I remember a few years back there was a band called A Day To Remember that played a form of music that involved melodic hardcore and metalcore. Well, they’re still around but the mixing of those two styles is long gone for them… and I’d rather not talk highly of them anymore as the mainstream […]

I remember hearing Black Witchery’s Upheaval of Satanic Might for the first time and immediately thinking “Goddamn!” It was a straight ahead, unrelenting barrage of blasphemy to an almost ridiculous extent. And yet, it worked because of that all-important, yet indefinable, thing called vibe that gets the blood boiling and a scowl imprinted on one’s […]

“Negative as Fuck” hardcore act Lionheart return with their new album Built On Struggle. Continuing where the last album (The Will to Survive) left off, Lionheart has managed to create another brutal and punishing slab of hate filled hardcore. Judging the book by its cover is a safe bet this time around. Looking at the […]

I was a little disappointed with Yngwie Malmsteen’s last outing Perpetual Flame, primarily because of the underuse and uninspired performance of vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens. It was a combination I had high hopes for. Malmsteen’s latest outing, Relentless, doesn’t correct the underuse factor, featuring Owens on only six of the 15 tracks, but it does […]

Satan has risen – and he’s got a Hell of an ear for melody. The mysterious Ghost come from Sweden, but not much else is known about them aside from a few promo shots, which feature shadowy figures led by a skull-masked Satanic priest. Rumor has it that this is actually a side project from […]

Though The Animal Spirits was a latecomer to the game (of 2010 metal releases), its addition to numerous ‘best of’ lists was no doubt cemented after a few spins, provided the listener was susceptible to its straightforward vibe, gut-wrenchingly emotive guitar and vocal work, and expertly crafted tunes; in other words, a Slough Feg fan, […]

Even though 2010 is officially over, I’m doing my best―in the early stages of 2011―to at least sort through the pile of remaining 2010-releases and serve notice to you, teethofthedivine readers, of releases from last year but still worthy of your attention. One such release is black metal super group Nidingr who, while unprolific (two […]

Serbian crossover thrash. On a Chinese record label. Man, I love the Internet. Drzavni neprijatelj broj kec is an explosion of vintage ’80s thrash – raw, dirty and frantic – though it tilts much more towards the jagged riffs and drumming of hardcore punk than the more cleanly-crafted melodies of Metallica, Kreator or even early […]

After a promising debut EP back in 2008, France’s Diluvian have unleashed their debut full length album, and while it continues the European melodic death metal meets deathcore stylings of their EP, its seems to lean a little more ion into deathcore realms. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Fans of polished, beefy modern […]

With a moniker like Offending and vocalist named “”Jesus the Butcher”, there’s no real surprise that France’s Offending play death metal. What’s surprising is that even with the above elements, Human Concept is a pretty solid death metal album. Much like label mates Fleshrot or Porkfarm, Offending aren’t doing anything new, but they are doing […]

So in a year that saw some truly excellent self-released efforts grace my year end list (Iron Thrones, Norse, Contaigeon, Shadow of the Colossus), and a last minute entry (Deathspell Omega’s Paracletus) along comes Italy’s Amia Venera Landscape and pulls a utterly unfathomable hail mary to nudge its way right onto my [yet unpublished, -ed.note] […]

The Mire are a band from the UK that play a form of post-metal that’s similar to their brethren in Devil Sold His Soul. With their second album on Eyes of Sound records, The Mire have a created an album that is emotionally direct yet progressive and intelligent. The album opens with a short but […]

It seems so easy. Take some folk, mix it with some metal, add some tribal-this, some ethno-that, heat until fused and ta-da!–awesomeness. But as Finntroll, Korpiklaani, Moonsorrow or even the relatively rougher Eluveitie prove in endless genre-mix soufflés, things usually collapse under the weight of whimsy, uneven beauty/beasting, or heavy-pretense (yes, I’m thinking of the new Agalloch‘s tendency to meander, or Swan‘s pointlessly […]

It has been three years since Helrunar‘s Baldr Ok Íss. This follow-up album was started in the summer of 2008. According to the label’s press packet: “Helrunar set about erecting a memorial in their own honor. Sól are two conceptually linked albums of tremendous depth, combining contradictory attributes such as catchiness and complexity in the […]

Old-school fans of Southern sludge bands like Eyehategod, Buzzov*en and Crowbar might not like all the dreamy post-rock that’s been mixed into that genre of late (Isis, Burst, Cult of Luna, etc), so here comes Virginia’s Salome to drag things back into the mud again. Armed only with a seriously down-tuned guitar (no bass!), drums […]

I’ve been get a lot of CDs sent to me by truly independent bands – small but talented bands just wanting some press. Luckily it’s  my and Teeth of the Divine’s pleasure to give some exposure to quality acts like At Dusk, Iron Thrones, Johan Wolfgang Pozoj, The Sequence of Prime, Karnak Seti, Ironwood and […]

As much of a fan of Faroese Viking metal act Tyr and frontman Henri Joensen that I am, I was excited to finally hear a CD/retail version of his side project, Heljareyga, which has been available digitally since February. With Tyr becoming a bit more streamlined and catchy on By the Light of the Northern […]

Recipe for Viking metal: A dash of black metal, heavy metal and a huge helping of folk with all the lore one can handle. Falkenbach are back with another album entitled Tiurida and to be honest it’s no different than their other releases — besides a few touches here and there. The album opens with […]

Originally self released back in 2009, the reissue of this Aussie trio’s second full-length CD comes to us thanks to the fine folks responsible for Diabolical Conquest ‘zine (so, whose up for Teeth of the Divine records?), and it does much the same their 2007 self-titled debut did: Old school, simple death metal with a […]

Normally when I go into a review listen on a band that’s new to me, I’m looking for something that I haven’t heard before. Sometimes, though, something very familiar that’s done very well can make an impact. That’s the case with the Slovenian thrashers Negligence. There’s not really a moment on this album that will […]

With White Wizzard’s Over the Top being one of my favorite records of the year, I couldn’t help but look forward to the debut release from Holy Grail, Crisis in Utopia. What you have here is a band made up partially of former members of White Wizzard who moved on with a new name after an […]

For me 2010 was where everything went far more digital and I’m not talking about just promotional CDs! Bands and labels started actually releasing their music digitally too: Shadow of the Colossus, Martolea, Origin of Darkness, We Are the Illusion, Demise of Gideon to name a few. All quality releases… but only available digitally. Adding […]

While many have waved the flag for trad metal in recent years, one man has perhaps done a bit more than the rest: “Professor” Chris Black, owner/curator of Planet Metal Records, member of Superchrist, Pharaoh, and High Spirits, and head honcho of Dawnbringer, the latter project being the subject of this review.  Nucleus was this […]

Massive Slavery are a young and talented Canadian band with a lot going on – too much going on. Fusing melodic death metal with metalcore/deathcore, tech death and even a few hints of thrash, their sound is all over the place and more times than not, lacks cohesion. When they’re on though, they’re really on. […]

When Oregon’s Agalloch first appeared in 1999 with Pale Folklore and its haunting blend of folk and black metal, the metal community quickly drew comparisons to now-landmark releases like Ulver’s Bergtatt and Opeth’s Orchid. At the time, we all knew how special the album was, but I don’t think we sensed how iconoclastic the band […]