There must be a huge Finnish or Scandinavian poplace or cultural influence in Canada right? Other wise  why is there such a surprisingly  large amount of solid Finnish sounding epic/folk/viking bands there? Blackguard/Profugus Mortis, Crimson Shadows, Vesperia/Bolero, Battlesoul. Will of the Ancients, Nordheim, Valfreya just to name a few. Well, add Vancouver’s Atavistia to that […]

All hail Hail Spirit Noir who hail from Greece. These gentlemen caught my ears and eyes when they released Oi Strigoi all the way back in the “before times” in 2014. I was, and remain a big fan of that album, so I was excited when they released Mayhem in Blue in 2016. While I […]

As I peruse through albums I might consider year end candidates I see a lot of black metal; …And Oceans, Abduction, Kryptamok, Aara, Afsky, Eisenkult, Glaciation, Marrasmieli  to name a few. But there is very little truly special  death metal.Sure there’s some good stuff like the always reliable Abysmal Dawn,  The Project Hate‘s Purgatory or […]

When I heard a few months back that Ulcerate was working on a new album, I couldn’t have been more excited.  I own their entire LP catalog, and after seeing them live in San Antonio 4-5 years ago, I was floored at the atmosphere they create and the fact that they were able to produce […]

Christ this is the 13th full-length Sinister album.  I really don’t count Dark Memorials as a 14th album because that was an album made up of cover songs. I’ve been a long time fan of the band ever since I heard the debut Cross the Styx and first saw them on tour in support of […]

Well, imagine my surprise when I was perusing the promos and found a new release from one of my most favorite bands, Behemoth. It’s not a new full length, unfortunately, but an EP titled A Forest, which has two versions of the song by the same title originally recorded by The Cure. There’s a recorded […]

I’m not sure what to make of the U.K.’s Lucid Conformity and their debut album, Architects of Madness. While it’s definitely not a bad album per se, I’m not willing to throw out heaps of praise or vital recommendations for it either. The fact that the group/duo employs more than a few, i.e. way too […]

I’ve been feeling a bit… contemplative, lately. Join the club, right? We’re all finding ourselves in a world that just sorta… isn’t the one we knew it to be. And all this time in quarantine has given everyone time to really think about their lives. Are you happy with the way that it’s going? Are […]

As I mentioned in my Glaciation review, Ive been on a French metal kick and the third album from Abduction might be the best of the bunch so far this year. One of my cohorts reviewed their prior album A L’heure du Crépuscule, and succinctly threw around bands like Borknagar, Arcturus, Ved Buens Ende, and […]

Werewolves is a new blackened death metal super group of sorts from Australia featuring Sam Bean (The Berzerker, The Senseless,The Antichirst Imperium ) on vocals/bass, Matt Wilcock (The Berzerker, Abramalin, The Antichirst Imperium) and most notably drummer Dave Haley (Abramelin, The Amenta, Psycroptic, Ruins). According to the promotional materials , the album was written and […]

When I discover a new act that I really connect with musically, as a completist, will get their discography and study their albums.  With today’s ever evolving and oversaturated metal scene a band must never forget to create real music, which incorporates great song writing, catchy guitar riffs and great vocals with well-placed vocal patterns. […]

I’m not sure what to think about this. Bourbon Souls is the debut from Helsinki six piece Stråle (shimmer/shine/glow), and it’s a pure hard rock/alternative record, the first such that I’m aware on the usually death metal orientated FDA Records. The thing is, it’s kinda fun. This is open window, driving own the highway, singing […]

Imagine for a moment Abysmal Dawn were your average, every day, 9-5 productive cog in society. It’s not too far from the truth. After all, they do make death metal for a living (although, let’s face it, they probably need other jobs, too). They get up, go to work every day, do a great job, […]

Formed way back in 1983, Polish juggernaut Vader are rightfully held in high regard in the death metal scene. A pillar of consistency since dropping their 1992 debut, The Ultimate Incantation, Vader keep on kicking out reliably strong death metal jams, with the past decade showing no sign of decline. Although Vader has dabbled with […]

Jacob Bannon. Sean Martin. Mike McKenzie. Greg Weeks. Jon Rice. A musical collective combining parts of Converge, Wear Your Wounds, Twitching Tongues, Hatebreed, The Red Chord, Stomach Earth, Job For A Cowboy, and Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats together under one banner. So, rather than waste any more time talking about the checkered history of […]

Singaporean death/black/thrash/war metal blasphemers Impiety have been around since I was about 6, but my introduction to them was much later. If you have paid any attention to my words on this site at all, you have no doubt noticed I have picked up quite a few albums on a whim. While I am unsure […]

Ho Hum, another Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Revolting, Ribspreader,  The Grotesquery, Down Among the Dead Men) project. Let’s see who he has joined up with this time shall we?  Well, we have Wombbath’s Håkan Stuvemark on vocals and guitars, Jon Skäre of Defiatory on drums and Mathias Back from Fimbultyr on bass (what, no Jonny Pettersson?????). […]

With being involved in the music scene for so long both as a musician and a writer I still get stoked over the smallest things and am very thankful for some of the bands I have interviewed and reviewed over the years.  I have been fortunate to have reviewed all the Thanatos reissues as well […]

We all know who Alestorm are by now and what style of ‘love it or hate it’ pirate based thrash heavy metal they play, but I had an unnerving bad feeling about Alestorm’s sixth album before I even heard some of the songs. 2017s No Grave But the Sea was another solid effort of pirate […]

Oh, Forgotten Tomb. I’ve never forgotten you. How could I, baby? You gave me 2015’s Hurt Yourself and the Ones You Love. I purchased it on a whim in a record store that sadly no longer exists simply because the cover grabbed my attention. When gazing at the cover, one could easily dismiss it, call […]

Here’s is more excellent Finnish black metal from Purity Through Fire to go along with Kryptamok’s superb Verisaarna . This time in the form of the fine debut EP from the 5 piece collective known as Nôidva (which has members of The Watcher, Herr De Qual, Sacrificium Carmen, and others). Not as vitriolic or frosty […]

With over 10 years (and counting) as an IT professional, I was definitely intrigued when combing the albums to review here at TOTD, and saw one called Master Boot Record.  I was like “wait a second (as my IT nerd-dom kicked in)… that’s an interesting name for a band.”  Without reading too much I previewed […]

Ever have frostbite? Ever touch dry ice? Ever touch something so cold, your skin blistered up? Well, if you handle the debut album from Finland’s Kryptamok, you very well might experience those things, as it’s a brilliantly frosty, nasty display of second wave black metal. The brain child of Hex Inferi, formerly of Finnish black […]

Talk about a surprise band for me. This 4-piece British band has been around for close to 20 years, flying under my radar as they have released 4 prior albums to this fifth one Oak, Ash & Thorn. Dark Forest play a brand of Heavy/Power Metal. Think early Iron Maiden mixed with early Fates Warning […]

To this day, I still absolutely love Naglfar’s first two albums and Vittra and Diabolical remain two of my very favorite 90s melodic black metal albums. And while 2003 Sheol was a worthy follow up, with the departure of vocalist Jens Ryden, the band fell into a bit of a rut with subsequent albums  Pariah, […]