My quest for the wildest, balls-to-the-wall Blackened Death Metal album continues this week with a band from Bahrain called Zvindiyar, and their brand-spanking debut EP Six Rites. Straight away, I can tell I’m going to be blown away; the opening track, “Anqa,” bursts from the speakers like a rhinoceros on Crack. It’s got it all […]
It’s been 10 looooong years since I discovered the UK’s Cairiss and their debut EP, Fall: a gorgeous example of Myrkur-y ,Deafheaven-y, Alcest-y, Ghost Bath-y post/atmospheric black metal. There have been a couple of lineup changes, with Alex Taylor coming over from the now split-up Aklash. Still, the most impactful addition is Lydia Williams on […]
It’s been a long eight years since NY’s Torturous Inception released an album. I reviewed their second album that year, Arcane Dominion, and raved about it. Now we have the third album Life’s Worth. There are a bunch of lineup switcheroos, with Gunnar Rufo joining on bass. Devon De Carlo – Guitars, Dustin Primeau – […]
Plague Ritual is a new and upcoming band outta the Oakland, California region. They have much in common with the band Hatriot as three of the five members used to be in Hatriot, namely: Justin Cole – Guitars, Kevin Paterson – Vocals, Guitars, Kosta Varvatakis – Guitars. The band is rounded out with Dylan Bunio […]
Give it up for Godeater, outta Texas, y’all! Some bruising deathcore with symphonic elements. In their short existence of three years, they released an EP, Divine Abstraction, in 2023. Although there were two instrumentals on it, the three other songs were pretty damn righteous. Now we have the 11-song debut album – Madness of the […]
Protest The Hero, and I have a history. Ever since I was introduced to Kezia by a good friend at Ye Olde Alma Mater, I’ve paid close attention to anything they release. Add to the equation that they made their political stances quite clear on Palimpsest in 2020; they happen to align with mine, and […]
Admittedly, I’ve been pretty locked in to the milder side of my metal spectrum; melodic black metal, symphonic deathcore, etc. However, I did randomly have a craving for Sweden’s Deranged, and fired up Deranged, , Rated X, and Plainfield Cemetery. ( I never heard anything past Plainfield…I should probably rectify that). I had a pretty […]
I must admit Black Sites doesn’t do much for me. I followed vocalist and guitarist Mark Sugar because of his previous work with now defunct metalcore/thrash band Trials, but now he is also in the badass death metal outfit, Bear Mace. I thoroughly enjoy two out of the three bands already mentioned, so I’m hopeful […]
When I first started mentally writing this review, I had a whole idea about doing a bit about bands shadow dropping albums, and how Amon Amarth just shadow dropped a new album this summer, without telling anyone, and that it was one of their better albums of the last few efforts. Then I thought that […]
I reviewed Minnesota’s doom death band Red Vinter’s, last several releases, and now they have returned with their second full-length album, Ghost in the Fog. James Achilles on Drums, Mike Bullock -Vocals, Bass, Dylan Jones – Guitars (lead), and they welcome Erik Chrissis into the fold on Guitars. What was established on their EP’s and […]
Even though I have SiriusXM in my truck, I don’t often listen to it, unless I’m with the spousal unit listening to the Lithium channel, or just too lazy to connect my phone and listen to Spotify or all the promos I have on my phone. But occasionally I’ll throw on Liquid Metal just to […]
For a while there in the early and mid 00s, Chicago’s Lair of the Minotaur was where one of the most metal fucking bands out there. The Steve Rathbone (7000 Dying Rats) led project, joined at times by the likes of Larry Herwig (Pelican), Chris Wozniak (Serpent Crown), Nate Olp (Demiricous), and others, kicked out […]
Guitarist/Vocalist Paul Gillis has been at it in the scene for thirty years, and when Morgue Supplier got going, he was a man with a plan. Create brutal death metal that will rip heads off from here to the end of the world. Mastering the Disease is the band’s fourth album, and Stephen Reichelt once […]
Much like last year’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra effort, this short but blistering 6-track EP (though only 3 actual songs) from Indianapolis’s Mauled is a throwback to the Myspace, early /mid 00s era of deathcore. Specifically, the likes of Suicide Silence, Whitechapel, All Shall Perish, My Bitter End, and Embrace the End. No blackened or symphonic […]
I sort of enjoyed the two prior releases from Sweden’s cosmic black metal act, Lightlorn; the debut EP, These Nameless Worlds, and the 2023 debut full-length, At One with the Night Sky. I own both physical CDs, and they fill that early Deafheaven, Soul Dissolution, Alkhemia, Vallendusk, Numeron, Vela Pulsar, Spectral Lore styled melodic/atmospheric black […]
So, I’ve never done meth. Lets get that out of the way. Nor have I ever found myself at a point of thinking “you know what might be fun? Crack cocaine.” My brand of self-destructive tendencies (and mental illness!) have certainly taken me to a number of dumb and regrettable decisions in my life, make […]
Have you ever wondered how a combination of metalcore, Slipknot, and the nu metal stylings of Taproot would sound while recorded in a garbage can? Me neither. No disrespect to either of those bands (I have seen Taproot a few times and would again), but some musical stylings don’t work well and at times sound […]
Okay, so think about your favorite Dimmu Borgir album- for me it’s Enthrone Darkness Triumphant; okay, now think of your favorite Cradle of Filth record- mine is Dusk and Her Embrace. The Great Elven War, however, is the best album neither of those bands ever made. This is an album that could’ve come out between […]
I have had the promo for the debut album from this California-based symphonic black metal act for a few months now, and it continues the strong 2025 that the genre had, with a fine early entry in 2026. Formed by members of some acts I have not heard of like Mortal Filth, Wartroll amd Horrorborn, […]
The 2022 debut from this Chicago-based neoclassical melodic death metal act, Rex Mortem, was a fine example of a blind promo grab and review, and added to that year’s melodic death metal revival. So I have been eagerly awaiting a follow-up. And here it is. For those unfamiliar, the band began as a more metalcore/progressive […]
I don’t know what you expect from a new band comprised of three former and founding Amon Amarth members: Anders Biazzi (whom I am very familiar with in projects like Gods Forsaken, Just Before Dawn, and Blood Mortized), Niko Kaukinen, and Fredrik Andersson. Then throw in session bassist Tobias Cristiansson (Necrophobic, Grave, Dismember, etc) Power Metal? Deathcore? Prog Rock? […]
If you were a fan of Germany’s Rotting Demise and their 2023 self-released debut, My Whole Wrath, you might be in for a bit of a shock for the follow-up, The Unholy Veil of Silence, also self-released. Not a bad thing, but the band’s style of chuggy, sometimes Bolt Thrower-y death metal has all but […]
New Jersey’s Condition Critical have been rather quiet since their second album, Extermination Plan in 2016. They had followed their 2013 debut, Operational Hazard, with that killer album. Brazil’s Marquee Records did remaster reissues of both albums, which I reviewed here. The band is made up of Mike Dreher on bass/vocals (backing), Ryan Donato on drums, […]
Shadows is an up-and-coming German blackened death thrash metal band, and outside of a demo from 2022, Miseria is their first official release. 9 songs in 48 minutes with a classically named song in the occult realm – “As Above so Below”. No fancy intro, just a robust organic production. There are some nods to […]
As I stated in my review of the excellent Obšar EP, I love receiving unsolicited, blind requests from obscure, completely unknown (to me) bands for us to review their material. So when I got an email from Moscow’s Renunciation, asking us to cover their second album, Make Babylon Great Again, I checked the band’s music […]