Ours is a country in turmoil. We are divided as never before in our history, trust in the government is at an all-time low and naturally, the conspiracy theories are whizzing by like… bullets that don’t necessarily hit their marks. But lurking below the heat-baked streets are the CrusHumans, bent on destroying everything in their […]

Grindcore is one of those genres that’s pretty hard to fuck up. It’s pretty safe to say that Napalm Death are the creators and innovators of the genre and since their inception, countless numbers of Grindcore bands popped up in almost every country, Wormrot in Japan, Nasum from Sweden and Brutal Truth in the States […]

What’s the heaviest band you’ve ever heard? Sunn O)))? Black Sabbath? Electric Wizard? I’m talking about music that is slower than a Sloth crossing a road. Dooooom! But where Mudshow is concerned… they mix into their music spoken word poetry from Arthur Rimbaud’s ‘A Season in Hell’ which [successfully] creates a foreboding atmosphere. This is […]

I’m an Albuquerque native, I’ve lived in New Mexico, specifically the Albuquerque area for the better part of my life, which makes me a local. The scene here is stronger than ever before, having been blessed by bands like Unearth, Infested Corpse, Laughing Dog, Manias and Smashed Hands. To the new generation of bangers with […]

For the past two weeks, I’ve been sick with Covid. I made it through the 2020 pandemic unscathed, only having days where I felt crappy; compared to the sonofabitching little virus that is sailing through my bloodstream right now… those were like, annoying at worst. But this, fuck this shit. I’m a writer, and Covid […]

One of my favorite releases from the early 00s metalcore explosions was Earth & Sphere from Massachusetts’ Beyond the Sixth Seal. It had some death metal beef in its traditional dual euro melodies (as well as the Red Chord‘s Mike Mckenzie on vocals), and really knocked the songwriting out of the park. Why do I […]

Yesterday I had my ears shredded. It didn’t really hurt, on the contrary, it felt rather good. The bass drum slap fighting with my eardrums, the blistering guitar work, courtesy of seasoned Death Metal veteran Rogga Johansson (Ribspreader, GhoulHouse, Paganizer) and the crushing vocals of Jens Johansson had my head banging in no time flat. […]

Back in 2018, I covered Blood of the Wolf‘s second opus, II: Campaign of Extermination and it was /is still a fucking ripper of a record delivering some truly blood-pumping, war-mongering black/death metal that put them pretty high on the heap of the genre (“With Fire and a Thousand Flashing Blades” still makes me want […]

I grabbed this EP (originally self released digital last year) from North Carolina’s duo Snogard (Dragons spelled backwards apparently?), due to the cover art, with looks like a cross between Ian Miller artwork, and something I would have drawn on my 7th grade notebooks, as well as EP themes that explore different protagonists/antagonists in fantasy, […]

It’s strange, the little quirks and idiosyncrasies that pull our thoughts and attention toward one thing or another. Case in point, this very review. I straight up only chose this album for review because of the band’s name; Necronemesis. For whatever the reason I have always had an affinity for the word nemesis, a certain […]

You ever listened to death metal? You ever listened to death metal…on WEED? Okay, maybe you don’t get my hilarity there in playing off of the twenty dollar bill scene with Jon Stewart in 1998’s cult classic, Half Baked, but chances are you know exactly what I’m referencing, especially, if you’re one to have, or […]

Redundant Protoplasm hailing from Virginia Beach are a young goregrind band.  If you cannot pronounce the song title names then yes the particular band has done their homework.  “Truncated Ileostomy/Terratoma Dizygotician” starts off this tongue-twister of 13 tracks of puking, vomitous, farting, blasting madness.  Vocals alternating between high and lows and at times having a […]

Viogression started in the midwest, Wisconsin, in the late 80’s, with a bunch of demos before their great 1991 debut album, Expound and Exhort.  The band has a very early death/thrash sound, which is to be expected given the time when the band started.  Enter Mike Juliano, owner of HPGD Productions, an excellent label, to […]

You’ve heard of the Six Degrees of Separation right? Hell, you’ve probably even heard of the quirky, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Well, I guess you could say that it was the Six Degrees of Dave Ingram that led to my introduction of  Cropsy Maniac. You see, it goes like this: I’m a big Benediction […]

After a decade plus of lying dormant Portland Oregon’s death metal gore/grind band Lord Gore decided to sew the limbs, eyeballs and heads together and bring the band back from the grave.  Lord Gore released 2 of the best gore grind death metal albums in the early 00’s.  The Autophagous Orgy in 2002 and Resickened […]

This is a split cd which also includes the following bands, in addition to Sacrificial Slaughter:  Coathanger Abortion and Rottenness.  Mike Juliano’s HPGD label has always been one of favorite underground labels where I have discovered new and exciting bands.  If you have never heard either one of these bands, this is a good place […]

I’ve been on a Bongzilla kick of late, and If you are unfortunate enough to be my friend on Facebook, you will know I recently asked for some recommendations similar to Bongzilla. I was craving more fuzzed out , nasty sludge with harsh vocals.  The recommendations were solid with Dopethrone, Eyehategod and Demonic Death Judge being the […]

California’s  Ruin have been around since 1991 with an array of cassettes, Demos and splits under their belt. There are rumors of the band being arrested and institutionalized and they are clouded in mystery. But finally released they their debut album in 2017, Drown in Blood in the spring of last year, and it was […]

Listen, I’m not much of a ‘crossover’ guy. I appreciated the heydey of DRI, Prong, Crumbsuckers, Ludichrist and recently, Detroit Hellmouth are decent , but for the most part i like my thrash and my puck/hardcore somewhat separate. But, like a professional, I occasionally try to get out of my comfort zone. Sometimes it works […]

“Have Mercy”…and I don’t mean “have mercy” like that faux rocker Uncle Jessie’s cheesy catch phrase from that horribly great sit-com I watched as a kid in the late ’80’s. I mean “have mercy”, as in the new Sacrificial Slaughter EP, Generation of Terror , is going  to rip your ears a new asshole (yeah, […]

I’m not sure why i have not heard of New Jersey’s Kalopsia up until now. They have been around since 1999, have a handful of releases, including two full length albums and feature current and ex members of the likes of Abacinate, Deteriorot, Dehumanized and recent Dark Descent act, Ruinous. So here is the band’s third […]

Back in 2015, I ordered a Solium Fatalis CD from Canada’s Galy Records, as part of the order, I was granted a free bonus CD. I chose Ordoxe’s May Death Be My Shepard as a completely arbitrary, blind selection. As it turns out, I really enjoyed the band’s super melodic take on Scandinavian black metal, so […]

First things first; hats off to Spectral Descent for being able to pique my interest in such a way that I damn near couldn’t wait to hear their debut album, Descending the Astral Plane. You see friends, like many of you, I love death metal. Love it! Luckily, I was a present and accounted for […]

Thrash in Santa Cruz?!? Who would have thought, but I jest. Those that are aware of their geography know the proximity of Santa Cruz to the bay area in Calif. Hallowed ground for many a metal group, so there is plenty of likelihood of seepage and runoff of all that is Metallica, Exodus, Testament, Death […]

Much like my reviews, most pre release press and PR one sheets or emails are pure, hyped up drivel about the best album ever released that will change metal for ever. However, sometime the press sheet has a simple to the point RIYL section that I usually got right too. In the case of Virginia’s […]