First off, congrats to Doug Moore, vocalist for Pyrrhon and former co-scribe at metalreview.com for getting a deal with the mighty Relapse Records, and second, apologies to Doug for not getting around to reviewing the band’s solid debut album, An Excellent Servant But a Terrible Master, released on Selfmadegod Records back in 2011. Now, on to […]

How this band isn’t more well-known is beyond me. In a world of musical styles being constantly blended, theirs seems to be a sound wholly their own. A slight mix of down tempo grunge and what could be misconstrued as shoegaze, they manage to not only be consistently rhythmic but also, in a cerebral sense, […]

The transatlantic collaborative beast known as Culted is back with album number two for Relapse. Their 2009 debut Below the Thunders of the Upper Deep was a heavy, fuzzed out dagger of blackened doom and sophomore effort Oblique to All Paths continues the established formula of shambling guitar and thick layers of distorted vocals. A […]

Stuck in a perpetual ’80s thrash-punk time warp, Joel Grind’s Toxic Holocaust are a prolific institution in the retro metal field. Already this year, Grind has released a retrospective snapshot of Toxic Holocaust’s non-album material (From the Ashes of Nuclear Destruction) while also releasing a fun little solo gem with his Yellowgoat Sessions project. Chemistry […]

Portland’s Red Fang are a band I feel I should like more than I actually do.  On the surface their style of greasy heavy rock meets stoner metal jams holds great appeal.  Yet the significant hype that has been bestowed upon Red Fang and the commercial headway they have made suggests something extra special boils […]

Technical death metal is a demanding trade–and not just in terms of sheer speed and accuracy. Bands fall prey to various traps in the tech-death world: songs that overstay their welcome, boggling the listener’s mind with endless flurries of notes; a lack of musical coherence as the songs change tempo and/or time signatures over and […]

Windhand’s self-titled debut dropped early last year and was one of the more promising doom debuts of the year.  The Richmond, Virginia 5-piece inked a deal with Relapse on the strength of the album, and following a solid split EP release with Cough, the band is back on deck with their second full length, titled […]

Since the day that I first gave The Invisible Mountain its first spin in my Hi-Fi last year, Horseback have compelled and intrigued me to no end. I was blown away by the sheer audaciousness and ambition of that album – just four songs stretched across nearly forty minutes of music, each song underpinned with […]

Revocation’s highly anticipated fourth album comes on the back of significant momentum gained through the one-two punch of 2009’s brilliant Existence is Futile, and 2011’s worthy follow-up, Chaos of Forms. Firstly, forget all the over-analysis about the band’s decision to self-title this latest platter. There’s no drastic reinvention at play here, yet the important thing […]

Prior to 2011’s surprisingly excellent All Guts, No Glory (which I still heard about a year after the fact), my last experience with Exhumed was 1998’s Gore Metal, which I never really cared for. So imagine my surprise when I was hearing a latter Carcass clone complete with melodic solos and hooky, catchy riffs, which […]

Swiss grind metallers Mumakil are a band I’ve been following for a while. From their little known debut LP Customized Warfare, to follow up Behold the Failure, these guys have been blasting through the underground with a style of grind they call “blastcore” (because yeah that’s all we need is yet another sub-genre). But categories […]

Relapse Records is extremely proud to announce the North American signing of Oslo, Norway’s death metal warriors Obliteration!  Formed in 2001, Obliteration (Sindre Solem – guitar / vocals, Arlid Myren Torp – guitar, Didrik Telle- bass, Kristian Valbo – drums) have released one EP (Total Fucking Obliteration – 2005) and two full-lengths (Perpetual Decay – […]

With their fifth full-length album reportedly in the pipeline, Portland retro thrashers Toxic Holocaust has pieced together a comprehensive collection of their extensive backlog of non-album material.  From the Ashes of Nuclear Destruction features 22 tracks, including numerous raw demo versions of their studio counterparts, and an abundance of material culled from various splits and […]

It has been a few years since Inter Arma scorched a trail through the underground with their debut LP. A corrosive whirlwind of doom, sludge, grind, and thrash, Sundown was a welcome blast of fresh air. Since then they’ve been scooped up by Relapse and spent the intervening years writing their sophomore full length. Sky […]

Split EP’s are a good idea in theory but are often a mixed bag in quality. Whether it’s one band clearly out-playing the other, inconsistent recording quality, or its generally skimpy length, the concept doesn’t always hit the mark. This latest offering from Relapse Records pits Windhand and Cough head to head, and the two […]

Bursting forth with 10 vitriolic blasts of hate-fueled extremity, Colorado’s Call of the Void make quite the impression with their debut full-length, Dragged Down a Dead End Path. Stitching together elements of grind, hardcore and crust, Call of the Void keep it short and direct, creating their own violent, murky combo drawing influence from the […]

Having recently added the ever respected Rotten Sound to their lineup, Relapse has decided to do a double take and grab another grind band, France’s Blockheads.  Unless you’re a big follower of the grind scene, you might not have heard of these guys before.  This is actually their fifth full length, and the first on […]

With only 3 full lengths in almost 15 years of existence, Devourment has still managed to foster an almost obsessive, cult-like following.  Their brand of brutal, slamming death metal is almost notoriously hailed as the pinnacle of the niche genre.  On this latest output, and their first on Relapse, the same crew is back from […]

I’ve always felt that when you can be recognized by your guitar sound alone, you’ve got a good thing going.  Much like a lead vocalist, a unique guitar sound can instantly set you apart from your peers.  Meshuggah has done it (while sparking legions of copycats).  Slayer has done it.  And so have Rotten Sound.  […]

Relapse Records has been in resurgent form over the last couple of years, revitalizing their roster and boosting their legendary track record and proven ability in providing exposure that some of the lesser known bands deserve.   Canada’s Weapon is another fine addition to the label’s large, esteemed staple.   Plucked from the grimy underground, Weapon applies […]

Pig Destroyer’s 2007 album Phantom Limb ended up on many year-end lists and was lauded as one of, if not the best, album that they have put out, so hype for this one was massive to say the least.  In a genre like grindcore where it can be hard to separate from the pack, Pig […]

Atlanta, Georgia residents Royal Thunder made a strong statement with their self-titled EP in 2010; blending bluesy, southern-tinged rock ‘n’ roll with sturdy doom foundations.  But perhaps their biggest drawcardwas the commanding presence of singer and bassist Miny Parsonz;a front-woman who could belt the tunes out with full-blooded urgency, or pull back into soulful restraint […]

Now this is just filthy.  And I don’t mean any kind of filthy, I mean FILTHY.  This is like the floor at the favorite hole in the wall bar where you’ve seen way too many metal shows.  But it’s a glorious filth that you won’t want to wash off any time soon.  Finland’s Hooded Menace […]

The fact that I was born in 1984 means that I have missed out on a lot of metal history. Sure, it has been documented in the form of records and concert footage, but it’s not the same as actually being at a specific event, such as the early genesis of death metal with early […]

16 are back with the follow-up to their excellent reunion album Bridges to Burn. It’s a decent successor, if a little disappointing. Good enough on its own, Deep Cuts From Dark Clouds isn’t as memorable as their last outing and doesn’t measure up to the band’s earlier work. It’s more aggressive, more direct in its […]