Features

My Hamartia – Rolling Raw and Real

Discovering this New England band with ties to western MA and northern CT at a local show, My Hamartia manage to captivate because of their infectious blend of groove metal with traditional, thrash, and Read more […]

Angel Nation – Aeons to Come

Angel Nation began their introduction to the world with their first release, Tears of Lust, in 2014. Of course, it wasn’t ‘Angel Nation’ but EnkeliNation at that point. The band has come a long Read more […]

Evil Invaders – Feed the Beast

Armed and dangerous, Evil Invaders continue to impress the metal legions as their records and live shows spread far and wide beyond their Belgian homeland. While speed metal at heart, there are plenty Read more […]

September 2017 Rapid Fires

The annual log-jam of albums has begun, or rather, it’s fall release season. Such is our duty when September kicks-off: Tackle as many albums as possible while not leaving any behind. A near-impossible Read more […]

Occasvs – Dark Manifestations

In the works for what amounts to eons (really, 12 years), Occasvs’s Nocturnal Majestic Mysteria is the result of re-working, re-tooling and replacing band members. Such is life for an extreme band in Read more […]

Visual Rhetoric: September 2017

The second edition of our newest monthly column, we are never at a loss for quality videos to be released in a given month. Even without MTV (and Headbangers Ball), videos are just as important as ever Read more […]

National Suicide – Deny the Elite

The crunch of speedy guitars, the whir of snare hits, tactile kicks, and whirlwind fills, plus the sneer of melodies penetrating the air – it’s the sound of thrash metal in prime-time form. Something Read more […]

Persona – Emerging from the Cocoon

The Tunisian act Persona came out of nowhere last year with their excellent debut Elusive Reflections. Impressive for such a fresh act to be so driven in promoting their material, it wasn’t long before Read more […]

Belphegor – Hell’s Hammers

Email interviews are never good for serve-and-volly. General disinterest, poor typing skills or language barriers usually bog down these type of interviews, leaving the responsible scribe to work up some Read more […]

Striker – Northern Road Warriors

Heavy metal in its purist form comes down to certain root elements. If looking back at the classic template, driving twin guitars, a tight, propulsive rhythm section, and a powerful vocalist that can belt Read more […]

Dark Tranquillity – Vitality and Experimentation

What else really needs to be said about Dark Tranquillity at this point? One of the most famous of the ‘Gothenburg’ era bands, they have crafted a career out of blending melody into heaviness. They Read more […]

Integral – Building Resilience

Modern death metal takes all shapes and forms nowadays. In the case of the band Integral, their music makes all sorts of twists and turns but all comes together under that modern title. In fact, Integral Read more […]

Sifting Through Bandcamp – September 2017

All is well as we hit the busiest time of the metal calendar. Lots of metal thriving on Bandcamp (as per the usual). With colder weather approaching, it’s time to start gathering up some metal to last Read more […]

Overkill – Half Past Dead

Circa 1997, Overkill was playing what amounts to “bowling alley” tours. Thrash was now totally un-hip, its big bands pursuing less-than-heavy sounds while the log-jam that once enveloped the ’80s Read more […]

Jag Panzer – Striking Variety

As a connoisseur of the metal genre for decades, you get to see the rise and fall of many styles – or the steadfast appreciation and dedication towards others. While not necessarily as cool or hip as Read more […]

Narcotic Wasteland – Faces of Death

More often than not, death metal bands have a tendency to stick to the familiar topics. Death, gore, killing – that sort of thing. There’s always exceptions, or bands that have a different take on Read more […]

Binary Creed – Never Looking Back

As humans, we grow through the natural evolution we call life. From childhood to adulthood, experiences and environment beyond friends and family shape us into becoming who we are. Channeling that into Read more […]

The Black Dahlia Murder – Villain Music

If one band is really exemplary in the whole ‘work your way to success’ formula, it’s The Black Dahlia Murder. Ever since the early days of the band, jumping to Metal Blade Records for Unhallowed Read more […]

Nocturnal Rites – Phoenix Arise

When you get on the record/tour/record/tour revolving cycle as a metal band, it’s difficult to take a break. In the case of Swedish band Nocturnal Rites, following 12 years of fairly regularly activity Read more […]

Soror Dolorosa – Only the Brave

It may be a little preemptive to hitch our wagon to this “cold-wave” thing, but if the scene can match Soror Dolorosa’s new Apollo, then there could be something. The Frenchman have been kicking Read more […]

Nino Helfrich – From Goalkeeper to Guitarist

You never know around what corner you might find the next guitar virtuoso in this day and age. While many aren’t familiar with Nino Helfrich as of yet, he now has two full-length albums under his belt. Read more […]

Troldhaugen – Humor Evolved

If one turns back the pages on Troldhaugen and look to their early roots and then fast-forward to present day, there’s some significant changes to the band’s sound. From their folk metal beginnings, Read more […]

Act of Defiance – 1000% Metal

A talented collective with plenty of pooled experience (Megadeth, Shadows Fall, and more), Act of Defiance made a big splash with their 2015 debut Birth and the Burial. A hard band to really pin-point Read more […]

Iris Divine – Cutting Through the Static

Melding together a myriad of progressive metal and heavy/modern/alternative rock influences that encapsulate decades of music, Iris Divine aim to offer the listener a special blend of sounds rarely heard Read more […]

Doro – Still Triumphant

Someone who really needs no introduction, Doro Pesch has had a long and storied career as metal’s queen through decades at this point. While many bands celebrate 10-year milestones, she’s busy celebrating Read more […]

Falaise – Embrace the Endless

Last year, Italian black metal combo Falaise dropped in rather unexpectedly with its marvelous, sweeping As Time Goes By debut. Originally self-released in 2015, the Aeternitas Tenebrarum Musicae Fundamentum Read more […]

Stallion – Rise from the Dead

Traditional metal never dies. Legacy bands live on through multiple generations, the exposure deepening as first and second generations pass on their records and memories to their offspring – inspiring Read more […]

Cradle of Filth – Victorian Times

Still riding high from their most recent studio success, Hammer of the Witches, Cradle of Filth managed to keep the line-up intact from said session (you can realize this as more of an accomplishment if Read more […]

August 2017 Rapid Fires

The remaining full month of the summer brought forth the usual array of must-hear releases (all scheduled to drop in the fall, mind you) along with a spate of questionable and/or mediocre efforts. This Read more […]

On Top – No Rest for the Wicked

The daily grind, putting in the work, watching the slow climb, and grabbing ahold of any opportunity that comes your way. The rock and metal dreams may start in youth, but the usual success stories as Read more […]

1 42 43 44 45 46 84