I can’t say I’m overly familiar with the Lithuanian blackened doom/sludge scene, but the debut, Dugne (seabed? bottom of the sea?) from Deprivacija certainly holds some promise if the rest of the scene is as competent. 6 songs, 55 minutes, a gritty, feedback laden, gravelly guitar tone and delivery despondent slower, crawling riffs and pained raspy screams will give […]

An interesting thing has happened in extreme metal over the last twenty or so years.  As a genre, death metal once looked like it was limitless- not necessarily in terms of speed, technicality or the abstract idea of “brutality” but regarding where the style could go creatively.  The aforementioned traits no doubt were going to […]

Suppressive Fire is a new, slightly blackened 3 piece death/thrash metal band from North Carolina, and while I’ve never been a huge fan of black/thrash, Suppressive Fire lean a little more to the thrash side and their war laden themes and imagery had me more intrigued than I usually would be with something this style. With […]

  The multi-instrumentalist Kris Force and her spacey juggernaut, vapor trail institution Amber Asylum has over 20 years in the music world and stints on known labels such as Relapse, Neurot and Profound Lore for a reason.  Never once in the group’s career have they compromised their vision.  While the “band’s” line-up is often changing, […]

Recalling the glory years of Scandinavian 90s melodic death metal, Finland’s Suotana  and their debut album hearken back to an era of early Children of Bodom, Norther, Lothlorien, Ensiferum, Kalmah and such. Big, epic, keyboard drenched, catchy, bouncy slightly blackened melodic death metal is the order of the day, and while there is nary a […]

When Satan emerged from the dead with their exceptional comeback album Life Sentence in 2013, one of the early pioneers of the NWOBHM triumphed emphatically, bringing their old school retro formula into the modern era with spectacular results. While I’m sure long-time fans were particularly enthralled, I was surprised by the impact it had on […]

While driving to see King Diamond on their most recent tour I was playing 2015s Hole Below and discussing the record with my friend.  I had been listening to the album a hell of a lot and was finding it a little difficult to explain why I thought it was so enjoyable yet not particularly […]

Whoa! Reykjavik Iceland’s Cult of Lilith has made quite the debut with their nearly twenty minute Arkanum EP.  I honestly did not know what to expect from this group as I was expecting something completely different when I saw the cover artwork.  I was thinking that this was going to be more of a symphonic […]

I have to admit, I was quite hesitant when it came to reviewing the self-titled debut from Abbath. Immortal was/is a band I’ve always held in high regard, and honestly, Abbath is one of my most anticipated releases of the year. Between high expectations and a critiquing ear, I just knew things were going to […]

If Volume I era Sleep was signed to Am-Rep in the 90s and recorded Sleep’s Holy Mountain under Haze’s supervision, you’d probably have something like Connecticut’s Bedroom Rehab Corporation.  Simply a duo comprised of Adam Wujtewicz on bass and drummer Meghan Killimade, the band’s second studio slab Fortunate Some is full of hypnotic groove meditations […]

Spellbook, the 2012 debut from this Canadian/Balkan one man project was a pretty solid slab of thrash/death/black metal. Not much has changed in 3 years. The sound is a tight, almost robotic (due to programmed drums), death/thrash release with gruff almost Chris Barnes is growls. There’s no wasted sound, no intros, no interludes, and while […]

No arguments that Finland’s Purtenance put out one of the finest death metal albums in the 90’s, Member of Immortal Damnation.  To argue would be stupid.  A few years ago the band put the pieces back together and …to Spread the Flame of the Ancients is their third release, & second full length since the […]

When considering the importance of the classic Florida death metal scene, unfortunately and rather undeservedly, Brutality is often left off the list of luminaries that grew said scene into possibly the most influential hub of creativity on the planet, yet they were there from the beginning and played just as big a part as their […]

Despite the founder Mika Mage originally hailing from Finland, Finnish moniker and album based on the Kalevala poems, Nihilistinen Barbaarisuus hails from deepest , darkest Philadelphia and  have ties with some other USBM bands such as Shadow in the Crypt and others. However, despite a real, honest attempt at early 90s European symphonic black metal, the album […]

Italy’s Void of Sleep stormed out of the blocks with their accomplished 2013 debut album, Tales Between Reality and Madness. It was a hugely impressive, potential packed debut which certainly got me excited about their future. The sound was a versatile mixture of progressive sludge rock and thick stoner metal groove coupled with the band’s […]

When I first fired up the (at the time) self-released album from New Jersey tech-death quartet Dystrophy, I was blown away by the first track “Apex”.  Sporting a very well done Gorguts/Ulcerate impersonation, that first track actually reminded me very much of my favorite track “Forgotten Arrows” from Gorguts’ last album.  It had the haunting, […]

Well slap my ass and call me Sally, Belgium’s Serial Butcher just surprised the hell right out of me with their sophomore album for Unique Leader Records, Brute Force Lobotomy. Though I had previously never heard Serial Butcher before, I pretty much could guess their sound, this is a Unique Leader release after all. So […]

One could argue that the 2015 debut album from super group  Gruesome, Savage Lands, is the current pinnacle of early Death worship, to the point where they actually almost recreated actual songs from Scream, Bloody Gore, Leprosy and Spiritual Healing. But also tucked away in 2015 was the second effort from California’s Skeletal Remains, who […]

Beginning with a warped, psychedelic drug manifesto in the form of instrumental phasing and back-masking, Colorado doom metallers Dead Temple make their intent clear from the very first notes on opener “Shadow of a Thousand Faces.”  The band’s deadly twin guitar attack creates some elements of old school metal akin to Maiden, Priest, Lizzy and […]

The latest from the England’s Dawn of Chaos struck me at moment when I was thinking of the days of me playing, creating and drawing characters from the role playing game Warhammer and the whole Realm of Chaos scenario. I saw the band name, the artwork (I love their logo) and I got thinking “Uhhmm, […]

Canada’s a good place to make black metal.  Some of my bandmates are from Canada, and I know the cold up there is dogging and leads some folks to produce music that reckons of the endlessly lashing frost that befalls every inch of the country.  Murderous death/black quintet Vile Insignia are a good representation of […]

The tragic events which nearly cost Georgia’s Baroness their lives has been well documented, so I won’t bother rehashing the dramatic circumstances here. Needless to say the emotional and physical scarring the members endured fractured the band and left frontman/guitarist John Baizley and Pete Adams (guitars, vocals) to pick up the pieces and resurrect Baroness. […]

Back in 2013, I was impressed by the second album, The Next, from Mexican guitarist Antonio Freyre and his gathering of International musicians including bassist Mike  Poggionne (Vile, Monstrosity, Lecherous Nocturne) , drummer Timo Häkkinen (Sotajumala) and Phil Tougas of Zealotry/Vengeful/Chthe’ilist on guitars delivering a dizzying chaotic, Canadian take on death metal that imbued Cryptopsy. With the only change being Josh Smith (Monumental […]

Desecresy are an outstanding Finnish death metal act, that in their brief inception since 2009, have released now their fourth album.  They play an older style of death metal that mixes in influences from Autopsy to a lot of Bolt Thrower rumbling, tank like heaviness.  Never opting to go into blast beat territory this 2 […]

The always reliable Transcending Obscurity label seems to dish out a never ending arsenal of extreme metal releases from all over the world with no boundary on style or genre.  I personally admire Kunal’s ethic and dedication to underground heaviness and more often than not enjoy the bands he brings to the table.  Fresh on […]