Lost in all the controversy and arguing over the new Morbid Angel album is the  fact that another legendary, godfather act of death metal also returned after a long hiatus in 2011. The difference is…these guys did it right. After two certifiably classic death metal albums in Severed Survival and Mental Funeral, Autopsy released two  […]

This new Finnish supergroup boasts members of Swallow the Sun, Amorphis, Moonsorrow, Kreator and October Falls. Given that line-up, you know Barren Earth is going to be awash in the lush, soaring melodies and crushing doom-death tones that make Finnish metal so recognizable. That’s convincing enough for me, but the addition of progressive-death structures and […]

Katatonia are influential. Make no mistake about it, this is an act that knows all the right moves and has been a leading entity throughout the years despite their change in sound and musical contemplation. The sheer emotion that circumvents their music is undeniable and with 2009’s Night is the New Day, Katatonia shatters the […]

Personally, I have never really cared for My Dying bride. As much as I love dismal doom metal, this veteran act has never struck the right chord with me. Is that blasphemy? No, it’s just this reviewer’s disposition. However, no one can deny how important this band has been to doom and gloom, and For […]

I was unimpressed with the release of The Roundhouse Tapes on CD only because of my apathy for audio live performances. I just don’t get it. I have the albums. There is no need for me to have a live version. At least Opeth. However, watching a live performance on DVD is a totally different […]

Arguably, The Fathomless Mastery is one of the most anticipated death metal records of year, partly due to the return of Mikael Åkerfeldt to vocal duties (which cancels out the loss of Dan Swano), and partly due to the fact that the bands two full length’s (2002s Resurrection Through Carnage and superb but slight step […]

This companion EP to last year’s terrific Fear of a Blank Planet has been accused of being a tack-on, due to the fact that it’s priced as a full release, but only features 4 songs. Those naysayers are even more sour than Steven Wilson’s mood – this is a fantastic release, and definitely not just […]

Mikael Akerfeldt has returned to Bloodbath, and there was much rejoicing. However Dan Swano is gone now and that has had an effect on this EP moreso than Akerfeldt’s return. While the vocals are an improvement over Pete Tagtgren on Nightmares Made Flesh, the songs themselves are missing something. As opposed to the early Morbid Angel/Entombed […]

In over a ten-year span, Opeth have continued to give us beautiful, classic, and timeless CDs. Till this day, there really isn’t too much to complain about with the band. Sure, you will always have the naysayer who thinks they are overrated, but those of us who really enjoy the band can sit back and […]

Experimentation and innovative music must be delivered for success to prevail! Today’s metal fans will burry bands basically because of the flooded genre’s and repetitive rubbings left by uninspiring music. Though I am not as harsh as most onlookers I find it becoming harder and harder for me to get excited over new releases. Lots […]

Nocturno Culto did the mastering of Gallhammer’s debut album, Ill Innocence, so says the press release. I thought their debut album Gloomy Lights was several years back. In any case, three people with no musical experience and no idea how to play their chosen instruments band together to make raw, primal, blackened doom, sound familiar? […]

In today’s musical world, we are lucky enough to receive DVD’s of some of our favorite artists. Underground or not, it’s just as important as the damn CD anymore and even no name acts are scrounging up the money and producing low budget concert footage. It may not be as good as actually attending the […]

I’ll be the first to admit that none of My Dying Bride’s post As the Flower Withers albums haven’t really done much for me. First, mainly because have always found Aaron Stainthorpe’s clean croon insufferably whiny. There, I said it. Secondly, 34.788% Complete just ruined the band’s legacy for me. Even with the band’s sort […]

Five years. It has been five years since I had new material from Spain’s atmospheric black metal band Asgaroth. Corpse paint and swords were already a thing of the past for Lord Lupus, Mythral and associates, now they have dropped the pseudonyms as well. Daniel and Chris were joined in 1998 by Oscar and by […]

The second installment of Anathema’s Resonance retrospective albums is a strange trip when you look at who and what the band currently are. Really, when you reflect on Anathema’s career, the evolution from The Crestfallen EP to the band’s recent album, A Fine Day to Exit, is fairly obvious. For proponents of everything pre-The Silent […]

Now that fellow labelmates and countrymen My Dying Bride have two excellent retrospectives in the proverbial bag, Anathema get their turn to compile and assemble a collection or two of their own. While Bride’s dual slabs of melancholy were voted by the fans on the group’s website, Anathema here seems particularly adamant over what tracks […]

Everyone, who has followed Anathema’s illustrious career as intensely as this writer, should have seen this album coming. In purest form, A Fine Day to Exit is nothing less than a masterpiece. Not unlike Katatonia’s newest magnum opus Last Fair Deal Gone Down, the album is fueled by relentless emotive energy mixed with precise musical […]

Just as At The Gates approached the zenith of their career, internal strife within the band caused one of metal’s brightest hopefuls to supernova in a spectacular event that shocked the band’s growing legion of fans and proponents. Slaughter of the Soul will forever remain lodged into the minds of metallers everywhere as the record […]

With 27 tracks spanning six studio releases (along with a few live numbers and a demo gem), Torn from the Grave is the definitive Autopsy collection, and fans of the ye olde school of death metal need look no further for moronic, blood-soaked, brain-bashing fun. The CD itself is a beautiful digipack, featuring four fold […]

Peaceville never plied the safest of waters with its artists or its artists’ statements. The label’s outspoken stance on artist integrity is seen not in the atmospheric delight of Anathema, My Dying Bride, et al., but in the likes of Autopsy, GGFH and, most importantly, Dark Throne. Autopsy’s Shitfun cover was the progenitor of the […]