Though regarded along with Heaven Shall Burn as one of Germany’s premier metalcore outfits and having been around since 1999 with 6 albums under their belt, Caliban have yet to garner huge success in the US and get the acclaim of their stateside metalcore peers. And while I don’t see that really changing with album […]
Though not quite as awe-inspiring as country mates Be’lakor, here’s some more quality Australian metal , this time in the form of unsigned but high quality Melbourne melodic death metal act, Orpheus. Though only a 6 track (one being an intro), 21 minute affair, Orpheus show enough skill and song writing ability to play with […]
So, album number four from Vancouver’s heavy metal stalwarts has some major changes from 2007s Fire up the Blades; a change in label from Roadrunner to Century Mediocre, the departure of ‘harsh’ vocalist Jamie Hooper, bassist Nick Cates and Saxon fighting drummer Alexei Rodriguez, a change from Joey Jordison (Slipknot) to a Jack Endino (High […]
I rather enjoyed the 2005 self released second album, Rebirth from these Cali deathcore mongers who have/had strong ties to All Shall Perish. However, a lack of productivity since the bands 2001 debut, the immense growth of the genre and numerous line up changes, put the band behind the eight ball as far as the […]
Call me jaded, but after the far blacker presentation and delivery of 2007s impressive Nocturnal, I just wasn’t that excited for the bands fourth effort, especially after seeing the cover art and knowing longtime guitarist John Kempainen was out of the fold (even if replaced by ex-Arsis guitarist Ryan Knight). Something about Nocturnal seemed blacker […]
With 2007s Victory Songs, Ensiferum laid to rest any worries if Norther’s Petri Lindross could replace Jari Mäenpää who left to form Wintersun. From Afar not only cements Lindross as a competent replacement with serviceable blackened rasps and guitar playing, it also shows that new keyboardist (and female vocalist) Emmi Silvennoinen is a fantastic addition […]
Though released last year, Punishment 18 Records only just sent me this, and considering Italian metal has been pretty solid in 2009 (Destrage, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Disharmonia Mundi, Malfeitor, Fomento), I thought this decent release deserved some press. I’ll tell you right now, Lunarsea’s second album is doing nothing remotely original in the melodic death metal […]
First off, I have to admit being puzzled as to why Century Media would not want to release one of the decades most eagerly anticipated reunion albums in the US (though its really Van Drunen reuniting with founding member drummer Rob Bagchus than a full reunion), leaving it up to the perfectly suited Ibex Moon […]
After reading the interview Scott Alisoglu conducted with this Michigan melodic death metal act, I decided to check out the band’s second, aquatic themed album. After all they are on the fine Bombworks Records and guitarist Briant Daniel was in Summer Dying, one of the US’s most underrated and criminally unsigned melodic death metal acts […]
First off, congrats to A Hill to Die Upon for the year’s best album cover- a commissioned painting from renowned Serbian artist, Bogdan . Hailing from the depths of Illinois, A Hill to Die Upon is a fresh new black/death metal act started by the Cook brothers (Adam-guitars/vocals, Michael-Drums), and for a band that’s only […]
Hailing from the craggy depths of New Jersey, Helcaraxë are one of the resurgent US bands plying Viking inspired forms of metal (Oakhelm, Hammer Horde, etc) and is one of US metal very best kept secrets. After their impressive debut, Triumph and Revenge, the trio has tightened up their form of gruff, dense and loose […]
Like a parent seeing a child grow, I’ve enjoyed watching Scotland’s Man Must Die blossom over the last 6 years. From their impressive 2003 demo, through the killer debut album, …Start Killing (one of 2004s very best death metal albums), to being the first UK band signed to Relapse Records for The Inhuman Condition, to […]
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Winds of Plague have become one of the poster children for modern American metal. And to be honest I rather enjoyed their 2005 debut, A Cold Day in Hell, (which at the time was pretty fresh sounding) and the 2008 Century Media debut, Decimate the Weak. I also enjoyed the […]
I knew little about Canada’s Augury prior to hearing this album but was aware that their Galy Records debut caused quite a stir in the tech death metal world. My interest was however truly piqued when I discovered that vocalist/guitarist Patrick Loisel was in Canadian act Kralizec who were responsible for one of my very […]
Released as digital only EP, Warsaw Rising is a stop gap release from this Dutch super group (members of Asphyx, Gorefest, Thanatos) with 2 new songs, a cover song (Twisted Sister’s “Destroyer”) and three live songs (“Red Wolves of Stalin”, “Nachthexen” and “The Crucial Offensive”) from the excellent …Of Frost and War debut. To be […]
Continuing their trend of releasing solid Christian metal in environmentally friendly digipacks (A Hope for Home, Earth From Above, The Great Commission, Hope for the Dying), Facedown Records, subsidiary label, Strikefirst Records has come up with yet another thunderous Christian deathcore outfit akin to Earth From Above. Right, now that 90% of you have left. […]
I’ve been swamped in quality Australian metal of late: Destruktor, Defamer, Futility, Be’lakor, Orpheus, and now my first exposure to Adelaide’s doom metal veterans Mournful Congregation. Despite being around since 1994, this is only the bands 3rd full length album and has certainly delivered a top notch doom effort that will have me seeking out […]
(im•bro•glio) 1. A misunderstanding, disagreement, etc., of a complicated or bitter nature. 2. An intricate and perplexing state of affairs; a complicated or difficult situation. 3. A fittingly named, noisy, Converge inspired band formed in Dayton, OH but now residing in Syracuse, NY. I discovered this band and new, Illinois based label through a sports […]
We all have those special songs, those riffs or a solo from a certain song that changed us, that effected us personally and emotionally, ingrained into our very being and dare I say? Changed our life.
I’ll admit, even I have been a bit burnt out on Christian metal of late, and when I initially started listening to the debut from Fargo’s Hands I was pretty unmoved, as the rumbling opener “Hurricanes” didn’t do much for me and I simply classified it as yet another group of uppity noisy Christians spreading […]
I’ve kind of dreaded writing this review ever since I gave Evangelion a few spins. Seeing as Behemoth has reached Dismember, Bolt Thrower, Suffocation and Grave levels of consistency and quality, they have arguably surpassed Vader as Poland’s premier metal export and almost certainly should be considered death metal royalty at this point in their […]
Born of Osiris is one of those young popular bands everyone loves to hate (moreso ‘cos of their fans I think) and they along with The Faceless initially got lumped in with the deathcore crowd. However, The Faceless further distances themselves from deathcore and aligned more with technical death metal with last year’s impressive Planetary […]
Listen. I had something special planned for this review, a humorous (at least in my mind) montage of images telling a story of how bad this album is. However, first of, this band does not deserve that kind of time commitment (it would have been a bitch to do in wordpress), and second I haven’t […]
Apparently, Facedown Records didn’t have the budget to sign another Christian metalcore/deathcore act and Sumerian Records didn’t want another keyboard laced deathcore act on their roster, so Metal Blade swooped in and gave them a record deal, killing two birds with one very mediocre, clichéd stone. Guardiansis the poster child for modern American deathcore/metalcore; except […]
The 2007 debut, Dread Champions of the Last Daysfrom this So-Cal hardcore band was an impressive mix of fervent, righteously rumbling hardcore and more hymnal, sermon-ish, prose that resulted in an aggressive but at times graceful album in the Christian metal genre, and at the time was one of the heaviest Christian metal albums I […]