As a child, one of the movies that left an indelible imprint on my psyche was 1978’s Watership Down. As a five year old I was too young to grasp the political, religious, social and possibly misogynistic undercurrent of the movie based on Richard Adam’s deeply engrossing literary works-I was too busy being horrified by […]

‘Bring me my wine’, Ihsahn screams at the start of angL, like a tyrant celebrating dominion over all he sees. It’s a fitting sentiment for a man who’s remained part of black metal’s elite even long after vacating the throne he once conquered with Emperor. And in a reminder of his still-potent might, he launches […]

Mikael Akerfeldt has returned to Bloodbath, and there was much rejoicing. However Dan Swano is gone now and that has had an effect on this EP moreso than Akerfeldt’s return. While the vocals are an improvement over Pete Tagtgren on Nightmares Made Flesh, the songs themselves are missing something. As opposed to the early Morbid Angel/Entombed […]

Coldworker have provided us with their second album and what a revelation. I confess I didn’t really listen to the first one that much so I can’t say that much for their progress since then but Rotting Paradise has blown my mind. Coldworker remind me of an amalgam of The Forsaken and Hate Plow, due […]

When you play in a group of extremely talented musicians who are all trying to grab their piece of the spotlight, it’s no surprise that, at some point, you’d want to do your own record and put yourself in the spotlight. Already considered one of the best vocalists in metal, Warrel Dane now indulges his […]

Continually overlooked in the doom scene yet consistently brilliant and evolving, Ireland’s Mourning Beloveth, have yet again improved from album to album. This time, the band has improved on the brilliant A Murderous Circus by adding even more classic doom flair to their already draining funeral doom lope. As with A Murderous Circus, Mourning Beloveth […]

The last album I heard from these Finnish doomsters was 2006’s The Return to Nothing and it was a solid if unspectacular slab of rending, Finnish death/doom, and Descend does not change the formula though it annoyingly flirts with brilliance amid its paint by numbers growling mope. The recipe is pretty simple for those that […]

Cannibalised, the third full length from Biomechanical, is my introduction to the band. I caught wind of the band earlier this year through another site and promptly checked out their Myspace. The one song I heard from this album there left me reeling my jaw from the floor – it was like hearing the chaos […]

I’ve been struggling with this review for a while now, first because it’s my first exposure to Virginia’s Arghoslent, and second, because of the obvious controversial themes and lyrics the band brings to the table. To skirt the band’s apparent racist and Anti Semitic views would feel like a cheap way out, and to focus […]

So I’m laying in bed in my pre-sleep haze with my Ipod on random. And after a few tracks of the expected deathcore, death metal and black metal, my Bose head phones are filled with some just stunning, sumptuous, ultra layered and shimmering post rock acoustics and delicate vocals. I check my Ipod discover the […]

There is beating the dead horse and then there is kicking the skeleton after all the meat has rotted off. Horna milk all they can out of an idea but discard it before it becomes too putrid. Once again we have ‘unoriginal’ black metal with rehashed elements highlighting past glories, on once again, if you […]

Much like Bloodbath’s Resurrection Through Carnage in 2002, the debut from Hail of Bullets is an album forged by a group of death metal veterans plying a pure homage to classic death metal. Headed by vocalist Martin Van Drunen (Pestilence, Asphyx) and joined by guitarists Paul Baayans and Stephan Gebedi (Thanatos), bassist Theo van Eekelen […]

Judging by their name, you’d expect Herrschaft to be a German industrial act, all brooding Teutonic sturm und drang. You’d only be partly right – they’re actually French, and spew a harsh, danceable mix of pounding industrial, bristling electro and crunchy metal riffs. The vocals – heavily processed, of course – are definitely the most […]

Hailing from the Netherlands, Heidevolk are Napalm’s latest folk metal darlings. Hot on the heels of the likes of Svartsot and Alestorm, Heidevolk might be the best of the bunch, and arguably the best folk metal album I have heard since Ásmegin’s Hin Vordende Sod & Sø. Apart from the expected gallop of Viking-tinged hymns […]

Swiss Straight edge hardcore act Cataract return with their fifth album of burly, chugging metallic hardcore that won’t really make much of an impact on the genre, but is a sturdy release none the less. However, as when the band changed things up from Martyr’s Melodies to With Triumph Comes Loss from melodic metalcore to […]

There is not much about modern contemporary modern hardcore that excites me any more, as I’m pretty much just holding my breath for the impending Killing The Dream release. Then along comes a slew of releases from the quiet of late Saw Her Ghost Records (Empires, Across Tundras, Beast in the Field), and included is […]

Three years is a long period of time in general, but in music, it can feel like an eternity. Its bad enough when most bands make you wait two years, which is the accepted and often standard gap average between albums (unless you’re Shai Hulud, Metallica, Tool, etc) but three can begin to stretch the […]

Hailing from St Petersburg, Russia, Stalwart bills itself as modern death/thrash metal. That’s being modest, though – this is a progressive metal band through and through, melding elements of Meshuggah, Nevermore and Symphony X. After an ominous, symphonic intro, opener “System is Insane” unleashes a blast of Morbid Angel-like syncopation, taking a bludgeoning approach to […]

I tell you, if you don’t know what to expect from Zero Hour, it can be a somewhat overwhelming experience. They’ve gotten a new singer since I last heard them (which was the amazing Towers Of Avarice album) and seem to have really cranked up the intensity level. They were already heavier than most other […]

Original Dream Theater vocalist Charlie Dominici returns with the third installment of his epic, conceptual trilogy. I must confess to ignoring the first two chapters strictly based on Charlie Dominici’s presence. I never liked his vocal style in Dream Theater, so I surmised that I would not like it in his own band either. I […]

Female-fronted Epic Power Metal…this description alone should be enough to inform you if you’re interested in going any further. Still with me? Ok, then. Edenbridge is what I call a “Genre Band” (I need to copyright that). If you’re into the specific genre to which they belong, then no arguable reason can be found for […]

It’s no surprise that Earache took the liberty of releasing a compilation of strictly new school thrash ‘revivalists’, as their roster boasts more of these bands (Bonded by Blood, Evile, Municipal Waste, SSS, Gama Bomb, and Violator all appear here) than any other major metal label. Thrashing Like a Maniac, just as any good comp […]

Is this a feeble scream from the depths of a prison unknown? “I’m getting out soon, look at me, I’m still relevant, I can still channel the power from dark dungeons,” or is he just a lost and forgotten Kristian. An anthology release in advance of a prison release. There are many bands with controversial […]

I’ve got mixed feelings on the latest record from Circle II Circle. On one hand, Delusions of Grandeur has some really good songs, perhaps some of the best in the history of the band. On the other hand, the flatlined mix is incredibly weak and makes those great songs difficult to enjoy. In places, it […]

Genghis Tron are such a unclassifiable, hard to review act, that any attempt to give a reader an idea of the band’s sound just seems redundant lip service, but as it may, one of Relapse’s newer signings have released their sophomore album, and it deserves your ear despite my forthcoming clumsy attempt at describing it. […]