After reviewing 2008s Slania, I never really went back to Switzerland’s folk metal act Eluveitie, I have not even heard 2012s Helvetios or 2010s Everything Remains or the band’s acoustic album, Evocation from 2009. I always thought the band was a bit over hyped and were simply Darkest Hour with a Hurdy Gurdy and a violin […]

The physical release of Starless Aeon entails a cassette edition limited to 50 copies, which comes in an onyx stardream (whatever the hell that means) 6×6 box with the Starless Aeon sigil stamped on top in metallic silver ink, a 12×12 poster of the album artwork on parchment, the black, metallic-silver imprinted cassette itself in […]

After a tasty little debut EP back in 2011 and a few splits and subsequent EPs, former God Macabre front man per Boder  has finally released a full length album from Mordbrand, a dusty, d beat driven old school Swedish death metal return, and it’s a ripping little release. While certainly old school and Swedish, […]

Like Sectu’s Nefarious, the Third album from Greece’s Mass Infection is unfortunately liable to get a little bit lost in the early summer/spring deluge of killer death metal namely the stuff Unique Leader releases. Which is a shame as Comatose and Mass Infection have released pretty damn solid death metal record in For A am […]

Unique Leader, one of my favorite labels, has smashed yet another home run. The sophomore album by California tech-death metallers Inanimate Existence is an absolutely stunning effort on every level. After going through this album a few times, what struck me the most is the dense, ambient, dare I say beautiful (!) song structures and […]

Four albums into their career and Alestorm have outgrown and honed their ‘Scottish Pirate Metal’ sound and become arguably one of Scotland’s more famous metal acts. And the all important contract album, album number 4 certainly cements that with a larger than life collection of  drinking songs and Pirate-y raucous  rockers, but also a sense of impending […]

Gruff, groovy and packed with their endlessly inventive weed puns, death metal parodies and demented lyrical tales, Cannabis Corpse are well and truly in the zone on their fourth full-length album, entitled From Wisdom to Baked. After kicking around on Forcefield records and Tankcrimes the band’s hard work and genuine scene cred has culminated in […]

In nature, the hunter always at some point becomes the hunted or to use another analogy the student becomes the master. Pick your terrible analogy, but it applies to metal all the time. Some younger hungrier, more talented acts eventually surpasses their peers after looking up at the pedestal. it is the natural order, an […]

The oddly named Pet Slimmers of the Year have released one of the best post-rock/metal albums I’ve heard in a long time, and it’s thanks in part to incorporation of elements not commonly found in post-rock: clean vocals, a sincere sense of melancholy usually reserved for gothic rock, and a thorough understanding of what makes […]

Fans of the so called down tempo deathcore movement such as The Acacia Strain, Restrains, Portrayer,  Osiah, Extortionist,  Endings, Overthrower and of course, Calmed By The Tides of Rain take note of this band and release. Heck, it even features a guest vocal performance from CBTTOR vocalist Artyom, and they hail from Russia as well. Boy is this heavy and […]

France’s The Great Old Ones took the black metal world by storm back in 2012, with their critically acclaimed debut, Al-Azif back in 2012. A full two years later, the band has released the follow up, continuing the Lovecraftian/Chthulu mythos based form of shimmering post black metal, and appear to be ready to pick up […]

“You’d better turn it up.Or turn it off.Or get fucked”. That pretty much sums up The Hell, a fun loving, foul mouthed hard core band from Watford, England, who on their Prosthetic Records debut indeed drop the groovehammer with a raucous mix of brute force beefy, American core mixed with a piss n sneer of […]

I’m not afraid to admit that initially, I completely discounted this release based purely on the band name alone. But once again , as many times before, a track popped up on my ipod shuffle mode, that made me check out who I was listening to and lo and behold is was these long running, […]

Newly-christened Bastard Feast, a band from Portland, Oregon formerly known as Elitist, have released their first album under the new name, and it is a doozy. Their previous offering, Fear in a Handful of Dust was an exhausting affair of blackened hardcore/sludge, standing comfortably but distinctly alongside the likes of Coffinworm or Generation of Vipers. […]

Goatwhore have well and truly established themselves as a consistent, well-oiled recording and touring metal machine, with an impressive output of six albums in fourteen years (despite singer Benjamin Falgoust’s involvement as shrieker with fellow NOLA extreme metallers, Soilent Green). Constricting Rage of the Merciless is their latest effort, and is another excellent addition to […]

I guess, based by the number of bands playing the style currently loaded onto my Ipod (Nux Vomica, Stheno, Tombs, Plebian Grandstand, Direwolves, Young and in the Way, Wolvehammer, Black Monolith, Hexis, Protestant, Black Anvil to name a few) blackened crust/sludge/stuff, is the new black. However, what makes Brooklyn’s Mortals stand out (other than the high […]

I like surprises, and a concept based black metal album from Sumerian deity named band  from the depths of Austin, Texas certainly qualifies as a surprise, especially when its this good. The band has a couple of splits and one debut album from 2009 under their spiked belt, though this is my first exposure to them. They […]

Danish blackened death thrash merchants, Deus Otiosus return with their 3rd full length, Rise, and second album with the awesome Deepsend Records. When Graham told me he had signed them a few years ago I had just purchased their 2010 debut, Murderer. To this day I still feel this is their best album. A monstrous […]

When it comes to the technical-brutal death metal arena, few bands can lay claim to a having a bigger influence than Origin.  Their blasting, hyperactive take on the genre is one that sends mere mortals running for cover and leave listeners and aspiring musicians constantly asking “how the hell do they pull this stuff off?”  […]

Like their Irish contemporaries Altar of Plagues, who called it quits last year, Wolves in the Throne Room appeared to have lost interest in the post/ambient black metal scene that they were so crucially influential in. However, after several years laying low, they are back on tour and have a new record out, Celestite, a […]

Fallujah is a little bit the victim of the deathcore backlash as well as saturation of techy modern ‘death metal’ bands like The Faceless, Within the Ruins, River of Nihil, Kamikabe Born of Osiris, The Contortionist and such. Their debut, The Harvest Wombs was a solid effort I enjoyed, despite the samey, sweep, solo blast,’ look what good guitarists we are’ […]

Germany’s Vehemenz is one of those rare and exciting ‘diamond in the rough’ discoveries lurking in relative obscurity in the metal underground.  Hopefully this enticing debut self-titled EP will boost the band’s profile, because it’s an utterly enthralling, haunting black metal experience that is not easily forgotten. Despite Vehemenzsignalling the band’s debut release, they’ve been […]

Unfortunately, the third album from Sweden’s Sectu (formerly known as Cimmerian Dome) is liable to get crushed and unrecognized in 2014 stellar tech death releases, which is a shame as it’s a damn fine release in its own right and if you are looking for some tech death with a little more old school and organic feel, […]

Astral Domine is an Italian power metal band and Arcanum Gloriae is their debut album.  After a huge build up instrumental/intro, “Holy Nights” comes on with an acoustic opening before going into a cool power metal infused double bass gallop. Guitars sound really good and so do the keyboards. The emphasis throughout the album is symphonic […]

So back in 2010, these guys released a solid album of shredding, technical melodic deathcore/metalcore, that was kind of an under the radar release (other than Metalsucks gushing all over it for 3 articles in a row), and i rather enjoyed it but it wasn’t doing anything new in 2010 that I had not heard […]