From the same promotion company (Team All About the Music) that introduced me to the likes of the excellent Journal,  Fallen Martyr, Truth Corroded, Hyno5eand A Band of Orcs comes the second album from Queensland, Australia’s Lynchmada. And while it’s a solid dose of modern metal that combines crunchy thrash and metalcore into one commercially […]

Remember that female guest vocalist featured in Dimmu Borgir’s music video for “Gateways”, the hit single of the black metal purist’s most-hated album of 2010, Abrahadabra? Yes, Agnete Kjølsrud, the lanky lady who looks like a witch and wears a tomboyish haircut, thick makeup, and who was swaying awkwardly to-and-fro like a gothic version of […]

It has been a killer first part of 2012 for metal fans, with the godfathers of grind and death, Napalm Death and Cannibal Corpse respectively, both dropping new albums. The new Napalm Death absolutely slayed, and proved once again who still carries the grindcore crown. The questions when a legend comes out with a new […]

Haters gonna hate. To be frank, I think Cannibal Corpse is a strong brand name that has always cemented the band’s “indisputable” place as one of death metal’s most important bands. Look, Cannibal Corpse are one of those staple American death metal bands who have always done and probably will always do a brutally good […]

You’ll have to forgive Indiana’s Nocturnal Torment for their horrendous 90s CG cover art, logo and moniker. You see, they actually formed in 1988 and up to now only had one 2009 demo to show for it. However, seeing as 1/2 of the band released some quality Swedish styled death metal via the underrated Invasion, […]

Formed in 1987 in suburb of  St. Louis, Missouri as Doom Lyre, Timeghoul were largely unnoticed  in the early 90s. Heck, I lived in Missouri in the early 90s, and I never heard of them. But here is Dark Descent Records to give you another one of their well done re-issues, but like the label’s […]

COC caused a bit of a stir when they announced they would be moving forward without longtime guitarist and singer Pepper Keenan. This was cause for concern for a lot of fans weaned on the heavy southern groove the band plied from Deliverance to In the Arms of God. A Pepper-less COC was unimaginable, unconscionable. […]

As Lacuna Coil’s sound has drifted more and more commercial, my opinion has been here and there on them. I love Comalies, but the bouncy, nu-metallish stuff of Karmacode didn’t connect with me. The catchy melodies of Shallow Life, though, managed to win me over despite the fact that it was easily the poppiest release […]

Brevity in musical descriptions goes a long ways in my book. Less IS more. Much like Hemingway’s “Iceberg Theory”, it gives credit to the beholder’s imagination to not just fill in the blanks, but to also not have their interpretation of the art limited to someone else’s view. It gives more freedom to the appreciator. […]

There are some bands out there that really don’t need a review. When you hear the name, you know it’s going to be quality. Pharaoh has become one of those over the years. But, since it’s my job here, I’m going to give you a review anyway. Pharaoh is dependable. So much so that I […]

American Death Thrash is the perfect title for this 10 song split between Oklahoma’s Sacrificial Slaughter and California’s Enfuneration. 10 tracks, 5 from each of  good ol’  fashioned American metal, with Sacrificial Slaughter firmly gripping the thrash element and Enfuneration being more of the death metal side. Sacrificial Slaughter are the more veteran act with […]

A handful of lesser known, lower profile releases of brutal/technical death metal have grabbed my attention of late; the likes of Pyrrhon, Nocturnal Torment, and Parasitized have shown that there is still plenty of new bands from unexpected realms delivering material to compare to big boys like Origin, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Spawn of Possession and such, […]

If fans of old school Swedish death metal thought 2011 was a good year for the genre, boy are you going to enjoy 2012! With Horrendous‘ excellent debut already out, this year is slated to see releases by  Zombie Inc., Revel in Flesh, Black Breath, Massive Assault, Blood Mortized, Megascavenger and this — the debut full-length […]

Ladies and gentlemen: Napalm Death have entered the building. This is their new album, Utilitarian. It kicks ass, just like their other albums. Go download it, stream it or steal the money from your grandmother to get your hands on a copy. End of review. So what more is there to be said? Why are […]

Empyreal Cycle is the second self-released effort from Slovenia’s Smargroth, a fantasy based (knights, dragons, wizards etc) melodic black metal band. And while they aren’t bringing anything really striking or new to the table, they perform their chosen style well enough to be checked out by fans of Dissection, Sargeist, Naglfar and other less extreme […]

Willowtip has scored yet another massive-sounding and terrifying band in Australia’s Beyond Terror Beyond Grace. If you want to know what they sound like, well, the name says it all. These guys have created a black/post-metal sound at once brutal and transcendent – full of terror, full of grace and yet beyond both. Nadir pulverizes you with […]

Technical death metal is a unique beast. When pulled off well (Origin, early Neuraxis, Decrepit Birth), it is one of the few genres that can make you stop and go – “Whoa… what the hell was that?!?”; leaving you reaching for the rewind button on your cd player to re-listen to what you just heard. […]

Remember that jaw-dropping moment in your childhood when you saw ex-Green Ranger Tommy Oliver coming back stronger than ever as the badass White Ranger in Season 2 of the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers? Yeah, Sigh’s upcoming album certainly did an excellent job at evoking that long-forgotten feeling of inane joy. As always, the Japanese are […]

From Sacred Plague Records, who brought us the excellent Black Hole of Calcutta LP, comes another vinyl slab of filthy, dirty analog crusty metal in the form of Chicago’s self described ‘crustards’, Krang. As with some other Sacred Plague releases I’m getting familiar with, Krang play a noisy, dirty amalgamation of thrash/crust/punk and death metal […]

So, I’m playing a bit of catch up here having just recently received CDs from new label Blast Head Records, based out of Canada and Belgium’s Shiver Records, so expect a few late 2011 releases, seeing as they sent actual CDs not digital files. First up is the first release from Blast Head Records, the […]

In the Midst of Lion have been busy little bees since I reviewed their 2009  Strikefirst records debut, Out of Darkness. They of course moved on and up to Facedown Records and  some time in 2010, released Heart of Man, which I never got around to reviewing, and then in late 2011 released album number […]

The Rotted are finally back with their new full length Ad Nausea, the follow up to Get Dead Or Die Trying and is their second under the new moniker since Gorerotted became The Rotted. They are bringing another dose of crusty death metal to the masses, but besides the heavy as fuck instrumentation, this release […]

France’s Griffar started out as a pagan black metal band; their 2000 release Of Witches and Celts featured lengthy, highly melodic compositions and a buzzy, wall-of-sound approach. After a few aborted attempts to return over the last decade, they’ve finally reformed with an updated and more muscular sound. Griffar now sounds like late 90s melodic black […]

So the band Liberteer came to my attention after reviewing the recent Beaten to Death album, a grindcore album that was grindcore with a difference, and so is the debut album from Liberteer. Comprised of Matt Widener, the grindcore lineage is certainly here considering Widener’s involvement in the likes of Cretin, Citizen, Exhumed and The […]

It’s tough to be a metal band in 2012. Not only does one have to contend with piracy, a shrinking music industry, and a crowded pond filled with the scum of other metal bands, but one has to be able to stand out musically. Some bands take the safe route and pay tribute to their […]