Placed in the Dark Power Metal category, Swedish metallers Her Whisper are indeed far from calling up any associations with bright colors of sonic palette. Instead, their primary hues are gray, black and dark blue, just like the colors of the artwork on the cover of their sophomore release The Great Unifier. Probably this feel […]

Legion and Emil Dragutinovich, both more known for their previous participation in prominent Swedish Black Metal act Marduk, are pretty creative spirits who seem to earn their keep by taking part in as many Metal projects as their time allows. Having tied up with some other not so well known musicians under the name of […]

The third in Willowtip’s excellent recent grindcore revival trilogy (Phobia, Kill the Client), Maruta (a Japanese name for the collective victims in the infamous Unit 731 war crimes) ironically lies somewhere between the two as they mix furious, relentless modern grindcore with a more classic power chord driven sound. Seething blast beats feral screams, deep […]

Despite the switch from Deepsend to Unique Leader, little has changed in the Lecherous Nocturne camp. They still feature Mike Poggione (Monstrosity, Carpharnaum) on bass, they still unleash blistering blackened death metal, still under 30 minutes in length, and its still pretty good stuff. Coming it at 28 minutes, compared to Adoration of the Blade’s […]

Melding the grind worlds of Brutal Truth and Napalm Death, Orange County’s Phobia still sounds better than most modern grind bands—and ten times better than any crust of yore. The raw and muddy production values of early Terrorizer, Napalm Death, and Carcass doesn’t follow Phobia and their revolving roster, this time tapping Intronaut drummer Danny […]

Straightaway most of you will probably be wondering “Who’s this Jennie Tebler character, and what has she done for the metal scene that warrants her name tagged onto the front end of some bands moniker?” The short answer to that question is very little. An interesting fact about Ms. Tebler is that she collaborated with […]

Following in the mold of metal duos Black Cobra and Early Man, German doom deuce Beehoover offers colossal slabs of metal from bassist Ingmar Petersen and drummer Claus-Peter Hamisch. As the rhythm section of doom rockers Voodooshock (who reportedly parted ways with Petersen and Hamisch), they channeled ’70s-era Black Sabbath into Wall of Sleep-like compositions. […]

I am about to rant and demean this puppy inside and out. So beware. CD’s like this just aggravate me to no end. This will stand as one of the year’s worst records in my list. Deadlock where fairly new to the scene a few years ago and showed some potential in the female/male fronted […]

Based on the My Skin is Cold EP earlier year, I had hopes that perhaps Satyricon would start stepping out of the sterile little comfort zone they’ve created for themselves of late. Maybe a little more textural or structural variety, or perhaps just something with a faster tempo. I wasn’t expecting the return of The […]

First off, great title, now how do you live up to it, and why has it not been used before? Who is Chthonian? Finntroll vocalist Matias Lillmans’ previous band, which he is still in, of course. What else is Chthonian? Three talented guys playing black metal the way they wanted it to sound, and that […]

Many lovers of Metal music tend to venture into the realm of Prog Rock from time to time. Take into consideration the popularity of bands like Spock’s Beard, Enchant and The Flower Kings among certain Metal fans (usually those into the more Progressive side of Metal) and this is easy to see. Lucky for these […]

I’ve come to the conclusion that melodic death metal is not dead – far from it. Yes, it is extremely over-saturated, what with everyone and their brother doing some sort of Gothenburg inspired band, then you have to take into consideration all the American metalcore (and worldwide copycats) bands aping and raping the style, but […]

To an untrained ear or mind, a frightening violation of the senses like this is hard to stomach. The soundscape presented is bleak, unsettling, and chaotic, yet melodic and textured at the same time. If you’re into the disturbed extremities of heavy music then look no further. There is nothing pretty about Haven and one […]

I really wanted to like this album. Well… I do like it, but I wanted to love it. I wanted to never get enough of it. But I got enough after the first couple spins. Don’t get me wrong, I love Loomis’ playing and I love Nevermore. But this could have been so much better, […]

Germany’s favorite sons of thrash are back once again with their fifth album (six if you count thrash anthems as an actual album) since their reunions about a decade ago, and they still have it for the most part. The acronym that is the album’s title contains the first letter of each of the ten […]

Sothis have finally unleashed some label backed mayhem upon my ears and its about time. I reviewed their demo elsewhere and I was surprised it took them so long to hook up with someone. They were from the Dimmu Borgir school of symphonic black metal back then and they certainly retain that influence. However they […]

Altars debut effort is a demo of experimental death metal. Coming in at 24 minutes it’s a short one, although the last song is 9 minutes long. One of the big problems they run into here is the production because it’s a bit too muddy for you to hear what they really want to do […]

I like sweets – occasionally. Usually I find some new candy that’s relentlessly addictive, and I binge on it for awhile, until I tire of it. The same can be said of a band like Raunchy. They have a sound that is ridiculously catchy and formulated for mass appeal – the kind of stuff that […]

For well over 20 years now, Hirax has been feeding its rabid cult following heaping, fiery helpings of tried and true Thrash Metal. Now the Hirax live experience has been documented for the rest of the world to see with Thrash And Destroy, a live DVD/CD weighed down with more of the Metal you crave. […]

I wanted this album to be bad, so I could redouble the album’s badness with some bad one-liners referencing the album, i.e. “I can find the space for this…in the garbage,” or better yet, “Cynic are the kings of those who know…how to suck.” You get the gist; I wanted to use their song titles […]

“Post-rock” is always a genre I’m reluctant to throw around because of its inherent “what the fuck genre is that?” status. For my part, slapping “post-rock” anywhere near or around a band has many times put them in listener’s purgatory, and I have shoved numerous worthy post-rock bands aside prior to hearing their albums that […]

Judging by the scrawled logo and temple backdrop, I’d hoped this EP would be a black metal offering, since I was in the mood for something new in that vein. Nope, these Aussies play death metal, but of the odd and evocative variety, which is just as good. There’s a lot of US influence here […]

While I’m sure it’s been by their own choice and almost certainly in their best financial interest, Behemoth have had a bit of a nasty habit of jumping into bed with a different record company every other release they’ve notched on their belt over the years. To usher in their new business relationship with the […]

Though hailing from Italy, Thy Majestie have less in common with fellow countrymen Rhapsody than most (present company included) might immediately presume. However, upon hearing the Sicilian sextet firsthand many will likely draw comparisons from other regions of the world, Sweden in particular. Sharing much stylistically with the Swedish power metal scene, Thy Majestie sits […]

Formed in 2006, Chicago-based Progressive Power Metal quintet Mindwarp Chamber meditates upon the imperfection of the world we live in, treating the everlasting subjects of hatred, stupidity, greed, vengeance and hopelessness in their vivid metaphorical lyrics. Rarely does a metal album’s verbal content manage to divert my attention but Delusional Reality did just this, for […]