Lost in the current retro thrash revival is the fact that Norway’s Audiopain have been chugging along and kicking out 10 plus releases since 1998, two EP/splits just last year, and their latest 6 track offering, is arguably the most pure throwback and raw of all the so called current thrash revivalists. Whole promoted as […]

After NonAnthropgenic and SoulSavior, V:28’s trilogy is apparently now complete with VioLution, which basically continues their industrial black-ish metal tone that still imbues a sort of modern Enslaved meets label mate Havoc Unit in a blackened industrial visage. The thing is, it’s still just relatively uninteresting as nothing really ever ‘happens’ or peaks on the […]

Despite a lengthy discography dating back to 1998, Germany’s JaKa never seemed to make the impact you’d expect in the grindcore genre, and I think part of it is they are just a little too experimental for the grindcore crowd, not quite death metal or serious enough for the death metal fans, and simply too […]

Estonia’s Goresoerd deliver 16 short tracks of chunky, blasting, groovy grindcore with a tongue in check delivery that should appeal to fans of Blood Duster and a lot of the Obscene Productions stuff. Though hardly a groundbreaking record, the usual mix of short, sharp punky blasts (“For Idiots All Over the World”, “Circle of Masturbators”, […]

Italy’s Tragodia are not doing anything new in the realms of romantic Gothic metal, as their synth backed, catchy yet despondent riffs and male/female vocal trade off has been perfected by the likes of Thalarion, Beseech and Lacuna Coil, but it’s an acceptable entry into the genre. An expected, crisp clean (Finnvox Studio) production delivers […]

Hailing from Tampa, Florida, Mena Brinno (which translates as “Moon Fever”), is a female fronted Gothic metal band featuring former Royal Anguish players Katy Decker and Marius Kozlowski. And while delivering many of the usual Gothic metal elements, Mena Brinno has more in common with the likes of To-Mera and Alas in that it tries […]

Waldemar Sorychta (Grip Inc., Rotting Christ) has been busy recently. Not only did he release the album from his new project, Enemy of the Sun record late last year, he also released this German entry into female fronted Gothic metal, a genre he has had considerable influence in, having produced the likes of Lacuna Coil, […]

For three albums now, Chicago’s Dead to Fall have to struggling to find their sound, both style and production wise. After seeing and interviewing the band twice now, it became readily apparent that the band, and mainly vocalist Jon Hunt, were never really comfortable with the whole serious deathcore/metalcore image and themes that they plied […]

The fourth album from Erik Rutan and his revamped Hate Eternal line-up is somewhat of a double edged sword. On one hand, the aptly titled Fury & Flames is arguably one of the most murderously heavy and uncompromising death metal albums ever recorded. On the other hand, it’s virtually unlistenable in long doses or at […]

Don’t get me wrong, While I have enjoyed the last two Dismember albums, the fact is both Where Ironcrosses Grow and even the fine The God That Never Was, just seemed a bit forced and too melodic for me. However, with the self-titled tenth album, an infusion of youth into the line up and yet […]

Despite being formed in 2000 ans this being their 5th album, this is my first exposure to the German black metal war machine known as Endstille, and while a scathing vicious take on razor sharp black metal, I don’t think I’ll b checking out the back catalog unless I see it used or cheap somewhere. […]

Much like the UK’s Bring Me The Horizon, Cleveland’s Salt The Wound, despite their preteen looks, deliver a decent take on At The Gates and Breakdown filled American metal. Not purely in the realms of say Suicide Silence or Whitechapel, but straddling the gap between say The Black Dahlia Murder, Sons of Azrael and All […]

Change is often a hit and miss prospect for metal bands; just ask Metallica, Entombed, Immortal, Carcass, Gorefest and many others. In the case of California’s Decrepit Birth, who after a nasty and publicized arrest of their guitarist Mike Turner on Child Molestation charges, change has been a good thing. The change also includes Odious Mortem drummer […]

What is Pagan/Viking/Folk Metal? Well according to Nuclear Blast and their recently released CD/DVD compilation to promote the upcoming 2008 Pagan Fest tour, it’s a number of things; It could be veterans of chunky death metal with plundering Viking lyrics (Amon Amarth’s “Victory March”, Unleashed’s “The Long ships are Coming”), it could be epic hymns […]

Back in 2001, The Cleansing made semi waves in the death metal genre being a project involving Obituary’s Trevor Peres and Pyrexia’s Keith Devito and Rob Marseca, and with both band’s at the time being on hiatus, the album probably got more attention and credit than it really deserved. So now on Napalm Records, (which […]

Like Origin’s staccato filled, voracious technicality? Like Gore? Like stunning drum and bass work? Just get this already. In a few week span that’s has seen the release of the new Decrepit Birth album as well as the impending Hate Eternal album, the debut full length from Brain Drill cements that death metal appears to […]

Frankfurt Indiana’s scariest duo return with an inexplicable re-issue of their limited 2006 cdr demo release that only serves to show that their horrid debut, The Night Our Rituals Blackened The Stars, was not in fact a fluke and the band can actually be consistently terrible over two releases. Why oh why someone at AKR […]

The last time we heard from this German metalcore outfit they were called just ‘Destiny’ and released the excellent The Tracy Chapter. Now with a legally changed name and a new label, the band’s mid era Poison The Well worship and strong sense of songwriting is still intact. Not as grating as fellow Germans Heaven […]

Taking the chunk of Danish/Belgian death metal, then lumber and lurch of Jungle Rot (and I hear some Hatework and Vore in here too) and the slam of say Eternal Suffering and Suffocation (without the complexity), Denmark’s Dawn of Demise have delivered a pretty damn stout offering of perfectly rendered death metal, giving Deepsend a […]

Though keyboards and synths have recently been used more frequently in death core, it was the 2005 debut, A Cold Day In Hell, from this California band that seemed to use them in a more symphonic black metal way that really got my attention and the attention of Century Media. So now armed with a […]

So here’s a re-issue of the 2005 cassette only third release from the Hungarian one man project comprised of Vorgrov, and after doing some research I was pretty excited to hear this supposedly folky take on one man drony, doomy ambient and atmospheric black metal. Well, its OK I suppose. It’s primal and grim with […]

Brilliance often breeds polarity. For example, Kezia, the 2006 debut from this group of young Canadians, split the metal community down the middle, with a love it or loathe it mindset. That being said, of all the non extreme metal albums I reviewed, Kezia seemed to be that rare non death, grind, black, thrash metal […]

Often the press and promo sheets that come with albums for review are the greatest work of literary fiction since “A History of Great French Military Victories” came out. However in the case of Alestorm it simply says this: ‘Scottish Pirate Metal.’ I’d say that about covers it. Formerly known as Battleheart, Scotland’s Alestorm (arguably […]

Recorded live at the Worcester Palladium in April of 2007, this 29 track DVD features most of the ‘popular’ Metal Blade artists. But while I have no problems with production or fairly bare bones but entertaining back stage interviews, I have issue with the fact Metal Blade went withtracks from teh likes of Beyond The […]

From the same coalition that brought us the excellent Sickening Horror release, comes another phenomenal technical death metal release from a part of the world you would not usually expect, this time in the form of the full length debut from New Zealand’s Ulcerate. Though not quite as experimental as the Sickening Horror release, Of […]