I’ve always considered myself an open minded music fan. While admittedly, I have always most enjoyed those artists who are innovative and creative while still focusing on song craft which is coherent and relatively accessible, I have also always had a yen for the off-the-wall and experimental. John Zorn making his sax sound like a […]

On paper, the combination of female vocalist London Wilde (an experienced metal lass with various writing, engineering and vocal credits to her name since 1994, even performing bass tracks on the 2004 Chastain album In An Outage) and Dave Starr, a 25 year metal veteran who served as bassist for relatively legendary Bay area Thrashers […]

Writing this review was difficult due to the fact that Croire, Décroître sucked my brain into a black, abysmal hole from which no reasonable thought could come (at least temporarily). Initially the whole thing felt without emotion, like something glossy that could be appreciated but not cherished, but once I got to the core I […]

I kinda dug the last album from these young Minneapolis pseudo grinders, back when they were called A Second From the Surface. Though it was still sort of squealing, chaotic nu grind at its core, it had a hearty punk backbone and some surprising melodies thrown into the mix. Little has changed other than the […]

Post Mortem were the perennial underdogs of the 1980s underground metal scene. They recorded one bona fide classic – Coroner’s Office – yet never received credit for being years ahead of most bands now regarded as the godfathers of death metal. Their follow-up albums Festival of Fun and Destined For Failure were wildly experimental. Instead […]

Another release on my hometown’s September Riot Records, this time from Dubuque Iowa three piece Lost Apparitions, and while label mates Estrus called themselves progressive, Lost Apparitions are actually a much more progressive, experimental act. Plying a sort of catchall, angular and jangly post rock/post hardcore that reminded me of instrumental acts like Sleeping In […]

I caught Rammstein‘s first US tour about twelve years ago (before the Family Values tour really introduced them to America), and it was one of the funniest, most entertaining shows I’ve ever seen. Explosions during every song. Dummies lit on fire and flung about on wires above the crowd. Vocalist Till Lindemann stalking around the […]

Well this was a nice surprise. Hailing from the Netherlands, newcomers Expulsion display some pretty serious chops on their debut full length Wasteworld. Combining elements of black and death into a ripping and technically stunning thrash assault, Wasteworld is a relentless beast from beginning to end. With mostly short and concise tracks, the songs on […]

How the fuck is it that 3 my favorite albums of 2009 are self released (two being Kalisia and Be’lakor) and one of them, Cephalectomy’s An Epitaph to Tranquility is a FREE FUCKING DOWNLOAD????? That’s right. The full length follow up to 2004 excellent Eclipsing the Dawn (not counting the 28 minute single track, The Dream […]

I have a very vague recollection of this Swedish bands full length debut 2006, Serene Catharsis as a mix of gruff Swedish death metal with a slight melodic, progressive lean, and this re-issue of their 2005 WIll and Perception demo EP along with two new tracks and a reworked 2004 demo track (“Common Walls”) seems […]

Ok, I’ll admit I’m reviewing this because September Riot Records is based in my hometown, and even though the band Estrus hail from Central Illinois, its always nice to see some local folks get involved in an otherwise barren Central Missouri metal scene, even if it is pretty standard modern hot topic styled metalcore/screamo. Despite […]

The funny part is that it did not even occur to me that Necrology was the new album from My Own Grave; guess I didn’t recognize the indecipherable logo. “What a hearty meal of Swedish death metal these ‘Necrology’ fellows have served,” I thought to myself. Then upon perusing the Pulverised website I see that […]

One could argue that in the space of just three full length albums , Liv Kristine and her spectacular cleavage , err I mean voice, have become Gothic metal’s premier act. The formula they ply has been done amply by the likes of Nighwish, Epica, Stream of Passion and a host of other boobie fronted […]

Years ago, when Sweden was seething amazing music, Skyfire emerged with a ridiculously good debut album called Timeless Departure that was more theatrical than anything Children of Bodom could churn out. It turned many underground heads, including mine, and gave the band somewhat of a name. The band continuously rendered enjoyable albums including 2004s Spectral, but […]

First impressions of the debut from Greece’s  Cerebrum, Spectral Extravagance are mixed. Is it brutal death metal? Tech-death? Jazz-prog-death fusion? Something -core? To be honest, after repeat listens, it’s still a bit confusing. According to label Lacerated Enemy Records, Spectral Extravagance is “progressive tech death.” The overall gist comes through, but it seems necessary to […]

Despite holding a high opinion of Josh Graham’s talent, particularly in his expert handling of the visual elements of Neurosis’s live performances and the stunning A Sun That Never Sets DVD release, I was somewhat let down by his first foray into our collective musical consciousness, that being the pleasantly heavy, if not all too […]

The entire package presented here is associated with beer. The name Final Gravity is a term used in brewing beer, the CD cover is a picture of the bottom of a wooden keg carved with ingredient symbols, and the band bio will not let you forget how much the band enjoys beer, even going as […]

Ugh. I feel queasy. While not overly impressed with the last offering from this Netherlands madman who goes by the name of Mories, there’s something about this album that literally hooks me, reels me in an gives me a tangible sense of disgust and self loathing. Maybe it’s the more perverse, sexually depraved nature of […]

One of my musical interests outside of metal has always been the jazz and swing of the Big Band era. That’s why the Diablo Swing Orchestra’s name immediately caught my attention. Then there’s opening track, “A Tap Dancer’s Dilemma,” which is one of the most interesting songs that I’ve heard in a long time. It […]

For the three of you out there that haven’t yet heard about Brutal Legend, here’s a quick summary. You play as Eddie Riggs (perfectly voiced by Jack Black), a heroic roadie who’s transported into a legendary World of Metal that’s like every Frank Frazetta painting, every Judas Priest album cover and every hot rod magazine […]

As when I heard the re-issue of Marduk’s Dark Endless last year, I had no idea that the current iteration of one of Sweden’s more respected second tier black/death metal acts, Necrophobic was so different from their more recognized, current sound. Like Marduk, Necrophobic’s first sound was one rooted in early Swedish death metal, namely […]

I don’t often put on Meshuggah albums, but I certainly understand the appeal. It’s a sound that’s precise and punishing, at once layered and dense, yet colorless and spare. And its haphazard, violent lurch and bellow demands, focuses, even galvanizes your attention – until suddenly, it doesn’t. Time and time again, my attention always wanders […]

Of the recent spate of doomy metallic hardcore bands that have emerged in this brave new millennium to date, France’s Overmars have possibly been among the most overlooked and underrated. Beginning their career with a limited split CD w/Japanese crusters Fugue, the innovative seven-piece was barely a blip on the radar until Candlelight Records issued […]

Black Sabbath being the fount from which all doom springs, it’s only appropriate that you should hear their influence in bands of the genre. But you could argue that Gates of Slumber cross the line of influence right into worship. Not that that’s a bad thing. Hymns of Blood and Thunder, the latest offering from […]

Neurosis frontman Steve Von Till reaps the benefits of his home studio and sows confusion on this second release from his other solo project, Harvestman, a name that either evokes the image of some pagan human-deity hybrid, or suggests a great brand name for vegetarian tv-dinners, depending on how serious the listener or reviewer is […]