Man! It’s been just a killer year as far as Swedish, Stockholm styled death metal is concerned! Not only do we have 2011 releases by the likes of Brutally Deceased, Revolting, Ribspreader, Miasmal, Feral, Morbus Chron and Undead Creep, but we’ve seen reissues from Furbowl, Toxaemia, Utumno, and Uncanny too. Also, I’ve been going back and discovering other recent […]

After nine years of splits and EPs, Southern sludge stalwarts Sourvein have returned with their third full-length album Black Fangs. T-Roy and his revolving door cadre of dirt merchants have been one of the most consistent outfits in sludge and this release is exactly what fans have come to expect; tar-like riffs, subsonic bass, plodding drums […]

I love the idea that there’s such a thing as “traditional black metal”. I like the idea that tortuous tritone riffing, compulsive blast beating and hell-rasping-reports from various levels of Hell can now be wrapped in such a cuddly honorific as “traditional”. I mean, “traditional” is a word I associate with folk music, with things […]

The debut EP from Finland’s Gorephilia was a victim of circumstance. Released earlier this year around the same time and on the same label as Corpsessed‘s debut EP,  it got kind of steam rolled by The Dagger & the Chalice. Which is actually a bit of a shame as Ascend to Chaos, while certainly not […]

Try as hard as I may, I simply can’t get into California’s Gravehill and their brand of blackened thrashy death metal. Even residing on Dark Descent and featuring an ex-member of Morgion/Keen of the Crow and current members of Exhumed (Matt “Hellfiend” Harvey to be specific, whose recently reissued thrash death project, Dekapitator shares a […]

Another “super group” of sorts, World Under Blood is the product of CKY guitarist Deron Miller and skins beating journeyman Tim Yeung (Divine Heresy, Morbid Angel, ex- Decrepit Birth, ex- Agiel, etc), . Along for the ride is ex-Decrepit Birth four stringer Risha Eryavec and guitarist Luke Jaeger, who has done time in All Shall […]

Pyramido’s 2009 debut Sand was a decent, if repetitive, exercise in heavy rock sludge. Salt, their sophomore release, improves on Sand in nearly every way, featuring a wider array of influences and more variety. There’s still a problem of running riffs a little too long and the throaty, hoarse roaring vocals are at times overbearing […]

Before I get into this review I have two confessions/disclaimers to make. One – I love deathcore, and I love breakdowns even more. I think there are few things more enjoyable in the extreme metal realm. Two – I can’t stand raspy, screamy vocals. CAN’T FUCKING STAND THEM. They can ruin a promising album quicker […]

To grind or not to grind; that is the question. That question is answered by Germany’s Necromorph in the extreme affirmative, as you’ll hear within moments of the calamitous ride that is Grinding Black Zero. More Nasum than Insect Warfare and characterized by a relative degree of compositional diversity within grindcore parameters, Grinding Black Zero […]

Any decision about whether to purchase Nunslaughter’s DemoSlaughter should come down to your ability to answer one simple question. Are you a devoted fan of the long-running, rabidly anti-Christian, barbarous dealers of death? If the answer is “yes,” then you shouldn’t hesitate in picking up this comprehensive collection of songs from all six previously out […]

It’s all in good fun and Cannabis Corpse is nothing if not clever when it comes to song titles and lyrics parodying the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, and Deicide. Musically, the chops have always been there, but to use the example of 2009’s The Weeding EP, the songs just weren’t all that memorable. […]

From the band’s 2004 The Miseries Never Cease EP to their self-titled, self released 2007 debut album, I’ve long championed The Living Fields as one of the most criminally unsigned bands in metal. Well, the unsigned part was rectified with the band signing with Candlelight Records, and though this album took its sweet sweet time […]

Although the kvltest of the kvlt may gnash their teeth and tear their hair, black metal has truly spread its wings since its early days. Yet no matter the subgenre – symphonic, Viking, folk, progressive, post-black, depressive/suicidal, bestial, orthodox, blackgazer, and on and on – there are certain hallmarks of the genre that remain in […]

For $5 how can you go wrong? That may depend on whether your life revolves around daily financial decisions concerning choices between items like a pack of Pall Malls and diapers for your woefully neglected infant. But for the rest of you, Vanhelgd’s Church of Death is a steal at that price. Old school and […]

Oh. My. Fucking. God. Imagine, metaphorically speaking, that two high speed trains are careening towards each other on a unavoidable collision course. One train is Origin‘s ultra technical, brutal, but intelligent form of death metal. The other train is Sigh and their over the top orchestral symphonics and theatrics. BAM!!!! They collide, each train melting […]

I’ve had the same problem with the last few Sepultura records. They all struck me as pretty good albums straight out of the box, but after a few weeks I put them away, and most of them haven’t gotten any play since that initial listening period. This is the second record with guitarist Andreas Kisser […]

All Shall Perish‘s sophomore album, The Price of Existence was my favorite album of 2006. Unfortunately, their 2008 follow up, Awaken the Dreamers was a bit of a let down. In part due to the precedent set by the prior album, but also due to some more commercial moments, clean vocals and even ballads. So […]

Requiem is a veteran death metal band from Switzerland that have just released their fifth album, Within Darkened Disorder on Twilight Vertrieb. Requiem plays a form of war death metal with old school influence as well as a more melodic tone (blackened). One thing is for sure that this album is powerful yet kind of […]

Have you ever heard an album that doesn’t suck nor does it rock the shit out of everything in its path… an album that’s just, uh oh, decent? Switchtense self-titled second full-length is that album. For its duration, it’s all entertainment and cupcakes, but after it ceases spinning, that’s it. It doesn’t leave a mark. […]

OK, I reeeeeally need to revisit Incantation. Not only have I been enjoying the likes of Corpsessed, Gorephilia, Blaspherian and such, but the current wave of old school death metal has even got Century Media on the band wagon with the excellent Sonne Adam. Profound Lore Records has simply decided to truly dig into the […]

Medeia’s previous album, Cult, floored me with a blindside haymaker; the blend of melodic death metal and mainly Gothenburg-less metalcore really stuck out from the competition. The songwriting was tight, the riffs were tighter and the delivery was full of primal rage and enough technical finesse to make it all interesting. Three years later, the […]

So in my 10 or so years of this reviewing gig, I’ve seen the increase in ethnic and cultural influences within metal. Of course, there’s the obvious folk/pagan stuff, but bands like Melechesh, Orphaned Land, Mictlantecuhtl, Negura Bunget and others have brought the world to metal.But never in a million years did I ever think […]

A Strike First Records release you know the deal, Christian music at its finest. Ark Of The Covenant is their name and the Separation EP is their game. If one is familiar with bands such as Creations, or sadly the poop fest that is The Great Commission, then as you know breakdowns are the key […]

Hellmouth is the music equivalent of their hometown Detroit: violent, grimy, pissed off and ugly. Their debut, Destroy Everything, Worship Nothing was a feral but ultimately forgetful  crossover assault of black metal, thrash and punk, but on their follow up, Gravestone Skylines, with the same musical influences,  the band has improved their sneering sonic violence, […]

Somewhere in Boston , MA at the intersection of doom, post rock, sludge and fucking awesome lies the band Morne. A new act to me, but after seeing some positive press and the band being on Profound Lore, I just had to check their second album out. I was greatly rewarded, as will you upon […]