Certain things will always bring me back to my adolescence, like every time I see a 90s Dodge Caravan (my first car), eating a chicken cutlet wedge (that was just a thing where I grew up, I dunno), seeing someone wear a studded belt, or gods help me, if I ever have a chance to […]

So, a little personal life update that no one asked for – I’ve been in the process of trying to cut coffee out of my daily routine. Let me be clear, this isn’t a battle against caffeine addiction or anything like that – when I was drinking coffee it was usually one cup every morning, […]

As someone who was really cutting his teeth in the more extreme metal scene during Metalcore’s heyday, it’s safe to say that it will always have a special place in my heart. Even when the genre fell out of fashion and became more a butt of every gatekeeper’s jokes, it remained a regular part of […]

If you’re like me, and for your sake I hope not, you’ve been looking forward to a follow up to The Offering’s stunning 2019 debut Home. Its mix of power, trad, and metalcore would have placed well on my AOTY list, but I wasn’t writing for the site yet. It was thoroughly enjoyable and remains. […]

I can’t even describe how excited I was to hear the new Imonolith full length. I am a big fan of their debut, owning a signed copy, which was from a pre-order. However, considering this album has 10 songs, including 3 demos of previous songs, a cover, and a re-recording of another, to call this […]

While newer bands like Countless Skies or Hinayana have given Melodic Death Metal a somewhat renewed amount of energy and attention, for the most part it takes a release from the genre’s seasoned veterans to gain any kind of real hype ahead of its release. We’re talking, of course, the likes of At The Gates, […]

Whales Don’t Fly, eh? Who is going to tell Gojira? Considering I mentioned on my year end list that their latest album was not a masterpiece but was indeed just okay, maybe it should be me. After all, I’m pretty good at breaking bad news. What I’m not good at is finding promos to review. […]

Every so often a band comes around that makes me just childishly giddy. In the past its been Between the Buried and Me, Blind Guardian, Wilderun, and more recently in the symphonic/blackened deathcore explosion, bands like Sin Deliverance, Until We Die, and Lie to the Silence have added to bands I already enjoyed ( Lorna […]

One of my favorite albums of 2021 was the fantastic Decadence and Decay from Oregon’s Silver Talon, an album and a band that certainly have plenty going for themselves on their own merit, but the album was an immediate hit for me not because it was something I’d never heard before – but instead it […]

Recently, in between beatings for our insolence in the TOTD break room, we had a very brief conversation regarding blackened deathcore vs blackened metalcore. A small distinction, to be sure, but I didn’t have time to think about it before our fearless leader made us fearful, told us to finish up our daily rations of […]

GOD DAMN. So, four albums in, most people familiar with the modern Metallic Hardcore scene probably need no introduction to the UK’s Employed to Serve. The explosive voice of Justine Jones along with her compatriot bruisers have made quite an impact in a world of heavy hitters the likes of Knocked Loose, Code Orange and […]

Oh, Greywalker. I was beginning to worry about you. Yeah, I know there was a live release, but it seems like forever since Without Control, the stellar last full length was released. I get it, though. There is that small matter of an ongoing pandemic. I won’t go too far into it, but I have […]

I have not heard a lot from Innerstrength Records in the last few years, but back in the heyday of deathcore/ metalcore I dug some of their releases from the likes of The Storm, Shallow Water Grave,  I Killed Everyone and such, but have not heard anything from them in a while. S0 when I […]

When the UK’s  Sylosis released the single “I Sever” at the end of 2019, followed shortly by an official album announcement, I was torn. On the one hand, the song is fantastic – thrashy, epic, and heavy. On the other hand, these are all terms I’d use to describe most Sylosis songs. “I Sever” seemed to be […]

Germany’s metalcore/death metal veterans have always been one of those bands I kinda like. I own quite a few of their prior 12 albums, but I don’t think I have listened to them fully,  and I pick  them up used if I happen to find them rather than instantly buy them or seek them out. […]

I last heard this Swiss band back in 2014, with their debut Morning Wood. It was a solid if forgetful stab at 00s American metalcore/ groove metal with songs like “Big Dick”, “Sex For Free”, Cock n Bulls”, and “Welcome to the Stud Farm”, it all seemed a bit tongue in cheek. Well the band […]

What the Fuck? Have I gone back in time to 2006-2008? Unearth released a great album last year, Killswitch Engage released a great album earlier this year, and now As I Lay Dying have released a great album!!!! I digress. But personally I have found the story arc of AILD frontman Tim Lambesis more interesting […]

For four albums I reviewed and extolled the virtues of War of Ages as a top notch Christian, melodic death metal/ metalcore act who were deserving of As I Lay Dying type attention, peaking with 2008s Arise and Conquer. However, with 2010s Eternal, the band shifted into more commercial territory morphing into a more predictable […]

It’s actually been a couple of months since I reviewed some Christian metal core on Facedown Records, so why not get back into things with the debut album from a band whose introductory EP last year grabbed my attention with its no nonsense, almost All Shall Perish styled delivery  of brimstone, metallic sermons. Unfortunately though, […]

After being with Century Media for four albums, God Forbid marks their debut on Victory Records with a show of defiance and determination on their sixth album, Equilibrium. The positive and indomitably titled “Don’t Tell Me What to Dream” kicks it off with a Meshuggah-style riff over a commanding Byron Davis shouting the song’s name. […]

In the Midst of Lion have been busy little bees since I reviewed their 2009  Strikefirst records debut, Out of Darkness. They of course moved on and up to Facedown Records and  some time in 2010, released Heart of Man, which I never got around to reviewing, and then in late 2011 released album number […]

I’ve made no bones about the fact that I’m not a huge fan of A Plea For Purging‘s shift from awesome, twiddly shreddy metalcore to more serious, personal djent styled music. I have not really cared for the band since 2009’s Depravity, and frankly haven’t really cared to, as in my opinion nothing will top […]

I was pretty gutted when Life In Your Way broke up, especially on the heels of 2007s Waking Giants, one of my very favorite records of the years and favorite metalcore records ever.  Well, earlier this year, after a 4 year layoff, the band has mostly reunited (former Wrench in the Works drummer Andy Nelson […]

I’ve been a big fan of Century going back to their self titled EP and Faith & Failure days. The band mix hardcore and a big burly sense of angular but groovy, progressive metal and smart melody to make something that’s a little unique, so I was glad when the band got signed to Prosthetic […]

Listen, this is Christian metal on Strikefirst Records, so spare me the lecture and redundant lashes OK? hailing from Colorado, Altars debut effort of Facedown’s farm league label, is actually a pretty promising 6 song affair. It’s one of those multi faceted modern Christian hardcore records that combines  a punchy production burly deathcore beat downs […]