Exile on Mainstream Records Trying desperately to be different, the dynamic Dutch duo known as Dÿse (say “DOO-zee”) have some most unusual cover art: a dead baby mouse supported by an exotic flower and lying in a bowl of milk. Their eponymous debut, however, is less singular but still captivating. Featuring members of Volt and […]

Arizona’s crippling summer heat has forged some of the underground’s most abrasive bands, including Unruh (1999’s Setting Fire to Sinking Ships on Pessimiser), Wellington (1999 split with Noothgrush on Deep Six), and Carol Ann (2003 split with Noothgrush on Catchphraze). Phoenix’s Black Hell—starring Unruh bassist Mike Bjella, Wellington guitarist Charlie Goodwin, and two Carol Ann […]

Keeping with the album titles starting with the letter “I”, German death/thrash masters Dew-Scented are back with their seventh studio effort, Incinerate. Not much has changed – their still heavy as a ton of bricks and play fast, blistering thrash. As with any good death/thrash band, Dew-Scented slam down on the accelerator from the get-go […]

Don’t get me wrong, While I have enjoyed the last two Dismember albums, the fact is both Where Ironcrosses Grow and even the fine The God That Never Was, just seemed a bit forced and too melodic for me. However, with the self-titled tenth album, an infusion of youth into the line up and yet […]

Despite being formed in 2000 ans this being their 5th album, this is my first exposure to the German black metal war machine known as Endstille, and while a scathing vicious take on razor sharp black metal, I don’t think I’ll b checking out the back catalog unless I see it used or cheap somewhere. […]

Much like the UK’s Bring Me The Horizon, Cleveland’s Salt The Wound, despite their preteen looks, deliver a decent take on At The Gates and Breakdown filled American metal. Not purely in the realms of say Suicide Silence or Whitechapel, but straddling the gap between say The Black Dahlia Murder, Sons of Azrael and All […]

Change is often a hit and miss prospect for metal bands; just ask Metallica, Entombed, Immortal, Carcass, Gorefest and many others. In the case of California’s Decrepit Birth, who after a nasty and publicized arrest of their guitarist Mike Turner on Child Molestation charges, change has been a good thing. The change also includes Odious Mortem drummer […]

If you’ve heard Freedom Call before, you won’t be surprised by their most recent album. What you expect is what you get — a lot of uptempo power metal influenced by the likes of Gamma Ray and Helloween. Let’s start with the unneccessary intro, “Demons Dance”; I’m begging, can we just drop these useless wastes […]

Sometimes you just want to like a band. I felt that way when I pulled this CD out of the envelope. I liked the name. I liked the logo. I had high hopes for this record after seeing the lineup: former Fates Warning drummer Mark Zonder, MSG guitarist/keyboard player Wayne Findlay, Steve Vai bassist Philip […]

What is Pagan/Viking/Folk Metal? Well according to Nuclear Blast and their recently released CD/DVD compilation to promote the upcoming 2008 Pagan Fest tour, it’s a number of things; It could be veterans of chunky death metal with plundering Viking lyrics (Amon Amarth’s “Victory March”, Unleashed’s “The Long ships are Coming”), it could be epic hymns […]

Back in 2001, The Cleansing made semi waves in the death metal genre being a project involving Obituary’s Trevor Peres and Pyrexia’s Keith Devito and Rob Marseca, and with both band’s at the time being on hiatus, the album probably got more attention and credit than it really deserved. So now on Napalm Records, (which […]

As unorthodox as it is, the name Brown Jenkins didn’t immediately recall the H.P. Lovecraft character, but rather the Zambian street ‘drug’ Jenkem. Maybe it’s my frame of mind at the moment. Loosely based on “The Shadow over Innsmouth,” Mr. Jenkins produces a sludgy, repetitive, facile black-doom that sounds like the air in Innsmouth smells. […]

Celebrity record labels have the tendency to make me smile. Especially when high profile ‘rock,’ personas have set up these little profit centres to peddle soulless tripe far more banal then their own recorded output (I won’t point any direct fingers at anyone) and then see these ventures and their rosters dissipate into the long […]

Some twenty years ago I was at a Motorhead show when Lemmy stopped the band in the middle of a song. They were playing “Overkill” and had just finished the lengthy opening instrumental part when Lemmy exclaims “that came out great, let’s do it again” so they started the song over and played it through […]

Yet more stomping, grizzly and of course brutal death metal from Italy’s Permeated Records. I’ve been fond of this release since its availability and have often found myself returning to it on a regular basis. It’s certainly a good alternative to the big guns in the death metal over ground (who themselves have been on […]

Like Origin’s staccato filled, voracious technicality? Like Gore? Like stunning drum and bass work? Just get this already. In a few week span that’s has seen the release of the new Decrepit Birth album as well as the impending Hate Eternal album, the debut full length from Brain Drill cements that death metal appears to […]

Frankfurt Indiana’s scariest duo return with an inexplicable re-issue of their limited 2006 cdr demo release that only serves to show that their horrid debut, The Night Our Rituals Blackened The Stars, was not in fact a fluke and the band can actually be consistently terrible over two releases. Why oh why someone at AKR […]

Agonizer has taken the long road to get to their debut album on Spinefarm. A few demos that got good reviews and almost, but not quite, got them record deals. A few contests entered that they almost, but not quite, won. It made me suspect that this record might be almost, but not quite, good. […]

I reviewed Error In Evolution several months ago at a different site, and haven’t listened to it since – nothing’s changed since then – this is still a very, very average death/thrash album. Not bad, not great – just really average. Coming on the heels of debut 21st Century Killing Machine, I had my hopes […]

The last time we heard from this German metalcore outfit they were called just ‘Destiny’ and released the excellent The Tracy Chapter. Now with a legally changed name and a new label, the band’s mid era Poison The Well worship and strong sense of songwriting is still intact. Not as grating as fellow Germans Heaven […]

Taking the chunk of Danish/Belgian death metal, then lumber and lurch of Jungle Rot (and I hear some Hatework and Vore in here too) and the slam of say Eternal Suffering and Suffocation (without the complexity), Denmark’s Dawn of Demise have delivered a pretty damn stout offering of perfectly rendered death metal, giving Deepsend a […]

Though keyboards and synths have recently been used more frequently in death core, it was the 2005 debut, A Cold Day In Hell, from this California band that seemed to use them in a more symphonic black metal way that really got my attention and the attention of Century Media. So now armed with a […]

Circus Maximus’ debut record really caught my attention a few years ago. Despite a heavy leaning toward Dream Theater worship, it had some really interesting and memorable moments. It’s taken me a little longer to get a bead on the group’s sophomore effort. There are the good things that I remember from the first record, […]

So here’s a re-issue of the 2005 cassette only third release from the Hungarian one man project comprised of Vorgrov, and after doing some research I was pretty excited to hear this supposedly folky take on one man drony, doomy ambient and atmospheric black metal. Well, its OK I suppose. It’s primal and grim with […]

Charleston, West Virginia natives Byzantine are back with their third (and sadly final) album Oblivion Beckons, an impressive effort to say the least. Combining some technical flair with stout groove and bits of thrashing, Oblivion Beckons is well rounded, skillfully played and diversified without ever wandering away from the sound that they can firmly call […]