As I stated in my review of Drama Noir‘s Night Fall Upon the Asylum review earlier this week, there are two symphonic black metal releases vying for my attention right now. And while the aptly named Drama Noir delivered a solid, bombastic symphonic black metal album, in the vein of Dimmu Borgir and such, Swedens […]

Canada’s favorite metal Warriors of Ice, Voivod, return with what should be their 16th album, but it’s actually re-recording of songs throughout their 40+ years of existence.  I am not a tremendous fan of bands re-recording their classic albums, but going back to re-record select songs, from a band’s discography, I am more apt to […]

So two solid classic-sounding symphonic black metal albums have got my attention this summer. First the debut of Sweden’s Avdagata, The Faceless One, and Nightfall Upon the Asylum, the third album from Greece’s Drama Noir. While slightly different approaches, Drama Noir, bad moniker aside, is a solid, pure, mid-era (the classic three-word albums) Dimmu Borgir-and […]

I love head-banging. It is a great feeling to release pent-up energy at a Metal show, the crowd is into the experience; each head is like those fucking drinking birds you can get at the novelty store. Unfortunately for me, my head-banging days are pretty much over. I just kind of shake my head like […]

When I first heard rumors of Texas’s Creeping Death a few years ago, I stupidly assumed they were just a Metallica tribute band and disregarded them. Then as I heard more and more, and they got signed to a ‘big’ label, I assumed they were simply yet another Bolt Thrower worship band, as is the […]

Ocean of Grief is a melodic doom death metal band hailing from Greece and I have sat on this release for a bit before reviewing it for a number of reasons.  I love doom-death metal and some bands embrace the sorrow, depression and lonely atmospheres more than others.  Sometimes when these types of emotions are […]

How long is eternity? I Googled it because I wanted the Webster’s definition for it. According to them, and I’m paraphrasing, it’s a long fucking time. Eternity, the band has been around since 2003, which isn’t exactly forever… between then and now they’ve released three full-length albums Bringer of the Fall and To Become the […]

There’s a couple of reasons I checked out the debut from British newcomers Ageless Summoning. 1) it’s on Dark Descent Records. ’nuff said. 2), the promo material dropped Steve Tucker-era Morbid Angel and Immolation as influences, and certainly when the opening lurch of “Usurper of the Void” and its otherworldy  Trey Azagthoth solo cemented that […]

There’s been a slight shift in my tastes for Metal since I turned fifty. I look for different things now and I’ve discovered that certain genres aren’t for me. I tried to like Lorna Shore, it didn’t happen, but I tried, and it made me want to punch babies. So, if I’m going to listen […]

Sweden’s Ironmaster is a supergroup featuring a trio of dudes who are ir have been in such bands as Carnal Forge, Facebreaker, Scar Symmetry Dark Funeral and Incapacity. And while Black Lion Records is usually known for their more melodic or symphonic black metal offerings, Ironmaster delivers a savage assault of blistering no frills blackened/death […]

NYDM brutal death metal veterans Pyrexia return with their seventh full-length album, however, it is a retread as the band felt it necessary to re-record their second full-length album, System of the Animal, which came out 26 years ago.  So should this not read System of the Animal (26)? When Pyrexia moved on from brutal […]

Fathomage is a one-man, Australian, self-confessed Orthodox Christian who goes by the name of ‘Akul’. But don’t let the orthodox Christian thing put you off, as his music isn’t preachy ‘white metal’ at all but rather a Summoning (he has dabbled in Tolkien themes for prior album Minas Morgul – The Nazgûl Awaken) inspired take […]

The 2022 self-titled debut EP from Italy’s Dead Chasm, was a solid affair of churning, miasmal Dark Descent-styled death metal that hinted at something pretty damn good for the band’s future, and here we are with the band’s full-length debut. And while it continues from the sound of the EP, it’s not quite the jump […]

Man, I don’t know what it is with some of these small European countries. How are they able to produce such great metal? Take Finland for example, be it doom, death, black metal, or anything in between, and you can bet your sweet ass that there is a Finnish master of it. So I guess […]

Chalk up 2023 to Frank reviewing many long albums and with Ohio’s Blackened Tech Death/Thrash metal band Terranoct we get their self-released debut album Icon of Ruin clocking in at over an hour’s length, intertwined into 11 songs.  What drew me to this band was the eye-catching album cover and pretty cool logo.  Remember bands, […]

Sometimes I need a break from my symphonic addiction and shake things up a bit and get back to basics. Go back to my roots so to speak…how about some relentless, blasting blackened death metal from South Carolina??? Fuck yes. And Olkoth ( a deity from the Cthtulu mythos) with current and ex-members from various […]

When I was still discovering the musical spaces of the internet back in the early 2000s, MP3 sites were my best friend. I discovered bands that I had never heard of before and experienced a whole new genre: Pagan Black Metal/Pagan Folk and holy shit my brain exploded. It wasn’t long before I was butchering […]

Throw in former members of NYDM bands like Pyrexia (Danny Trapani-guitar) and Internal Bleeding (Jerry Lowe), throw in some pizza, mobster shit, the Statue of Liberty, street corner hotdogs and pretzels and throw in a blender with NYHC up your ass and Punchyourface gets plopped out.  Street Terrorists is their second full-length and Jerry and […]

Okay, so I know I’m late. When I received the promo before the release date, I expected I would have this done in short order. Life happens and so does this album. To review this properly, one must spend copious amounts of time, so if you’re not into being patient, then don’t bother with Hive […]

So this spring/summer the always reliable FDA records unleashed a couple of lethal debut albums from female-fronted death metal bands. One, was the debut of Itlay’s Dead Chasm, whose solid EP I covered here, and the other from Turkey’s Abolish, who was of interest to me as they feature Lucy Ferra on vocals, who impressed […]

Yesterday I had my ears shredded. It didn’t really hurt, on the contrary, it felt rather good. The bass drum slap fighting with my eardrums, the blistering guitar work, courtesy of seasoned Death Metal veteran Rogga Johansson (Ribspreader, GhoulHouse, Paganizer) and the crushing vocals of Jens Johansson had my head banging in no time flat. […]

Indonesia Vallendusk is one of my favorite atmospheric black metal bands, so when I heard that Numeron was from also Indonesia, played the same style of black metal, AND have a concept album based on Norse mythology, I had to check it out. And while not quite as good as Vallendusk, they are still really […]

Finland’s long-running grindcore band, Rotten Sound have returned with their eighth full-length album, Apocalypse, and crowbarred in between all those albums are some EPs.  Over the years they have taken more time in between full-length albums but always release an EP just to whet our grind appetites before another grind power violence album is unleashed […]

So after splitting up shortly after 2011’s Opus Mortis VIII, with most of the members going on to form Cut Up (essentially Vomitory 2.0) and releasing a couple of solid albums, one of Sweden’s most long-running and purely, staunchly death metal (no groove metal or death ‘n’ roll diversions) bands is back together and it’s […]

I admit to being a fan boy. Ever since I got into Heavy Metal I felt the need to collect the merchandise from the bands I love. I fulfill this love by ordering patches from all corners of the globe, and with turning fifty this year,I could see it as a midlife crisis, as most […]