“We continue to storm forward with no real sense of direction or purpose. We repeat ourselves, retell the same lies and never change. We all have become stagnant and entitled.. We know better, but we do it anyway. We are greedy, lazy and tired. We are destroying everything we’ve worked to preserve and shitting in […]

Dark Descent records deliver another punishing blast of nasty death metal in the form of the full-length debut from Finnish band, Vorum.   The label has made quite a name for themselves over the past couple of years through a string of high quality releases and commitment to old school values and the uglier side of […]

Right out the gate, I expected to be floored by this new release of Omium Gatherum‘s, and I’ll suppose the hype was at *least* partly right on the money. I can’t say I absorbed everything on the whole ordeal without cringing a single time, or that I drank it up like it’s the finest lager […]

I wanted to like the debut from Pittsburgh’s Abysme so much more.  It’s got the founding member of Funerus, Brad Heiple in its ranks and it’s a dusty old school Swedish styled  death metal record with a classic Nihilist guitar tone and loose sloppy Autopsy influenced riffs. However, the song writing never quite matches the level […]

I probably don’t have to expand on the style of this album assuming you can see the cover art, see the band moniker and the label and song titles like “Lithographies of Recurrent Splatter”, “Impudent Dissection of the Perfidious Idol” and “Fermentation of Prosthetic Remains” . Power metal this is not. Infected Flesh were a […]

Kongh hit a bit of a sophomore slump on their last album. Enjoyable as Shadows of the Shapeless was, it was hurt by some monotonous riffing and a one dimensional atmosphere. Certainly nowhere close to bad, but it didn’t exactly have me craving a follow up. Now it’s four years on and a lot has […]

Kansas City’s Torn the Fuck Apart (hitherto known as TTFA) don’t like religion, particularly Christianity and all things Christ related. One look at the cover art, the album title and song titles like “Bashed in Prophets”, “Decapitated Disciples”, “Father of Filth” as well as the numerous samples from movies and TV (Louis CK, George Carlin […]

Definition of PINNACLE  ;  the highest point of development or achievement Definition of BEDLAM; A place or situation of noisy uproar and confusion. So, basically the highest achievement in a noisy uproar and confusion? Yup, Id say that about covers it. Four albums into their comeback from a 6 year hiatus and some pretty legendary […]

Moghul is a new band hailing from Birmingham, England and plying their trade in the sludge/doom metal scene.  Dead Empires is the first release from the quartet and over a mere 2 tracks, but a weighty 23-minutes, the band makes an exciting impression through their sprawling, downcast mode of murky doom.   Their sound contains echoes […]

I’ve always felt that when you can be recognized by your guitar sound alone, you’ve got a good thing going.  Much like a lead vocalist, a unique guitar sound can instantly set you apart from your peers.  Meshuggah has done it (while sparking legions of copycats).  Slayer has done it.  And so have Rotten Sound.  […]

Think back four decades; just try it. You may recall that Al Atkins fronted Judas Priest during those ancient times and even penned one of the band’s all-time classic songs: “Victim of Changes.” Not bad, eh? Though his stint with one of Birmingham’s finest heavy metal units is more than notable achievement to include on […]

Ok, will someone please explain to me how this isn’t an Asphyx record? It’s the trio that released the legendary The Rack (Eric Daniels, Martin Van Drunen and Bob Bagchus) two of which went on to form the post Asphyx band Soulburn, as well as a  current member of the the new Asphyx (Alwin Zuur) […]

Not to be confused with the more popular Zyklon from Norway (featuring Samoth and Trym of Emperor fame), Zaklon hails from Minsk, Belarus and is all about sweeping, atmospheric black metal. Each song on Chornae Lis’ce, which loosely translates to Whisper of Black Foliage, is drenched in eerie undertones and soaked with despair. What that […]

What happens if you take the devastating, brown note heft of The Acacia Strain and mix with Christian ideals? You get Pittsburgh’s Those Who Fear, that’s fucking what. So now let me continue and  tell the three of you that will actually read this even more. Ive said for a few reviews now that Facedown […]

I have a bit of an emotional attachment to Corpus Mortale, their 2001 EP Succumb to the Superior was one of my very early reviews for digitalmetal.com, and exposed me to the Danish style of death metal I had not experienced yet, prompting me to seek out Iniquity and others.  But I lost touch with […]

For the most part 2012 was not exactly a mind-blowing year for fans of the tried and true sub-genre of thrash metal.   Sure several of the veterans fired off solid albums, such as Testament and Kreator, while young guns Nekromantheon released a cut-throat, testosterone-fuelled ripper, but otherwise it was a fairly lean year.  One album […]

Hatebreed:  You make this one tough on me.  You see we’ve had a good relationship going on now for almost 10 years.  You’re one of the first bands I started listening to when I got into metal (Joe Hardcore Hater: What?!? Dude hardcore SUCKS!), and your thick guitars and gruff vocals really opened my eyes […]

There are a few misleading factors surrounding this album that left me feeling a little duped. First off, the colorful, painterly cover art looks like something you would see for sale on a coffee shop checkout counter (well, except for the figure’s bare breasts and tentacled pubes). Secondly, the label describes the music as a […]

Raze the neon towers and huddled tenements of futuristic cityscapes – from Blade Runner to The Dark Knight Rises – and you’ll find Metropolis as their foundation. Released as a silent film in 1927, it’s echoed through our collective sci-fi imagination ever since. C3PO, the Macintosh 1984 commercial, the laboratory of Dr. Frankenstein, the artificial hands of various […]

The floundering economy and end of the world hoopla must have had a lot of people feeling down in 2012 because it sure was a great year for all things doomy. Long-running acts, Paradise Lost, Asphyx, and Evoken released what was arguably some of the best material of their over two-decade careers while relative newcomers, […]

With their third album on as many labels, Sweden’s Zonaria are if anything, anything persistent and consistent. Their previous albums released on Pivotal Recordings (2007s Infamy and the Breed) and then Nuclear Blast  (2009s The Cancer Empire) respectively were a melding  of mildly futuristic  melodic death metal glossed over with Dimmu Borgir symphonics and that […]

Released the same time as Engulfed‘s EP, Through the Eternal Damnation, Through the Ages is the debut from Greece’s war mongering quartet War Possession, and while Engulfed seems to have dropped the Bolt Thrower influence from their Burial Invocation days, War Possession is happy to carry on the mantle and deliver 4 tracks and 21 […]

This is a tidy little package from a young band out of Belgium.  On their short and punchy debut EP Alpha Matter executes an aggressive hybrid of modern metal featuring elements of death metal, melodeath, thrash and metalcore; all of which is refreshingly released for free via their website. Self-released EP’s from unknown bands don’t […]

Aoria was a side project of sorts when it was created several years ago by a trio of supremely talented Swedes: Erik Nisson (A Swarm of the Sun, Kausal), Niklas Sandin (Katatonia) and Robin Bergh (October Tide). For various reasons, the band was put on hold and enjoyed a loyal, underground cult following. Finally in […]

Warning: this review breaks the record for Opeth references. Initially, the first few minutes of this unannounced release hinted at some sorted of pretentious, Proggy, SPV/Sensory type release, with wafting clean vocals and sharp, stuttering progressive riffage. However, about three minutes into opener “Glimpse of What May Be”  guitarist Daniel Cordoba unleashed a Akerfeldt-ian bellow, […]