I’m not familiar with California’s Valdur other than they started out as a standard USBM band back about a decade ago and this very site reviewed their 2009 split with Fellow Californians Lightning Swords of Death, whom  i have heard. So I was in fact expecting some black metal, but what I got was an […]

This past year has surely been a busy year for Mr. Patrick Mameli, singer and guitarist for Pestilence.  Their first four albums were remastered and reissued in deluxe formats and I reviewed all four of them here.  Perfect reissues!  Patrick has assembled a brand new Pestilence line-up:  Calin Paraschiv on lead guitar, Tilen Hudrap on […]

US based folk/epic/viking metal is somewhat of a rarity. I’d have to go back to maybe Hammer Horde to find one that really hit everything on the head. But here comes Pennsylvania’s Frost Giant and their ambitious and often down right brilliant debut. Listen- there is a lot going on here- not just epic folk […]

Okay, here I am venturing outside my normal realms and diving into more black metal. Auðn hail from Iceland and my bud, Graham, Deepsend Records owner, sent me their s/t debut a few years ago and I was hooked. The band sings in their native language and the best way to describe them is atmospheric […]

I would imagine that the members of River of Souls have been called many things within their life and career, though I highly doubt that the term “slackers” has ever been one of them. Having just released their debut full-length, The Well of Urd, upon listeners just a mere few months ago, the band have […]

Vvilderness is the brain child of one Hungarian man, Vvildr, and Devour the Sun is his Vvilderness debut (he has some other purely instrumental bandcamp releases under  the moniker ‘Release the Longships’). Originally independently released on bandcamp last year, Russia’s Casus Belli and Australia’s Beverina Records has picked up the rights and is releasing a […]

I will attempt to do Watain’s ardent supporters proud by this review. Understand that I am new to the Watain camp, so forgive me if you disagree with me. Deepsend Records owner and friend, Graham Landers, recommended this new Watain to me and I was hooked. He guided me through their discography and within a […]

I’m not a big ‘stoner’ metal guy, but I do like me some big fuzzed out riffs and sludgy guitars, and the press sheet for Outlander, the second album from Norway’s  Mammüth dropped both, so I checked it out on a whim. I’m glad I did- though outside of my usual musical strike zone, Mammüth deliver a pretty […]

Delaware’s Scorched impressed me when I saw them live, recently on the Morta Skuld and Embalmer tour and they were cool dudes. Kick ass tour!! I picked up the debut album, Echoes of Dismemberment. This album destroys and I immediately recognized a bunch of their songs, from the live show. The singer Matt Kapa gave […]

For three albums now, Finland’s Decaying have delivered their Bolt Thrower/Asphyx take on war themed death metal with solid results. But with the switch from Hellthrasher Productions to FDA Records, the band appear to have deiced to change things up a bit and spread their creative wings a little. Not that the band still does […]

I’ve been a big fan of Malaysia’s Humiliation, brand of war inspired death metal, for a number of years. They release an album every year, along with some splits to boot. The band is always writing new music. As we speak they are writing their 9th album. Their brand of Bolt Thrower/classic Obituary/Hail of Bullets […]

I’ve been impressed with new label Raw Skull Recordz and their early releases from Bullcreek and Graceless, but the debut full length  from Sweden’s Gravestone is clearly the label’s best effort so far (at least until the new Just Before Dawn?) . You know exactly what you are getting here as the band features Penki Samuelsson from […]

Without question Metallica’s Master of Puppets, in 1986, is one of the all-time greatest thrash metal records ever to be released.  This is the album that platooned them into super stardom. Along with their US tour with Ozzy, Metallica then began to rise to a popularity that many groups only have dreams of.  Last year, Metallica […]

Well, this certainly was an awesome recommendation.   New Haven Connecticut’s Xenosis have literally blown me away with their third full length album, Devour and Birth.  The opening track “Night Hag’ mixes progressive elements from bands like later era Death, with the melody and harmonies of a band like Spawn of Possession or Beyond Creation. I […]

When I fall for a band,  I fall HARD. In 2015 it was Vallendusk, and early last year it was Sabaton, and my latest infatuation has been with Hungary’s prolific Celtic/folk metal act Dalriada (formerly known as Echoes of Dalriada). I discovered them on Spotify while listening to the Asmegin radio station, the song “Hajdútánc” […]

   Wisconsin’s Emblazoned released their debut album, in 2014, Eucharistiae Sacramentum and it was outstanding.  Even topping their 2013 ep, The Living Magisterium.  They return with their second full-length, Catharsis.  Emblazoned have always had a black metal edge to the death metal sound and the black metal moments definitely are taking center stage with Catharsis.  […]

I’m not familiar with The Netherlands’ Bleeding Gods, but they have some Dutch scene veteran’s in their fold (Houwister, Grind Minded, Debauchery, Divine Sins) and a 2015 debut album under their belt. And with a few key words like ‘symphonic’ and ‘Hercules’,  ‘war’ and ‘death metal’ popping up, I decided to give their second effort a […]

It’s been 5 years since Death Strike, the solid second effort from this Dismember/Grave worshiping Dutch act, and although this was released on vinyl and digital last year, I waited with baited breath for the CD version from FDA Records, and it was worth the wait. The formula is the same; well executed Dismember meets  […]

Hailing from Wichita, Kansas, Bestialord is a killer new project from band members that served time in kick ass outfits Manilla Road and Sanctus Infernum.  Guitarist/vocalist Mark Anderson played on one of my favorite latter days MR records Spiral Castle.  Bringing along his SI bandmate Chris Johnson on drums with bassist Rob Harris completing the […]

Milwaukee Wisconsin’s Morta Skuld released a monstrous debut album in 1993, Dying Remains and I listened to it constantly.  Beyond quality death metal, with some thrash metal tendencies, but leaning more towards the brutal side of things, like Demolition Hammer and eventually some Solstice influence.  Well fast forward 24 years later and I get to […]

Though only a 5 year wait, down from the 7 year wait for Old Morning’ s Dawn, Summoning are back with another effort of their now predictable, but effective Tolkien inspired, dungeon synth based black metal and there is very little deviation from the last few efforts. And to many, the minimalist, tinny guitars and […]

As I looked over the cover artwork for these Aussies, which I like, reminiscent of the great Chris Moyen (Abominant, Absu, Archgoat, Beherit, Goatlord etc) I sarcastically think to myself, “Uuuhm, I wonder what they will sound like?” First song “Hammer of Hatred” kicks in and it’s full on Marduk, meets Angelcorpse and I love it.  […]

I was fairly impressed with Discreation’s 2015 effort Procreation of the Wretched , a solid European death metal record from a group of Germans I had never heard of. The album took a while to get going, but its last 2/3 was pretty damn good. End of Day, does not take a while to get […]

Ever wonder what it would sound like if Angel Corpse and Dark Funeral spat forth some sort of infernal Black Death hybrid that aggressively mean and just down right nasty.  Sweden’s Degial’s third full length effort Predator Reign is savage listen that wastes no time in pummeling the listener right off the bat.   Opening up […]

It’s been damn near 7 years since Belgian grinders Leng Tch’e dropped their last full-length slab of death-y, crusty doomgrind, Hypomanic.  There hasn’t been an original member left in the band since 2007, although these maniacs have stayed relatively true to form sonically over the last 3 records. For me, the filthy highpoint of the […]