Better late than never, right? Released as far back as September of last year, this little monster of American blackish metal somehow slipped through the cracks. Cosmic Cataclysms, the debut full-length album from Seattle-based Phalgeron, is a splendid concoction of brutal savagery and sweeping melodies all rolled into one. But lest you think they are […]

With their first 3 albums, A Celebration of Guilt, United in Regret and We Are the Nightmare, James Malone’s Arsis, injected a feral energy and staggering musicianship to a stagnating melodic death metal scene and added the US as major players in the genre. However, personal and line up issues hindered the band’s progress and […]

After a 7 year wait, a considerable amount of hype and build up, something strange happened to Summoning‘s eagerly awaited 7th album. After the teaser trailers, after the first song was revealed, the metal world was brimming with anticipation and then the album came out a couple of weeks ago……..and there were *crickets*. Now I […]

The second EP by Ohio deathcore metallers Death of an Era starts out pretty strong. The first track is a polyrhythmic, syncopated chugfest that fans will instantly gravitate towards. Near the end of that first track you get some almost painful sounding background lyrics, and one might wonder if that’s a sign of things to […]

Portland’s Orca Wolf Records has only been around for two years now, but in that time they’ve released a small catalog of fine music from Oregon’s doom scene and the self titled debut by Usnea is no exception. Similar to label mates Amarok, Usnea ply a style of doom dirge familiar to fans of Samothrace, […]

Facedown records was in a bit of a slump in late 2012 and early 2013, but responded recently and mightily with Hope for the Dying‘s Aletheia, the heavier than thou release from Those Who Fear, Christian metal’s possible savior in the new Extol reunion, and this, the almost as punishing but slightly more experimental second […]

Organs swell. Drums stomp to life. Soaring single notes harmonize and add atmosphere. This is “The Inception.” This funeral march is leading us somewhere. Probably the graves of its victims, who are most likely every single other Doom-cum-Black Metal release this year. Lychgate’s self-titled 2013 debut is surprising, stirring, horrifying, and engrossing. This frightening foursome […]

I am not sure I have ever heard a more perfect marriage on a split release than Sol, the 3 song, almost 70 fucking minute, Sun themed opus from two of the more exiting, new, one man black metal projects going right now. Both released stunning CDs last year; Mare Cognitum‘s An Extraconscious Lucidity, and […]

I believe to be a truly great band / artist; you absolutely have to be great at performing live. I want to see them and be absolutely floored that someone could take an album I love, and turn it into something transcendent that is not just heard, but experienced. Murder By Death (who, despite the […]

Norway has never been short of black metal bands. I read somewhere a few years back that, according to some study, almost 2% of the country’s entire population belongs to a black metal band. Whether that’s actually true remains to be officially verified, though it’d be cool if it was. In any event, Tsjuder remains […]

Expectations can be a bitch. Archon dropped an excellent debut in 2010. Ruins at Dusk was a heady slab of mountainous, hypnotic doom . It was full of spiring psychedelia and layers of wah-drenched guitars and I hoped for more from their follow-up. Ouroboros Collapsing lands on a distinctly darker note, swapping the larger than […]

Despite their proven ability to shift loads of albums and headline tours from their lofty position at the forefront of the modern metal scene, Michigan’s The Black Dahlia Murder continue to divide the broader metal community. To their credit the band doesn’t give a shit about detractors writing them off as a second rate At […]

Bellum Omnium Contra Omnes (roughly translated to War of All Against All) is the debut full length album from one man project based in Harrowgate, England, who goes under the guise of ‘Leviathan’. I was interested in reviewing this because Bal Sagoth‘s Johnny Maulding engineered the album and helped out with some synths, and I’m […]

German, analog-only label, Iron Bonehead Productions, is currently on quite a winning streak with recent and upcoming releases from Unaussprechlichen Kulten, ZOM, Death Karma, Heretic Cult Redeemer, and Beyond (DE), just to name a few. But, one of the most interesting of them all is this 3-song debut EP from Swiss two-piece, Bölzer. Their inconspicuous […]

I’m usually a little leery of reissues of only 5 year old death metal albums. I prefer my reissues to be of a more classic musk, and frankly I don’t think there was much released in 2008 that really needed re-issuing. However, along comes the start up UK Label Wretched Decay Records and their re-issue […]

Full disclosure: I have never listened to a second of Mustasch until this album fell into my lap. I had heard of them, of course, but they always seemed to fly under my own musical radar. On one hand this is a bit crummy because that means I spent the last decade or so not […]

Prophetic marks the debut album from Australian death metal band, Eternal Rest. The young band has crafted a solid, confident album that smacks of potential for a bright future ahead. The band plays with unyielding passion and intensity over the album’s concise duration, displaying their accomplished instrumental chops and growing stature as song-writers. Yet for […]

While most current death metal acts are looking either forward or backward, Philly’s Azure Emote takes us on a trip sideways with their second full-length, The Gravity of Impermanence. Mastermind, Mike Hrubovcak (vocalist for Monstrosity, Vile, Divine Rapture, and Abraxas and illustrator for numerous other bands), conducts a slew of talented musicians along with core […]

As the Monster Becomes… what?!? Another deathcore album? Why yes folks that’s indeed what it is. Now that 4 of you are left reading this review, we can continue. This Italian quintet have dropped an EP that basically is exactly what you’d expect: you get plenty of breakdowns, bass drops, a dual-vocal attack, some djent […]

It’s been a relatively quite three years since Germany’s Imperium Dekadenz released their solid though unspectacular Procella Vadens LP. After unleashing two impressive albums (…und die Welt ward kalt und leer and Dämmerung der Szenarien), Imperium Dekadenz seemed to take a step back with their aforementioned 2010 release. However, with their latest album Meadows of […]

It’s one thing to have some kickass tunes loaded up on your album. It’s another thing entirely to have kickass tunes loaded with more energy than a pack of hyenas. For Scotland’s Cnoc An Tursa, the relative newcomers have delivered an album that is overflowing with hooks, melodies, grooves and an endless surplus of raw […]

With their fifth full-length album reportedly in the pipeline, Portland retro thrashers Toxic Holocaust has pieced together a comprehensive collection of their extensive backlog of non-album material.  From the Ashes of Nuclear Destruction features 22 tracks, including numerous raw demo versions of their studio counterparts, and an abundance of material culled from various splits and […]

At this point in Satch’s career, it can be difficult not to take the man’s talent and virtuosic skill for granted. After all, time and again, he’s been called one of the, if not the greatest guitarist in rock music. It’s not hard to agree with that opinion either; for close to thirty years, Joe […]

A prolific band, Neaera is. Already on their sixth full-length release since forming in 2003, the German quintet is back to doing what they’ve done throughout their career, which is write solid, slightly more abrasive melodic death metal. On Ours is the Storm, the band’s first album in three years, Neaera has released possibly their […]

It’s been years since their last full length, but Fistula hasn’t kept quiet. They’ve pumped out an impressive number of splits and EPs over the past five years and in the process evolved in to one of the sickest, meanest bands out there. Their latest EP, Northern Aggression, is no exception, as it sees the […]