Slumber’s demise was somewhat of a disappointment after their excellent 2004’s full-length Fallout. The album had its own character within melodic death/doom genre of the time, standing somewhere between Katatonia and Finland’s Rapture. The following turmoil between the band members and the birth and death of their new projects left me wondering whether or not […]

As former drummer for the legendary Gorefest, Ed Warby went through his shares of ups and downs; breakups, reunions, classic album, reviled albums and more breakups. But nothing compares to the emotions that he conveys on his doom side project, The 11th Hour. While playing on Hail of Bullets keeps his death metal steel wet, it’s doom metal that remains Eds deepest love. With his second effort, Lacrimosa Mortis, his emotions and influences are not just worn on his sleeve, they are exposed by a gaping, tearstained hole in his chest showcasing the pulsing heart underneath. I visited with Ed to dig a little further into his more doom laden music and finally lay to rest any Gorefest rumors.

So being a huge fan of Gorefest I had to check out the second album from The 11th Hour, a doom metal project featuring former Gorefest (and current Hail of Bullets) drummer Ed Warby and guitarist Frank Harthoon. That respectable duo is joined by Officium Triste growler Pim Blankenstein,  who brings his super deep, typical […]

I’ve developed a theory that you can’t stay angry or be in a bad mood while listening to Alestorm. In recent months, that theory has been sorely tested, but every time, the goofy Scottish pirates have managed to conquer my frustrations after a few songs. So, along comes their third record, Back Through Time, just […]

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.

Kampfar is back with a new album but one essential ingredient is missing. These are the first recordings post guitarist Thomas. It was a major blow when I read he had left the band and one of those “what can they do to compensate for the loss” moments. The reality is they missed a few […]

Upon beginning this review, it quickly became apparent that typing the words into my computer was somehow an injustice to this album — there is some force about Jordpuls that pulls back to things more natural, and less synthetic. In fact, it was impossible to write until I pulled out pen and paper, opened the […]

Recipe for Viking metal: A dash of black metal, heavy metal and a huge helping of folk with all the lore one can handle. Falkenbach are back with another album entitled Tiurida and to be honest it’s no different than their other releases — besides a few touches here and there. The album opens with […]

After reviewing and enjoying the debut album from Jaldaboath, I thought it might be entertaining to conduct an interview with Sir Jaldabaoth, the Grand Guitarist Inspector and Grand Sovereign Songwriter General of the self-proclaimed Hammering Heraldic Metal act (aka James Fogarty). Feeling that such issues as his split with The Meads of Asphodel, fellow British metal acts, cross cultural comedic boundaries and their current album Rise of the Heraldic Beasts warranted serious investigative journalism. Of course I should have expected that a knight responsible for crafting such songs as “Bash the Bishop” and “Axe Weilding Nuns” would not turn out to be a typical journalistic foray, and quickly descended into an uninformative but amusing episode of Black Adder…

British Heraldic Templar Metal? Monty Python metal? Hey Nonny Nonny core? Whatever you call it, the brain child of The Meads of Asphodel founder James Fogarty is certainly one thing: Fun! Imagine if you will the “Knights of the Round Table/Camelot” song from Monty Python’s The Holy Grail -movie done to metal (it’s a silly […]

Back in 2000, I was pretty disappointed to hear that Morten Veland was leaving Tristania after their brilliant second album, Beyond the Veil – an album I still consider to be one of the triumphs of the entire goth-metal genre. (I was, however, lucky enough to see the band in one of their few US […]

Christopher Bowes of Scotland’s pirate metal outfit Alestorm recently announced his new side project Gloryhammer on the band’s Facebook page. Labeled heroic power metal, Gloryhammer draws influence from bands such as Rhapsody, Stratovarius, and HammerFall. Along with Christopher Bowes, the Gloryhammer lineup is rounded out by vocalist Antonio Trimmioni, James Cartwright on bass, and guitarists […]

The first taste of Tristania’s new album has gone live on YouTube today and previews the songs “Year Of The Rat” and “The Passing”.  The as-yet-untitled effort is set for a summer release through Napalm Records and has been mixed by Waldemar Sorychta (Samael, Tiamat, Moonspell, The Gathering). To support the new album, the band […]

You just need to take one look at the some of this German band’s promotional shots of the band smeared in stylistic blood on front of fiery battle scene to guess the style this band play and their primary influences. Look no further than the likes of Turisas, Ensiferum, Falchion and such, though Varg is […]

After being particularly impressed by Elis’ Catharsis recently, I was anxious to check out the latest from Siegfried, Nibelung, featuring vocalist Sandra Schleret from the Elis record. It also didn’t hurt that I happen to be a fan of Wagner, the original metal musician, so I was intrigued by the theme of the record. This […]

Talk about black sheep. While the rest of their countrymates are content to make a clattery, blastbeating black metal racket, this Bergen, Norway-based act crunch out a mix of groovy doom and gravelly 90s Swedish death. Call it Entombed in ice. Although A Dark Burial is only Syrach’s third full-length in thirteen years (there was […]

Any package that includes releases from Napalm Records always gives me mixed feelings. On the one hand, I’m pretty sure that I’ll enjoy most of them, on the other, I know I’ll have to deal with voiceovers on at least half the songs. (Come on, guys, the watermark is sufficient for most everyone these days). […]

An interesting fact about trolls: besides lurking under bridges, in forests and on message boards, they’re also able to change their form at will – usually to trick the humans they like to torment. I mention this only because Troll, the Norwegian black metal band started by Nagash (Covenant/The Kovenant, ex-Dimmu Borgir) in 1992, has […]

It is not often I’m totally smitten with a doom band, much less a funeral doom act, but Germany’s Ahab has shocked and awed me ever since I reviewed The Call of the Wretched Sea, the act’s second release (after The Oath EP) in a trilogy (the “Nantucket Saga”) of sea-based tales, based upon stories […]

One could argue that in the space of just three full length albums , Liv Kristine and her spectacular cleavage , err I mean voice, have become Gothic metal’s premier act. The formula they ply has been done amply by the likes of Nighwish, Epica, Stream of Passion and a host of other boobie fronted […]

My introduction to Tyr came a few years back when I was asked to take on Eric the Red. I’d read rave reviews about it all over the Web, but personally, I was unimpressed. In all honesty, I found the record fairly boring. It’s been a while since that review, and I really hadn’t thought […]

I’ve admitted before that I’m a sing-along sort of guy, and I sometimes have a problem with records that are not in English for that reason. On the other hand, I can’t complain about weak lyrics when I don’t understand any of them. So maybe it all comes out in the wash. So, I’m faced […]

There is no secret formula to the death metal performed by Wisconsin’s Jungle Rot. It’s about a riff, a groove, and a growl. It is what it is; always has been and always will be. Themes of battlefield horror are spat out over tight, rumbling rhythms and choruses into which you can sink your teeth. Label troubles be damned, Jungle Rot soldiers on with a new album in What Horrors Await that is even tighter, better produced, and just as memorable as anything they’ve released thus far. With the firm backing of yet another label in Napalm Records guitarist/vocalist/founder Dave Matrise brings us up to date on the war-torn world of Jungle Rot.

With thier 3rd release for Austria’s Napalm label, French Symphonic Metallers Fairyland have delivered an absolutely fantastic album. Score To A New Beginning is loaded down with soaring, melodic vocals, epic keyboard/string layers, huge choirs, speedy drumming and ripping, virtuouso guitars. Led by keyboardist and sole composer Phillippe Giordana, Fairyland hold high the flame of […]

Before hearing What Horrors Await, I was only vaguely familiar with Jungle Rot. I knew they had been around for awhile and had heard bits and pieces of their stuff, enough to know they had a very groove based, old school death metal sound, so I pretty much knew what to expect and that’s exactly […]