So if you took the angular, earthy percussive assault of Kylesa or Leviathan era Mastodon, threw in the stoner heft of High On Fire, the sorrowful dirges of Crowbar and a very slight hint of psychedelic doom like Rwake, Minsk or Samothrace then name the band after Ivan Drago’s famous line from Rocky IV, you […]
While you don’t have to be depressed to enjoy depressive black metal, there’s probably only so much Walknut and Ruins of Beverast-style grimness you can take. That’s why a band like Svarti Loghin is a nice find. Like Drudkh, Alcest or Agalloch, they bring a warmer, more pleasantly wistful sound to the black metal experience […]
If you still think of classic Metal bands as veritable dinosaurs, not dying off soon enough to make way for more advanced and sophisticated contemporaries, then you are sadly misinformed about the current state of the genre. In fact, it’s as large as ever, and more often than not, a trove of new ideas being […]
The debut album, Hate Takes its Form, from this Danish death metal act was a pleasant surprise back in 2007 and a nice find for Deepsend Records. So I was really looking forward to this EP, especially after hearing from the label owner that is was to contain 3 rather tasty cover tracks as well […]
Formerly a medieval black metal act, this Italian three-piece has followed an Ulver-like trajectory to become something much more ambient, experimental and textural. I’m usually not quite sure to expect from this sort of thing, as it could either be 45 minutes of indulgent, formless studio wankery or an actual album experience. Luckily, Vuoto Spazio […]
From the opening moments of that chainsaw riff and bruising bass/drum propulsion on “Smoke of Death” you just know that you are hearing something some of us like to call “the real deal.” It is just something about that raw, live-like production and bullshit-free bass/drum/guitar attack on Dishammer’s Vintage Addiction that cannot be copied by […]
Ugh. I rather enjoyed the 2006 debut, Existence from North Carolina’s The Demonstration as it displayed the melodic chops of the North Carolina metalcore scene with a confidence and heavy dose of Prayer For Cleansing/Between the Buried and Me guitar work. However, guitarists Charles Matheny and vocalist Trevor Underwood have since left the band, replaced […]
Here’s another one I’ve been putting off for some time. Each time I put it on, I just couldn’t quite wrap my head around it, and had to shut it off. But as of late, I’ve been digging on a little more oddball, left of center and/or progressive stuff from my norm, and Frozen Circus […]
I’m not a big Moonspell fan. Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard they’re back in top form with their recent releases, but I still haven’t heard them. In fact, I never listened to the band back in their Wolfheart heyday, so I recently checked that one out – and was terribly bored by the whole thing. I […]
Like Satyricon and Thorns? Then you’re bound to like this Polish act, who combine their mechanized brand of black metal with a variety of spacey effects and add-ons. Maniacal, undulating saxophones, distorted vocal samples and early 80s synth effects are thrown into the black metal mix on “Axis of Diagram.” Some carnivalesque, Arcturus-style menace and […]
Fifteen years and nine albums in, Suidakra’s Crogacht is not only exactly what you would expect form the band but an inviting return to their earlier sound. The past few albums had some missteps (2005’s Command to Charge comes to mind) but 2006’s Caledonia showed the band coming around. What is displayed on 2009’s Crogacht […]
Apt title, Janvs. Naming your band after the two-faced Roman deity is a good way to underscore the dual nature of your identity. In this case, it’s a fresh blend of black metal’s speedy ferocity with a more contemplative, emotional side. It might be too early to call these guys the Italian black metal Opeth, […]
This is the first release by a one-man project out of Germany. 24-year old Pius Grave handles songwriting, vocals and all instruments, including a triple guitar attack. Before putting this in, I had no idea what to expect, but this was a nice surprise. Soulthreat performs a combination of progressive and classic heavy metal, with […]
I avoided this one for awhile, because well, truth be told I haven’t really dug on any new metalcore in quite some time, and all the albums I actually wanted to check out, with expectations and everything, failed me. So here we have this fresh band from the UK, The Eyes of a Traitor (TEOAT […]
First off, I’d like to congratulate Australia’s Brazen Bull (an ancient torture device) for the incredibly professional and well done promotional package they sent me; a folder complete with a professional, full digipack CD EP, glossy photo, a CDR with images, press sheet, logo as well as a very nice letter asking to be reviewed. In […]
So to coincide with the band’s current US Pagan Knights run with Suidakra and Tyr, Scotland’s purveyors of Pirate metal have given us a 4 song EP to tide us over until the next album, slated for a 2009 release. The EP consists of 1 new song (the 6 minute title track), a reworked track […]
Though the third release from the newly restarted Strikefirst Records won’t appeal to too many readers of this site, it will appeal to fans of the first As Cities Burn album as well as the likes of Misery Signals, Means and such; jangly, layered, melodic worshipcore with an overabundance of emo/clean vocals, that as usual […]
Coming from Phoenix, Arizona we have Fracture Point with their independently released debut full-length, Inherit the Downfall. A four piece, Fracture Point blend elements of thrash, groove and semi-technical playing in a style that is distinctly American, drawing comparison to Lamb of God, Pantera and Meshuggah. What you won’t find on Inherit the Downfall is […]
Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. Seen Through the Veils of Darkness. The Somberlain. In the Nightside Eclipse. If you already own or know these albums, then there’s nothing here that’s new or fresh – or that you haven’t already heard recycled elsewhere over and over. I hate to start off a review on a negative note, but […]
Three nasty, noisy albums into their career, Sweden’s Crowpath continue to make caustic, brittle attack that seems to be a perfect fit for Willowtip and gives the label’s relatively quiet 2008, a noisy, discordant ending. With a turbulent, chaotic sound akin to a being stuck in a sonic landslide, Crowpath’s largely unclassifiable mix of grind, […]
Where as most deathcore in 2008 was content to prolapse your bowels with breakdowns and little else, the full length debut from Belgium’s Days of Betrayal is actually one of the more complete deathcore albums I’ve heard, with an actual focus on songs and riffs and opposed to endless open note beat downs. Released in […]
Vocalist Andreas Hedlund, also known as the infamous Mr. V or Vintersorg, is probably the busiest man I can think of in Metal music. His ever-lengthening discography always seems to impress me in some fashion, though his style is an acquired taste at times. His bands Borknagar and Vintersorg alone are regarded as some of […]
Imagine a Civil War battlefield, littered with the lumpen shapes of fallen soldiers from each side. As twilight falls and cries rise up, one man – barely out of boyhood – squirms in the blood-matted grass. His lips cracked with thirst and his stomach knotted in hunger, he drags himself to the canteens and rucksacks […]
Before starting this review proper, I have a small rant to get off my chest: what the fuck is up with all the delayed North American release dates? This album was released in Europe way back in October, and here we are in February finally getting it in the US. There are several albums I […]
The much maligned deathcore genre looks to be off to an explosive start in 2009 with the likes of Oceano and this sophomore release from Rose Funeral. I was actually surprised at this album, not only because Metal Blade signed them after the band virtually split up after 2007s Crucify Kill Rot, only leaving guitarist […]