Posts Tagged ‘Review’

Xenomorphic Contamination – Chasm of No Return EP

This tasty little Italian brutal death EP comes to us from two members of Vomit the Soul, Beheaded, Antropofagus, Septycal Gorge, and Putridity. To be honest, I had only heard Antropofagus before checking out this EP, but given that this has been a steady player for me all month, I will have to look into the others. […]

Sorcery – Unholy Creations

Sweden’s Sorcery is considered one of the more obscure founding fathers of the Swedish death metal sound.  This compilation was released 2 years ago, but towards the end of 2013 Hells Headbangers Records reissued this onto a deluxe 2 cd set, with a new cover and this includes all their demo material. Disc 1 contains:  […]

Barishi – Barishi

I’m usually not one to step outside of my usual metal fare of death metal black metal and their various sub genres. However, a little prog band from Vermont named after a Magic the Gathering card has really captured my attention with their self titled 2013 debut. It’s my understanding that the band started out […]

King Parrot – Bite Your Head Off

Bite Your Head Off, the debut album from Australian extreme metal troupe King Parrot, was released domestically back in 2012 amidst largely positive reactions. Now after deservedly landing a multiple record deal with Candlelight Records, and currently carving their path through a string of shows in North America, King Parrot are making significant waves and […]

Frozen Dawn – Those of the Cursed Light

Those of the Cursed Light is the second album from this Spanish black metal act who have been around since 2006. . The first band that comes to your mind is obviously the unmistakable Dissection but then we haven’t heard any such bands of late, save for a couple of exceptions (Astrophobos), in this decade at least. Dissection itself hasn’t […]

Feto In Fetus – Condemned to the Torture Chamber

Like the Embludgeonment album, this is another Frank Rini special, recommended to me way after the fact, but certainly worth my and your time. Hailing from Poland, Feto In Fetus is a death metal/grindcore band  and this is their second album, and its a scorching album that throws out some killer Belgian/European styled chunky death metal […]

Triptykon – Melana Chasmata

Without going into an entire back story of Thomas (Warrior) Gabriel Fischer’s musical back story, I will save that for my forthcoming interview with him, it is undeniable the impact he has had on the metal community.  The Celtic Frost reformation album from 2006, Monotheist, is one of my all time favorite extreme metal albums […]

Human Infection – Curvatures in Time

From the ever improving Blast Head Records comes the second album from Virginia’a Human Infection and from the artwork and lyrics to the vocals, to the song writing and production everything has improved from the solid but forgetful debut, Infest to Ingest. Not that Curvatures In Time will be on an year end lists, but […]

Demilich – 20th Adversary of Emptiness

Finland’s Demilich are considered a legendary band, yet only released 1 album, the 1993, Nespithe.  How can this be??  Well if you have lived under a rock your entire existence and never heard this album, you need to be dealt with.  This is a classic album in the sense that after its release it is […]

Def/Light – Transcendevil

I really respect what The Ukraine’s Metal Scrap Records is doing. They recently celebrated 20 years of existence and they promote the shit out of home grown/local bands. The thing is, 95% of them are terrible. In their most recent slew of offerings albums by Navalm, Ram-page, Halberd and Vadikan made me literally cringe. However, […]

Kuolemanlaakso – Tulijoutsen

Kuolemanlaakso, a hell of a mouthful if you’re not Finnish, means Valley of Death. Tulijoutsen, their second full-length and third release, is a wholehearted, enjoyable slab of the slower side of extreme metal. Opener “Aarnivalkea” puts all of Kuolemanlaakso’s proverbial cards on the table – what is featured in this song is a fair summary […]

Aurora Borealis – World Shapers

This US band has been around for years and years and it has mostly released albums via its own label, Nightsky Productions I remember the founder Ron Vento struggling to promote their music on forums back in the day and tracking its progress, each album was largely an improvement over the earlier ones. They play […]

Cognizance – Inquisition EP/2014 Demo

Cognizance is a brutal technical death metal duo from the UK.  Their 2013 debut release was a 4 song ep that the record label just sent me and my god this is some of the best and most memorable tech-death metal music you will hear.  The ep features some guest musicians, with The Faceless drummer […]

Nausea – Condemned to the System

Los Angeles Californian, grind/punk/crust act Nausea, FINALLY return with their sophomore album, hell it’s been over 2 decades since the unleashing of Crime Against Humanity, for crissakes.  But we know how life is.  It’s really tough to keep a band going, especially when you throw in life responsibilities, on top of band responsibilities.  I will […]

Domains – Sinister Ceremonies

Spain really does not have a definitive ‘sound’ when it comes to metal. Like its culture, it’s a wide array of interesting mixes and styles, and the debut from Valencia’s Domains is a perfect example of the rich tapestry of Spain’s culture and history. While old school death metal is the obvious back bone here, […]

Funereality – Bloodsucking Freak

The one man band image from the past is usually that of a oafish, disheveled man with a bass drum on his back and various instruments strapped to his body. These days you get a leather clad metalhead crouching in front of a tombstone. So, yeah the times have changed. Funereality is a singular operation […]

Alterbeast – Immortal

Formerly known as Gary Busey Amber Alert, California Alterbeast has released an album that adds to Unique Leaders killer 2014 so far which has included the outstanding Soreption release,The Kennedy Veil, as well as the upcoming Near Death Experience and Beneath albums. However, this isn’t quite as much of a brutal death metal affair as […]

Northern Plague – Manifesto

Throughout the years Poland has been a steady war factory, churning out quality metal bands of various genres. Though the country known mostly for delicious pierogi is hardly – if ever – mentioned in the same breath as its neighbor Germany when speaking of the sheer amount of terrific metal bands, Poland certainly has a […]

Nux Vomica – Nux Vomica

Good  things come in small packages. That’s a tried and true homily that has worked it’s way into our collective lexicon since… forever. Why am I quoting homilies in a Metal review? Because Nux Vomica have created a luxurious sounds cape of an album in just three songs, so small packages, indeed. This is a […]

Mantar – Death By Burning

Death By Burning, the debut from Hamburg-based German/Turkish duo Mantar, is an arresting album of raw power, electric energy and ironclad riffage. Hanno (vocals/guitar) and Erinc (drums/backing vocals) showcase the intuitive chemistry and songwriting gift of any great duo, delivering colossal sludge rock grooves reminiscent of classic Melvins, coupled with the blackened attitude of later-era […]

Khroma – Collapse

On paper, Khroma might not sound that awe-inspring as they route heavier grooves through industrial and electronic synapses, dedicating most of their time to the pummeling mid-paced groove rather than any sort of delicate melodies or touchy feelings. Sure, ‘this’ has been done before. Hell, probably multiple times at varying degrees of success. And at […]

Embludgeonment – Infinite Regress

When the former vocalist of Internal Bleeding and current teethofthedivine staffer recommends a band and album for me, I usually take notice, even if released in 2013. Especially when I’ve been in a real brutal death metal/slam death metal frame of mind of late, and Frank Rini pretty well eats and breathes the style. Even more […]

Pyrrhon – The Mother of Virtues

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 […]

Conan – Blood Eagle

Conan have been making waves in the thriving UK doom metal scene for a number of years, making appearances at my former local, The Royal Park pub in Leeds, in a dingy basement no bigger than your living room. They were rewarded for their persistence with a slot at the esteemed Roadburn festival in April […]

Hexis – Abalam LP

“The demon Abalam is a King of Hell and an assistant to Paimon. He takes possession of a human’s body to encourage the human to commit lust, he would defile humans during the possession and the only way they could escape was death.” Hailing from the Denmark, Hexis (a term related to or meaning ‘possession’ ) […]