Without fail, the same thing happens at the end of every year; I submit my year end picks to various outlets, only to have a release cross my path that would have made the list. In this case the second self released EP from Long Island’s Painted In Exile would have hands down been the […]

Dead Man’s Hand hail from Norway, play a modern sort of European death/thrash, and The Combination is the bands debut full-length. It’s not much of a stretch to compare them to early period The Haunted, Dew-Scented or Hatesphere, but it’s probably a little too soon to be including them in that same class of ass-kicking, […]

An interesting fact about trolls: besides lurking under bridges, in forests and on message boards, they’re also able to change their form at will – usually to trick the humans they like to torment. I mention this only because Troll, the Norwegian black metal band started by Nagash (Covenant/The Kovenant, ex-Dimmu Borgir) in 1992, has […]

Ihsahn’s work has always been forward-thinking and progressive, but its roots have also been easily traceable to that of earlier masters. From the Wagnerian fury of Anthems-era Emperor to the baroque intricacies of Prometheus, The Adversary and angL, it’s obvious that Ihsahn has studied and absorbed classical music and theory in a way that few […]

And so Australia’s assault on excellent extremity continues with the third album from Tasmania’s black metal horde Ruins. My last contact with this act was the 2004 EP, Atom & Time, which to my recollection, was a traditional, frosty, clinical style of blistering black metal. I missed 2008’s Cauldron (even with its belated US release […]

Not every Finnish band needs to emerge from a Nosferatu-style coma to write a good black metal record. Beherit might get the most attention because they dropped off the face of the earth for almost two decades before this year’s strong comeback. The smart money is on Azaghal, a black metal outfit that seems to […]

For those that don’t know, John Peel (RIP) was a BBC radio DJ who championed the extreme and the underground. While BBC Radio 1 and 2 (back then), was busy playing The Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Mel and Kim and other pop chart topping tripe, Peel and his late night Sunday radio show was playing […]

Guild of Destruction – a.k.a. G.O.D. – has got to be Australia’s best kept death metal secret. In a land known for its extra ferocious, Christ crushing, war fed metal, G.O.D. fits right in as a behemoth in its own right. It was 2007’s Into Oblivion that first got my attention; ah hell, it knocked […]

Liturgy of Dissection arrived just in time, as I needed a fix of bullshit-free brutal death, the likes of which can be found on labels like Unmatched Brutality, Unique Leader, and especially Vomepotro’s home, Sevared Records. If there ever was a form of death metal that most either loved or hated it, it is the […]

Don’t worry, I’ll keep this review only focused on the music…. The third and final album from despondent musician Umesh sees Brown Jenkins continue the more guitar based, droning approach of Angel Eyes, straying away from the more ambient depressive hues of the debut, Dagonite. And while the result is less suicide inducing than the […]

When listening to the self released debut from Canada’s Aquila (featuring former members of Bloodshoteye), I get a little sense of Deja Va as I’m reminded of Loren Battle’s Words Begins Wars, release earlier this year; Confident, well done, polished, epic artwork – and all of it self released. But it’s also plying a genre […]

With their debut self released EP, Italy’s Unconventional Disruption has simultaneously added to 2009s self released excellence (Belakor, Cephalectomy, Kalisia, Vengeful, Avicularia) and to Italy’s impressive, growing death metal scene, (Hour Of Penance, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Vomit the Soul, Gory Blister). With a chunky, angular, down-tuned sound, these five excellent songs reminded of a more controlled […]

That album cover repulses everyone that I show it too, which only makes me want to continue showing it to folks, no matter how disinterested they may be. It kind of reminds you of something Cannibal Corpse might have on a cover, doesn’t it? That would make sense because on Obesidade Morbida (even I can […]

“Rebirth of Gorgorooooooooth!!!!” It’s fitting that after all the legal and personal issues that have plagued this Norwegian stalwart black metal band over the last few years, that the third track has returning vocalist Pest spit out this line during the aptly named third track, “Rebirth” Truth be told, I’ve never been a huge fan […]

Sure it may not be as impressive as being the “5th Beatle” ala George Martin, but being the 6th Cephalic Carnage ain’t too shabby either. Colorado based musician, sound-tech and all-around internerd Matt Blanks has made a decent name for himself contributing on the sonic support end for the well-regarded hydro-grinders, as well as assisting […]

The debut record from Fool’s Game is a promising collection of melodic metal tunes, if at times frustrating. The clear strength of the record is in the guitar work of Matt Crooks and Matt Johnsen of Pharoah fame. The six-string mastery is the foundation that the band is built on and is solid enough to […]

An Entire Legion is a band with a personality conflict. It’s a band that strives for a traditional feel, but at the same time wants to be current. It’s a band that lives on hard rock guitar riffs, but at the same time works to appeal to an artsy commercial crowd. In short, it’s a […]

If you fancy yourself fan of vintage, no frills thrash metal and you’ve not yet heard Hirax, then you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of El Rostro De La Muerte as soon as possible. In the way of a brief history lesson, Hirax were part of the early Metal Blade roster […]

As the name might give away, For the Fallen is not happy-sunny-funtime music, and as such, should not be played at parties — unless, of course, the party is a funeral. Then it might be appropriate. France’s Mourning Dawn is the creator of this extreme exercise in depression and paranoia. It’s an unsettling slab of […]

Hyadningar’s The Weak Creation has been on my review list for a while now, sitting idle among a few goregrind and old-school death metal CDs like an orphaned stepchild. I’m glad I decided to play it before the first decade of the new millennium closed. Here’s one black metal album from 2009 that deserves to […]

Primal and unadulterated hate is what fuels Slovenia’s Bleeding Fist, as is evident upon hearing Bestial Kruzifix666ion, which — spelling aside — is a most excellent release. The four purveyors of morbid sounds comprising Bleeding Fist (with evil/awesome names like Infernal Karburator and Krieg Maschine) trample listeners with earful after earful of satanic, raw black-death-thrash. […]

You know when you burp and sometimes you ‘vurp? You know, that hot sour taste as what seems like beef stew rises up the back of your throat, into you mouth, and then you are forced to swallow back down its acidic, regurgitated goodness. You know the look on your face when you swallow it? […]

A lot of folks downplay GWAR, thinking of it as a relic from the mid ‘90s when Saddam A Go Go was worshiped on Beavis & Butt-Head. Granted, their efforts on CD haven’t always been up to their other antics. Despite some strong outputs, funny songs and appealing humor there has been quite a bit […]

After previous album Antares, I hoped that Sybreed would dwell onto try out new things and develop their sound even more. Seems like I’ve got my wish, as The Pulse of Awakening is definitely something new for the band, even if at its core the mechanical heart pulsates, spewing out industrialized metal in the vein […]

Canada is hardly a hotbed for melodic death metal, but recently, with the likes of Muspellheim and now the debut from Montreal’s WarCall (formerly known as Plan B), things might be changing. Though only active for 2 years, this four-piece delivers a pretty solid if unspectacular and often hot/cold debut in Demonarchy. Nothing groundbreaking or […]