Relegating to Metalville in North American territories after years under the powerful Nuclear Blast umbrella (still on NB for all other major markets), Rage are a story of perseverance – trends be damned. Read more […]
Bulgaria’s hereAndNow have a strange punctuation flow, if it wasn’t apparent from the way that their band name is spelled. Not sure if there’s some deeper meaning behind it, but when all the song Read more […]
Back in 2011, Vale of Pnath released their first album of technically driven melodic death metal (along the lines of Allegaeon or Arsis) and then things just seemed to get in the way of their recording Read more […]
In the land of post/atmospheric/blackgaze (whatever it’s being tagged as nowadays), if there’s one thing that seems to be expected is that the band will be big on the emotional heaviness, but not usually Read more […]
Going since 2010 and expanding from their three-piece beginnings into the current five-piece incarnation, Beneath The Machine from Massachusetts issues a lengthy full-length in the form of Infection. Two Read more […]
Marc Lopes and Jon Morency are the main duo behind Let Us Prey – handling the bulk of songwriting, recording, and instrumental/ vocal duties for this debut EP The Saint of Killers. If you’ve followed Read more […]
It’s always nice when things are worth the wait. Lord of War released their debut, Celestial Pestilence, 5 years ago at this point. Going so far as to do a disappearing act for a while, it seemed we Read more […]
The run-around in Goth metal bands is with always the singer. It’s never anyone else within the ranks. Like, for once, can their be a career-altering drummer switch? It’s a common refrain in our lovely Read more […]
Gojira has never been one to go for the “easy album.” Take a look at their discography and you’ll find the only constant is change, as the band seldom repeats themselves. Thus, with the extended Read more […]
Being a fan of power and progressive music, when thrash hit the scene and developed from a Bay Area scene to a worldwide phenomenon in the metal underground, my tastes gravitated to those who could combine Read more […]
When you get down to it with Behexen, they are really just the root, fundamental, basic representation of Finnish black metal. The norms they so callously represent are, of course, totally just and worthy Read more […]
If you’ve been listening to extreme metal for the past few years these bands should be known to you (if only in name recognition alone). Minnesota’s Panopticon is the creation of “do it all” journey Read more […]
Swedish singer Mats Leven is criminally overlooked. Under-appreciated and unsung, too. He’s done time with Yngwie, and manned the lead male vocal position in Therion when they were at their obvious peak. Read more […]
A staple of the underground metal scene since 2000, North Carolina’s Widow deliver an old school metal platform with traditional and neo-classical nuances without sacrificing their meat and potatoes Read more […]
If assembling a Mount Rushmore of legends in the progressive metal field, Fates Warning deserve a spot alongside Dream Theater for their contribution through benchmark records like Awaken the Guardian, Read more […]
You hear the word “leftovers,” and the collective moan and groan from the record buying and/or music stealing public echoes. Usually referred to as b-sides, songs that didn’t make the album have Read more […]
At this point in the career log of Whitechapel, you have to have some idea of what you are getting in advance. As leaders of the deathcore genre, even despite claims of “progression” and “innovation,” Read more […]
Self-proclaimed recluse Arjen Anthony Lucassen, the Dutch musician, composer, producer and creative mastermind behind the progressive rock project Ayreon, has repeatedly said he prefers writing and recording Read more […]
Food Network is regular TV viewing in the Gehlke household. This scribe’s lovely wife has been a devotee for quite some time, so we are no strangers to such fine shows as Chopped, Pioneer Woman, and Trisha’s Read more […]
Active since 2004 yet waiting seven years to release a debut full-length, Italy’s Souls of Diotima are onto their third record with The Sorceress Reveals – Atlantis. A symphonic metal quintet with Read more […]
Being a Scandinavian, it’s hard to miss out on the various aspects of scandi-metal. Norwegian black metal has, for one, made a massive impact in the region as well as worldwide. The genre has even been Read more […]
Comprising of members of sorely overlooked Swedish post-hard maulers Breach, Terra Tenebrosa is quite the flip-flop in presentation. Whereas Breach—like most bands of their ilk—maintained a rather Read more […]
They say you have forever to release a debut album to make an indelible impression – while the follow up can often show the true character and future development of a band. Previously raising a cursory Read more […]
Brymir released Breathe Fire to the Sun back in 2011 and then seemed to go dormant for the longest time. Five years is a notable absence, but rumblings of a new album started to surface on Facebook and Read more […]
When inundated by albums that all seem to reach for the same branches, it’s always nice to hear a band willing to go out on a limb to generate something that is more unique and individualized. Such Read more […]
Here goes another “fun” side project. Poison Headache happens to be the old band of ex-As I Lay Dying/current Wovenwar guitarist Phil Sgrosso. Obviously, the man’s As I Lay Dying priorities took hold throughout Read more […]
Unfortunately, the French-Canadian black metal boon never quite took hold. As per habit, we, along with other devotees, were looking to hitch our wagons to a new BM sound that wasn’t Cascadian, infested Read more […]
Hailing from Salt Lake City, Utah, Principium is a relative newcomer as a five-piece playing progressive metal since their origins in the spring of 2014. Their debut five song EP A Crown of Ashes would Read more […]
Sometimes you just want something that will get you moving around and up the intensity level of the room. Doesn’t have to be the most brutal album, but can’t be lacking in groove. For these type Read more […]
It’s been 15 years since Death Angel reformed at the famed Thrash of the Titans festival. A gathering that rounded up all of the classic Bay Area thrash bands for a good cause (i.e. raising money to help Read more […]
