Mellotron is a fledgling Prog Metal band from Michigan. This, their debut EP, is loaded with some accomplished musicianship, tight changes, nice ambience and good variation. Don’t let the EP tag fool you, these 5 songs clock in at right around 35 minutes. With songs ranging from just over 5 to just over 9 minutes, […]
Hot on the heels on Century Media’s Kivimetsan Druidi, come another female fronted, dirt, fur and paint covered folk metal band infusing classical/orchestral elements into the tried and true Finnish take on folk/pagan/Viking metal as plied by the likes of Ensiferum, Turisas and such. The results are largely successful, mostly due to Helena Haaparanta who […]
I was anxious to check out Bridges to Burn, the new 16 album and the first since 2003’s Zoloft Smile, which was not only a top 10 selection for me from that year, but also remains one of my all-time favorites. There is just something about the combination of harsh, riff-based groove, the easily remembered […]
Being a Hate Forest, Astrofaes, Nokturnal Mortum, Lucifugum, fan made it an obvious leap to Khors. Mysticism is now the third Khors album I have been on board for, and as it turns out, they have only three albums released. Even though band members are shared with the above mentioned bands as well as Runes […]
One look at the six members of Marionette and you will probably think Emo or some sort of Goth is about to punish your ears. Dressed like something I would expect from AFI or Marilyn Masons children, this Swedish act is more serious than you think. I for one was fooled until I popped in […]
When I was supposed to get this promo, the actual disc was lost in the mail. All I received was the jewel case liner, which opens up to a larger poster version of the cover art. I promptly hung it on my wall (having no idea what they sound like, but I thought it looked […]
Seriously, what are you expecting to read here? I suppose I’d better write something I guess…. 20 years, 11 studio albums, 1 million records sold worldwide, Cannibal Corpse are the very epitome of death metal consistency and even though the band is often still referred to as the band Chris Barnes used to be in […]
Nurtured by bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Saxon, Accept and Helloween, I don’t remember being much of a Grave Digger fan in my early years of metalhood. Yet, these Germans have been around since 1980 and have a lot of experience under their belt, which is thoroughly proven by the thirteen studio […]
The only good thing about Page 26, a five-track cd from Italian Heavy Metal quintet Ibridoma, is that these guys are really lucky to have such a good vocalist as Christian Bartolacci at their disposal. The man does have what it takes and even reminds me of great Robert Plant at his most inspired moments. […]
Iscariah is not a newcomer to the world of metal; after all, the bugger was on Immortal’s last two records playing oft-inaudible bass, as well as the more bass-aware black metal troupe Wurdulak, who added, if nothing else, another couple of metal albums with a ravaged nun on the cover. He’s also been in Necrophagia, […]
I like it when material to be reviewed is not only supplied with complete info about the band but also with a multipage booklet and full cover art. Apparently, such a disc is supposed to get an extra point from a reviewer as it can always be reckoned as a worthy collectible item and a […]
Hailing from Italy, Concept Project is an instrumental trio on a young domestic label SG Records that play a rather unpretentious fusion of Blues, Rock’n’Roll and Funk with a bit of Hard Rock and Jazz components. I doubt this style of music will go down too well with the average Metal fan, yet it might […]
So what if you took the three guitar, Brown note devastation of The Acacia Strain and mixed it with the worshipful heft of Sleeping Giant and other Christian hardcore bands? You’d get The Great Commission and Strikefirst’s best (and heaviest) release since their re-ignition and arguably heavier than anything parent label Facedown Record has released. […]
More Christian metal here, though this time more in the form of the choppy, technical deathcore with melodic chops akin to For Today, A Thousand Time Repent, Hereafter An Odyssey and such. Obviously, folks that hate deathcore and Christian metal have already clicked of this review, but if you enjoy both or either your could […]
I’ve never been a huge God Forbid fan. I’ve given their albums cursory listens, but essentially lumped them in with the likes of All That Remains, Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage and such as far as they ply chorus driven American Metal that has one foot in the mainstream and one foot in the underground, and […]
I didn’t even try pronouncing Mictlantecuhtli – Aztec God of the Dead – and it’s a bitch to spell too. You may want to learn the pronunciation because if you dig Warriors of the Black Sun as much as I do you’ll not want to sound moronic when that name falls out of your mouth. […]
While Willowtip’s trio of releases from Maruta, Kill the Client and Phobia certainly stole a lot of the acclaim for grindcore in 2008, here comes this belated release in my mailbox (along with the new Birdflesh) from the always quality grindmongers over in Czech Republic, Obscene Productions, and I’ll be damned if it isn’t one […]
Death metal from Congo? Really? When I reviewed Devast’s Art of Extermination a while ago it stood as the only death metal act from the continent of Africa (Algeria to be exact) I’d come across at the time. Now comes Postulate of Mass Genocide by Infertile Surrogacy and the question becomes, “Is African brutal death […]
Ladies (if there any that read this) and Gentlemen: I give you the first album of 2009 that will be vying for a spot on my 2009 year end list. I’ll admit, my expectations weren’t too awful high for the sophomore release from Ohio’s Christian melodeath/thrashers Woe of Tyrants as their Tribunal Records debut, Behold the […]
With 2006s Karma. Bloody. Karma, San Diego’s Vegetarian grinders added a sickly pallor to their chaotic deathgrind, and while that element seem to have been reigned in and the cleaner tones of Humanure and To Serve Man making a return, the resulting balance between sludgy oozing throes and deft caustic grindcore makes for an album […]
Billy and Jill – Razorback Records’ dynamic duo – continue to unearth gore-splattered death metal and thrash. And don’t even start with the goregrind thing, as the vast majority of Razorback acts have fallen into one or both of the aforementioned categories. Anyway, Dallas’s Decrepitaph are a fine addition to the roster and continue a […]
The great Absu moving from ideal to actual. The ideal lineup we all know, the actual lineup is now on display. The question is is the comparative equivalent Candlemass with just Leif, or Gorgoroth with no founders? Take one member from an acclaimed lineup and give him the band name and the reigns, disaster awaits. […]
These are the sound waves we should be blasting out into space for other cultures to hear, not Elvis and the Beatles. Other worlds might actually send emissaries instead of shunning us. Way back in 2001 Vindsval announced the title of his next Blut aus Nord album as Dialogue With The Stars. After several side […]
The haters can hate all they want, but I stand by my conviction that As the Palaces Burn and Ashes of the Wake are two of the most satisfying metal albums of the past decade. Lamb of God‘s (official) debut New American Gospel was impressive just for its caustic, spastic fury, but Palaces took that […]
Halo of Flies Records are not particularly productive when it comes to releases, but when they do release something it usually gets my attention-for example Fall of Efrafa, Protestant and now Wisconsin’s Malachi and this release which consists of the bands previous two 2008 vinyl only releases (Malachi and Wither to Cover the Tread) on […]