A new Omnium Gatherum album is always something I highly anticipate. Each of their four albums leading up to New World Shadows, their fifth, has been an excellent slice of melodic death metal with that unmistakable Finnish slant. Each has had it’s own unique feel, a noticeable progression from the last, and New World Shadows […]

When I first listened to the sophomore album The King is Fat ‘n’ Old by Italian metal group Destrage, I was a little unsure of just what to classify them as. My initial impression from their opening track “Double Yeah” made me actually think that they were just going to be another hardcore band due […]

When this whole thrash revival mess first came around and started to take hold, I was pretty damn excited – thrash was my first love of extreme metal, and it remains my favorite. While I do still love the old style, I also quite enjoy where the genre went as time went by – it […]

There are a few bands that come to mind when you simply mention a genre. Mention East Coast death metal and folks will more often than not say Suffocation or Dying Fetus. Mention Floridian death metal and Obituary, Cannibal Corpse or Morbid Angel will be the first bands to pop out of most people’s mouths. […]

Two Finnish black metal bands and 10 tracks of creativity, bizarreness, and harsh winter winds, brought to you by Russian label Helvete.ru. This one had me at that deceptively simple, yet wholly appropriate, album title, Because it’s Wrong. It’s just so right. Verge opens this conference of the damned with an eclectic style of black […]

I had this Canadian death metal outfit’s monstrous self-released debut album, Archaeaeon, recommended by the fine readers of this very site, but I had no idea that they were working on a second album… let alone on the mighty Profound Lore Records where they slither along nicely next to the likes of Portal, Vasaeleth and […]

When Finland’s Rotten Sound release an album, it’s always with a certain level of expectation. Certainly musically and sonically, even aesthetics are key, but what always keeps new releases from them exciting isn’t just the consistency, it’s the small but important augmentations and advances to their blistering grind that always seem to elevate their craft […]

Don’t hate me because I’m a murderer. Varg Lost Wisdom back on Det Som Engang Var, and what once was, can never be regained. Time to make a big sacrifice. I want my ritual music to take me into a meditative state, not a vegetative state. Fallen achieves this where Belus did not because there […]

I first became acquainted with Lifelover about a year ago with their album Konkurs — a promising listen that hinted at unique ideas, cross-genre pollination and other experimentation within the black metal framework. Equal parts Katatonia melancholy and suicidal black metal—the mix had great melodies, buzzing guitars and exasperated vocals that balanced well with subtle […]

Excellent; just plain excellent. This is the sound of true Brazilian black/death thrashing terror. You know the lineage: Sarcofago, Vulcano, etc. On Grave Desecrator’s Insult, the list includes the likes of early Slayer and Altars of Madness era Morbid Angel as well. Well played, chaotic, and memorable, this is what one might call the cat’s […]

As you’d expect from a band with the word Militia in their name (guys c’mon, Hell’s Militia would have sounded much better), this French outfit belongs to the conservative party of black metal. Conservative as in discordant, primitive, mostly amelodic – and to these ears, totally fucking boring. Too bad, considering the pedigree: members of […]

Generally when a beloved classic gets the reissue treatment I don’t take notice since I’ve already got an investment with the original version. Add the fact that there are no bonus tracks, so why take notice? First off the great new cover art, second the promo sleeve announcing not remastered but “mastered for the first […]

Texas brutal death grind band Diminished are back with another album chock full of slam riffs and gurgling vocals. With an album titled Rectal Torment, one should know what kind of genre they’re getting into but truth be told, I had a blast listening to this album. Blasting out of nowhere like your fat girl […]

While labels like Deathwish Inc, Bridge 9, Epitaph and Victory are often considered the preeminent contemporary hardcore labels, the fact remains that Halo of Flies actually has one of hardcore’s very best bands tucked away on their label;  Milwaukee’s DIY act, Protestant. Having released numerous vinyl, splits and 7” records I was happy to see […]

The band Chastain, home to virtuoso guitarist and label owner David T. Chastain, and female vocal goddess Leather Leone, was one of the most grossly overlooked, underappreciated heavy metal bands of the 1980s. Combining US power metal along the lines of Sanctuary and Metal Church with a neo-classical flair, they released five albums by 1990, […]

The important thing to remember is that there’s no such thing as progressive metal, rock, jazz or anything. You’re more likely to find something truly ‘progressive’ in anything by Janelle Monáe than anything by Opeth. Reason: ‘progressive’ is a just another genre, which means its hellbound to laws and rules, like any other genre. So now that we’ve got that out […]

The dis on the ‘net is that Kryoburn are Fear Factory clones and so much for them. Well, I just want to say this is really unfair.  Kryoburn are Fear Factory clones that clone a whole mess of other bands as well, okay? Now that that’s cleared up, what separates this New Mexico band’s brand of industrialized metal from […]

As most of you know, I’m a sucker for old school, Stockholm-styled Swedish death metal. And with the recent resurgence of the genre, I’ve very much enjoyed nostalgic acts like Axis Powers, Interment, Entrails, Fatalist, Brutally Deceased, Morbider and Evocation bringing back the glory. Not forgetting the slew of re-issues of previously undiscovered, obscure or […]

It’s 2011, and more than two decades after black metal first slithered out of the darkness, it’s still shifting and changing into surprising and unexpected new forms. Recent mutations include the rambling, crystalline majesty of Pacific Northwest acts like Agalloch or Wolves in the Throne Room, or the unexpected fusion of black metal and shoegaze, […]

Stratovarius is iconic within the power metal scene. Having released their first album, Fright Night, 22 years ago, they have been a near-constant presence releasing 13 studio albums, a live album and no less than five (5) compliations in that time. Founding guitarist Timo Tolkki left in 2008 after a good amount of dramatic press. […]

I enjoyed this one. How’s that for a bare bones, straight forward assessment devoid of all the fluff and metaphor of the typical critical review? But I’m sure I’ll still end up tossing in some metaphorical blather anyway in some desperate attempt to be clever. Singapore’s uniquely <ahem> named Pyscho brings an effective mix of […]

Macabre and Willowtip? Now that’s a pairing that took me by surprise. The Impaled signing and subsequent release of The Last Gasp seemed a tad askew too, though not in any kind of a shocking way. None of that should be taken to mean they weren’t smart signings though; only that Macabre in particular is […]

Starting out originally under the name Etna, the Swiss group Breach the Void takes on a style of synth infused Cyber-Metal that brings them into the ranks of bands such as Sonic Syndicate, Mnemic, Threat Signal, In Flames, Scar Symmetry and Fear Factory. The band’s inception came with Alex Anxionna, whom after his time drumming […]

Okay, so I’m a few months late on this one, but it’s still the right weather outside to grab your headphones and take October Falls’ newest for a wintry walk. As with 2008’s excellent The Womb of Primordial Nature, A Collapse of Faith doesn’t rush headlong through the forest – it explores, wanders and breathes […]

Despite having plied their brand of Eastern European folk metal since 1995, I’m still relatively unfamiliar with Latvia’s Skyforger, having only heard the Paragon Records 2006 re-issue of their 1998 debut, Kauja Pie Saules (The Battle of Saule). I’ve missed the three albums and a compilation that have been released since 1998. When hearing the […]