Transcending Obscurity Records and Fetid Zombie are a perfect combo. This is full length #7 for Mark Riddick and this death dealing project, but if you were to count splits and EPs, he might have as many releases as Johnny Sins (ba dum tiss). As a casual fan of the project, I was more than […]

California’s Skeletal Remains burst onto the scene extremely quickly with a debut album in 2012, one year removed after releasing a demo that same year.  So for about 10 years they have remained one of my favorite death metal bands and all their releases are of high quality. I feel their fourth album, released last […]

In my 20 plus years of music ‘journalism’,  I’ve had the pleasure of meeting lots of folks at shows, for interviews, over the phone, etc. However, a few dudes standout out as absolutely the nicest , chillest guys I’ve met; all the chaps from Between the Buried and Me, Carnifex drummer Shawn Cameron, and Mike […]

I had high hopes for this, the second album from Sweden’s Deathswarm. It’s on FDA records, which is almost always a good sign. !t features members of cult Swedish act Sarcasm, and the promotional materials threw out words like ‘Bolt Thrower’ and ‘Dismember’. And even after opening tracks “We Still Burn” and “Unshackle the Jackal”, […]

Finland’s Sadistik Forest flew under my radar until their third full-length album, Morbid Majesties, came out in 2018.  Their intense combination of death metal mixed with some blackened thrash metal had me thinking of early Skeletonwitch.  I went and discovered their prior 2 excellent albums, however Morbid Majesties is still my favorite release from them.  […]

Well, if this isn’t a pleasant surprise, then I don’t know what one is. I’m not quite sure how I missed and/or forgot about any hype surrounding the release of Inhuman Condition‘s debut album Rat°God. I mean hell, the band literally released four singles from said debut and I never heard one of them until […]

Oh Spotify, you know me so well. Your algorithms get me. Your daily playlists are the perfect blend of stuff you know that I already like, and stuff you think I might like, but and occasionally throw something in my Daily Mix that makes me instantly buy stuff, case and point, when you played “Awakening […]

By the time I’m even beginning to write this review, anyone who has wanted to listen to Crypta’s debut album, Echoes of the Soul, has already had plenty of time. You know the story by now, but for those keeping score, bassist/vocalist Fernanda Lira and drummer Luana Dametto left Nervosa in 2019, that band then […]

So I’m finally getting to a couple of FDA Record’s releases from earlier this summer, Deathswarm’s Forward Into Oblivion, and this, the third full length album from Greece’s Rapture, a band I have not heard before. Both deliver what you’d expect from FDA Records at this point, but Rapture certainly has a bit of a […]

Maybe it’s just me. I mean I was listening to a lot of old German thrash, the usual culprits, Sodom, Kreator, and Destruction, at the time of my reviewing Aggravator‘s new EP, Unseen Repulsions, but I’ll be damned if I don’t hear a marked increase of Teutonic influence in Aggravator‘s sound of late. When I […]

Take a small journey with me, friends. A journey much like the one I recently took back to my hometown for a day. It didn’t take long to get there, I had a good time, some things surprisingly changed, but for the most part, it was exactly what I expected. I’ll definitely visit again soon. […]

You kind of know what you are getting into here from the get-go: the band name taken from a Vlad Tepes song, the album title, the corpse painted, armored promo shots of lone Finnish member, Lord Vrăjitor, (also of Old Sorcery and doom act Musta Risti) the logo, the cool artwork, prior releases named Burning […]

I was fortunate to review the first 4 Pestilence albums when they were reissued through Hammerheart Records, as well as the last Pestilence album – Hadeon, which was also released on Hammerheart Records.  I went into this review as objective as I could possibly get.  I say this because I love all the Pestilence albums […]

Wow, there is a lot to unpack from this Italian duo’s third EP, Царепоклонство – Il culto degli Zar (Cult of The Tsars). At its core, it’s symphonic black metal. Musically, I’m reminded of 2 recent symphonic black metal EPs that were a little out side the box; First Lamentari’s Missa pro Defuncrtis from last […]

Oh, Greywalker. I was beginning to worry about you. Yeah, I know there was a live release, but it seems like forever since Without Control, the stellar last full length was released. I get it, though. There is that small matter of an ongoing pandemic. I won’t go too far into it, but I have […]

In theory, I should have been all over this release, the debut from Oregon’s Felled (formerly known as Moss of Moonlight). It’s Cascadian, atmospheric black metal with a violin. Not an occasional violin, but like My Dying Bride, Exulansis or Hung, a full-on, full-time, violin, courtesy of Tiffany Holliday who along with some of the […]

Kryptik Mutation are a new upcoming Texas death metal band and Pulled from the Pit is their debut album.  Short little ditty of a full-length – 8 songs in 23 minutes.  Before I get to the review I have to comment how much I love the album cover.  It has a nostalgic late 80’s flair […]

Sometimes, if you get the opportunity, there’s nothing sweeter than doing something just because you friggin’ want to. For example (and I understand this is sorta an extreme one) – no one buys a vintage sports car because it’s practical, safe, or smart. No, you do it because you want a friggin’ vintage sports car! […]

Every time I’m ready to signal the death knell for deathcore, along comes a release that kinda gets me excited about the genre again, whether it’s a veteran band like Despised Icon coming back from the dead or a newcomer like Anime Terror. Right now it happens to be the Unique Leader duo of Mental […]

In the promo materials, Mental Cruelty is described as “haunting death metal.” As I’ve yet to be visited by any ghostly apparitions, I call shenanigans! However, when it comes to what style of music these dudes play, it’s more along the lines of symphonic brutal blackened deathcore. Think somewhere along the lines of Lorna Shore, […]

Ascendancy through Hypnagogic Thought Process is simultaneously everything you expect and have heard from internet-ville brutal death metal projects, yet thoughtfully propelling the sound into a heightened realm of mind expanding slam mysticism.  Laparotomy is a studio project birthed by one Darryn Palmer, with drums and vocals provided by Justin McNeil.  Mr. Palmer is a […]

You want more brutal slam death metal, don’t ya??  Bodysnatch out of Switzerland have been kicking it around since mid 00’s.  Insights of a Rotten Theatre was their 2011 debut album and started the ball rolling with getting the band an underground following.  The band went through some changes over the years and since they […]

Hannes Grossman is a busy dude. The talented drummer extraordinaire has had his fingers in many pies over the years, earning great respect and admiration with his work in bands including, Necrophagist, Obscura, Alkaloid, Blotted Science and Gomorrah amongst many others. Along the way Grossman has also established a solid solo career, showcasing his songwriting […]

I have already reviewed 2 high-profile brutal slam death metal releases for 2021 – the new Korpse and Abominable Putridity albums.  When our site owner, Erik “My Beard is Fuller than Yours” Thomas, recommended the new Traumatomy for me to review I was like…oh boy here’s another Russian slam band that sounds like my alma […]

I have to admit I’m a little bored of brutal death metal. Especially the stuff Comatose puts out on the regular basis; gurgle, squeal, rape, cunt, gore, blast etc. I  mean I don’t dislike it, there is a time and a place for it, but the last album they released that remotely stuck with me […]