After a decade of being in a state of half-life or half-death, the sadistic jokers in us all thought that San Diego’s premier metalcore outfit, As I Lay Dying, might have gotten so weak that they will finally fulfill the prophecy of their ill-fated name and, well, kick the musical bucket. Contrarily, the famed Christcore group are not only still alive and well, but have been consistent in the quality of their work by meeting expectations with flying colors (again) on 2010’s chart topper, The Powerless Rise. Being one of the rare few metalcore acts around that don’t attract an ammo-truckload of explosive hate, As I Lay Dying are still going strong ten years on, thriving on the positive attention of music fans instead of feeding off the negative attention generated by perennial controversies surrounding the –core sub-genres—a banal and verbally-abusive phenomenon that plagues many of their contemporary counterparts to no end. Having decided to take it easy this year and celebrate their tenth year anniversary, the group recently released their second and latest compilation album, Decas. From his San Diego dwelling (and a few weeks before Decas was released), frontman Tim Lambesis elaborates on various aspects pertaining to the new compilation, what a physically active person he is during his spare time, and gives an update on his Arnie-themed spoof project.

Canadian modern metal act Threat Signal are no strangers to the rough and merciless tides of the music industry. Having only been around for a mere 7 years, the band is already the billionth victim of the MLC (Multiple Line-up Changes) Syndrome, and is precariously close to losing its roots entirely with only singer Jon Howard left from the original roster. With that said however, the band as an entity itself has evolved a lot since its early days. For a recording project that was initially accomplished entirely on Jon’s home computer, it sure has paid off well by getting Jon on-board the world-renowned Nuclear Blast roster; a dream that motivates countless metal bands worldwide to pursue their chosen path diligently, but which is often dashed with the cruel flick/click of an uninterested finger. Teeth of the Divine speaks with Jon to discover what plagued the stability of Threat Signal’s line-up over the years, find out what the new record is all about, discuss what the big guy Zeuss brings to the production table, and how Threat Signal was probably “djent” before “djent” even got coined.

Listen, do we really need another interview with Glen Benton ranting about how much he hates Christians as well as his ex-wife? Or Trey Azagthoth calling out fans that don’t like his music as fake fans? Well, how about a (first) interview with an independent, local (at least to me) artist who has released 5 albums in 2011 alone? A young man I decided to meet up with while on a business trip in his neck of the woods and interview him after hearing a number of his albums and being impressed by them. That man is Adam Kalmbach, the lone spirit behind Jute Gyte. And when I met Adam I was a little shocked when you consider the nasty and abrasive nature of albums like Old Ways, Verstiegenheit and his latest effort, Impermanance. Well, spoken, intelligent, unassuming and critically knowledgeable about music, I should be glad the racket he produces is so vitriolic as this Jekyll and Hyde effect would be a terrible thing if it manifested itself outside of his music. A one man black metal act that has Burzum, Leviathan and Xasthur level potential that you all should get to know… please meet Adan Kalmbach AKA Jute Gyte.

With so many deathcore, melodic death metal and old school death metal bands releasing new records recently, it makes listening to a new, normal, straight-up extreme death metal record refreshing—which usually isn’t the case. Amidst the soulful and lush tunes of acts like Arch Enemy and Insomnium, the brutal breakdowns of Suicide Silence and All Shall Perish, and the traditional onslaughts of Vader and Decapitated, hearing some crushing and no-frills-yet-modern-sounding death metal from Swe—melo-death—den is truly surprising.Introducing: As You Drown. This death metal quintet may still be wet behind the ears, but they sure play fast and hard like Behemoth—minus the blasphemous lyrical theme, elaborate costumes and occasional illegal stage antics of course. As with many other bands, As You Drown don’t just look up to Behemoth. They worship the traditional death metal veterans as well (as you will see later on in this interview).It’s no wonder then that their music is a face-flaying aural concoction of mini-gun drumming, killer riffs and pissed off vokills. In my first feature for this site, I spoke with frontman Henrik Blomqvist to find out more about their latest giant-rodent-themed record, their tour experiences with legendary bands, and Ikea meatballs among other things.

New Jersey’s Symphony X have been churning out album after album of top-quality neoclassical prog metal for almost two decades. 2011’s Iconoclast, which takes on a heavier, grinding-gears mechanized theme, still sees Symphony X at the tip-top of their game. Guitar virtuoso Michael Romeo spoke to Teeth of the Divine recently about his role in constructing and molding the band’s most solid album to date.

Having the utmost respect for what guitarist, keyboardist, and composer Nicolas van Dyk has done with Redemption since debuting with 2003’s self-titled album (followed by knocking one out of the prog metal park with 2005’s The Fullness of Time) and deep gratitude for what the music has meant to me personally, it was with great sadness that I heard the news of his cancer diagnoses a few years ago. At the time, the rare from form of blood cancer with which Nick had been diagnosed was said to be incurable. Fast forward to 2011 and Nick is a man renewed, having faced down his disease and for all intents and purposes conquered it with the help of a doctor in Bart Barlogie that took conventional wisdom and flushed it down the toilet. Van Dyk took the experience of that fierce, emotionally-draining fight and channeled it into his most powerful set of lyrics to go with what may be Redemption’s most aggressive and deeply emotional musical effort to date in This Mortal Coil. At once metaphorical and introspective, This Mortal Coil is musically complex and undeniably heavy, yet as melodically accessible as anything the group has ever released.

APMD (All Pigs Must Die) is a band committed to uncompromising sonic warfare. Its sound and lyrics assault the listener in a fury of blackened death filled anthems.” Yep, I lifted that straight from the band’s Facebook page, thinking it a perfectly apt description of the aural terror inflicted upon the listener by All Pigs Must Die. One of a growing number of bands that blend gnarly death, d-beaten crust, and vicious hardcore in a way that is somehow fresh and exciting, APMD swoops in like an elite commando unit, executing its mission with deadly efficiency, leaving as quickly as they arrived, and with not a soul left alive in its wake. That’s what is in store for you with each and every spin of Southern Lord full-length debut God is War. Featuring members of Bloodhorse, The Hope Conspiracy, and Converge, this is one band does not – in the most direct way I can put it – fuck around. Adam Wentworth provides the debriefing.

With album number 3, Maledictus Eris, Denmark’s Svartsot have continued their consistent enjoyable take on folk laced death metal. However, rather than frolicking synths and fruity jigs, Svartsot deliver folk metal with a bearded, burly presence that’s as much Amon Amarth than anything else. But what makes the consistency surprising is the band turn over and the fact that guitarist Cris Frederiksen is the only remaining member from the debut, Ravenes Saga. So I visited with Cris to get a little more insight in the band’s new line-up, as well as some details on the new album.

I’m thinking this is the third interview I’ve done with Billy Nocera of Razorback records over a time span of what must be approaching 10 years, maybe eight. Heck, I don’t remember precisely, but I know that up until now I hadn’t interviewed him for Teeth of the Divine. Given some changes in Billy’s life on both the domestic and label fronts, it seemed a good time to check in with this long-time lurker of the underground. In this installment of the, uh, Razorback interview series Billy talks about the label’s doomier end, his marriage to Vanessa and their relocation to Kentucky, the world of underground distribution, and various other Boar-ing topics. If you’ve any interest in acts like Wooden Stake, Fester, Crypticus, Hooded Menace, Mausoleum, Church of Misery, Coffins, Blizaro, Revolting, Scaremaker, Mausoleum, Decrepitaph, and Fondlecorpse (to name a handful), then you should probably take the plunge and read on. Have horror will travel. Can you dig it? The grave I mean.

One of those “old and forgotten Eastern European jewels“ that I Hate Records has been mining as of late, the rediscovered, repackaged, and reissued Let Draka/Flight of the Dragon from the Czech Republic’s Drakar nearly defies classication. Progressive thrash? Sort of. Quirky metal? You’ve just gotten in warmer. Creative music? Let’s go with that one. Vocalist/guitarist, founder, and visionary Ivan Sekyra takes us back to beginning, moves us through the middle, fast forwards to 2011 and tells the tale of a small Swedish label reissuing a little known album – in two-disc format for English and Czech speakers alike – from a killer cult Czech band . Read on; you just might learn something.

That ominous rumble you’re hearing in the distance is not a thunderstorm forming somewhere in the east. It’s the sound of CIANIDE’s Gods of Death moving steadily toward you. If you’re a friend, chances are you’ll survive the arrival. Foe? Forget about it; assume the position and starting kissing your ass goodbye. The long-running Chicago outfit has been leaving bruises and abrasions with every release unleashed, but the ugly death marches and rotten speed-kills of Gods of Death (Hells Headbangers) will in all likelihood be the one to inflict the most damage on unsuspecting listeners, in some cases lethally. Vocalist/bassist Mike Perum offers some pointers that will help you prepare for the impending carnage. Pay attention; your life depends on it.

Bassist/vocalist Jon Necromancer, drummer Joe Warlord, and guitarist Carcass Chris are veterans of the Chicago metal scene who knew exactly what they wanted to do when the self-titled debut from Bones was recorded. Screw pretension, fuck marathon studio sessions, and to hell with anything that isn’t made from a vocal, a bass line, a guitar riff, and drum beat. A power trio on multiple levels Bones brings it hard from note one, grooves it up, breaks it down to its bare essence, and kicks a ridiculous amount of ass in the process. Since all are ex-members of defunct Chicago legends Usurper, vagaries of that sound are present. But even more prominent is a bludgeoning, raw, and righteously rockin’ vibe that fuses the styles of bands like Master, Venom, and vintage-era Motorhead in a way that is 100 percent Bones. Jon Necromancer breaks it down even further for us. [DISCLAIMER: This interview, as well as the album review, was written before Bones became a client of ClawHammer PR, so don’t think for a moment that there is some insidious connection between the two.]

Color me blown away, bowled over, and knocked flat on my back by Running out of Daylight, the sophomore album from international metal outfit The Living Fields! Chicago-based, but inclusive of a vocalist in Jonathan Higgs (Monsterworks) that lives in London (and who has never met the other members) and a Canadian drummer (Chad Walls) that’s done time in death dealers Lecherous Nocturne and Brodequin (among others), the story of this band of brilliants is as interesting as the music is ridiculously good. Guitarist/bassist/composer Jason Muxlow (Earthen Grave) is the ring leader and the newest TLF Syndicate member is guitarist Samu Rahn. Progressive doom is the workable description, provided you realize that it there is more at work here. Masterful incorporation of strings (violins, cello, etc), epic arrangements, memorable melodies, tons of riff crunch, and the impacting versatility of Higgs’ vocals begins to tell the full story. You just need to buy the damn thing; that is, if you’re at all interested in owning one of the best metal albums of 2011. Perhaps the view from native New Zealander and London resident Higgs will paint you a clearer picture.

With the release of their third album, Scotland’s Alestorm have not only continued with the metallic shanties about all things Pirate-y, but they’ve upped the ante of their scope and grandiosity. As Black Sails at Midnight Improved upon Captain Morgan’s Revenge, so has Back Through Time also improved; bigger, more raucous fun and more metal, Back Through Time shows Alestorm as consistent as any folk act in the scene today. Oh and you want epic? How about Vikings battling Pirates (“Back Through Time”) and the return of the mighty Leviathan in an eight minute black metal styled track (“Death Throes of the Terror Squid”)? I visited with scallywag Chris Bowes to find out even more about one of my very favorite current bands and one of my favorite albums of 2011.

Roger “Rogga” Johansson (Bone Gnawer, Demiurg, The Grotesquery, Ribspreader, Paganizer, etc) is at it again! The multi-instrumentalist, composer, death metal warrior, and affable Swede, is pleased as punch with In Grisly Rapture, the excellent new album of catchy, horror-choked death metal from the Revolting trio. And he damn well should be! Everything from the music to the lyrics to the artwork is first rate and will surely end up one of my favorite death metal albums of 2011. Rogga breaks it down for us.

A stalwart of the Chicago doom/death metal scene for over a decade, Novembers Doom raised some eyebrows with their last 2 albums; 2007s The Novella Reservoir and 2009s Into Nights Infernal Requiem. The band injected more pure and aggressive death metal into their melancholy laced sound, with surprisingly brutal results. However with their latest release, Aphotic, the band appears to have returned to their doomier, sadder and more tempered releases of their first 5 albums. So while casually Facebook chatting with Novembers Doom drummer and fellow metalreview.com writer Sasha Horn a full fledged interview sort of evolved. And here is the subsequent impromptu result….

Peter Tägtgren is a man who is defined by his work, a body of music and ideas that is always morphing and pulling to and from the abyss. He has given life (and death) to fathomless classic albums and hardly needs an introduction, so one won’t be given here. The at one time one-man project Pain, and new album You Only Live Twice, is the man’s current focus, the details of which he divulges here. But fear not — the Hypocrisy mastermind also discusses that which put him on the metal map.

An interesting thing this nostalgia; it can make you blind. Take the case of Believer who in the late 80s/early 90s were recognized for their musically inventive, thought provoking style of thrash metal on albums like 1989’s Extraction from Mortality, 1990’s Sanity Obscure, and though apparently befuddling to some, 1993’s über-expansive Dimensions album. After 2009’s comeback album Gabriel and even more so on this year’s Transhuman (both on Metal Blade), many outside of the ironbound devotees were up in arms about the thrash part of the equation being pushed toward the background in the case of the former and all but eliminated on the latter in favor of a more melodic and song-based (though still progressive and full of great riffs) approach to metal. As it turns out, it was Transhuman that was my formal musical introduction to Believer, which allowed me to see things more clearly; that is, without the distorting effects of nostalgia. The fact of the matter is that Transhuman is a brilliantly composed, incredibly catchy and progressive album that still packs a punch with its meaty and inventive rhythms/riffs, as well as smart use of keyboards and beautiful atmospherics. Of course, the lyrical content about transhumanism and the ethical challenges arising from technological advances that are threatening to blur the lines between human and machine is absolutely fascinating. Of the hundreds of interviews I’ve conducted over the years, this one with vocalist/bassist/guitarist Kurt Bachman and keyboardist Jeff King is one of the most intellectually stimulating I’ve ever experienced. And by the way, you might want to reconsider the “Christian metal” tag that has been attached to Believer since the beginning, as it doesn’t really, nor has it ever, fit with the lyrical approach. Rather, that approach is one of intellectual discussion that touches on many areas, including the religious. Read, think, and form your own opinion. Don’t believe everything you read, except for the content of this interview of course.

Sweden’s Grand Magus occupies an elite place in the world of heavy metal. Every album is filled with the spirit of classic heavy metal and comes with those doomy shades that make the band somewhat of a unique entity. Bassist/backing vocalist Fox Skinner, guitarist/vocalist Janne “JB” Christoffersson, and drummer Sebastian “Seb” Sippola are ace players, the songwriting – great riffs, deep lyrics, catchy choruses – are built to last, and the albums are ones that are best heard as start-to-finish experiences. It was 2008’s Iron Will that knocked me off my feet, but the more I listen to Hammer of the North the more I think that it is at least on par with it, and when all said and done I may end up dubbing it the trio’s best work. Time will tell. But for now I thought it best to let JB tell the story of the album, including the track-by-track commentary that you’ll read below. By all means, proceed.

Taking over the metal and post-hardcore scene by storm with a consistently massive ever-growing fan base, Minnesota’s After the Burial is quickly rising pretty high in the ranks. It’s not too often you see a crowd go completely nuts over the opening acts rather than the headliners of a tour, but that was exactly the case when I had a chance to catch up with ATB bassist, Lee Foral on their latest tour with As I Lay Dying and Winds of Plague.

Vomitory has always been a quality Swedish death metal band (as in country of origin, not style) that never seems to get the amount of recognition so deserved of the unit. In the U.S. at least, some of that may have to do with the fact that they’ve played a grand total of one show on this side of the pond. Or maybe some folks just aren’t paying close enough attention. Still, many a devoted death metal fan is well aware of the quartet’s lethal approach. I’d like to think that Terrorizer Sodomize Brutalize brought the band a higher level of recognition, based in part on the level jump in songwriting and blazing lead guitar work of then new member Peter Östlund. Or maybe I just worship that album and any other thoughts are pure delusion. Following that bloody bastard was the dangerously ferocious Carnage Euphoria, which was released on Metal Blade in Europe, but saw no U.S. release (more on that below). But all is back in sync with Metal Blade now with the release of crushing new\effort Opus Mortis VIII, a carnivorous beast that in some respects blends Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize and Carnage Euphoria, albeit with a nasty disposition all its own. Let’s call it like it is, shall we? Vomitory was never about death metal reinvention, but they sure are consistent in making robust death metal albums that offer improvement and slight progression without any compromise when it comes to that skin-shredding, skull-crackin’ style of theirs. Just ask amiable drummer Tobias Gustafsson. He’s the man with the answers. Once you’ve finished reading, support quality death metal by purchasing a copy of Opus Mortis VIII; it’ll rip your arms off and then beat you mercilessly about the head and shoulders with them. It’s what you deserve.

It’s no real secret that I’m a huge fan of Between the Buried and Me. Since The Silent Circus, I’ve reviewed virtually everything they have released for this site or some other publication. I’ve interviewed and seen the band live three times and their album Alaska resides on my top 25 metal albums of all time — only one of a handful of albums released in the 2000s. And in what appears to be an annual occurrence, I happened to catch them in Lawrence, KS while touring with The Ocean and Job For a Cowboy. A tour, that’s promoting their jump from long time label Victory Records to Metal Blade and their current EP The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues — the first part of a planned two CD concept. So amidst Lawrence’s hordes of hipsters, tempting college lasses, apple chutney feta cheese burgers and drumming homeless dudes, I caught up with guitarist Paul Waggoner to find out more about the current release, the label switch and other guitar maestros…

Now this was a fun and interesting interview. Well, we think so anyway and hope that you’ll agree. Considering Scott Alisoglu and myself both found the music of Wooden Stake – particularly new full-length Dungeon Prayers & Tombyard Serenades – to be an intelligently constructed (lyrically and musically), compellingly horrific, and rather unique brand of doom metal, we thought it a smashing idea to conduct a joint interview with bassist/vocalist/lyricist Vanessa Nocera. Vanessa constitutes exactly one half of the prolific pair and also runs the mighty Razorback Records with husband Billy. Wooden Stake’s other equally important half is ubiquitous guitarist/drummer Wayne Sarantopoulos, about whom you may have heard because of his membership in a multitude of other acts, including Decrepitaph, Festered, Encoffination, and Beyond Hell. All that’s left to do now is unleash the hounds, open the gates, let the games begin, and get this party started. Do it!

Have you heard of Singapore’s Wormrot? If you consider yourself a grindcore fan and have not, then chances are you’ve either been in and out of rehab the last year or just haven’t gotten around to securing a connection to that new fangled thing they call the Internet. Debut album Abuse kicked a ridiculous amount of grindcore butt; rubbed raw, frothing at the mouth and dragging you through shortened, shocked, and sharpened speed blasts and crust crushes. Follow up album, which I incorrectly termed an EP, Dirge is even rawer, dirtier, frantic, and deleterious to the immune system. Guitarist Rasyid (and vocalist Arif where noted) checks in from somewhere on tour in these United States of America.

It’s not rocket science, folks. It goes something like this. A guy like Tomáš Halama readily admits that he enjoys old school Stockholm Death Metal and recognizes bands like Dismember and Entombed as the official representatives of said style. Then instead of pretending that it’s a bad thing to play anything based on an existing blueprint, he takes what he enjoys and does his damnedest to write it, record, and play it with the utmost passion and authenticity. That’s exactly what Brutally Deceased Dead Lover’s Guide (Lavadome Productions) sounds like: passionately played, well written, Stockholm style death that rumbles, gurgles, and stinks of rotting flesh. Who the hell is going to argue with that combination? Not I and certainly not Tomáš.