There was a time up until about 2005’s Anomalies that Cephalic Carnage were a no questions, blind buy for every release. Challenging, heavy, creative, humorous and of course driven by weed, the band seemed to be on the very cusp of exploding out of their pot fueled basement and into mega stardom. But with Anomalies […]

So the debut from this super group (or super duet really, as Jamey Jasta and Kirk Windstein are the main guys) was an expected mix of Hatebreed and Crowbar; it was a pretty fun but underwhelming listen. On their second effort, however, the duet, now working with a different backing group, appears to have really […]

More grindcore for spring, this time from Sweden’s Sayyadina (a character from Frank Hebert’s Dune) a trio featuring members of Victims, General Surgery and Nasum, and with that description, you should have a pretty solid idea of Sayyadina’s sound. The Great Northern Revisited compiles all the bands splits, 7” records and compilations dating back to […]

This young Boston, MA based power trio first caught my attention earlier this year when I came across their debut full length from last year, Empire of the Obscene. It was an impressive mix of technical ability, classic thrash hues, hints of modern death metal, catchy melodies and pummeling groove – it was all over […]

A new Dying Fetus album isn’t quite the event is once was as since the bands crowning moment, 2000s Destroying the Opposition a revolving line up has kept John Gallagher from attainting perfect chemistry that was achieved with the classic Netherton, Voyles (who of course left after Destroy the Opposition to form Misery Index) and […]

Ahhh… the final album epilogue, how it pains the reviewer. Do we judge the album by the higher standard of the career ending kiss-off, or as just another brick in what has been nothing if not a solid wall? Perhaps best to start off with the context-setting history, as while it was Burnt By the […]

Outside of the realm of reissuing out of print label discography, Relapse Records has specialized in two different types of reissues, first, the painfully obvious and effortlessly successful, read: Atheist, Repulsion, Pentagram and Cryptic Slaughter with the second tier consisting of the absolutely obscure, such latter being met with appreciation from underground spelunkers in the […]

It’s funny about revelations, moments of clarity, epiphanies and the like. When they come to us, it seems like a deep spiritual phenomenom, the type named and generally described better by eastern rather than western religions, what with their deja-vu, preja-vu, reincarnations and similar “god moves in mysterious ways” mumbo jumbo, but in reality it’s […]

Like a parent seeing a child grow, I’ve enjoyed watching Scotland’s Man Must Die blossom over the last 6 years. From their impressive 2003 demo, through the killer debut album, …Start Killing (one of 2004s very best death metal albums), to being the first UK band signed to Relapse Records for The Inhuman Condition, to […]

What’s not surprising about this release is that considering 3/5 of the band were in Through the Eyes of The Dead, Salarian Gate sounds like a Through the Eyes of the Dead album. What is surprising is that Relapse would release record that sounds like a Through the Eyes of the Dead album, considering the […]

Well, this is it, folks; the last of the Voivod material. As you’ve probably read in every single review of Infini, these were the riffs recorded by the late/great Piggy and turned into the 13 songs comprising this final album. It is the capstone to a quarter century of greatness. Keep in mind that the […]

I, like many others, have a deep fondness for Pierced From Within. For many, it’s like a capstone to the silver age of death metal, a brutal yet technically complex episode embedded in the minds of the long time fans; the guys that had seen a Tirant Sin show or two in a garage or […]

For a band whose whole shtick is rooted in the cinematic prog-synth of 70s forebears like Tangerine Dream and Goblin, nostalgia is an expected part of the experience. Although previous albums Cosmos and Surface to Air are fine on their own merits, they really hit home (at least for me) because they recall those bands’ […]

Super group Birds of Prey consisting of Ben Hogg (Beaten Back to Pure), Erik Larson ( The Mighty Nimbus, Alabama Thunderpussy, Hail!Hornet), Bo Leslie (The Last Van Zant, Throttlerod), Summer Welch (Baroness), and Dave Witte (Municipal Waste, Burnt by the Sun, Discordance Axis, Human Remains) have always been promising with their Southern take on groovy […]

Interestingly enough, the same week this interview was conducted with Ben “Boss” Hogg the vocalist was also officially welcomed as one of two new writers for Teeth of the Divine. I always enjoyed reading Ben’s work in Metal Maniacs (R.I.P.), his preference for the gnarly ‘n nasty aspects of metal (not unlike mine) and I look forward to reading his contributions here.

Speaking of the gnarly and the nasty, in addition to his front man responsibility in Beaten Back to Pure (new album coming later this year), Hogg has been the vocalist of underground super group Birds of Prey for three albums strong now, including a brand new release called The Hellpreacher. A concept album about an inmate-turned-priest, Birds of Prey – also including guitarists Erik Larson (Alabama Thunderpussy) and Bo Leslie (The Last Van Zant), bassist Summer Welch (Baroness), and drummer Dave Witte (Municipal Waste, Discordance Axis) – continues with its southern ‘n sludgy brand of old school death metal and brings along with it an even better compositional approach. Read all about it right here, straight from the Boss’ mouth.

Through no fault of my own I am behind the curve on this one. Back in 2004 I received the Terrifyer promo disc and, like all promotional copies, it was bare fucking bones. Nothing cool like bonus DVD’s are ever included. Originally “Natasha” was an additional bonus dvd to the Terrifyer release, a dvd with […]

Nearly 4 years is much too long for a follow up to such a bad ass album, that being Rumpelstiltskin Grinder’s (RG) 2005 opus Buried in the Front Yard, an album that knocked me on my ass from the word go. I remember reading a review of it and thinking “this sounds like my kind […]

There was a lot of buzz about the Relapse debut of Germany’s tech death band Obscura, especially since being joined by Necrophagist members Christian Muenzner (guitars), Hannes Grossman (Drums) and Pestilence bassist (for Spheres) Jeroen Paul Thesseling. Now I’ve had about a month to let the album, sink in, I can confidently say the hype […]

I was anxious to check out Bridges to Burn, the new 16 album and the first since 2003’s Zoloft Smile, which was not only a top 10 selection for me from that year, but also remains one of my all-time favorites. There is just something about the combination of harsh, riff-based groove, the easily remembered […]

Wow. Not only have Misery Index rebounded from the slightly disappointing Discordia and returned to the full on brilliance of Retaliate, they have responded to the gauntlet thrown down by the recent Willowtip triple headed assault of Kill the Client, Phobia and Maruta as far as American grindcore in 2008 is concerned. While one could […]

Compared to the dense, melancholy psychedelia of Origo, Lazarus Bird surprises from note one by taking a confident step back to Burst‘s hardcore roots. Opener “I Hold Vertigo” attacks with a lurching hammerblow riff, and vocalist Linus Jägerskog tears into his work as if he’s rediscovering it. He sounds fresher and meaner than anything I […]

Coldworker have provided us with their second album and what a revelation. I confess I didn’t really listen to the first one that much so I can’t say that much for their progress since then but Rotting Paradise has blown my mind. Coldworker remind me of an amalgam of The Forsaken and Hate Plow, due […]

Genghis Tron are such a unclassifiable, hard to review act, that any attempt to give a reader an idea of the band’s sound just seems redundant lip service, but as it may, one of Relapse’s newer signings have released their sophomore album, and it deserves your ear despite my forthcoming clumsy attempt at describing it. […]

While certainly death metal in 2008 is on the upswing with releases by Brain Drill, Decrepit Birth, and Hate Eternal, the fact is death metal is still just death metal. However, Origin, after four albums of complex yet relatively singular and forgetful speed, have now fully embraced and developed songwriting chops hinted ever-so-slightly on 2006’s […]

I hate to beat a dead horse, as I’m sure most of you have read reviews of this rather high profile release already, but I’ll say it anyway-the side project featuring Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed and Kirk Windstein of Crowbar sounds like a mix of Hatebreed and Crowbar. There. End of review. Ok maybe not. […]