What a title. It just conjures up the image of Russell Crowe leading his hordes of battle scarred legions in the opening of Ridley Scott’s bloody master piece ‘Gladiator.’ What’s more, With Dead Hands Rising’s new opus wouldn’t be a bad soundtrack to accompany the mayhem that unfolds in those opening scenes, the band even […]

Hardcore and Hip Hope are two musical spheres that share a multitude of similarities whilst simultaneously also sharing a myriad of massive differences. However, there are given certainties, both are cultures, both are lifestyles, both are identities, if you are hardcore or hip hop, you let everyone know about it via all aesthetic accompaniments. Whilst […]

Now this band is really rolling. After the misfire of their stodgy Lifeforce debut ‘Murder Within the Means of Existence,’ Burning Skies cut the fat, and unleashed the absolute bestial Desolation, in 2006. This, their third release for Lifeforce is even better, showing growth in a number of key areas that needed to be developed […]

I know there are people out there who will hold a grudge against Metallica until the day they die. Over the past couple of decades fans of the band, as the song on Death Magnetic says, have been broken, beat and scarred, and a lot of them still have a lot of anger. To be […]

Let’s say you’ve got a car. It’s a nice car. It looks good, it’s dependable, it’s comfortable, it gets good gas mileage. You really like it. Then, let’s say, you get your hands on a sleek sports car that’s loaded with options. It’s faster, more powerful, has a little something extra. Then gas hits $4 […]

Through Your Silence is a metalcore/deathcore band from Italy. While not terrible at what they do, Whispers to the Void does little to change my mind about deathcore or offer up anything new. All the expected elements are here – chugging breakdowns, the occasional blast beat, Gothenburg melody, vocals that work as a balancing act […]

There are three ‘core’ records I was really looking forward to this year; Ligeia’s Bad News, the new All Shall Perish and this follow up to the excellent Nocturne. Well, with Bad News being a huge disappointment and the jury still out on Awaken the Dreamers (which I’m still trying to figure out), where does […]

Oh dear. As much as I dug the debut from these Massachusetts metalcore lads and as much as I actually like the guys themselves after meeting them and subsequently staying in contact with them, it pains me to write this review. I knew something was awry when I saw the cover, but I held out […]

As I first heard Milwaukee’s Protestant on their As Dead As We Look release and now their  latest full length, I’m more confident in anointing this group as the heir to the mantle left by Cursed; crumbling, antagonistic and sludgy but intelligent hardcore with a few segments of well placed and thoughtful ambience, all wrapped […]

Yeah I know this came out 2 years ago, but as mush as I enjoyed 2005s Abode of the Dead I thought I’d give this some props. Plus, I’m not responsible for when stuff arrives in my mailbox, OK Either way, this slab of crusty, earthy Canadian hardcore with members of In Dying Days, The […]

Hot on the heels of the bands recent 2008 release, Peasant, Gilead Media gives us a CD digi-pack re-issue of the this Louisiana sludge band’s 2007 LP only debut, originally released on One Eye Records. I love everything about this band; their simple name, their logo, their artwork (the new artwork even seems to match the […]

I praise lots of bands and albums, many of which probably more so than they truly deserve – what can I say? I tend to be an overly enthusiastic metal head. Though if there is one band that deserves every ounce of praise I heap upon them album after album, its Regina, Canada’s Into Eternity. […]

This is old school black crossed with Shatraug metal, or put another way, Mercyful Fate meets Sargeist, can’t go wrong with that. At first I didn’t even read the logo, just popped the cd in and looked at the cover art. It would hold up well as a King Diamond cover and I figured this […]

I know I’ll upset a lot of thrash purists by saying this but, for me, the fourth album from Detroit’s Walls of Jericho, despite the bands early metallic hardcore, Crisis wanna be sound, actually has more in common with the current thrash revival than anything else. Sure, they are still fronted by the female Jamey […]

For me, the allure of Falconer, one of the handful of power metal acts I can tolerate, was they were essentially a power metal continuation of Mithotyn, one of the best Viking metal acts of their time. However, after three well received albums, internal strife resulted in a new vocalist and the stylistically different Grime […]

Well, Profound Lore has done it again, uncovering another gem of a black metal record, this time from the depths of Cork, Ireland.Though cut from the same cloth as label mates Cobalt and Krallice, and with some similarities to the likes of Wolves in the Throne room, and to some extent, the new Withered, as […]

I don’t have anything against female vocalist in metal, it’s just that I prefer the more aggressive and suiting sounds of male vocalists. Sure, I like Arch Enemy and Light This City, but Angela Gossow and Laura Nichol are growlers, and suit their respective bands sound, not to mention my personal preference. I’ve just never […]

Though both located on the same side of the metal spectrum, its hard to see Jesu and Battle of Mice doing a split together. Obviously, any two artists can do a split, but I feel the point of a split is to make one coherent, meaningful work. Look at the Fordirelifesake and Deluge split, or […]

Here’s a fine folk metal album from Russia’s Arkona that continues Napalm’s recent run of solid folk metal albums (Svartsot, Heidevolk, Alestorm and to some extent Hollenthon) and should please fans of typically Russian/Eastern European bands like Butterfly Temple, Obtest, Skyforger Pagan Reign as well as the usual folk overload fare like Finntroll and Asmegin. […]

“Class is cancelled.”The first words on Ruling Class Cancelled are bellowed by Jason Netherton of Misery Index after a riffalicious introduction, before their not-so-grandiose seven-and-a-half minute side of the split gets underway. And I mean not-so-grandiose in the best way possible; I mean, who the fuck wants grindcore that drags on forever? “Not I,” says […]

I would be an idiot to say this is a terrible album, but I couldn’t pass up saying this is perhaps Neuraxis’ most pedestrian moment. Where once bombast and sheer power dominated this, one of the most celebrated of the Canadian death metal bands around, now it would seem they prefer a different approach; one […]

Adding to Metal Blade’s fine 2008 death metal releases like Hail of Bullets, Hate Eternal, Brain Drill and The Rotted comes this low key artwork and logo clad, out of nowhere, debut release from the UK’s Trigger the Bloodshed. While the likes of Mithras, Spearhead, Man Must Die, Detrimentium and Sarpanitum have slowly exhumed the […]

Metal Blade is having a good year, even in the crowded metalcore/deathcore genre. They already have the likes of The Black Dahlia Murder, Job For a Cowboy and The Red Chord on their roster then, 2008 has also seen solid releases by Whitechapel and Fate as well as future releases by the likes of Rose […]

I’m a college student. I don’t own a car. This means I do a lot of walking and bus riding. With all this semi-idle time on my hands, its a blessing to have music such as Sombres Forêts. Royaume De Glace (which translates to “Kingdom of Ice”) is, to get right to the point, an […]

Here is a very tasty little17 minute, 6 track EP of fierce, angular but intelligent hardcore featuring former Reversal of Man vocalist Matt Coplon as well as other veterans from the Tampa, Florida hardcore scene and even former Brutality demo drummer Ken Karg (yes, that Brutality). With a darkly nihilistic tone and atmosphere littered with […]