So a member of (our)  TOTD forum asked me if I could review this band–that has some friends of his in Japan–as they are excited for some possible international exposure. I agreed. Though, I admit to not expecting much, but I’ll do a favor for a longtime reader — even if the CD was released […]

Based on the cover art and album name, I was expecting some form of shitty deathcore, but I should have known better than that from Soulflesh Collector Records. Instead, what we have here is some very impressive Dying Fetus -styled (nay, worshiping — the moniker kind of gives it away I guess) slammy, downtuned death […]

Following up on 2010’s Ashes of Angels, former Antaeus vocalist MkM has returned to his Aosoth-project to deliver sermons of blackened fury. And while the last effort had slight tinges of Deathspell Omega/Blut Aus Nord styled discordance and atmospherics, with lengthier songs, more dissonant, harrowing and atonal hues, Aosoth appears to have morphed into a […]

“I See No God Up Here” claimed Yuri Gagarin during the first manned space flight, April 1961. The last really good, pure post-rock/shoegaze albums I heard were Rosetta’s last effort and the last EP by Mouth of the Architect. But in a matter of weeks I’ve heard three; Halo of Flies Records’ excellent LP duo […]

It is in fact failure, and not its rarer though far more popular cousin’s success, which is the most easily identifiable symptom of effort, and Norse explorers Ulver have been long overdue for a good old-fashioned Donner Party after years of casually strolling up and down Everest. Granted, I am not making an argument that […]

Onward to Olympas are back yet again with another dose of Christian metalcore on their second album for Facedown Records, The War Within Us. Adding much more melody and an onslaught of solos, one can tell the band has stepped their game up…big time! “The Continuance” is a short filler intro before the first tune […]

I’ve seen a fair bit of buzz on the old Internet about this Finnish band’s debut EP, and after finally grappling with its criminally short 23-minutes of hellish death metal — the hype is in deed worth it. One could argue that the oddly named Corpsessed are cut from the current cloth of better Incantation […]

There’s just something about black metal guys getting together to jam on some old-fashioned hard rock that works. By all rights it shouldn’t, since the accessible melodies and memorable hooks that go along with the style of music are pretty much the exact opposite of what black metal bands normally do. But every time I […]

I covered Gigan’s debut, The Order of the False Eye, back in 2008, and I remember it being a difficult write-up. Describing music is hard enough, but when it’s complex, undulating tech-death, it really does become a you-have-to-hear-this-to-understand-it kind of deal. The Obscura review I wrote up a few weeks ago was a challenge as […]

I’ve been extremely grateful for each new Amorphis album since Far from the Sun, considering that I basically gave up on the band with that one. Luckily for us, they realized how to play up their strengths and deliver what the fans want, and they’ve done a fantastic job of it ever since. And now, […]

There are those out there that think death metal is dying or dead. That the once proud genre has succumbed into a riffless, soulless, pro tool pandemic and become full of stagnant clones or simply fallen into pure homage and worship. For the record, I am not one of those people. However, if I were, […]

The chances of one liking Emmure is determined if they can withstand an album chock full of breakdowns. Not just a breakdown here or there–no way–this is a situation where the album is one giant breakdown that also gave birth to little breakdowns and… hell, you get the picture. Anyway, Emmure are back with another […]

With 2005’s The Gathering Wilderness, Primordial turned the tide and rose from minor obscurity into everyone’s playlists. Two years later, To the Nameless Dead refined the band’s sound even more. Some bands become content and start to follow a formula, but with Redemption at the Puritan’s Hand, Primordial once again thrusts their sound forward, much […]

I so rarely get a physical product these days with review copies that I think I get way too excited when I get a nice one in the mail. The trappings of Three Thirteen’s Full Tilt aren’t all that elaborate – it’s a folding slipcase, designed a bit like an old LP cover, with a […]

1. A noxious atmosphere or influence: “The family affection, the family expectations, seemed to permeate the atmosphere . . . like a coiling miasma” 2. a. A poisonous atmosphere formerly thought to rise from swamps and putrid matter and cause disease. b. A thick vaporous atmosphere or emanation Fucking perfect… Considering Dark Descent’s obsession with […]

When I got a CD in the mail, by a band called Monsterworks–whom I had never heard–I really had no idea what to expect. I was maybe expecting a new band doing some sort of new metal. Boy was I wrong. It turned out that Monsterworks is a UK/New Zealand collaboration that plays a form of experimental thrash/death/heavy […]

Welcome to the blackened, blasphemous, and incendiary world of Hells Headbangers. Welcome to the blackened, blasphemous, and incendiary world of Flame. You’re familiar with the phrase “fits like a glove?” Welcome to Hell. You’ll make all those connections within seconds of raging inferno opener “Black Realm of Satanas” from March into Firelands, a collection of […]

If you like electronic music, particularly proggy synth music, and especially synth-based horror and sci-fi soundtracks from the late ’70s and early ’80s, then you’ll love Zombi. Simple as that. Cosmos, the Pittsburgh-based duo’s 2004 debut, was heavily influenced by Goblin (Dawn of the Dead, Buio Omega, Suspiria) and Italian giallo horror soundtracks in general. […]

The differences between the last four records from the UK’s preeminent black metal duo, Anaal Nathrakh, have been subtle and nuanced; so much so that it can really make a reviewer feel like a complete nitpicker. This is where being a fan of the band’s abrasive-yet-dynamic black metal shredding, and perceiving their subtle shifts under […]

I’ve been able to assemble a hell of a KMFDM playlist over the years, yet I don’t think the band has ever released a truly perfect album. NIHIL comes really damn close, but the rest usually play out the same way: a few awesome tracks of propulsive, riff-fueled industrial dance/metal, some solid filler, a couple […]

Ah! The tortuous sounds of one man black metal. Music so different it prefers a more shrouded and mysterious nature. But sometimes it comes out from the woodwork and deserves everyone’s undivided attention — except for scene kids, tools, and anyone that loves MTV. One man black metal is a hard genre of music to […]

The days of getting a new Black Label Society record every year seem to be over, and that’s probably not a bad thing considering the way Zakk Wylde seemed to have burned out of good riffs on the band’s 2007 record Shot to Hell. So instead of a follow-up to last year’s outstanding Order of […]

I’ve not really been a huge fan of the current Incantation worship movement in US death metal. Partially because I was never an Incantation fan in the first place and secondly the current Swedish death metal worship movement is much more entertaining to me. However, the debut full length from Houston’s Blaspherian has got my […]

This is one unholy clusterfuck of an album. OvO create all manner of ruckus on Cor Cordium and cull influences from all over the map to create something as unique as it is difficult to describe.  Written as a tribute to English romanticist Percy Shelley, the duo merge droning noise, death metal, doom and noise […]

Parental Warning: Explicit Language. You’ve been warned. You couldn’t possible come up with an album that is better described as “death metal punk.” Punk is the operative word, both in terms of Zach Rose’s (Nunslaugher, Crucified Mortals) snotty, fuck-it-all vocal enunciations, and the short, stripped down arrangements, which also share similarities with Nunslaugher’s primitivism. More […]