Pentagram (Chile) has literally been around for just shy of 40 years – can you wrap your head around that for a moment?  How about the fact that Eternal Life of Madness is only their second album, their debut finally dropping in 2013 – The Malefice, a monstrously amazing debut album, capturing all the essence […]

I’m not a huge thrash metal guy. Other than some that were my gateway bands into death metal like Slayer, Possessed, Metallica, and Holy War (and for some reason never heard or purchased a Megadeth album). However, in the late 80s, I did have a soft spot for thrash from my homeland of England mainly […]

With being involved in the music scene for so long both as a musician and a writer I still get stoked over the smallest things and am very thankful for some of the bands I have interviewed and reviewed over the years.  I have been fortunate to have reviewed all the Thanatos reissues as well […]

I’m not too familiar with Veld, so after a little research I discover they are from Belarus, have been around since 1995 and have 3 albums under their belt , including 2015s Daemonic (The Art of Dantalian) , which was reviewed and enjoyed in these very pages. So I thought I’d give album number 4 a go. […]

Barcelona’s Crisix is a great burst of thrash metal energy, an aural red bull if you will.  Hailing from Barcelona Spain, Crisix ( formally Crysis) are a high energy thrash band with a slight injection of fun with a touch of crossover to them. I will say now, I’m not a huge fan of the crossover […]

Back in 2011, I questioned the need for another Lock Up album in Necropolis Transparent, and resultantly, got my ass handed to me by one of the year’s best grindcore albums. Well, the band is if anything consistent in both their lack of productivity (3 albums in 15 years) and kick ass-ness when they do […]

Any and all bands have their influences, their reasons for he or she to pick up a guitar or to stand in front of the mic and let their voice be heard. Then it comes to another thought, as to when and how much you take these influences and take that next step and make […]

When Satan emerged from the dead with their exceptional comeback album Life Sentence in 2013, one of the early pioneers of the NWOBHM triumphed emphatically, bringing their old school retro formula into the modern era with spectacular results. While I’m sure long-time fans were particularly enthralled, I was surprised by the impact it had on […]

Ok, this one threw me for a loop. I have a pretty limited exposure to Supuration; my only real point of reference was their 1993 oddball of an album, The Cube; and then bits and pieces of the various Supuration/S.U.P. permutations. I was aware of their trajectory following that path that so many innovative bands […]

Hot on the heels of Gruesome’s utterly wonderful Savage Land comes another slice of truly tremendous Death worship in the form of False Prophecies. The mysterious entity that is  Undead have chosen to take a different approach to Gruesome however, the latter band choosing to emulate the early Death to such an extent that the resulting […]

After a 6 year layoff, death metal legends Incantation returned in 2012 rather triumphantly with Vanquish in Vengeance, one of the  more successful reunion/ comebacks of the last few years. But how would the band respond after the comeback/reunion glow and excitement that often fogs objective reactions after long layoffs has faded and the band […]

Despite featuring members of bands like Marduk, Pan-Thy Monium, Edge of Sanity, and Incapacity, and my love of all things Stockholm sounding, I never quite sunk my teeth into Rotten Death, the 2011 debut from this old school Swedish death metal group. Whether it’s the fact I was still reeling from the debut from Entrails […]

Profane is my first exposure the France’s Svart Crown, despite it being their 3rd full-length album, but considering the brilliance of French black metal that has crossed my path in that time frame, it’s not surprising that these guys slipped under my radar. And while this is more of a blackened death metal record as […]

Life Sentence marks the long-awaited comeback album from one of the underrated spearheads of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Satan were around and kicking at the tail-end of the ’70s before emerging with their debut album, Court In The Act, in 1983. That album has since achieved somewhat of a cult status […]

Having enjoyed their last full length five years ago, nOn, it was good to see The Amenta back in LP land. Their blend of pseudo-industrial death metal caught my attention years ago and I was stoked when I heard this was coming out. On Flesh is Heir, the band picks back up with that same […]

Back in 2001, The Netherlands’ Centurian were on the cusp of death metal stardom after releasing their furious second album Liber Zar Zax.  However, the band stalled and disappeared for over a decade. But the members kept sharp and involved with notable acts like Nox, Severe Torture and recently, Infected Flesh. So now, three of […]

Place of no Pity is the fourth full-length album from Ruins, the Australian black metal crew featuring drumming extraordinaire Dave Haley (Psycroptic) in their ranks.  Although this is my first extended experience with the band, by all accounts it appears to follow-through with a similar formula to previous releases.  The band play a steroid-fuelled black/death […]

With their third album on as many labels, Sweden’s Zonaria are if anything, anything persistent and consistent. Their previous albums released on Pivotal Recordings (2007s Infamy and the Breed) and then Nuclear Blast  (2009s The Cancer Empire) respectively were a melding  of mildly futuristic  melodic death metal glossed over with Dimmu Borgir symphonics and that […]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I never really got Incantation or Immolation in the early 9os. I was obsessed with Swedish death metal and Cradle of Filth  and both bands murky, muddy styles never really sat well with me. Heck, the only Incantation album I own and have really heard is […]

Twice in a row now – for 2009’s Process of a New Decline, and last year’s Transcendence EP – I’ve dubbed France’s Gorod one of, if not the most creative tech death bands on the planet. For my money, they’re certainly the most entertaining – complex yet cogent, brutal yet playful, and limber and listenable […]

Blending hallucinatory technicality and one astonishing sense of striking melody into one sole album wrap-up is a challenge quite a wide community of bands have been undertaking over time, and it’s gotta be said that hitting each fucking minute mark with just the right balance of both elements is a uniquely gifted talent to have. […]

Warning: there’s gonna be cursing in this review, because an album like this warrants it, so please check your delicate sensibilities at the door. It’s been quite a while since anything of this ilk has crossed my desk for review, and in preparation I dug out some Morbid Saint and Noia to get me in […]

Oh Stéphan Forté, if thou art female, I’d be swooning all over you right now (and you’d probably be the best girl shredder out there). Seriously, how did this album escape the radar of countless popular metal websites and blogs last year? The guitarist of French progressive neo-classical band, Adagio, Stéphan Forté has finally and […]

Do you enjoy your death metal most thoroughly when it reeks of decaying viscera and echoes the sounds of torturous carnage?  You do?!  Then hold onto your butts, for Tormented is poised to offend your delicate fuckin’ sensibilities with the churning tomb stench that embodies Rotten Death, the band’s 2009 debut repackaged and exhumed by […]

  I’m sorry, SerpentCult.  I tried to like you; I really did.  I played Raised by Wolves in a variety of settings: in the car while driving, in the car while not driving, in the car idling and half asleep and staring mindlessly out the window, at home doing laundry, at home drinking a beer […]