Finally after three years since their debut EP, Diskreet present us with their first full length album and what an album it is. Hailing from Topeka, Kansas this quintet plays a form of devastating technical death metal that annihilates all who oppose. If machines started to decimate and take over humanity this would be their […]

Ironic that the cover of Kylesa’s new disc is so monochromatic, given all of the color the band has just added to its sound. The past’s last album, Static Tensions (only a year ago), was a tight blend of terse, punchy hardcore and grumbling sludge; with Spiral Shadow, the band has embraced a whole new […]

Phobia, the debut album from Germany’s Athorn, seems to be right up my alley. In the vein of a band like Kiuas, one of my favorite discoveries of the last 10 years or so, Athorn blends power metal melodics with thrash and groove and maybe just a little hint of death here and there. I […]

Brilliant and frustrating – two words that sum up Deathspell Omega. There’s no question that since Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice, the mysterious French duo has offered up some of the most staggeringly complex and challenging black metal the genre has ever seen. However, in their never-ending quest to batter, slash and violate the genre’s boundaries, […]

As the year 2011 draws near, there isn’t anything new about post-rock being combined with metal aesthetics (or vice versa) yet Denmark’s AEDRA showcase themselves in a positive—if not solely unique—light by blending the emotionality of post-rock with slower and much meatier doom elements. But isn’t that what various post-metal/sludge bands have been doing throughout […]

King Conquer are finally gracing us with their new album entitled America’s Most Haunted. Hailing from Naples, Florida, King Conquer play a form of brutal deathcore. People these days tend to think less of deathcore as most of the scene is becoming quite stale. So every now and then gems surface amidst the stale air […]

I’ll preface this review, as I usually do, by admitting to my fanboy admiration for Savatage and the projects of the various members. That said, Zakk Stevens’ Circle II Circle has never completely connected with me since the band’s best effort, their debut record Watching in Silence in 2003. Their last outing, 2008’s Delusions of Grandeur, […]

Oceano is back with their new album entitled Contagion. After jamming this album a couple times I tend to think they should have called the album Depths Pt. 2 or Depths Redux or something. Because in all honesty it seems as though Oceano made a few touch ups and played it a tad bit safe […]

Fans of Symphorce are likely to be split on their latest record, Unrestricted. The album moves the band farther away from the progressive and symphonic elements of their earlier work and puts more of a straight-ahead hard rock spin on their sound. Album opener “The Eternal” gives us a dark piano intro that sounds promising, […]

Saw this New York-based black/death band in the writers’ backlog here at TOTD, so I decided to check out their Myspace. Liked what I heard (from their ‘05 split with funeral doom act Rigor Sardonicus, and also from their full ‘07 release): raw and clattery, with the occasional melodic strain, and huge, gargled demonic vocals […]

As astutely observed by Erik in his review of Fitcage’s Pighumanity, Soulflesh Collector Records from Russia is definitely pushing to match Unique Leader/Unmatched Brutality/Sevared/Comatose etc in Europe as a top tier label for brutal death metal and the more eclectic strains of grind. Over the past eighteen months they have been clawing their way up the […]

I’ve always been partial to promoting local (Missouri) bands, especially talented ones like O’Fallon’s black metal tribe Harkonin. Now fittingly signed to Australia’s Battlegod Productions, Harkonin have released the follow-up to 2006’s solid Ghanima, complete with topnotch artwork and packaging. The end result shows a more controlled and mature band, replete with more of an […]

Incantation is the new black. If mimicry is the highest form of flattery, Incantation have to be drowning in flattery considering the rather sudden rash of supposedly old school death metal acts that are plying a form of their trademark style. It’s a style I never cared for when Incantation played it 15 years ago […]

As I’ve lamented a few times this year, it really sucked that Burst broke up. They released two of my favorite releases of the 2000s, post-metal or otherwise, and I was really looking forward to a follow-up to Lazarus Bird. Ah well, they say the best way to get over a break-up is to go […]

I’ll get right to it, after one full-length (2007’s The End of All You Know) and a couple of splits, California’s The Makai have somehow rendered one of the most brilliant pieces of music I’ve heard with Embracing the Shroud of a Blackened Sky. Now I know most regular readers of this site know that […]

Nuclear Blast has to be happy: The last couple of months have seen the label release new albums from Enslaved, Dimmu Borgir and now, Cradle of Filth. Three of black metal’s forefathers in the early ’90s, now grown and developed far beyond their roots into metal’s biggest acts ― regardless of what genre you lump […]

The only thing I’d ever heard about Valient Thorr was, “They’re great live, dude!”  Yeah, well, maybe the same could be said about Mushroomhead, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna like ’em.  But after spinning Stranger a few times, the initial skepticism was sent flying out the window.  The furry outer-spacers comprising Valient Thorr rock […]

In 2007, tech death pioneers Atheist announced that they would be playing some of their last shows ever, and specifically, that their appearance at Chicago Powerfest that year would be the band’s last in the Midwest.  Heavily into Atheist, I jumped at what would most likely be the only chance I’d ever have to see […]

The story behind Fleshwrought is a rather interesting one; the music on Dementia/Dyslexia less so. All this flesh has been wrought primarily at the hands of ex-Animosity drummer Navene Kopperweis (guitars, drums, bass) who began the project in 2003 with the aid of a 7-string guitar, a computer, and some recording software. Later on he […]

Another much anticipated reunion and comeback album. Forbidden didn’t exactly exit on a good note with the lackluster Distortion and horrible Green, but their first two will always be bonafide thrash classics. With that said, I was extremely curious to see where they would go after a 13 year recording hiatus. I’m happy to say […]

After ripping my face off with 2009’s Unconsecrated Australia’s The Red Shore return with a new label, a new vocalist and a new drummer ― yet none of those changes stop The Avarice of Man being as completely devastating as the band’s debut. Despite the fact the band will be lumped in with the current trend of […]

As much as I like Facedown/Strikefirst Records and their quality―consistent Christian metal―none of the 2010 releases have blown me away. Sure, the likes of Impending Doom, In the Midst of Lions, As Hell Retreats, Onward to Olympas, Letter to the Exiles and The Burial are all solid, but I have to go back to the […]

I really wanted to like this heavily promoted debut record from System Divide. And why not? It’s got Belgian metal stalwart Svencho De Caluwe (Aborted, In-Quest, Leng Tche) on vocals and he’s joined by his hotterthanheck wife Miri Millman (Orphaned Land) and former Abigail Williams guitarist Mike Wilson. The thing is, the band’s effort to […]

The UK has a lot to answer for with its mainstream rock/metal talent, but then again, the UK has a lot to answer for with regards to many other things. The long list of reprobates include the likes of Amy Winehouse, footballers and their unexplainable wage demands and politicians expensing everything from their second homes […]

I wasn’t sure what to think of this one upon the first spin and multiple spins later I still don’t know what to think, which translated means it’s just not very damn memorable. That’s a problem, unless you’ll all about meaningless musical experiences. That sounds pretty shitty of me, doesn’t it? Well friends, it sounds […]