Like many, I’ve been waiting on a new Vildhjarta album for almost a decade now as the band has yet to release anything other than a few teasers and track or an EP since 2011’s, Masstaden. But little did I know there has been a perfectly good (and more productive) stand-in band lurking in the […]

Can you believe Violence Unimagined is the 15th album from Cannibal Corpse?  Talk about an achievement in death metal.  Seriously is they wanted to break-up now who could blame them?  They have accomplished more than enough and have given back to the death metal scene an enormous amount.  Of corpse I do not want that […]

Generally speaking, when Black Metal introduced classically inspired symphonics (Emperor, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle fo Filth,  etc) to its frosty or satanic visages in the early 90ss, it was broad, epic, Wagnerian, tempestuous brush strokes that matched the more often than not, darker atmospheres with regal bombast. Some exceptions came about as symphonic black metal branched […]

“Oh, that’s nasty…” I could probably end this review right here with that stellar Cleveland Brown quote and you’d basically know what you have. However, finishing early is just not in my vocabulary (ladies…). Crypts of Despair have already released one album, but this is the first on Transcending Obscurity for this crew from the […]

When Alex, the owner of Dolorem Records, directly contacted me about reviewing one of his bands Creeping Fear.  I said yes, especially since I had never heard of the band.  Creeping Fear is a French death metal band who play an earlier form of Morbid Angel, Immolation and mixed with Hate Eternal – or that’s […]

You have to hand it to Memoriam, the Bolt Thrower drummer Martin Hearns tribute band featuring original Bolt Thrower vocalist Karl Willets  and long time Benediction member Frank Healy; 4 albums in 4 years, same cover artist (Dan Seagrave) and almost the same line up for the whole time (only former BT Drummer Andy Whale […]

Unique Leader has been heavy on the deathcore/downtempo so far in early 2021 with 2 conceptual EPs from Distant (both a bit underwhelming), Australia’s to To The Grave and their debut, Humanity’s Last Breath,  and this the second release from the UKs Bound In Fear, and boy it is  a doozy. Distant might have been […]

Sometimes I sit around and wonder, “Man I wish there were more bands that sound like Despised Icon“, and lo and behold here comes Slovak Metal Army with the new EP from the Czech Republic’s Anime Torment, a veteran band with 2 full-lengths under their belt, but a new band to me. 20 Minutes of […]

If you’re into metal, you probably don’t expect to hear anything groundbreaking very often. Sometimes, bands try new things and fall flat. Sometimes it sounds like they just input strange instruments or passages just because they want, not because it serves the song. This happens often in the attempt to be “different.” On the other […]

I own the 2009 debut album, Stand Up Straight, from these self-proclaimed death ‘n’ roll Swedes, but I can’t say it’s been in regular rotation. Frankly, I’m more likely to just reach for Entombed’s Wolverine Blues and beyond out put if I want some groovy HM-2 death metal. That said, I also will listen to […]

I was late to the Stormtide party as I didn’t hear this Aussie Fantasy metal act’s 2016 debut, Wrath of an Empire until 2020. But When I finally did stumble across it, I very much enjoyed the band’s Asian/Far East inspired take on melodic, symphonic death metal, imbuing an mix of Amon Amarth, Stormlord and […]

In their 18 years of existence Russia’s Abominable Putridity has accumulated a rabid following and for a band that does not play live shows it’s been impressive.  Their 2007 debut In the End of Human Existence is one of my favorite debut albums in all of brutal slam death metal.  Beyond brutal knuckle-dragging heaving and […]

Swampbeast is here to steal your tree fiddy (after all, you gave tree fiddy to the Loch Ness Monster, so they know you have plenty more where that came from) and to pummel you. Their debut is called Seven Evils Spawned of Seven Heads and it doesn’t waste much time getting started. The first track […]

This Danish death metal band’s second effort, Venenum was a little over-hyped for me, as they seemed to be 2019s death metal darlings in the eyes of the media, press, spotify (seemed like it was every daily mix and playlist), and fans. But I thought it was merely OK, as it barely registered in the […]

It’s been 5 years since Dutch black metal act Kjeld (helmet? cauldron?) released the excellent Skym (though I heard it a couple of years after the release), and the band has spent their time sharpening their razor sharp form of melodic second wave black metal with a few EPs and splits in that time, and […]

Wehrmacht hailed from Oregon and had a nice underground run in the 80’s.  Other than some demos, their body of work is with their two albums:  The 1987 debut Shark Attack and 1989 follow-up Biērmächt both released on New Renaissance Records.  Wehrmacht played a blistering style of crossover thrash metal, which at the time was […]

“Come up front! You’re going to do it later anyway! Just do it now!” This was the beckon of Wolf King’s frontman Tim Wilson when I saw his band open for Conjurer, Entheos, and Rivers of Nihil. I did not answer this call. Well, at least not favorably. See, I’m about 5’6”, was sitting at […]

Talk about a match made in heaven…….Switzerland’s  Stortregn, a formerly pure 90s melodic black metal band turned more technical, surgical, shredding death metal with some of their black metal remnants left behind, on The Artisan Era, arguably the flagship label for this style with bands like Inferi, Demon King, Enfold Darkness and such. I’ve reviewed […]

The physical reissue of this 2017 digital only release from this Norwegian symphonic black metal band caught my eye as it features Clemens Wijers of Carach Angren doing the symphonic/orchestral arrangements. And boy is this fucking good! Its definitely got a bit of a theatrical/dramatic Carach Angren vibe, with Wiljers rendering some superbly rousing strings […]

So far in 2021, there’s been some excellent symphonic metal from power metal band Dragony, stalwarts Epica, the orchestral bombast of Abstrakt, the majestic Utbyrd, the epic  tales of Aussies Stormtide, the reformed Phlebotomized,  the avant garde chaos of Exanamis and aa few others as well. One such band is Belgium’s InHuman, who were formed […]

I am new to the Thronehammer camp of doom metal and their 2019 debut Usurper of the Oaken Throne was quite a display of monolithic heaviness and plodding doom-laden dirge.  The band gets into doom/death moments with some low vocals and man, Thronehammer are heavy, with a capital H. The band is an international act […]

[A meeting at the Extreme Metal Research & Development Labs, Level 5, The Moon] “Krallice goes Disgorge (US)”…………. “That’s it?” “That’s the pitch.” “Isn’t that just Gorguts?  They share a member” “…No…  Gentlemen, women, and non-human friends present, if you’ll fit your VR headsets on, I’ll explain this incredible breakthrough in today’s presentation. Gorguts recent […]

Abiotic have had an odd trajectory. They released an honestly bland debut in 2012, then a good follow up in 2015. While a little half-baked, it seemed like a step in the right direction, and made me think the only way to go for them was up. Then, silence. Enter 2021 and their new album, […]

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 […]

The Netherlands have quite a varying style of death metal genres and brutal slam death metal act Korpse were kind of a free-agent last year after releasing 2 prior albums.  Their 2013 self-titled debut and the sophomore Unethical in 2016.  Korpse had amassed, in their relatively short existence, quite a decent following and many of […]