Wow – here we have an unsigned act from Hamburg, Germany called Storm of Sorrows that labels need to snap to attention and watch, because these guys are loaded to the brim with talent. Their second LP, Slave to the Slaves really caught me off guard with the massive amount of skill contained within. Melodic […]
This was probably my most anticipated album of 2008. After all, not many albums have managed to move me as much as 2003’s Choirs of The Eye. Though a challenging listen, the melodies and structures soon became identifiable and revealed a complexity of emotion rarely explored. 2006’s Dowsing Anenome With Copper Tongue seemed to be […]
For most bands, releasing a double disc studio album comprised of solely new material, and clocking in at an hour and a half, would be an amazing feat. But for England’s extreme doom gods, Esoteric, this is just another day in the park. In fact, it’s not the first time they’ve released a two disc […]
I stumbled upon Wold after Screech Owl was released last year. Out of curiosity, I opted to give them a listen. Judging by Profound Lore’s other artists, I expected something avant-garde and, well, profound. After all, this label houses some high quality acts, including Nadja, Alcest, Portal and Asunder. What came out of my speakers […]
Dwelling on the past will never, ever change anything. Sulk all you like but when a band that was so important and so vital in the formation of modern day death metal comes along with a record so alien to their former glories it can be a bitter, bitter pill to swallow. Even if the […]
I’d heard of this band years ago, when they started gaining recognition during the tail-end of the ill-fated nu-metal movement. Never bothered to check them out, but seeing as If, their fourth album, is being released by The End Records (that bastion of iconoclasts and experimental goodness), and that it also debuted at #27 on […]
Keep of Kalessin meets Gamma Ray. Or is it vintage Iron Maiden on the opening track with acoustic guitar thrown in. The production is even more polished and clearer than last time making for a monumental sound that will make Bathory purists cringe. Once again high energy forward driving but not overtly melodic music with […]
If you heard Pharaoh’s last effort, The Longest Night, you probably won’t be very surprised by what you hear on this record. Be Gone is a continuation of what the band has always done, an Americanized power metal that pays heavy tribute to both Iron Maiden and Iced Earth. The record opens with a slight […]
This sophomore release from Swedish outfit Machinery shows a great deal of promise, even if it’s a bit bipolar. There are really two bands at work here. One is a dark, progressive and interesting sounding act. The other is a blazing thrash/melodic death band. Fortunately, both show a good deal of talent and are quite […]
Female-fronted bands, especially the soprano-style, haven’t fared very well in my reviews recently. By and large, I’m a little tired of that style, but just as I’m ready to write it off completely, along will come a record that really connects with me. That’s the case with the latest from Todesbonden. This is how the […]
This might be one of the most unique releases that’s landed on my desk this year. It opens with the funk-thrash mouthful of a song, “When You’ll Realize that the Sun Will Rise Up Being a Black Hole.” Imagine Max Cavalera providing vocals for Primus, and you might have a rough idea of what this […]
“Sieg Hail Satan”, that says it all. This is slow and heavy keep it simple stupid style self proclaimed true Norwegian black metal with a loud bass with a heavy rumble and chug along guitars. Tom Warrior grunts and roaring vocals round out what fast period Marduk would call a ballad. Lyrics are standard fare, […]
Viva la thrash revival! Here’s the Bay Area’s own Hatchet with their debut full length, Awaiting Evil, a real barn stormer filled front to back with face melting riffs, leads, solos and quite possibly my favorite vocalist I’ve heard yet from the movement in Marcus Kirchen. His delivery isn’t entirely unique or distinctive, but he’s […]
I wasn’t expecting much from Man Made Paradise coming in, as a name like Ticket to Hell is as cliché and generic as metal band names come. I thought for sure I was in for something cheesy and/or boring, but the second I pushed play, my jaw dropped and I was locked in. Man Made […]
Personally, (and I’ve thought this way since 2006’s Pride of the Wicked), Pennsylvania’s War of Ages are a far superior act to the far more hyped As I Lay Dying when it comes to Christian metalcore with a heavy Gothenburg lean. That fact is only cemented with the band’s excellent third album (not counting last […]
I hadn’t heard of Venomous Concept before I threw this in, but the atrocious album art gave me the impression it was either going to be very silly, very bad, or both. So you can imagine my surprise when the ragged, chaotic grindcore/punk of opening track “Drop Dead” raped my face with its awesomeness. It […]
It may not be fair, but when I see song titles like “Nymphonomicon” and “Kockstruck,” I tend to develop an opinion on the band before I even hear the music. Unfortunately, what Midnight Idols deliver isn’t all that far from the idea that I had.This is pure, adolescent garage metal. The band rips off the […]
I have to admit to a weakness for swords, dragons and battle metal. Unfortunately, quite a bit of that style also happens to be pretty cheesy, so I always enjoy finding a release that has no more than the required amount of cheese and some pretty solid songs. That’s just what I get with this […]
One could argue that sitting a very top of the deathcore heap are All Shall Perish and Tennessee’s three guitar wielding Whitechapel, who made quite an impressive racket and impressed even some grizzled death metal fans with their debut The Somatic Defilement. Now on Metal Blade Records, youngsters Whitechapel have delivered their anticipated sophomore album, and as […]
Much like the recent release of label mates A Thousand Times Repent, Georgia’s Hereafter An Odyssey deliver an EP (which was originally self released by the band) plying a style that’s been done to death (core), but do it well enough to warrant your attention if you are a fan of the genre, or new […]
I haven’t heard this Belgian black metal band’s previous release, Ultimate Crescendo of Hell, but I understand that they’ve since changed their sound to avoid the Satyricon comparisons they were getting. Odd, considering that a) that’s a good thing, b) they still sound like Satyricon and c) Deathcult Salvation is impressive in its own right. […]
After an acceptable but clichéd, Christian band, As I Lay Dying riff off debut in Saints, Destroy the Runner return with an even more commercial, poppy, mainstream album that makes the likes of Demon Hunter, The Devil Wears Prada, Farewell to Freeway and A Day to Remember look like Nile. Cleaner, whinier vocals and lots […]
After stealing The Funeral Pyre away from Creator Destructor Records and then re-issuing the band’s impressive second offering, here is the Prosthetic Records debut from California black metal act and there have been some slight changes from The Nature of Betrayal. The most obvious change is that keyboardist Daniella Jones is no longer in the […]
As a stop gap between the magnificent Eater of Birds and the next full length album, Cobalt and Profound Lore offer up this oddly titled, limited edition, 3 track, 44-minute EP that delivers one new track, a Nausea cover and the uncut, full 30 minute version of “Ritual Use of Fire”, which was split up […]
Although used sparingly, a distinct, striking psychedelic influence began creeping into USBM act Nachtmystium with their past two albums, Eulogy IV and Instinct:Decay. A rippling soundscape here, a feedback-soaked, emotional solo there – they were just the first tentative tabs under the tongue. On Assassins, we get a handful of the good stuff. (So if […]