Ahhh… the final album epilogue, how it pains the reviewer. Do we judge the album by the higher standard of the career ending kiss-off, or as just another brick in what has been nothing if not a solid wall? Perhaps best to start off with the context-setting history, as while it was Burnt By the […]

Outside of the realm of reissuing out of print label discography, Relapse Records has specialized in two different types of reissues, first, the painfully obvious and effortlessly successful, read: Atheist, Repulsion, Pentagram and Cryptic Slaughter with the second tier consisting of the absolutely obscure, such latter being met with appreciation from underground spelunkers in the […]

I wrote this at the same time as Ingested for 2 reasons, the first being that its slamming death metal also but also for balance because whilst it is of that ilk it is a decidedly different beast. VTS is for all the people who don’t like Ingested or for that fact, all the deathcore […]

Undoubtedly the most prolific doom band in history; while Nadja’s discography – approximating 33 releases since 2003, and counting – doesn’t quite rival the ridiculous output of say Agathocles or Unholy Grave or even Merzbow, yet, it is certainly by no means do to a lack of effort on the part of cute Canadian couple […]

It took its sweet time, but finally, the UK is finally churning out quality, quality metal. Granted, there’s not the level of innovation that graced this island in the 80s and early to mid 90s but, there is a high volume of quality but more importantly, diversity. What’s more, it’s not just simply hordes of […]

It’s funny about revelations, moments of clarity, epiphanies and the like. When they come to us, it seems like a deep spiritual phenomenom, the type named and generally described better by eastern rather than western religions, what with their deja-vu, preja-vu, reincarnations and similar “god moves in mysterious ways” mumbo jumbo, but in reality it’s […]

With 2007s Victory Songs, Ensiferum laid to rest any worries if Norther’s Petri Lindross could replace Jari Mäenpää who left to form Wintersun. From Afar not only cements Lindross as a competent replacement with serviceable blackened rasps and guitar playing, it also shows that new keyboardist (and female vocalist) Emmi Silvennoinen is a fantastic addition […]

Though released last year, Punishment 18 Records only just sent me this, and considering Italian metal has been pretty solid in 2009 (Destrage, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Disharmonia Mundi, Malfeitor, Fomento), I thought this decent release deserved some press. I’ll tell you right now, Lunarsea’s second album is doing nothing remotely original in the melodic death metal […]

First off, I have to admit being puzzled as to why Century Media would not want to release one of the decades most eagerly anticipated reunion albums in the US (though its really Van Drunen reuniting with founding member drummer Rob Bagchus than a full reunion), leaving it up to the perfectly suited Ibex Moon […]

Do bands have to abide by the rules of labels they sign contracts with? I guess it’s true to some degree, and there is a lot of evidence showing the most unusual transformations occurring throughout the history of metal. Something like this happened to Pathosray, a promising Progressive Metal five-piece from Italy as soon as […]

Boston’s Ravage, one of the newest bands to join Metal Blade’s ever-growing roster, sure does have a strange discography. With more than 10 years and two full-lengths under their collective belt, the group has more EPs, live albums and demos than you can shake a studded stick at. They even have a best-of album (which […]

I think I liked Threat Signal more when they were basically a Fear Factory clone (right down to Christian Olde Wolbers producing). Yeah, ok, shades of Soilwork’s melodic thrash/death and Strapping Young Lad’s atmospherics were present as well. But the point is that I didn’t find the mimicry on Under Reprisal to be a problem; […]

I’ve held off on this review for a while, hoping the record would grow on me a little more, but I think it’s time to let it go. You won’t find a much bigger fan of Tim Owens than me (you may remember my rants when he was booted from Iced Earth last year), but […]

After reading the interview Scott Alisoglu conducted with this Michigan melodic death metal act, I decided to check out the band’s second, aquatic themed album. After all they are on the fine Bombworks Records and guitarist Briant Daniel was in Summer Dying, one of the US’s most underrated and criminally unsigned melodic death metal acts […]

First off, congrats to A Hill to Die Upon for the year’s best album cover- a commissioned painting from renowned Serbian artist, Bogdan . Hailing from the depths of Illinois, A Hill to Die Upon is a fresh new black/death metal act started by the Cook brothers (Adam-guitars/vocals, Michael-Drums), and for a band that’s only […]

Hailing from the craggy depths of New Jersey, Helcaraxë are one of the resurgent US bands plying Viking inspired forms of metal (Oakhelm, Hammer Horde, etc) and is one of US metal very best kept secrets. After their impressive debut, Triumph and Revenge, the trio has tightened up their form of gruff, dense and loose […]

I say “goddamn, I like it!” When I noted that the astutely named Blood I Bleed would be unleashing 23 songs in 17 minutes I wondered, “Can they pull it off and make the arrangements come alive?” The answer is a resounding “yes,” by grindcore standards anyway. Like the best grinders, in my humble opinion, […]

My introduction to Tyr came a few years back when I was asked to take on Eric the Red. I’d read rave reviews about it all over the Web, but personally, I was unimpressed. In all honesty, I found the record fairly boring. It’s been a while since that review, and I really hadn’t thought […]

Upon receiving Swashbuckle’s album Back To The Noose for review I sharpened my best Jack Sparrow cutlass for the inevitable disembowlment of the latest in the growing list of pirate metal bands. I have a general disdain for pirate metal. When I see an album I feel like I’m looking at an advertisement for a […]

The little bit I did gather from the long-ass, convoluted bio for Italy’s Carnal Rapture is that they’ve been around in one form or another since 1992. What they play on the mysteriously titled Promo 2008 is a mid-paced, jazzy tech death that is all twisted, turning, and lopsided with mid-range scratchy growls that fall […]

One wouldn’t think it would be the crushing weight of despair that brings couples together, yet here in the wake of Nadja‘s many successes we find ourselves with another product of unholy matrimony in the form of Laudanum‘s The Coronation. The apparently unhappily married Judd and Becky on guitar and drums/vocals respectively form the core […]

Godless Noise might be one of the most appropriate album titles in the history of underground metal; I‘m surprised some enterprising young hesher hasn’t used it before. What young metalhead blasting their older brother’s copy of Haunting The Chapel didn’t have their parents yell “turn off that godless noise” at the upstairs bedroom? I’m sure […]

Just what I needed – something to tear into. Interrogate play what’s basically nu-metal trying it’s best to disguise itself as groove based death/thrash, but fails miserably. Angsty, simple and meat-headed sum it up pretty good. There’s also gratuitous use of the word ‘fuck’, which doesn’t do it any favors. It’s funny because ‘fuck’ is […]

As many of you faithful death/doom fans will recall, previous album Above the Weeping World largely dropped the flowing acoustic passages that made Since the Day It All Came Down such a haunting (and enduring) listen. It was actually a smart move, because there are more ways to communicate grace and introspection than by simply […]

First impressions are very important, never having a second chance to make them and all, as the saying goes. After hearing some hype about Bloody Panda, my immediate reaction was of disdain, seeing the band members engaged in the extremely tacky act of sound checking their gear in the intimate confines of the Mill Creek […]