia’s King. Based on the Dark Funeral reject cover art, song titles like “Non laughter – Zero Fucking Happiness” and “Kill the Posers Like Fucking Christians” as well as the […]
It’s amazing to me that the band that left me relatively unimpressed with their debut EP Razor to Oblivion, then fired back with one of 2010s most critically acclaimed albums, Heavy Breathing and now followed that up with one of 2012s best releases, Sentenced to Life. Not only that, the band seemed to have really […]
Poland’s Centurion have been around for a while, but this is only the band’s second effort since their 2002 debut, Conquer & Rule, which I have not heard. Stylistically the band play typically competent Polish death metal with a solid Floridian (Morbid Angel/Deicide) influence and in fact, the band covered Morbid Angel‘s “Day of Suffering” […]
Despite the retro thrash moniker and 1985 artwork, Massive Assault is actually a killer throwback Swedish styled death metal band who hail from the Netherlands. And whereas Denmark’s Funeral Whore were easily linked to Grave, Massive Assault are equally as easily linked to Dismember and fellow Dutchmen, Hail of Bullets (musically when they slow down, […]
From the same promotion company (Team All About the Music) that introduced me to the likes of the excellent Journal, Fallen Martyr, Truth Corroded, Hyno5eand A Band of Orcs comes the second album from Queensland, Australia’s Lynchmada. And while it’s a solid dose of modern metal that combines crunchy thrash and metalcore into one commercially […]
You’ll have to forgive Indiana’s Nocturnal Torment for their horrendous 90s CG cover art, logo and moniker. You see, they actually formed in 1988 and up to now only had one 2009 demo to show for it. However, seeing as 1/2 of the band released some quality Swedish styled death metal via the underrated Invasion, […]
Formed in 1987 in suburb of St. Louis, Missouri as Doom Lyre, Timeghoul were largely unnoticed in the early 90s. Heck, I lived in Missouri in the early 90s, and I never heard of them. But here is Dark Descent Records to give you another one of their well done re-issues, but like the label’s […]
American Death Thrash is the perfect title for this 10 song split between Oklahoma’s Sacrificial Slaughter and California’s Enfuneration. 10 tracks, 5 from each of good ol’ fashioned American metal, with Sacrificial Slaughter firmly gripping the thrash element and Enfuneration being more of the death metal side. Sacrificial Slaughter are the more veteran act with […]
A handful of lesser known, lower profile releases of brutal/technical death metal have grabbed my attention of late; the likes of Pyrrhon, Nocturnal Torment, and Parasitized have shown that there is still plenty of new bands from unexpected realms delivering material to compare to big boys like Origin, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Spawn of Possession and such, […]
“Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.” -Denis Diderot. Hailing from the state of Washington, Bréag Naofa (Gaelic for ‘holy lie’) are a relatively new act comprised from members of other Washington based based acts Trial, Sinking Ships and Love Is Red. And for […]
If fans of old school Swedish death metal thought 2011 was a good year for the genre, boy are you going to enjoy 2012! With Horrendous‘ excellent debut already out, this year is slated to see releases by Zombie Inc., Revel in Flesh, Black Breath, Massive Assault, Blood Mortized, Megascavenger and this — the debut full-length […]
Empyreal Cycle is the second self-released effort from Slovenia’s Smargroth, a fantasy based (knights, dragons, wizards etc) melodic black metal band. And while they aren’t bringing anything really striking or new to the table, they perform their chosen style well enough to be checked out by fans of Dissection, Sargeist, Naglfar and other less extreme […]
From Sacred Plague Records, who brought us the excellent Black Hole of Calcutta LP, comes another vinyl slab of filthy, dirty analog crusty metal in the form of Chicago’s self described ‘crustards’, Krang. As with some other Sacred Plague releases I’m getting familiar with, Krang play a noisy, dirty amalgamation of thrash/crust/punk and death metal […]
So, I’m playing a bit of catch up here having just recently received CDs from new label Blast Head Records, based out of Canada and Belgium’s Shiver Records, so expect a few late 2011 releases, seeing as they sent actual CDs not digital files. First up is the first release from Blast Head Records, the […]
In the Midst of Lion have been busy little bees since I reviewed their 2009 Strikefirst records debut, Out of Darkness. They of course moved on and up to Facedown Records and some time in 2010, released Heart of Man, which I never got around to reviewing, and then in late 2011 released album number […]
So the band Liberteer came to my attention after reviewing the recent Beaten to Death album, a grindcore album that was grindcore with a difference, and so is the debut album from Liberteer. Comprised of Matt Widener, the grindcore lineage is certainly here considering Widener’s involvement in the likes of Cretin, Citizen, Exhumed and The […]
There’s a very fine line as a critic between liking something and disliking something. A production issue, a vocal issue, a song writing issue or any number of things that can sway an opinion between praise and disappointment. Case and point; 40 Watt Sun’s largely revered album, The Inside Room and Pallbearer‘s debut album. Both cathartic, […]
So Mexico is getting in on this retro death metal resurgence with Ominous Crucifix and their take on cavernous, gnarly simple old school Incantation-y death metal. And while Ominous Crucifix don’t really do anything wrong on The Spell of Damnation, the album is still a pretty average effort resulting in one of FDA Rekotz’s weaker […]
So being a huge fan of Gorefest I had to check out the second album from The 11th Hour, a doom metal project featuring former Gorefest (and current Hail of Bullets) drummer Ed Warby and guitarist Frank Harthoon. That respectable duo is joined by Officium Triste growler Pim Blankenstein, who brings his super deep, typical […]
I’ve made no bones about the fact that I’m not a huge fan of A Plea For Purging‘s shift from awesome, twiddly shreddy metalcore to more serious, personal djent styled music. I have not really cared for the band since 2009’s Depravity, and frankly haven’t really cared to, as in my opinion nothing will top […]
Israel’s Total Rust Music has carved out a nice little niche for themselves on the black/doom/sludge genre with a number of quality releases from the likes of Highgate, Lords of Bukkake, Pyramido, Funeralium and such. 2012 looks to be of to a similarly high quality start with a trio of releases by Spain’s Tort, French black […]
You know if I’m reviewing a September 2011 release here in 2012, it has to be good, and holy shit is this good. Hailing from Norway, Beaten to Death consists of a few of Norway’s veteran players from short lived or middle tier bands like Insense, She Said Destroy, oh and drummer who has played […]