Behemoth’s gradual transition from cult black metal to world-class death metal outfit is not characterized by one album, but through the maturation of four. Unlike many Polish bashers (Decapitated, Hate, etc.) where Vader is the primary inspirational source, Behemoth, mining the strengths of Morbid Angel, Slayer and recently Nile, forge a high-energy, strikingly confident style […]

Osmose is not the label it used to be, but for Singapore’s Impiety, signing on for their third album is a big deal. For those that have never heard of them, they play, according to the band, “christfucking black warmetal.” If that does not clear things up, Osmose calls their style “satanic hellmetal.” With titles […]

I dismissed Satyricon long ago. After listening to the first song on Volcano it became apparent I was too hasty. While they bear little resemblance to their glory days of nearly a decade ago, luckily they resemble even less the late 90’s version that turned me away. Satyricon seems to be one of those bands […]

Depending on your circumstances this is either the first work you will see in two years or the second release of 2002 after a four year absence. Forsaken Symphony is the second Red Stream release of 2002, with Grand Destiny being the first. Red Stream re-released Grand Destiny because Nephiim Records went bankrupt shortly after […]

Canadian extreme war metal band Axis of Advance are back with their intense, violent black thrash death style. Once again incorporating all aspects of extreme music, with the subtlety of a shotgun blast to the brain. This is lightening fast black metal with thrash guitars and the precision instrumentation of death metal. Guitarist Wör and […]

Quick. Name five current good recognized death metal bands from The Netherlands that excludes Pestilence and Gorefest. Well, Sinister, God Dethroned…er, Occult. Here was one of those little surprises that arrived in my mailbox, along with a huge dose of skepticism, mainly due to the band name and horrid cover. I.N.R.I. stands for Insane Non-Commercial […]

My familiarity with Asgaard extends only back in time to 2001’s Ex Oriente Lux which I picked up on a whim, having never heard the band before. Before I get too deep into my opinions on the new disc, let me say I didn’t look to find their three previous recordings. Some background, then, is […]

Antimatter is the new project of Duncan Patterson, ex of doom gods Anathema, along with some peers/pals/presumed studio whores. As you should know, Anathema’s mid-nineties output on Peaceville pretty much defined doom metal, bowing only to the once almighty My Dying Bride in terms of crossing melancholia with pure sludge riffuck. Well, ol’ Dunc’s motto […]

Recently I’ve been wading knee deep in mediocre death metal and to be honest with you, the constant pounding, blasting and gurgling was wearing thin. What I needed was a musical respite of sorts, something uplifting, glorious and stress free. I needed some Italian power metal! While it would be easy to call Thy Majestie […]

Council Of The Fallen is the blackened death metal project involving numerous high-profile names from the U.S. death metal scene. We have Sean Baxter (Broken Hope, Em Simfonia), drummer Derek Roddy (Malevolent Creation, Hate eternal, Divine Empire, Nile), and Kevin Quirion (Aurora Borealis) – all U.S. death metal veterans, so I was more than a […]

Ah yes, Nile. The band that has recently joined the “trendy to hate club” (founded by Cradle Of Filth). Whether it’s the false pretense of the Egyptian “gimmick”, the large label affiliation, or after two good albums, fickle metal fans are ready to move onto the next band, Nile are suddenly a hotbed of criticism. […]

For the first half on the nineties Enslaved was by far my favorite band. As time went on and they changed their style, no one band rose up to replace them as kings of the wandering, multi-layered, chaotic long-playing epics of black metal art. Romania’s Negura Bunget, formed in 1995, first entered my radar in […]

Let me tell you something – The End Records has become a monster label in U.S. metal. Not content with Epoch of Unlight and Scholomance reigning American black metal, Green Carnation taking the doom scene by storm and Virgin Black bringing goth and darkwave to their collective knees, The End now gives you Winds, a surefire […]

The revolving door continues for Finland’s Barathrum, with Pelceboop replacing Somnium, Abyssir replacing Beast Dominator, Trollhorn is gone but not replaced. That’s about 18 members in 12 years. Demonos Sova strikes again, and this time he figures we can count by now. Venomous does not announce itself as the seventh album. Other than that, not […]

Ambient Space Earth Music – that’s probably a pretty good description of Arcana Publicata Vilescunt, the first release to come out under the moniker Nostalgia. For those who are looking only for metal, you can easily skip this review since the album doesn’t include any distorted guitars or any bombastic drumming at all. The closest […]

I’m not sure how one should adjust their mindset when talking about the twenty-something year old Skitzo. In a way, they seem to be a tribute band in general, praising the art that is known as heavy metal by copying big shot names like Slayer (“Angel’s Blood” – Hmm, I wonder what Slayer songs that […]

Originally released September 2000, the fine folks at ISO666 have given us a high quality demo on cd, where it should have been from the beginning. Griffar, formed in 1997 in France, three years later released their first “demo”, Of Witches and Celts, on cassette, which “took so long because we cared for doing well…and […]

Here is a seven piece band from the Netherlands that is attempting to join Slovakia’s Thalarion and Seventh Moon as the top bands in the emotive doom/goth/death genre that uses female vocals to complement the male growl (the beauty and the beast effect). While this a decent album within that ever so cumbersome genre, Thalarion […]

So, like most people, I have been in the dark about Zao the past several months. I’ve heard rumors of members leaving, old ones coming back, a possible break up and whatever else was on the Internet rumor mill. I was holding my breath in anticipation to see what would happen with this seminal metallic […]

It wasn’t until I discovered the literal translation of the album’s title that the full depth of this album really hit me. After numerous listens, the darker, heavier approach had me a little stunned, and to be honest, a little disappointed. But after discovering Vansinnesvisor , means “Songs of Madness” (or “Lunacy”), it all came […]

You’ve got to give Metal Blade credit. Rather than searching overseas for the latest In Flames clone, they have simply stayed in the homeland and discovered an In Flames clone, and very good they are too.BYE resides in the mini Sweden we called Massachusetts, which is suddenly home to a plethora of death metal bands. […]

The Hellhammer machine grinds on. When Celtic Frost dissolved into a glam band their sound split into two components: Darkthrone and what would, a few years later, become Warhammer. Where Darkthrone was the evil atmospheres and grim attitude of ‘Frost, Warhammer, starting in 1994 resurrected the heavy rhythmic grinding doom. Since such an entity was […]

God Was Created is the second album from Arizona’s Vehemence, and upon looking upon the typical death metal cover and spiky logo, I was bracing for another assault of U.S.-styled Immolation copycat blasting or Suffocation worship. Man, was I fucking wrong! Instead I was graced with quite possibly one of the best U.S. death metal […]

Coming off the Cosmic Genesis release, I could not wait to expand my brain particles with Vintersorg’s latest, Visions from the Spiral Generator. From his work with Borknagar and Havayoth, to the folk project of Otyg, his cosmic lyrics, and his self-named project, is there a more humble metaller pushing the status quo to take […]

Top 3 reasons why this album is fucking amazing. 1) It’s produced at Sunlight Studios by Tomas Skogsberg. 2) It has a sample of a steel clashing battle. 3) It has the most killer, blood-boiling riffs this side of The Crown. Ok that’s pretty much it, but I guess your wanting a little more detail.This […]