I’ve followed the UK’s The Belonging for a while now, from their slightly forgetful 2005 debut, Setting the Scene, to 2009’s Ashes of a Fallen Throne, where the band took an improved step into impressive blackened war metal. And now, in 2011, with their third follow up, we’ve got yet another quality self-released album. Continuing their […]
I really like what former doom merchants, Southern Lord, is doing with their crust/hardcore of late; excellent releases from the likes of Nails, Acephalix, Masakari, Black Breath, Planks, Summon the Crows, Sabarante, and this, the fucking blistering debut of All Pigs Must Die. Featuring Kevin Baker (The Hope Conspiracy) on vocals and Ben Koller (Converge) […]
Despite all the attention that post-rock influenced black metal or East Coast and Pacific Northwest black metal gets, there’s a few nice little unsigned, independent, more obscure USBM bands lurking in the sunny depths of California. Notably Lake of Blood and this mysterious new act, Leucosis. With only six myspace-friends and three of them notably […]
I’m not entirely sure how to describe the second, self-released album from Italy’s Laetitia In Holocaust. I mean, if the moniker and the cover art–a group of giant insects gang banging the planet earth–doesn’t clue you in the level of weirdness contained on Rotten Light, I’m not sure I can help. Falling ever so generally […]
If you need something to tide you over until Entrails‘ new album comes out later this fall, you have two solid options right now: Demonical‘s Death Infernal or the debut from Italy’s Undead Creep. Both will satiate fans of classic Swedish death metal, rendering damn fine examples of mid-range, buzzing, d-beat, Stockholm styled death metal. […]
Everything about this band and release initially screams utter pretentiousness; the moniker, the EP title, the artwork, the song titles, the horn rimmed glasses and hipster looks and the limited vinyl only release — though a mp3 download code is included. None the less, contained withing this 16-minute little gem could be the start of […]
When I first got this EP for review, I wasn’t overly excited; rather uninspiring band name, silly EP title, from a label known for brutal death metal. Then I discover that the vocalist and founder of Mordbrand is non other than Per Boder. Yes, the same Per Boder who formed the short lived God Macabre. […]
Man! It’s been just a killer year as far as Swedish, Stockholm styled death metal is concerned! Not only do we have 2011 releases by the likes of Brutally Deceased, Revolting, Ribspreader, Miasmal, Feral, Morbus Chron and Undead Creep, but we’ve seen reissues from Furbowl, Toxaemia, Utumno, and Uncanny too. Also, I’ve been going back and discovering other recent […]
The debut EP from Finland’s Gorephilia was a victim of circumstance. Released earlier this year around the same time and on the same label as Corpsessed‘s debut EP, it got kind of steam rolled by The Dagger & the Chalice. Which is actually a bit of a shame as Ascend to Chaos, while certainly not […]
Try as hard as I may, I simply can’t get into California’s Gravehill and their brand of blackened thrashy death metal. Even residing on Dark Descent and featuring an ex-member of Morgion/Keen of the Crow and current members of Exhumed (Matt “Hellfiend” Harvey to be specific, whose recently reissued thrash death project, Dekapitator shares a […]
From the band’s 2004 The Miseries Never Cease EP to their self-titled, self released 2007 debut album, I’ve long championed The Living Fields as one of the most criminally unsigned bands in metal. Well, the unsigned part was rectified with the band signing with Candlelight Records, and though this album took its sweet sweet time […]
Oh. My. Fucking. God. Imagine, metaphorically speaking, that two high speed trains are careening towards each other on a unavoidable collision course. One train is Origin‘s ultra technical, brutal, but intelligent form of death metal. The other train is Sigh and their over the top orchestral symphonics and theatrics. BAM!!!! They collide, each train melting […]
All Shall Perish‘s sophomore album, The Price of Existence was my favorite album of 2006. Unfortunately, their 2008 follow up, Awaken the Dreamers was a bit of a let down. In part due to the precedent set by the prior album, but also due to some more commercial moments, clean vocals and even ballads. So […]
OK, I reeeeeally need to revisit Incantation. Not only have I been enjoying the likes of Corpsessed, Gorephilia, Blaspherian and such, but the current wave of old school death metal has even got Century Media on the band wagon with the excellent Sonne Adam. Profound Lore Records has simply decided to truly dig into the […]
So in my 10 or so years of this reviewing gig, I’ve seen the increase in ethnic and cultural influences within metal. Of course, there’s the obvious folk/pagan stuff, but bands like Melechesh, Orphaned Land, Mictlantecuhtl, Negura Bunget and others have brought the world to metal.But never in a million years did I ever think […]
Hellmouth is the music equivalent of their hometown Detroit: violent, grimy, pissed off and ugly. Their debut, Destroy Everything, Worship Nothing was a feral but ultimately forgetful crossover assault of black metal, thrash and punk, but on their follow up, Gravestone Skylines, with the same musical influences, the band has improved their sneering sonic violence, […]
Somewhere in Boston , MA at the intersection of doom, post rock, sludge and fucking awesome lies the band Morne. A new act to me, but after seeing some positive press and the band being on Profound Lore, I just had to check their second album out. I was greatly rewarded, as will you upon […]
War and death metal have been ingrained within each other since the genre first started. And it seems a certain style of death metal has been associated with war. Sure there’s a few black metal acts and so called ‘war metal’ acts that that do the whole war thing, but I think most would agree […]
This little booger slipped through my highly efficient, organizational skills and structured teethofthedivine office space (i.e the pile of CDs and my daughter’s Disney DVDs on my computer desk at home). But a track randomly popped up on my Ipod warranting further investigation.. I’m not going to try and dance smartly around the divisive white […]
Man, after the bands 2009 self titled debut EP, I said I’d keep an eye on these Christian shredders in hope they would deliver something better. And boy did they ever! I didn’t quite see anything this good coming though. Adding a dramatic symphonic element to their early A Plea For Purging/ Woe of Tyrants […]
Adam Kalmbach has been a busy individual. Since I reviewed Old Ways, his third CD of impressive, one man black metal back in 2009, he has released 6 more albums under the Jute Gyte moniker, including a couple of atmospheric experimental albums. There obviously isn’t a lot to do in Springfield, Missouri (I can attest […]
Metalheads could and will argue about which Death album is the band’s best effort, although to no avail, because arguments could be made for all of them (I’m kinda partial to Spiritual Healing). However, I’m not sure many people would argue that the lineup on 1991’s Human was the best one of Chuck Schuldiner’s rotating […]
Yup! Another Iron Maiden compilation that follows up to 2008’s Somewhere Back in Time – The Best of: 1980-1989. While I’m typically not a huge fan of compilations, for those that missed Iron Maiden‘s reunion and Bruce Dickinson era part deux, as well as a couple of Blaze Bayley -era numbers―slyly delivered as live songs, […]
The debut release from LA’s Exhausted Prayer was an ambitious, promising but convoluted affair of cross genre metal that melded black, ambient and progressive metal. And now the follow up is here and it looks like the band has mostly fulfilled the promise of Looks Down In the Gathering Shadow ― with improved song writing and more […]
For you whippersnappers out there, the current incarnation of General Surgery―the one that reformed in 2003 and has released two full-length albums since―is a far cry from what the band was in 1991 when they unleashed their seven song debut EP Necrology. One of the early super groups, culling members of the then burgeoning Stockholm Death metal […]