It took a long time before I really sat down and listened to Jazz. I started with Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, Glenn Miller (yeah he’s more Swing, but “Take Five” is a powerhouse) and Ramsey Lewis. But then a funny thing happened in the 90s with the purchase of At Death’s Door 2 and I […]

That logo? Dave Ingram on vocals? Nuclear Blast Records? It just feels right, doesn’t it? 5 years after their return from a 12-year hiatus with 2020’s solid Scriptures, UK death metal veterans Benediction is back with album number 9. And while the band’s middle and later catalog isn’t quite the stuff of legend, there is […]

You’ll read no disrespect from me to Riley McShane because his albums with Allegaeon are incredible. That’s especially true for their most recent, which was my album of the year in 2022, Damnum. However, Ezra Haynes has always been the true voice of Allegaeon. When Riley left after the last album, I was bummed, but […]

A good friend of mine, from the local scene where I live, Kevin from Unholy Anarchy Records, sent me the promo for this Baltimore-based melodic death metal band, Chiaroscuro.  He’s trying to help this up-and-coming act and figured, let me see if Frank would like it.  Quite honestly he got me in the Iron Sheik’s […]

After two fine albums on FDA Records (including 2022’s fucking outstanding Feldwärts), Germany’s war mongering death metal act Scalpture have made the jump to a different German label, Testimony Records for their 4th album, though it comes with mixed results. Saying Landkreig is a step back from Feldwärts is probably a bit over an overstatement, […]

The debut album from the Scotlands’s solo artist Evangelos Vasilakos (also of equally fittingly named black/death act Chestcrush– who have a long in the upcoming Deathgasm 2 movie) has the most fitting band and album name ever, as this album is Caustic, Phlegm-y , Purulent, and Apocalyptic all at once Ladies and gentlemen, what we […]

Legendary is a word reserved for the elite. The bands that have endured throughout the many transformations that have run through Black Metal since It’s vile birth so many years ago. If you don’t know the history of Rotting Christ, go read a book. Seriously, there’s an official book written about them. I’ll wait. Okay, […]

Bands have been releasing B-side album collections for years, and they’re always cleverly titled so you know what you’re getting. We’ll, CrusHuman have done that with Besides… my stupid ass didn’t realize it was a B-side album until I read the presser. Holy hell, it’s songs that didn’t make it onto their amazing self-titled debut. […]

I’ve covered this husband-and-wife duo for two EPs now, first with 2022’s The Void and then 2023’s Elemental Binding.  Both deliver excellent, discordant death metal with themes based on video games, D&D, and such. So I was super happy for the band when they signed with Transcending Obscurity, a perfect label for them. And the duo (Sunshine Schneider—guitar, […]

I once saw progressive black metallers, Dawn of Ouroboros shortly after their debut, The Art of Morphology was released at one of my favorite Pittsburgh area venues, Black Forge Coffee House. I had reviewed it, enjoyed it, and went to the show thinking it would be sparsely attended. Unfortunately, I was right, but they still put on a […]

Norway’s Kryptograf came under my radar in 2022 with their sophomore release The Eldorado Spell.  I loved it so much that I reviewed it, it was in my top 10 that year and I obtained their killer s/t debut. The band plays a very heavy stoner doom/ psychedelic metal and with album number three – […]

After two excellent, reinvigorated albums in Hammer of the Witches and Crytoriana, Dani Filth and his hired gang of ever-changing musical mercenaries, took a step back with 2021, Existence is Futile, where the constant line-up changes, appeared to have taken its toll, mainly Lindsey Schoolcraft, who was settling into her role as the new Sara […]

Colorado’s deathcore kings are here to beat your fucking face in. Right the fuck in. No theatrics, no choirs, no sweeping symphonics (ok, maybe just a smidge in 2 songs), just 4 songs in 18 minutes to remind you they arguably sit atop or near the top of the current pure deathcore heap. After delivering […]

It’s pretty crazy to think Dave Rotten’s Avulsed has been around for over 30+ years.  Phoenix Cryptobiosis is the band’s 8th full-length album and the band shows no sign of slowing down.  Avulsed still plays a filthy style of death metal, that is quite a bit reminiscent of early Cannibal Corpse. When I listen to […]

The first time I heard the song “Balls to the Wall” by Accept was on one of those compilation Metal albums that were put out by K-Tel in the 80s.  I still have the record, it’s called Slave to the Metal and I bought it in 1986. It’s one of those songs and albums that […]

Are you ready for some quality Power-Metal??  Indiana’s Prehistoria released a very good debut ep, in 2022, Cursed Lands.  It fell under the radar, but it showcased some excellent songwriting and lots of noodly guitar moments. Armed with a label, Stormspell Records, known for their high quality output of classic and power metal bands, Cryptic […]

I was late to the Istapp (‘icicle’) party, only discovering them on 2019’s stellar, The Insidious Star, but subsequently going back and listening to prior albums from the mid-10’s like Blekinge and Frostbiten. Honestly, though I had kind of forgotten about them, but 6 years after The Insidious Star a revamped Istapp is back. There […]

From the promotional email: FFO: Mental Cruelty, Worm Shepherd, Lorna Shore Yep, I’m in. How these Brits haven’t been on my radar before this EP is a mystery to me. They play my favorite genre of music right now and reside on one of the better independent labels doing said genre. But trust me after […]

There’s a scourge festering on the skin of this country. Without getting stuck in the weeds of politics that noxious odor of corruption is  sneaking it’s way into every fabric and nook and cranny. It’s time for angry music again, we need to release our frustrations and what better way than with blast beats? The […]

Alabama’s Chaos Inception released two cool albums years ago.  Collision with Oblivion in 2009 and The Abrogation in 2012.  Both albums were heavily influenced by the first three Tucker lead Morbid Angel albums.  Stick with me, since this is like six degrees of Chaos Inception! Well, Vengeance Evangel is the long-awaited third album after line-up […]

After bursting on the scene with their 2007 debut, The Somatic Defilement, Tennessee’s Whitechapel quickly rose to the top of deathcore hierarchy with the follow-up, This Is Exile, in 2008, still a classic in the genre all these years later. However, subsequent albums like Our Endless War, Whitechapel, Mark of the Blade, and A New […]

Mantar of course means half man/half centaur. Don’t try to add it up, just trust me. Your guess is as good as mine which member of the duo represents each part, but they’ve been slitting throats with their blackened sludge/punk metal hybrid for over a decade. Since their official debut, Death by Burning in 2014, […]

Finland’s Admire The Grim, are a new melodic death metal band that leans heavily into their country’s fairly rich history of the genre. On their debut album, Resist they deliver a competent if by-the-numbers album of shredding, tightly played, melodeath that fans of Children of Bodom, Kalmah, and such should definitely appreciate. Fronted by Katri Snellman […]

When Håkan Stuvemark contacts me I listen!  He’s in a zillion bands.  Most notably, for my liking is: Wombbath (my review forthcoming), Rex Demonus and Consumption.  We’ve been in touch for like 5 years now and I did review the first Consumption album back in 2020, Recursive Definitions of Suppuration and loved the music and […]

Finland’s Havukruunu ( ‘coniferous crown’) first got on my radar with 2017’s Kelle Surut Soi, but in 2020, they obliterated my radar with 2020’s Uinuos syömein sota, which was my clear-cut favorite album of the year. The funny thing is, we have never actually reviewed them! Well let’s fix that together, shall we? The word […]