Without fail, the same thing happens at the end of every year; I submit my year end picks to various outlets, only to have a release cross my path that would have made the list. In this case the second self released EP from Long Island’s Painted In Exile would have hands down been the […]

When listening to the self released debut from Canada’s Aquila (featuring former members of Bloodshoteye), I get a little sense of Deja Va as I’m reminded of Loren Battle’s Words Begins Wars, release earlier this year; Confident, well done, polished, epic artwork – and all of it self released. But it’s also plying a genre […]

With their debut self released EP, Italy’s Unconventional Disruption has simultaneously added to 2009s self released excellence (Belakor, Cephalectomy, Kalisia, Vengeful, Avicularia) and to Italy’s impressive, growing death metal scene, (Hour Of Penance, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Vomit the Soul, Gory Blister). With a chunky, angular, down-tuned sound, these five excellent songs reminded of a more controlled […]

That album cover repulses everyone that I show it too, which only makes me want to continue showing it to folks, no matter how disinterested they may be. It kind of reminds you of something Cannibal Corpse might have on a cover, doesn’t it? That would make sense because on Obesidade Morbida (even I can […]

An Entire Legion is a band with a personality conflict. It’s a band that strives for a traditional feel, but at the same time wants to be current. It’s a band that lives on hard rock guitar riffs, but at the same time works to appeal to an artsy commercial crowd. In short, it’s a […]

It’s fitting that this Croatian band take their name from a genus of spider that includes Tarantulas, because their form of spazzy, angular, technical , slightly experimental death metal is the perfect soundtrack for a nature documentary where spiders do their skittish, frantic, unpredictable, spidery things. The twisting, twangy form of death metal that Avicularia […]

Man, not only has death metal seen some excellent , label released goodness in 2009 (Augury, Gorod, Obscura, Ulcerate, Man Must Die, Nile, As You Drown, The Red Shore to name just a few), along come bands like Cephalectomy, Avicularia, Unconventional Disruption, Burial Ritual, Zealotry and Quebec’s Vengeful to self release some death metal awesomeness […]

On paper, the combination of female vocalist London Wilde (an experienced metal lass with various writing, engineering and vocal credits to her name since 1994, even performing bass tracks on the 2004 Chastain album In An Outage) and Dave Starr, a 25 year metal veteran who served as bassist for relatively legendary Bay area Thrashers […]

How the fuck is it that 3 my favorite albums of 2009 are self released (two being Kalisia and Be’lakor) and one of them, Cephalectomy’s An Epitaph to Tranquility is a FREE FUCKING DOWNLOAD????? That’s right. The full length follow up to 2004 excellent Eclipsing the Dawn (not counting the 28 minute single track, The Dream […]

The entire package presented here is associated with beer. The name Final Gravity is a term used in brewing beer, the CD cover is a picture of the bottom of a wooden keg carved with ingredient symbols, and the band bio will not let you forget how much the band enjoys beer, even going as […]

Though not quite as awe-inspiring as country mates Be’lakor, here’s some more quality Australian metal , this time in the form of unsigned but high quality Melbourne melodic death metal act, Orpheus. Though only a 6 track (one being an intro), 21 minute affair, Orpheus show enough skill and song writing ability to play with […]

Here’s a solid little self released, 11 track ‘album’ (eight 2008 demo tracks and three 2009 demo tracks) from this New York act who should appeal to fans of All Shall Perish, Within the Ruins, Antagony, Born of Osiris, The Faceless and such; that’s to say a form of polarizing modern metal that’s part technical […]

The little bit I did gather from the long-ass, convoluted bio for Italy’s Carnal Rapture is that they’ve been around in one form or another since 1992. What they play on the mysteriously titled Promo 2008 is a mid-paced, jazzy tech death that is all twisted, turning, and lopsided with mid-range scratchy growls that fall […]

Yet another new young thrash band trying their hand at the 80’s sound and feel. Conniption hail from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and A Method to Madness is the bands debut self-released LP originally released last year. Though since I’ve received the album for review, they’ve been signed by Germany’s Rock It Up Records, who are to […]

Futility are an unsigned act from Australia that play an aggressive version of death/doom. For a self-released debut, this isn’t too bad but it seems amateurish in comparison to some of the other premier doom acts coming from Aussie territory.Slowly, “Failed” starts of with harmonized misery, reminiscent of early Anathema and Katatonia. With the somber […]

Man oh man; Australia produces some great extreme metal acts, especially those of the black, death, and war variety. The fertile down-under breeding ground has given us another righteous death metal act in Defamer and its first full-length release, Chasm. This one is all about evil atmosphere and old school spirit, but damn, it takes […]

Attention all extreme metal record labels, Milwaukee’s Burial Ritual deserves a spot on your roster. Check out the precision death metal execution and memorable songwriting of Tower of Silence and I defy you to disagree. That’s not to say that self-released albums aren’t typically worthy of your time, but it is still a pleasant surprise […]

Les Tenebres’ (Norway) is a band that is not easily categorized. The most convenient thing to do is to file them under Doom Metal and be done with it. But as I listen to …And The Waves Came Crushing Down, I hear elements of Doom but I cannot concur with the tag as the overall […]

How in the fuck is a band like Be’lakor not signed to a decent label? (In the US anyway) Not only did they deliver a stunning self released debut, The Frail Tide in 2007, which was universally acclaimed, they have followed it up with a tighter, better produced follow up. All a label has to […]

Heralded as “the new breed of heavy” by guitarist/producer Joey Z, Misery’s Fifteen Years of Aggression should deliver the goods. Technically. While the band is undoubtedly heavy, the tried-and-true brand of metal that they play is anything but original. This is your typical metal/hardcore hybrid, the kind of music that local bands play each weekend […]

Coexistence, formed in 2008, is a long-distance project between guitarist Gregory Giraudo and vocalist Carl Lindquist. One lives in South France, the other in Stockholm, Sweden. Considering the distance between the two, and the fact that the music was recorded in France and the vocals in Sweden, this four-song EP is not a bad little […]

This Australian band mixes neofolk, progressive rock, classic heavy metal and Viking/black metal with an epic, narrative approach that should appeal to fans of Empyrium, Solefald and Doomsword. It’s an ambitious album, and obviously a lot of care and thought has gone into it, although in the end I found it as exasperating as it […]

I’m always a little nervous when I get an independent CD. On the one hand, I hate to rip them apart. They’re usually bands just starting out that still need a lot of work but could develop into something, and being a lousy guitarist that refuses to give it up myself, I hate to discourage […]

I thought this band was called Infernal Folklore, ‘cause that’s the only readable text on the CD. No help from that logo, either. Had to do a bit of research to find out that it’s actually called Infernal Scourge – how’s that for obscure underground status? A bit more research revealed that this is the […]

A 20-part, hour-plus epic concept album mixing virtuoso progressive metal, blistering melodic death and symphonic grandeur? Sold. This French band comes off like the glorious blend of Scar Symmetry, Symphony X and Nightwish, with plenty of other influences – Cynic being a big one – popping up throughout. As you’d expect from those references, the […]