When one who is familiar with the label sits down with a Unique Leader release, there are a few items which come to mind. Firstly, this is going to likely be technical death metal. There will be fantastic musicianship on display. Frequently, the production will also be brick walled, and it may be difficult to […]

Tapping into an intriguing mix of tech death and slam, Wormhole aim to expand upon the impressive groundwork laid on their 2016 debut, Genesis, a recent discovery of mine after initially overlooking the album. Some line-up tweaks failed to dull the impact of Wormhole’s cutting edge brand of technical sophistication meets guttural slam approach, and […]

I can’t stop listening to the barrage of amazing Technical Death Metal coming from The Artisan Era.  Recently I reviewed Montreal’s Sutrah which blew my out of the water. Now I am taking a gander at a group from Green Bay Wisconsin called Aronious.  This is a time consuming album to process at being close […]

I was immediately intrigued by this release as it’s another symphonic/tech black/death whatever release from The Artisan Era who have already wowed me in 2019 with the likes of Singularity, Oubliette, Mordant Rapture, The Odious Construct, Warforged and such, but also that the band features former members of Council of the Fallen, one of the […]

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 […]

Greece’s Murder Made God have been on my radar since their 2013 Brutal Bands Release Irreverence. If you are not familiar with the style of death metal Murder Made God play I would describe as quite percussively rhythmic and groovy.  Murder Made God’s 2019 effort Endless Return is no exception.  Kicking things off with “Alive”, […]

The Artisan Era is really starting to come into its own as a label, and is starting to hone in on a pretty specific sound. With bands like Inferi, Equipoise, Warforged, The Odious Construct, Arkaik, Aethereus, Oubliette, Flub, Enfold Darkness, Mordant Rapture and The Zenith Passage, the label certainly has some of the better technical […]

Spain’s Wormed, I can’t believe it, have already been around for 20 years.  Holy crap how time flies.  I would assume this little ditty of an ep, in the spherical form of Metaportal is a precursor to Wormed’s fourth full-length album.  I have been a huge fan of the band and have met them on […]

I’m a sucker for tech death, yet I’m also a picky bastard, all too aware of the downsides that finds bands regularly being swallowed by the pitfalls of the often maligned subgenre. The curiously named Flub arrive with their full-length debut platter of technical wizardry, compiled by current and ex members of established acts, Alterbeast, […]

Though I enjoyed every release from Italy’s Fleshgod Apocalypse, going back to 2009s Oracles, I’ve enjoyed some, like 2011s Agony (My album of the year) and 2016s  King, more than others (2013s Labyrinth), but King, really saw the band create the perfect balance between the tech death chaos and the sweeping orchestral majesty that is […]

Well this is most definitely a front runner for EP of the year.  Wow!  Chicago’s Wounds have got my tech death appetite drooling with their debut EP Light Eater.  I had heard from word of mouth from other bands in my area here in Minnesota regarding this incredible band.   I had been hearing the name […]

Guitarist Jim Tasikas is back with Contrarian’s third album and  again, joining is George Kollias (Nile) on drums and vocals ( though Cody McConnell has joined as a live session vocalist), Sulaco’s Brians Mason (guitars) and Ed Paulsen on bass, and the skilled outfit continues their spot on latter era Death homage to precise levels […]

Unique Leader never ceases to amaze me when it comes to being on top of Californian technical death metal bands. Santa Cruz California death metallers Continuum’s second album Designed Obsolescence is an absolute treat.  Featuring current and former members of Animosity, Deeds of Flesh, Decrepit Birth, Allegaeon, the bar has definitely been set quite high […]

One of the purveyors of the Canadian early death metal scene has always been Rimouski’s, Necrotic Mutation.  I still have the Sepulchre of the Suffering on cassette, from 1993, when I was tape trading back in the day.  Necrotic Mutation had more of an underground cult following and never really got their shit together to […]

For those of you who have heard the new Fallujah track, and, like me, wasn’t that impressed, here is an alternative for you in the sophomore album from Bay Area act Aenimus. With 11 tracks based on iconic horror stories (The Shining, IT, The Deadzone, Hannibal, etc) and a host of guests including Eddie Hermida (All Shall […]

France has to be one of my favorite European countries for Technical Death Metal.  I feel like every year there is at least a half dozen bands from there releasing unbelievably catchy records. 2019 is no exception with Ad Patres Sophomore release A Brief Introduction to Human Experiments.  These French sickos play a bit of […]

To me, the career path of Australia’s Psycroptic has somewhat mirrored Poland’s Decapitated: 7 albums in, early career highlighted by a couple of critically acclaimed technical death metal albums, then both had a divisive vocalist change with Psycroptic moving to the Jason Pepiatt  and Decapitated moving from Sauron to Cowan then a slight style shift into less tech death metal realms. Those familiar […]

Montreal progressive Technical Death Wizards Beyond Creation return with their third full length record Algorythm.  The album opens up with a symphonic orchestration piece which is so similar to many that I almost wonder if it is even necessary. “Entre Suffrage Et Mirage” is strong enough track on its own.  The musicianship of the string […]

A staple and standout in the tech death metal scene since 2005s Neurotripsicks, France’s Gorod have delivered 5 albums of superb technical, yet playful and catchy death metal. And I’ll admit that I was a little concerned about the band switching to their own label, Overpowered Records, for album number 6, as this might indicate […]

I’ve been a fan of Patrick Loisel since his Kralizec days ( I highly recommend you track down 1999s Origin)  and Augury has certainly continued that legacy. And while not very prolific, when Augury does drop and album, the world takes note. 2004s Concealed and 2009s Fragmentary Evidence both are critically acclaimed and arguable classics […]

So two major label, modern tech death metal bands are going to be vying for your attention this spring. On Metal Blade we have Rivers of Nihil and their  ambitiously evolved Where Owls Know My Name, on Prosthetic Records,  we have Orlando’s ‘philosophical’ (not all of the band members are Christian),  progressive death metal new comers, […]

Sacramento’s Alterbeast are bringing in the New Year with their 2nd full length release Feast. I really have to hand it to Unique Leader they waste absolutely zero time transitioning from year to year and continue to find outstanding groups with outstanding musicianship. With that being said opening up an album with a piano instrumental […]

This past year has surely been a busy year for Mr. Patrick Mameli, singer and guitarist for Pestilence.  Their first four albums were remastered and reissued in deluxe formats and I reviewed all four of them here.  Perfect reissues!  Patrick has assembled a brand new Pestilence line-up:  Calin Paraschiv on lead guitar, Tilen Hudrap on […]

Well, this certainly was an awesome recommendation.   New Haven Connecticut’s Xenosis have literally blown me away with their third full length album, Devour and Birth.  The opening track “Night Hag’ mixes progressive elements from bands like later era Death, with the melody and harmonies of a band like Spawn of Possession or Beyond Creation. I […]

Nine years is a mere nanosecond compared to the endless expanse of space and time, but that’s how long it has been since Mithras’ last full album, Behind the Shadows Lie Madness. That was my #1 album for 2007, and it still gets frequent play (its album cover also still gets regular desktop background honors), as there […]