For me, any post-Chaos AD Sepultura lacks the pulse of the band’s neo-thrash/death metal. I’m not too sure if Sepultura has grown up and I haven’t, but whatever the case may be my heart isn’t where it used to be when Sepultura’s name came up in, “Best band discussions.” I hate to say the experience of […]

Revelation Nausea is crushing, high-velocity Swedish death at its best. There is no standard death metal approach here, my friend. Vomitory weaves in many elements that give this recording a dynamic that hasn’t been heard in metal this brutal in a long time. The most exciting of these elements is the intermittent use of Swedish […]

Call Abigor’s Satanized (A Journey Through Cosmic Infinity) the sleeper of the year, but little could have prepared me for this. Satanized, the long-respected trio’s seventh long-player, is one of those mysteriously rare records where, if you don’t listen too closely, it’s bound to fly right past you into the night ‘ listen intently, however, […]

Attention fans of progressive metal: every CD on your “must get” list just got bumped down one notch. Whatever was next on that list just got replaced by The Towers of Avarice by Zero Hour. This is quite possibly the best American prog metal record I have heard since Dream Theater’s Awake. Dark, brooding melody, […]

Renown for their uncompromising approach to black metal, Sweden’s Marduk has leveled many expectations and gained a loyal following over their 10-year career. From the near-death metal trappings of Dark Endless to last year’s ultra-venomous Panzer Division Marduk, the men in black wear every one of their bloody victories proudly on their shirtsleeves. And, for […]

Lately, much ado has been made regarding what constitutes the respective “waves” of black metal – in particular, the third wave. Roughly, among this “wave,” then: Mayhem’s Grand Declaration of War, Satyricon’s Rebel Extravaganza, Zyklon’s debut, and recent works by Dodheimsgard and Thorns. Although keeping in line with Finland’s fine tradition of weirdness (Beherit, Impaled […]

Patience brings rewards. In the case of Immortal and Deceased – both bands who, despite starting off on a pretty good foot, have improved exponentially over the course of four-plus albums to become the modern masters of metal – patience brings very great rewards, indeed. Such is also the case with Zao. Early on, with […]

Artimus Pyle was the drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd (I believe), though apparently that has nothing to do with this band. This Artimus Pyle plays a blazing crust-punk hardcore style, augmented with more than occasional nods to early Neurosis and the Melvins. Guitars are dingy and super dense – piled on power chords and quick changes. […]

Upon initial listening of Sombre Romantic I began to think, “Wow, has the End Records finally signed an average band? Will this be the first negative review of a End Records release?” But then dammit all to hell, I became absorbed by this deftly crafted piece of depressive art. Sharing structural and musical similarities to […]

Now that Emperor vocalist Ihsahn has Peccatum in full-swing, remaining members Samoth (now Zamoth) and Trym Torson have decided its their turn to showcase their talents outside home base. I normally feel apathetic towards such groupings, but Zyklon, consisting of Myrkskog guitarist Destructhor and Limbonic Art vocalist Daemon, on its debut World ov Worms doesn’t […]

ArthemesiA arrived from the ashes of Celestial Agony in February ’98 with their first demo. Devs Iratvs is their self-financed debut full length, which landed them on Native North Records. This Finnish corpse-painted five piece take their name from Arthemesia absinthium, the plant that the drug extract that caused Van Gogh to cut off his […]

For those of you who aren’t up on current events, or just don’t care enough to research the metal market outside of your own community, the Brazilian death metal scene is blowing up. While the country is still best known for its street-sweeping execution squads, its death metal scene has slowly evolved into one of […]

Sweden’s The Forsaken is the latest entrant (and certainly not the last) in the tidal wave of melodic death metal. The band’s label, Century Media, name-drops the venerable At The Gates, Arch Enemy and the unparalleled Morbid Angel in an attempt to lure listeners into checking out what this recently-formed band is all about. Ok, […]

Hardcore albums never sound this perfect, nor do most death or black metal albums for that matter. In fact, it would not be a stretch to announce this as the holy grail of the new breed of European metal-influenced hardcore that has sprung up recently with the likes of Shadows Fall, Darkest Hour, Red Roses […]

This Finnish black metal band play primitive “raw grim black thrash”, and it’s nothing we have not heard before, and usually done better as well. Take the best of Bathory, Darkthrone and Mayhem and remove those aspects of the music, Bloodhammer is what’s left. Advertising such inventive slogans as “play it loud, sucker!!” and “kill […]

Austrian death/black metal band Belphegor is back with their third release, titled Necrodaemon Terrorsathan. This band has been around for nearly ten years and shows no signs of softening their approach. It is still fast brutal technical satanic death at it’s finest. With messages like “keep your country clean, burn your local church,” prominently featured […]

Lands of War is the fifth release by Anhkrehg, the fully corpsepainted brutal war black metal band from Plessisville, Quebec. In their own words, “In early 1993, when black metal was still in the deep underground of America, guitarist Blacknight teamed up with an inspired bass/ vocalist Khayr and hate is born, it’s name, Anhkrehg.” […]

It’s high time for folks to realize (or admit) that Grand Declaration Of War is the most important black metal album since, say, ’97 or so. I know, it pissed a lot of people (fans and bands) off. But it’s the Twenty-First Century, ya’ll! I’m sure it was fun back in the day, hanging out […]

Zorn, a German band, is new to me. I know nothing about them except what I hear on Schwarz Metall. Schwarz Metall is simple, straight-forward brutal black metal. No melody, no keyboards – just extreme, primitive blackness. The guitars really dominate in the mix and the bass guitar is quite prominent compared to most black […]

Virgin Steele is a band that has been around for many years. With now eight albums under their belt, they are apparently loved worldwide by power metal fans. Well, after suffering through the painfully longwinded double CD release The House of Atreus Act II, all I can say is I’m amazed at the fact that […]

The sticker affixed to the jewel case of the new Vanishing Point CD describes its contents as “Melodic Progressive Metal.” After several spins of this Australian sextet’s sophomore release Tangled In Dream, I can honestly say, “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.” In smaller print the same sticker reads “…brilliant second album…” Excuse me, […]

Rising from the ashes of Minneapolis’ Disembodied comes Martyr AD. Although Martyr continues in a similar vein of heavy hardcore, this is clearly a new band. Naturally, traces of the deceased unit still surface (mostly in the form of dissonant guitar shrieks and pounding palm-muting), but Martyr is faster, smarter, better, and (believe it or […]

The Haunted finally return with what may be one of the best metal album of the year! Picking up where the band left off on the self-titled debut, The Haunted waste no time expanding upon the thrashfest that made the band an overnight sensation with fans and media. Humorously titled, The Haunted Made Me Do […]

Brooklyn’s governors of gloom check in with the inevitable rarities comp that spans their entire career of misanthropic melancholy. Kicking off the grim festivities with yet another track of digital silence-this one is a “remix” of “The Misinterpretation Of Silence And Its Disastrous Consequences” from their 1991 Slow, Deep And Hard debut – the usual […]

After a mildly disappointing second full-length, Finland’s Thy Serpent returns with four songs of the most emotive blackened metal I’ve heard in ages. I’m not too sure if it’s the fact that Thy Serpent mainman Sami Tenetz nabbed Rapture guitarist and songsmith Tomi Ullgren. Whatever the situation may be, Death is moving, engaging and inescapably […]