I moved from the US to Scandinavia last year, and as we head into our second winter here, I understand why so much dark and depressing music comes out of the region: it gets dark and depressing. By mid-December, it’s dark until 9am, gray all day, and dark again at 3:30. And we’re in Southern […]
So this a the French death metal band with a very similar name to the long running Italian death metal, Antropofagus band huh? Well, Ok, but the results are the same; damn solid tech/brutal death metal, although these guys are not quite as brutal and have a little more quirk and experimentation to them. I […]
Despite some reviewers trying to liken Cavern to post-nappers Russian Circles, I’m just not hearing it. In fact I think Russian Circles are overall pretty poor but that’s just one asshole’s opinion so don’t mind me. These Baltimore bashers have far more in common with the ruthless riffing and angular stops n’ starts of NOLA’s […]
Last Poem/First Light, the 2013 debut from these NYC blackgazers, was a gorgeous affair, layering dramatic (and real) orchestration and choirs on top of a Deafheaven-y black metal backbone. Since signing on with Prosthetic Records, the band is reaping the rewards, and has increased the orchestra size from 10 to 30 for their second release – which is a full-on […]
Hailing from Boston, Mass, I had never heard of Composted before. They’re an interesting band of fellows. After looking at the insert pictures, cover, layout and reading the lyrics I made this assessment. If you took Larry “The Cable Guy” and gave him some instruments with 3 other doppelgangers I believe Plump Up The Volume […]
Prior to happening across their entry in this sites secret and fathomless vault of promo offerings, I hadn’t yet heard of Mefitic. By light of my candle I glimpsed a familiar name upon the shelving racks, just at the point before they spiral so high as to disappear into the fog like dusty blackness above: […]
Here’s some goddamn fine woodsy, melodically aggressive black metal from the deep, dank forests of Virginia. First up, Bearstorm are signed to Grimoire Records, so that’s practically a blood-stamped seal of quality right there. Secondly, these badasses have an interesting approach to the genre that’s hard for me to put a claw on. They remind […]
The veteran collective of assorted talents comprising the band VHOL cooked up an impressive self-titled debut in 2013. However, like any band assembled in this fashion there was always a hint of uncertainty about whether it would wind up as another short lived entity as the members returned to their main projects, or remain the […]
Ævangelist will always hold a special place in my metal heart. The first review I ever wrote was for their 2012 debut, De Masticatione Mortuorum in Tumulis, and I’ve covered every full-length that they’ve done since. Putting their inhuman sounds into words hasn’t been easy, but I’ve enjoyed the challenge. This fourth full-length in as […]
There’s been some pretty odd band names this year (Mutilatred, Dysrider, Famishgod, Meatwound, Neurotic November, Weak Aside). There has also been some fine old school Swedish death metal (Morbid Vomit, Wombath, Mass Burial, Entrails, Abscession, Infected Chaos, Skelethal, Feral, Cult of Endtime). Belgium’s Torturerama have the honor of being on both lists. However, it’s the second one they might […]
I’ve been having a hard time putting words to paper about the fourth album from Germany’s Thormesis. You see, when Freier Wille – Freier Geist, (Free will- Free Spirit) is actually playing, I’m enjoying the hell out of its super melodic, sometimes black n roll , airy, bouncy take on black metal. To the point where I’m […]
Dave Rotten’s Xtreem Music Label is one of the very best around, especially for his stellar reissues. So Famishgod is a side project he is lending his guttural vocals to and Pako Deimler is playing all the instruments which also includes the drum machine programming. Famishgod play an ultra heavy down tuned form of doom/death […]
Season of Mist’s artist dichotomy has changed a lot over the last couple of years. Adding killer cult riff slingers Kylesa, Floor, Hark (ex-members of underrated UK doom/thrashers Taint), Weedeater and Saint Vitus has certainly deepened the label’s moat and fortified its already armored bunker. The imprint’s latest riff-heavy signing, Wildlights, features guitarist/vocalist Jason Chi […]
It’s pretty much a given that I’m going to be all about anything that either Erik Burke or Dan Lilker put their hands to; they being two of my all-time favorite grindcore musicians. This is even moreso in light of the disbanding of Brutal Truth at the end of last year, which left a huge […]
Expiation, the debut from Italy’s Synapses was a fine slab of controlled tech death metal that focused much more on deliberate grooves and shuddering rhythms rather than the sheer tech death onslaught of many of their peers (Hour of Penance, Logic of Denial etc). Now, three years later, Devoutness has dropped, and while the focus is […]
The problem with the modern thrash scene is too many bands are relying on the nostalgia of the genre’s ‘80s heyday instead of forging their own path forward. Naturally there are exceptions, but most decent modern thrash bands tend to hybridize with other styles to create something unique and noteworthy. I might sound a […]
More likely than not, you have already decided if you will like or purchase Deafheaven’s new album, regardless of this review. Am I right? I mean, you either loathed or loved 2013’s watershed album, Sunbather (full disclosure – it was my top pick for the year), or you simply don’t care for the band’s style, the ‘hipster’ […]
New Yorkers White Widows Pact show a complete lack of concern for the listener throughout the 10 burly, bull-balled face slams and turnpike jams of their destructive debut True Will. Screaming strep-throat vocals, continent devouring rhythmic grinds, sludgy grooves, hardcore beatdowns, thrash-y malevolence and death metal technicalities collide in a violent mosh pit frenzy that […]
Meatwound’s Addio is a bulldozing bludgeon of an album, taking a lot of elements of arty noise rock, hardcore, industrial, proto-sludge, and some of the noisier extreme metal of the 80s and 90s. This is all congealed into some sort of gelatinous mass of general nastiness and bad feelings, which Meatwound then force feeds you […]
It still amazes me just how vast our little rabbit hole in the field of human culture really is. I’ve been crawling through it for over two decades now and I’m still constantly discovering great bands that I missed along the way. Such is the case with Poland’s Disloyal. The group formed back in ‘97 […]
Sometimes when I go to listen to my favorite music, I look for what is going to make me move, to make me jump up and down or to latch onto the aggression, the primal energy put forth by the raw power bursting forth from the speakers. Other times tho, it’s good to step back […]
I won’t rehash the love already shown by this site to France’s tech death masters Gorod and their prior albums. You can see our previous gushing, by myself and Jordan Itkowitz, right here. The question I have for you, loyal reader, is this: can death metal, specifically tech death metal, be happy? Playful, even? We know […]
There’s been a significant amount of buzz circulating around Colorado doom merchants Khemmis and their debut album Absolution. The doom resurgence has been in full swing in recent years, with the genre’s status increasingly elevated by the likes of contemporary behemoths Pallbearer, Ufomammut and Yob, along with stellar 2015 releases from the traditional revivalist doom […]
This is Behold! the Monolith’s first release since Vocalist/Bassist Kevin Dade was tragically killed in a car accident a couple years back; not too long after releasing their sophomore album, Defender, Redeemist. That album was a pretty solid slab of whatever you call their punky/doomy/sludgy/thrashy/modern/traditional heavy metal; and an album that showed a lot of […]
Man, this is THE shit. This is like a long lost high school reunion for my ears. Chris Chiera swingin’ axe (he the man behind Sofa King Killer’s purely classic guitar sound), Aaron Brittain kickin’ the cans (his hard hits have been missed since the Fistula days) and bassist Adam Horwatt (So Long Albatross) keeps […]
