It would seem that every time I come across a Cradle of Filth CD, I feel slightly more inclined to school people. Not proverbially school them, but literally. I cast aside grammatically challenged losers like moldy bread, begin using more sophisticated words like “assuaged” and “indubitably” in daily speech, and resume my lifelong quest to […]
Released with relatively little fanfare, Unearth’s fourth studio album shows that this Boston band, while certainly never able to attain the level of magnificence of The Stings of Conscience, is one of the most consistent and predictably satisfying American metal acts around. The formula, as with like minded act Killswitch Engage, is simple; deft Swedish […]
The strangeness that is Torche has returned to my speakers once again and I could not be happier. This album is in and out like the wind with thirteen songs in thirty-six minutes. They have often been described as a stoner-metal equivalent to The Foo Fighters and I don’t think that’s an off base comparison […]
Despite releasing now three albums of remarkable Metal music, England’s My Silent Wake seems to go largely unnoticed. Part of this, I believe, is that they don’t belong to a singular genre. The band deftly combines elements of Doom, Death and Folk Metal utilizing four vocalists while creating waves of melancholic mastery. One can find […]
These are the kinds of reviews that are hard to do. When there are things that are clearly very good about an album coupled with things that seem to hold it back from becoming essential, it can be confusing trying to write them. If the good is over-praised, you run the risk of disappointing people. […]
Memory Garden has been cranking out its own brand of Traditional Doom Metal (laced with Power Metal) for well over 10 years now. With its fifth release (and first since 2000) Carnage Carnival, the band proves itself to be a lasting force in the Metal scene. It’s easy to expect great things when the band […]
Bands like Kalmah are really true gems and they wear their hard work on their sleeves. Once labeled as a Children of Bodom clone, Kalmah have consistently matured and crafted their music into one of today’s most noticeable and dominating symphonic death metal sounds. Where Bodom and melodic death metal in general have failed, Kalmah […]
3 months ago, this was the perfect summer album; peppy, energetic, uplifting melodic hardcore with injections of pop/punk catchiness that you hummed along to while driving with the windows open that came across like a Christian Bane mixed with any popular pop punk act (Blink 182, Yellowcard, Sum 41, etc) but now in the grey […]
Anymore with Facedown Records, you know what you are getting; some form of quality Christian metal, whether it be the melodic death metal (War of Ages, A Plea For Purging), catchy poppy metalcore/hardcore (Take It back, Kingston Falls), or traditional hardcore (Call to Preserve, Sleeping Giant), and now we have Wrench in the Works (basically […]
Transcending Bizarre?, a somewhat eccentric Avant-garde Black Metal name from Central Macedonia (Greece), indeed put a huge question mark before me with their second album The Serpent’s Manifolds as I struggled to come up with at least a couple of bands their music could be compared to. Nonetheless, I will dare to assume them to […]
Bahimiron has two things going for them. They hail from Texas and they play crisp, sharp war black metal. They have been around for a little while but I did not hear them til the As The Sun Burns split though it was not til late 2006 with Pure Negativism: In Allegiance With Self Wreckage, […]
I go through phases where I’ve had just about all the power and prog that I can stand, and I’m in one of those right now. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, I’ll admit that I’m feeling kind of uninspired to write about a lot of the CDs sitting on my desk now. That […]
If it were 1988, these guys would probably be in luck. I’m sure some major label would snap them up, throw a little makeup and hairspray on them and give them a big push. Unfortunately, 20 years later, this brand of hard rock is a little bit tougher sell. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t […]
After a relatively quiet 2008, Willowtip has literally unleashed the hounds with three top notch grindcore releases; Phobia’s 22 random Acts of Violence, Maruta’s In Narcosis, and this the devastating follow up to Kill the Clients impressive debut Escalation of Hostility. Though still steeped in the steroid fueled, punky Napalm Death -ish grind and blast […]
I always thought Trivium was a decent band, but I just couldn’t get past Matt Heafy’s monotonous screams. It’s no surprise then that their last record, The Crusade was one of my favorite releases of 2006. The screams were pretty much gone, there were better hooks, and despite being complete Metallica worship, I thought it […]
Singapore can boast of Abhorer, Sadiztik Impaler, Istidraj, and Impiety. The mighty Impiety, it seems, has been around forever. In truth Dominator is just their eleventh release. Impiety has its origins in pre-Darkthrone black metal, when the bass guitar was still a vital instrument and as such they are usually referred to as black thrash, […]
While technically stunning, Beneath the Massacre’s transition from deathcore to a more technical death metal band on Mechanics of Dysfunction was a little short on memorability. So here is the follow up and while stylistically the band has continued their batshit insane musical pyrotechnics and uber busy delivery, they have managed to deliver a slightly […]
The terms “symphonic”, “progressive”, and “power” are the Blessed Trinity of Metal that accompanies a lot of present-day bands trying their fortune in becoming a new Savatage, Symphony X or Angra. With their three albums, New Jersey-based quintet Suspyre have shown that they are versed in any of the three. While the debut The Silvery […]
This three-piece outfit from North Carolina plays a groovy, rollicking brand of stoner/sludge which comes off like the combination of (old) Mastodon, Melvins and Black Sabbath. Although the EP is only 23 minutes long, it doesn’t waste any time and gets right to the good stuff: plenty of massive, doomy riffs and bashing, groovy rhythm. […]
The US may be enjoying a mini thrash revival this year with the likes of Warbringer, Toxic Holocaust and Municipal Waste, but the genre never really went away overseas. Case in point, France’s Sografalth, who mash together the raw, manic energy of classic 80s material with a heavier, death-influenced delivery and a healthy DIY attitude […]
It doesn’t get more succinct than that title for the third album from Australia’s down-tuned, grind masters, The Day Everything Became Nothing. Plain white cover, 10 unnamed numbered tracks and 27 minutes of gurgling, groove filled, monstrously mid paced grindcore. While admittedly this sort of stuff appeals to a niche audience that laps up the […]
Australian industrial/death outfit The Amenta detonated a explosion of epic, mechanized hatred with 2004’s excellent Occasus, but they’ve been quiet since then. They’ve since refocused their vicious brand of blastbeats and barbed-wire riffage into n0n, a harrowing journey into the heart of a decaying cityscape. If you’ve never heard The Amenta before, be ready for […]
Here’s one I’ve been anticipating for awhile. Pitch Black Forecast is the new project from Jason Popson, formerly half of Mushroomhead’s vocal attack. While I was curious as to what kind of direction Popson would go in leaving his former mega-band, I was more interested in the fact that the godly Gene Hoglan was to […]
As a stop gap between albums, Obituary and Candlelight have given us this tasty little 4 track EP; two new tracks (“Forces Realign” and “Left to Die””), a recording of the posthumous debut album’s title track, “Slowly We Rot” and a cover of Celtic Frost’s “Dethroned Emperor”. There’s also video for “Evil Ways” from the […]
A little Doom, a dash of Sludge, a hint of Stoner and a whole lot of Metal comprise the music of Canada’s Bison B.C. Mixing these influences into a cohesive concoction could have been no easy task, but Bison B.C makes it sound natural…jumping from grooves to melodies to fast to slow tempos has never sounded […]