Sweden’s Wretched Fate is a new band formed by members of melodic death metal band Non Divine Sun, and their debut album, Fleshletting is the album that Bloodbath should have released last year. Yep- I said it, heresy I know, but Fleshletting is a brutal, catchy and dynamic slab of Swedish styled death metal that you’d think a […]

Believe it or not, 2019 has delivered the best In Flames record since 2006’s Come Clarity with I, the Mask.  12+ years later, In Flames seems to be rediscovering themselves as a guitar and drums driven band. As a lifelong fan and someone who appreciates their entire catalog, albeit some albums much more than others; […]

One of the purveyors of the Canadian early death metal scene has always been Rimouski’s, Necrotic Mutation.  I still have the Sepulchre of the Suffering on cassette, from 1993, when I was tape trading back in the day.  Necrotic Mutation had more of an underground cult following and never really got their shit together to […]

When I checked out 2016s King Of Everything promo from this Ukranian act, and the lead single (or at least the video/single that came with the promo) “Words of Wisdom“, I wasn’t overly impressed with the sort of djenty modern groove, nu metal.  But a couple of years later, I started seeing ‘reaction’ videos to a […]

Do you like your death metal old school but brutal? Do you like your death metal sloppy and meaty? Do you like your death metal to be a mix of the first Cannibal Corpse album’s zombified, fetid blasts , Incantation’s oozing miasma and Devourment’s punishing grooves? Please let me introduce you to the third album from Arizona’s Meathook. With […]

I’m always going to consider Malevolent Creation to be in the top-tier of death metal bands. This is probably due to the fact that I am an old-school fan from their first few early 90’s offerings, and those feelings I have for their earlier material, coupled with the fact that the band has consistently released […]

I was rather impressed with the debut album Memento Mori, back in 2016 from these French melodic death metallers, and they have finally released a follow up in Prokopton, and no surprise, it’s just as impressive and consistent as the debut. Again with a sound heavily rooted in the string/synth-heavy, brighter, bouncy tones of early Children […]

So I was half joking to myself the other day when I said to myself: “Self… I need to start a new group for death metal addicts: DMAA (which stands for Death Metal Addicts Anonymous)”.  The reason being is I find myself listening to a TON of death metal, especially slam-death, and it’s hard to […]

For those of you who have heard the new Fallujah track, and, like me, wasn’t that impressed, here is an alternative for you in the sophomore album from Bay Area act Aenimus. With 11 tracks based on iconic horror stories (The Shining, IT, The Deadzone, Hannibal, etc) and a host of guests including Eddie Hermida (All Shall […]

France has to be one of my favorite European countries for Technical Death Metal.  I feel like every year there is at least a half dozen bands from there releasing unbelievably catchy records. 2019 is no exception with Ad Patres Sophomore release A Brief Introduction to Human Experiments.  These French sickos play a bit of […]

Massachusetts has spawned some muscular, heavy rock machines over the years including Only Living Witness, Ichabod, Milligram, Scissorfight, Birch Hill Dam, Roadsaw, Sam Black Church, Tree and Honkeyball just to name a few.  The unique thing that many of these bands did was that they incorporated intricate punk/hardcore influences into their sounds, even if only […]

England’s Hecate Enthroned is largely known for being the band that Former Cradle of Filth bassist/vocalist Jon Kennedy formed after departing Cradle of Filth before they were huge rock stars (he actually appears on the original version of Dusk and Her Embrace, recently released as The Original sin) , and subsequently and unabashedly ripping off Cradle […]

I love Atlanta, Georgia’s doom n’ gloom masters Dead Register quite a metric ton.  Not only is the music powerful but if you just read the trio’s bandcamp bio you know that they’ve got a wicked, snarly smile going on behind all of their malice in the chalice bass riffs, heart-reaping vocals and molten percussive […]

After 3 albums with Finland’s quick rising power metal act Battle Beast, guitarist Anton Kabanen had a bit of an acrimonious departure from the band but quickly formed his own band Beast In Black, then really didn’t hide the fact its basically the same band, with the same sound, but somehow even cheesier and catchier. They […]

From newish  German label that already brought us fine releases by Demonbreed, Carnal Tomb, and Sentient Horror in their short lifespan, comes another excellent slab of buzz saw laden, HM 2 drenched, Swedish styled death metal with the debut from Italy’s Organic. Fans of the genre will probably be ordering this as I speak, but yeah this is a […]

Named after a faction from the popular Elder Scrolls video game series which I’m not very familiar with, English doom overloads Morag Tong follow-up their EP debut Through Clouded Time by dropping a lysergic, wandering slab of doom with hazy tones, psychedelic melody and a plummeting sludgy aggression seeping into their unholy pounding.  Faint whiffs […]

Cripes- I have not reviewed an Unleashed album since 2006s Midvinterblot, and frankly due to a really awkward interview with founder Jonny Hedlund after I ripped 2002s Hells Unleashed, haven’t really given the band too much attention, despite an apparent solid run of albums since then in Hammer Battalion, As Yggdrasil Trembles, Odalheim, Dawn of the Nine. So, […]

It’s been a fair while since a ‘real’ ( I use that term due to the crossover between death metal and deathcore in bands like Ingested, Fit For For an Autopsy, Lorna Shore and Organectomy and such) deathcore record tickle my fancy, probably something in 2017 or early 2018 (maybe Lorna Shore‘s Flesh Coffin?). But here is the late […]

Germany’s now defunct Deathrow would have been classified as the second-tier thrash wave when their brand of thrash metal erupted in the mid-80’s.  Their debut album Riders of Doom was first released as Satan’s Gift and eventually as Riders of Doom that same year.  Two different album covers, however most would agree the Riders of […]

Germany’s Demonbreed hit the heavy home run on their 2016 debut album, Where Gods Come to Die.  Bludgeoning Swedish inspired death metal heaviness and a well-written album through and through.  So while the underground waits with bated breath for album #2, Demonbreed provides a little taste with an ep in the form of Hunting Heretics. […]

As we plunge into 2019, the often patchy January release schedule provides ample opportunity to delve into the overlooked gems of 2018, particularly those that dropped during December, generally a month of slim returns. However, Sulphur Aeon and Beaten to Death headed the bands bucking the trend of end of year mediocrity. Another band of […]

I’m hearing tons of sick underground music from India lately which is often brought to my attention from the fellas at Qabar PR (cheers Hassan and Zoheb) as well the madman Kunal from Transcending Obscurity’s main HQ.  All I can say is keep ‘em coming guys because I’m getting turned onto a metric fuckton of […]

Apparently a lot has happened in the 12 or so years since reviewed this Polish band’s debut, Buried in Between, a decent At The Gates ish metalcore/melodeath record. There’s been a lineup shuffle, and more importantly over the band’s 3 albums since the debut, these guys have evolved into solid death/black metal act and now […]

For me, the best Anthrax album is Among the Living from 1987.  However, Anthrax wasted little time with getting their fourth full-length released with the 1988, State of Euphoria record.  Anthrax had already firmly established themselves with their patented NY stylized crunch thrash metal guitar tone and were already touring worldwide.  The airing of the […]

An absolutely devastating split from India’s experimental crust grinders False Flag (a perennial favorite in the Snyder household) and Nepal’s doom-burnt thrash punks Neck Deep in Filth that gives you 5 tracks of pain when all’s said and done, without any filler getting in the way.  Anyone that was around for the heyday of freaked […]