This is metal the Chicago way, baby! By that I mean Bones’ self-titled debut is raw, in your face, no frills death metal with a whole lot of dirty rockin’ groove.  It is a trio of ex-Usurper members Jon Necromancer (vocals/bass), Carcass Chris (guitar), and Joe Warlord (drums) that delivers this album of herb-enhanced, beer […]

On their full-length debut Curse of the Artizan, Florida-based Artizan walk a line between the classic sounds of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and a lighter weight brand of power metal, detouring just occasionally for some prog. The results are mixed. When it’s good, it’s really good, but too often, it doesn’t quite work. Artizan’s […]

War and death metal have been ingrained within each other since the genre first started. And it seems a certain style of death metal has been associated with war. Sure there’s a few black metal acts and so called ‘war metal’ acts that that do the whole war thing, but I think most would agree […]

Abnormity finally unleashes their first full length of modern, brutal, slammy death metal to the masses in the form of Irreversible Disintegration. Their must be something in their vodka because Russians have a knack for creating some truly nasty ultra brutal death metal (Cranial Osteotomy, Abominable Putridity, Aborted Fetus). For some the constant barrage of […]

This little booger slipped through my highly efficient, organizational skills and structured teethofthedivine office space (i.e the pile of CDs and my daughter’s Disney DVDs on my computer desk at home). But a track randomly popped up on my Ipod warranting further investigation.. I’m not going to try and dance smartly around the divisive white […]

From Olympic to Crash to Napalm to Victory (and that’s only since 2004), Wisconsin’s death metal war machine soldiers on without missing a beat, much less taking prisoners. If you’ve not dug it to date, then Kill on Command may not change your mind nor does Jungle Rot have any intention of changing their patented […]

Trials are a modern metal band from Chicago. They’re not bad but their style of music is somewhat predictable; clean vocals, Pantera riffs, weird gothic talking and radio friendly everything else. Modern metal bands are a mixed bag, on one hand they can deliver extremely catchy music (All That Remains), but on the other, well […]

Man, after the bands 2009 self titled debut EP, I said I’d keep an eye on these Christian shredders in hope they would deliver something better. And boy did they ever! I didn’t quite see anything this good coming though. Adding a dramatic symphonic element to their early A Plea For Purging/ Woe of Tyrants […]

What is in the water in Canada? Between Gorguts, Kataklysm, Cryptopsy, Beneath the Massacre and numerous other, the hockey-loving country to the north has turned out a veritable who’s-who in the death metal world. And does anybody remember an unsigned band named Vengeful that dropped one of the best death metal albums of the year […]

Not to be confused with Sutter Cane (“Do you read Sutter Cane?”), Finnr’s Cane is a three-piece hailing from the frozen wastes of Canada (yeah, they have those there too), and if you’ve never heard of them yet, take note, because you’ll be uttering their name alongside other naturalistic black metal luminaries in years to […]

So Benedictum isn’t exactly a new band, but somehow they’ve flown under my radar until Dominion, their third release. My first impression wasn’t the best, either. When the techno-dance beat at the beginning of the opening title track kicked in, I thought perhaps taking this record on was a really bad idea. But by the […]

Right-wing yahoos in this country may still hold the French in contempt, but those of us in the underground know better. Not only has France been dominating horror the past few years with brutal films like Inside, Martyrs and the work of Alexandre Aja, but it’s also got its share of stylish, unfuckwithable metal acts. […]

Adam Kalmbach has been a busy individual. Since I reviewed Old Ways,  his third CD of impressive, one man black metal back in 2009, he has released 6 more albums under the Jute Gyte moniker, including a couple of atmospheric experimental albums. There obviously isn’t a lot to do in Springfield, Missouri (I can attest […]

I put this CD into my player with all my weapons laid on the table and ready to destroy. First there’s the title, Heavier Than Metal, which most certainly isn’t accurate. Then, there’s the fact that this is a group of football players dabbling at being musicians. That’s OK for a bar band, but it […]

The cries of heresy and treachery will go on for months, if not years, concerning the aural molestation administered by Morbid Angel’s latest abomination (not intended as a positive pun). Revisiting their back catalogue will go some way to easing the pain, but for me at least, it’s not enough, and something has to fill […]

I’ve developed a theory that you can’t stay angry or be in a bad mood while listening to Alestorm. In recent months, that theory has been sorely tested, but every time, the goofy Scottish pirates have managed to conquer my frustrations after a few songs. So, along comes their third record, Back Through Time, just […]

When it was revealed The Gates of Slumber’s fifth album would be a return to the old school doom vibe of their debut, and that former Sourvein drummer ‘Cool’ Clyde Paradis was on board, I had a good feeling. I got into them in a backward fashion, hearing their last album first and their first […]

Metalheads could and will argue about which Death album is the band’s best effort, although to no avail, because arguments could be made for all of them (I’m kinda partial to Spiritual Healing). However, I’m not sure many people would argue that the lineup on 1991’s Human was the best one of  Chuck Schuldiner’s rotating […]

Opening with a ripping guitar solo that hits with the force of an out of control machine gun. Instantly the glass shatters from the window that encases your lavishing frame. 20 seconds in and the murderous intentions seep through and kill everything in the blink of an eye. How is this done? Powerviolence! Weekend Nachos […]

Yup! Another Iron Maiden compilation that follows up to 2008’s Somewhere Back in Time – The Best of: 1980-1989. While I’m typically not a huge fan of compilations, for those that missed Iron Maiden‘s reunion and Bruce Dickinson era part deux, as well as a couple of Blaze Bayley -era numbers―slyly delivered as live songs, […]

The debut release from LA’s Exhausted Prayer was an ambitious, promising but convoluted affair of cross genre metal that melded black, ambient and progressive metal. And now the follow up is here and it looks like the band has mostly fulfilled the promise of Looks Down In the Gathering Shadow  ― with improved song writing and more […]

I was listening Leechmilk’s Starvation of Locusts a few months back and thought to myself “Whatever happened to these guys?” A quick trip to Metal Archives and, lo and behold, Dan Caycedo of Leechmilk infamy is in a new band called Sons of Tonatiuh and they just released their first record. While I initially hoped […]

Kauan’s Aava Tuulen Maa received (and will continue to do so) so many spins in my player that it’s borderline ridiculous. The album simply drilled a straight phone line—through my thick bashed skull—into my psyche. With that in mind, and it always is, it was hard to angle myself when I put the group’s latest […]

Canada’s gift to the metal omniverse, Devin Townsend, is back to finish off what he started back in 2008 when he shaved off his trademark skullet, threw out his dope pipe and formed yet another new band, namely the Devin Townsend Project. Feeling disconnected and dissatisfied with the role of being known as the madman […]

This is going to take some beating. Few albums this year in any genre have enraptured me as much as Foundation’s first proper full-length, When the Smoke Clears. I don’t know what’s in the water at Bridge 9 (because they certainly aint smoking anything), but since they started investing in the heavier side of hardcore, […]