I cannot even begin to tell you how many false starts I’ve had with this review due to my ongoing writer’s block. However, when there’s something released that I believe in and know would have an impact if the right ears took a listen, I must push through it. If you didn’t know by now, […]

I get to stare at possibly my best tattoo every day, which is for Skeletonwitch, which sometimes give me the skeleton itch. Meaning I want to hear new music from the boys. They’re from my hometown and mean a great deal to me, all of them lead different lives now, and getting music from them […]

Turbid North delivering a new album takes me back to when Eyes Alive was released 7 years ago. So young, naïve, and infinitely more fuckable. Unless you’re a cougar. Not the animal, though. I’ve found no parallels. Much like the awful tenure of my life from then to now, it hit me hard when I […]

International (Canada/ US/ Australia) act Dragoncorpse, has garnered quite a bit of on line hype with their take on deathcore meets power metal and anime (self-described power core), with three rip-roaring singles,  as well as a rather amusing online presence full of memes and self-deprecating humor. Well, now it’s time to see if the hype […]

As someone who was really cutting his teeth in the more extreme metal scene during Metalcore’s heyday, it’s safe to say that it will always have a special place in my heart. Even when the genre fell out of fashion and became more a butt of every gatekeeper’s jokes, it remained a regular part of […]

According to the promotional emails, Godiva is one of Portugal’s longest-running melodic death metal bands and has a large symphonic element, so I had to check them out. They were formed in 1999, but haven’t been super productive with a few demos and EPs in their early years, but nothing other than a single since […]

Okay, first and foremost, hats off to Mr. Teeth of the Divine himself, Erik Thomas, for sending me Shroud of Despondency‘s latest album, Air of Abrasion for review. Having no experience with the band I wasn’t sure what to expect. I damn sure wasn’t expecting from Air of Abrasion to turn out to be one […]

A late 2022 release that I got my hands on even later in 2022, Lunar Mercia is a post/atmospheric black metal band from Birmingham in the UK, and resides in the same dark, dreamy, melodic, jangly space as Ghost Bath, Wolves in the Throne Room, Woods of Desolation, Harakari for the Sky, Alcest and such. […]

With a name like Lightlorn ( ‘having no light’ or ‘bereft of light’) you’d think the debut EP from these Gothenburg atmospheric/post black metallers would be a truly grim, depressive affair. However, the 4 lengthy songs that comprise this EP are actually some of the most delightfully uplifting, melodic black metal I’ve heard in a […]

I reviewed Bile’s last release, in 2021, the ep: Sharks And Covid, Vol.1.  Pot Farmer vol​.​2 is their seventh full-length album and any fan of bands like of Ministry, early Fear Factory, Skinny Puppy, Godflesh, NIN, Front 242 should find something to sink their teeth into, with the new Bile, although this is much more […]

I usually don’t review digital-only releases, but when you stumble across a symphonic tech-death supergroup based on one of the greatest video games series’ of all time, I’ll make an exception. Video gamers will recognize the moniker as one of the weapons from the Gears of War series, and indeed Hammer of Dawn is a […]

Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from the oversexed, fast car, jumbo jet, yacht party lifestyle of a playboy heavy metal reviewer and get back to basics. You know, get back to the reason why you have an aircraft carrier full of Ferraris in the first place, check out some underground promos, and find […]

While I have an affinity for every single metal sub-genre in some way, it’s safe to say some are less “my thing.” Grindcore is one of those, but I do enjoy some once in a while. Some bands just do it right. Some bands are also from my local scene, or more specifically the scene […]

In my ongoing quest to discover symphonic death metal of any sort here in 2022, I’ve stumbled across some awesome, obscure stuff this summer alone,  like Japan’s Imperial Circus Dead Decadence ( whose 殯――死へ耽る想いは戮辱すら喰らい、彼方の生を愛する為に命を讃える―― might be my album of the year- which was just going to be too much of a challenge to review/type), The […]

I can’t even describe how excited I was to hear the new Imonolith full length. I am a big fan of their debut, owning a signed copy, which was from a pre-order. However, considering this album has 10 songs, including 3 demos of previous songs, a cover, and a re-recording of another, to call this […]

Here’s a short little EP from an emerging artist, Witnesses, who dabbles in doom as well as the ambient genres. While I am not a fan of the ambient genre in general, I am a massive fan of the doom part of the sound Greg Schwan has conjured. So when he asked if he could […]

So a handful of excellent blackened/symphonic deathcore (or whatever you want to call it) releases have come out in 2022 to basically keep fans satiated until Lorna Shore drop Pain Remains later this year; Shadow of Intent, Hurakan, Downfall of Mankind, Worm Shepherd (who will somehow be releasing a second album later this year…) to […]

I’m not quite sure that to make of Bellgrave’s Back As King. The internet tells me this German veteran act started as a doom/death band back in the early 00s and then turned onto a sort of hard rock death/doom band with some still sort of gravelly semi death metal vocals (courtesy of Danny Hoff, […]

I reviewed Eldritch Horror‘s 2015 long awaited debut album Untouched by the Sun here 7 years ago. Time flies. And what a debut that was. Harnessing old school death metal calling to mind the 80’s and not surprising since they’d been underground monsters since yet 80’s. Finally seeing the band live a few years after […]

I’ve reviewed Long Island, NY’s Day of Doom last several albums and Doomed is their sixth album and they streamlined their approach opting for shorter songs and drummer Rich Hervey is leading the charge again. “Provocation of Iniquity” begins this 10 song 38 minute album with what sounds like people talking, explosions and buildings collapsing as the air horns […]

Spacefaring hype beast, John Goblikon is back with his musical band in tow after an almost 4 year layoff since the aptly named Welcome to Bonkers back in 2018. And not much has changed from this hard to pigeon-hole, but fun as fuck band, as they still play a sort of melodic death metal with […]

It’s been 2 years since Ulcerate released Stare into Death and be Still. So if you are fiending for that twisty-turny style of dissonant , experimental death metal, may I offer up Canada’s husband and wife duo, Crown of Madness? With a shared love of video games and death metal, this couple has delivered a stellar, […]

Fall Of Stasis: “Pssst you, metal review person, wanna review some symphonic, blackened folk metal?” Me: “Nah , I’m a bit burned out of bouncy folky metal, even the last Ensiferum really didn’t enthrall past the first few listens, *sigh* Fall of Stasis: “What if they had a more slicing, viscous edge like The Black […]

Jeremy Turner from Unmerciful turned me on to this unique project of Origin lead guitarist Paul Ryan. Ryan called Maentra.  Based out of San Francisco Maentra play a really unique mix of death metal, grindcore, and tinges of industrial. Kundalini Rising kicks off with “Muladhara”.  I was surprised to hear that Ryan does not play […]

Even though 1976′ s The Bad News Bears taught me not to assume things, I’m gonna…I am straight up assuming that everyone here is a fan of brutal death metal, at least in some smattering or inkling, be it small or large. I’m assuming that we can all get down to  Suffocation, Deeds of Flesh, […]