Read Part I HERE. Dead Rhetoric: What is the band’s stance on intricacy and technicality versus hooks and feel when it comes to Perennial Quest and songwriting? Are there times where you dial things Read more […]
Injecting the power/progressive metal community with fiery harmonies and explosive melodies, Perennial Quest are another welcome newcomer band to not only a thriving New England scene, but also necessary Read more […]
The best heavy metal to these ears has that essence of purity and sincerity. For many discovering the style, the roots of the movement with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal from the late 70’s through Read more […]
Purveyors of classic heavy metal well rooted in NWOBHM and USPM platforms, Visigoth seemingly burst on the scene from their Salt Lake City, Utah base thanks to signing with Metal Blade Records, who released Read more […]
Anything that Davide Tiso puts his hands into tends to be along more creative, avant-garde lines. You’ll never get the ‘norm,’ so to speak. As an artist, he has always come across as genuinely Read more […]
Many bands in the metal scene face an uphill battle. Whether it’s having a sound that is too far outside the norm, not finding the space for themselves in the market, or having life get in the way of Read more […]
Since their early days, Israel’s Orphaned Land have brought a distinctly unique sound to the progressive metal realm. Combining strong musicianship, Middle Eastern instrumentation and flair, as well Read more […]
German thrash has similar pockets of acts that broke through the big time (Destruction, Kreator, Sodom) and the undercurrent who plugged away even when the genre may have fallen by the wayside. Consider Read more […]
Even with the drought of material that tends to come with the last month of the year, December usually works as a time to start the promotion for early 2018 releases. In other words, there’s just as many Read more […]
Our last Rapid Fires of 2017 features albums in the often perilous position of being released near the end of the year. This usually means they’re out of the year-end list fray, not to mention getting Read more […]
After acquiring new vocalist Elina Siirala back in 2016, Leaves’ Eyes quickly set sail across the world to showcase their invigorated spirit. With plenty of live energy pooled from their collective Read more […]
Death metal vanguards will no doubt look upon 2017 as one of its best years since the style’s glory days, which would be anywhere between 1990 and 1994. Get past those years and it’s saturation beyond Read more […]
Once metal becomes infused in the blood, it’s usually for life. The pursuit, the thrill, the challenge all become one – seeking out that next fix to satisfy the body and soul with the power and electricity Read more […]
While the Italian metal scene has had a couple of breakthroughs internationally (Lacuna Coil probably the biggest, Rhapsody (Of Fire) as well), it’s a scene ripe with talent in many sub-genres. HyperioN Read more […]
Currently the third-longest tenured member in venerable Chicago doom outfit Novembers Doom, guitarist Vito Marchese evidently has an entirely separate creative itch to scratch, hence, his excellent instrumental Read more […]
Generating a healthy amount of buzz, Monolith Cult seemingly have come from nowhere to truly impress the metal community on their second full-length Gospel of Despair. This UK group penetrate through a Read more […]
Doing this column for a few years at this point, it’s still just as exciting to find the ‘next big thing’ while randomly scrolling through different genres and new releases at Bandcamp. It goes Read more […]
With so many bands in the metal landscape, it’s rare to find one that surprises and impresses out of nowhere. Massachusetts-based The Offering buck the odds though, and are bound to elicit a response Read more […]
As I sit down to write this column, the season’s first snowfall is blanketing the New England countryside, signaling it’s once again time to ponder the year that was in music and reflect on which releases Read more […]
When it comes to the new school of death metal, there are few that can rival Colorado’s Allegaeon. Going back all the way to their Metal Blade debut, Fragments of Form and Function, their brand of melodic, Read more […]
Modern death metal is one that has come in many flavors. Bands not content to simply repeat the past maneuvers of the bands preceding them, some have taken elements from many genres in order to find a Read more […]
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Metal has been a way of life for me since youth. In junior high, the discovery of bands like Def Leppard, Judas Priest, Saxon, Accept, and Iron Maiden Read more […]
When it comes to the progressive metal scene, one band that has really made a name for themselves in the last few years is that of Autralia’s Ne Obliviscaris. With their brand of challenging, intricate, Read more […]
Another year of high quality metal in the books, which means it’s time to tally up who put out the best material. As someone who starts a list early, as to not forget some of the early year releases Read more […]
This year, like virtually every year in metal, brings forth a wide variety of releases from new and old bands. We typically uncover newer and lesser-known bands in Rapid Fires, our monthly short review Read more […]
These lists are never easy to make, but it’s a worthy, if not joyous endeavor, trying to sort through hundreds of titles and condense them to 12. Metal surely doesn’t lack for quantity, that’s for Read more […]
Originally labeled as Nevermore knock-offs, Norway’s Communic have managed to pull together a career that has exceeded expectations — including their own. Their 2005 Conspiracy in Mind is a bonafide Read more […]
Here we are in the home stretch of 2017. While it doesn’t seem too long ago that we at DR were just putting together top lists for 2016, here we are once more. Onward and upward as they say. It was Read more […]
Lots of things have been a-changing in the Morbid Angel front in the last six years. Their previous full-length, Illud Divinum Insanus, had seen the return of vocalist David Vincent to the studio setting Read more […]
Leave it to Tarja Turunen to bring metal fans a Christmas themed release that combines the darkness they require with the familiarity of holiday classics. Though not quite metal in a literal sense, it Read more […]
