Are you ready for some Long Island NY Thrash Metal??  Then give me a Hell Yeah!!  I still can’t hear you!  HELL YEAH!!!.  That’s more like it.  Ok, a little bit of personal info and then onto the review.  I grew up on Long Island and seen Maelstrom live several times on the island back […]

What would you get if you placed Hypocrisy, Soilwork, and Children of Bodom in a blender? Well, two things: Several murder charges and a smoothie of which Jeffrey Dahmer would be envious. If you just wanted to mix their musical styles instead of all the people, you may have something similar to Buried Realm. For […]

I have been a fan of Fargo, North Dakota’s Gorgatron for quite some time.  Back in the day Anal Blast used to play shows with them and I have gotten to see and play on many shows with them since then.  Well fast forward to summer 2020 and we have their Third full length record […]

OK, this is an odd, but intriguing one. ( and for clarification its Wood-Scream, not Woods-Cream) Hailing from Russia, with a few releases under their belt and playing folk metal and being female-fronted, I was hoping for some sort of epic eastern European folk romps akin to Dalriada or Grai. But instead, I got a […]

BEAR MACE! (Sorry, I’ve just been yelling that at any opportunity since finding these dudes. It’s fun). Look, I know I harp on this a lot, but my favorite metal usually comes from the bands who seem to be enjoying themselves the most (unless you’re Atilla. Just… no). I’m the buzzed dude in board shorts […]

Never judge a book by its cover. We all know this. Right? I mean it’s only an age old adage that has been around since…well, the dawn of ages. Naturally, one can apply this sage wisdom to the music/metal world when it comes to album covers, band names, song titles, and the like. So knowing […]

Baltimore’s Codex Orzhova are a highly original act.  Whether you want to call them mathcore, deathgrind, Nintendocore, Robotron/Defender grind noise, I feel Baja Blasted is the most original album for 2020.  The band released a self-titled album 2 years ago, however this album contains some of those songs and I am unsure if that first […]

Sarpa ( the Sanskrit term for serpent) is the Austin, Texas-based one-man black/death project from the mind of David Baxter, formerly of industrial thrashers Skrew). The aptly named album Solivagus (roughly translated from Latin to ‘wondering alone’) is his first effort, no demos, no singles, just right into this ambitious 7 song 48-minute affair that […]

So recently, I have received a few progressive experimental and often symphonic metal/death metal albums. The Outsider‘s one man effort, From Ancient and Forbidden Books, Orbit Culture’s hammering, Gojira worshiping self titled album, and this, the second effort from the UKs Rannoch. With Opeth and Gojira worn openly on their sleeve, Rannoch delivers 12 tracks […]

Well, isn’t this just a barrel of rainbows and fucking unicorns? Scottish Hardcore rays of sunshine Razor Sharp Death Blizzard obviously aren’t mincing words about their current outlook on life. If it’s light-of-heart positivity and joy you’re looking for, just keep walking, friend – ‘cuz This shit is bleak. Like, BLEAK bleak. Somebody please give […]

There must be a huge Finnish or Scandinavian poplace or cultural influence in Canada right? Other wise  why is there such a surprisingly  large amount of solid Finnish sounding epic/folk/viking bands there? Blackguard/Profugus Mortis, Crimson Shadows, Vesperia/Bolero, Battlesoul. Will of the Ancients, Nordheim, Valfreya just to name a few. Well, add Vancouver’s Atavistia to that […]

Here’s a little atmospheric, shoe-gazy, post rock serenity to break up the death and black metal by way of UK collaboration Dawnwalker, a project featuring members of UK acts Sacred Son (who you may remember for making metal headlines for their album cover a few years ago), Pijn, Metasoma, Gold Baby and a host of […]

It’s been 6 years since Milwaukee’s Ara released Destroyer of Worlds, and although guitarist Jerry Hauppa (who once wrote for this very site) remained busy with the likes of Steel Iron, Northless and Prezir,(sadly his instrumental project, Concentric is no more) it’s a new Ara record I’ve been waiting for from Mr Hauppa and co. […]

HM 2 pedals have started to pop up in the unlikeliest of places it seems. From right here in the US/Indiana (Psychomancer), France (Nuisable), Venezuala (Nocturnal Hollow), Russia (Wombripper, Pyre), Greece (Abyssus, Wreckage), Australia (Earth Rot),  Croatia (Herzera) and now Belfast, Northern Ireland of all places by way of Marty Robinson and his one man […]

You know that kinda goofy friend you had in high school or college? They weren’t necessarily your BEST friend, but they were always a good time to be around, fun to have a drink with every once in a while and shoot the shit with? But time passes, lives grow apart, and one day you […]

There wasn’t much hype I saw surrounding the new self-titled album from Kaoteon. This is their third full length, in addition to a couple of singles and demos. Songwriter and band namesake Anthony Kaoteon enlisted the likes of Linus Klausenitzer from Obscura on the bass, Adrian Erlandsson from At The Gates , and vocalist Walid […]

Let me start by being clear from the offset – this is one of the best albums I’ve heard. Ever. It contains everything I love about music, and I’d be surprised if this doesn’t rank highly among many peoples’ ‘best of the decade’ lists. That may sound like I’m exaggerating, but this album really does […]

I have a hoodie in my closet. The thing is nearly two decades old, and it’s probably got more thread from holes and tears I’ve sewn up than it has original stitching. It’s got a few bleach spots, it’s been stretched and worn beyond any hope of elasticity, the original designs on the front and […]

Released at the tail end of 2019, Decision Code is the fourth album from this Russian industrialized death metal act, and if you are worried of Fear Factory and their apparently many and long running legal issues will prevent any future releases, Conflict will be solid stand in. In fact, ol’ Burton C Bell makes […]

I said it before and I’ll say it again, if you or your PR folks go through the time and effort to send me a physical CD, there is a pretty good chance I’ll review it. If I don’t its normally due to the old adage about saying something nice. Even if the CD is […]

Necropanther? NECROPANTHER! Hell-fucking-YES, Necropanther. Be honest, you’re only here because of that name. Don’t be ashamed! It’s sure as hell the reason they caught my attention. You see a name like that, and you pretty much HAVE to see just what the hell that’s all about. It’s really a bold, but risky strategy. Yes, the […]

I’m always up for some bombastic, symphonic black metal, but other than maybe False, Belzebubs, Northwind Wolves and Kull (if they don’t really count as ‘new’) and some other Black Lion Records bands, there are few new, exciting young purely old school bands in the genre, as I typically rely on the old guard of […]

Hailing from Edmonton, Canada, one might assume that Tales of the Tomb are yet another impressive act of technicality and time signature wielding wizardry, especially given that Christian Donaldson (Cryptopsy) handles the mixing and mastering of the band’s latest sophomore EP release, Volume Two: Mendacium. Yes, one might assume this solely based on our experience […]

With autumn upon us and the seasons starting to turn colder this review is a bit ironic for this reviewer in that if fills me with so much joy to review another insanely talented band from Minnesota for your ears to discover. Formed in 2008, Grand Demise of Civilization is a meticulously layered Black Death […]

I’m not very familiar with the UKs Infant Annihilator, other than the ridiculous prices their first 2 albums are being sold for, and that some of the members are in down tempo act Black Tongue. But The Battle Of Yaldabaoth is my first time actually hearing them, and if it’s any indication, those prices are […]