I have a vague recollection of enjoying the shoe-gaze influenced black metal debut, Renihilation, of this New York act,  but I have to admit that after it was reviewed by my TOTD-colleague Jordan Itkowitz, I sort of forgot about about it. It simply melded into the many of so called hipster black metal releases that […]

The story of the Grotesque Impalement EP is an interesting one, as it was actually self-released (on the band’s own Blunt Force Records) in 1999 as a “holdover” album between Killing on Adrenaline and Destroy the Opposition. Relapse has now reissued the EP with a new package, a remastering job, liner notes from Jason Netherton, […]

It wasn’t until 2000’s Destroy the Opposition that I discovered Dying Fetus, who were being touted as the heirs apparent to the then-on-hiatus Suffocation. Based on Destroy the Opposition and Killing on Adrenaline, which I picked  up shortly after hearing Destroy the Opposition, those claims were certainly founded at the time. But for those that […]

It’s hard to believe this album was originally released in 1996 on Pulverizer Records. Fifteen years ago? Really? What’s so surprising is what an obvious influence Dying Fetus—and albums like Purification through Violence—has been on the brutal death end of the spectrum, particularly the sub-genre known as slam metal. Check out the first break into […]

Regarded as Dying Fetus‘s first ‘real’ release, though not their first album, Infatuation with Malevolence was originally released in 1995 on Wild Rags Records and it compiled two demos: 1993’s Bathe In Entrails and 1994’s Infatuation with Malevolence. Serving as an erstwhile precursor to the bands full-length debut album, 1996’s Purification Through Violence, Infatuation with […]

Sweet Angel Dust is the first full length in twelve years of existence from French band Arcania. While I have no idea why it took them over a decade to produce a single full length, I do know it’s pretty damn good. Arcania play a mostly modern style of thrash, infused with bits of melody […]

It’s great when a press release can succinctly provide the fodder a journalist needs to describe a release without fluff — only descriptions, points of reference and a little background. BOOM. BAM. DONE. However, a simple bio regurgitation from a writer does not a good review make. So let’s elaborate on Canada’s Blood Ceremony and […]

Taking their moniker from the B-Sharps school of “we need a name that’s witty at first, but that seems less funny each time you hear it”; New Mexico’s Noisear has been cranking out the fast and furious since about the turn of the century, to gradually increasing recognition culminating in this, their debut album on […]

Freed of this Flesh, the second EP from Portland, Oregon’s Trees continues the pattern of their first release: Two 13+ minute tracks of crushing, droning doom.  Like contemporaries Habsyll and Otesanek, Trees occupy the outer reaches of doom, where riffs are stretched into the atmosphere and notes into decaying feedback.  It’s not exactly original but […]

Going solely by their name, you’d expect Lords of Bukkake to sound like one of those shitty goregrind bands with the pitch-shifted vocals and song titles like “Shit Eating Titty Whore Cunt Semen”. Thankfully, this is not the case. Instead of tedious goregrind, we’re blessed with some seriously classy doomed out sludge. The hack in […]

It’s kind of hard to take a band named Tuck From Hell seriously, particularly when their record contains song titles like “Barbecue Beast,” “Tuckerz” and “Italian Stallion” and the cover features a cartoon guy wielding a chainsaw and flamethrower. But if you’re a fan of old-school 1980s thrash, it’s kind of hard not to like […]

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 […]