Sometimes getting the female-fronted symphonic metal tag is essentially a kiss of death. The quality (much like in most sub-genres at this point) ranges from fantastic to mediocre, and often it’s hard Read more […]
With a recent signing to Artery Recordings, Falsifier’s stock has gone up following two self-released efforts. Life in Death being their sophomore effort, the band finds itself among the other downtuned, Read more […]
Thanks to a heads up from Savage Master guitarist Adam Neal for telling me about this Kentucky band who along with the aforementioned SM are bringing a lot of the traditional metal sound back to America. Read more […]
A hereby unknown quantity out of Poland, In Twilight’s Embrace play a decidedly ‘90s-heavy brand of melodic death metal, which makes sense—they have a very ‘90s moniker to begin with. With a sound Read more […]
Warfect had better be careful: their penchant for really bad album covers may overshadow the fact they’re actually a pretty good thrash band. Their 2013 platter, Exoneration Denied, had a rather comedic Read more […]
Because information on bands is so readily available these days, it’s almost too easy to prepare for a review. Social media has pretty much evaporated any sort of mystery involved with artists, while labels Read more […]
Primarily known for scooping up the best melodic/AOR-oriented bands in the rock and metal world, Frontiers Records occasionally signs the standout newcomer or two in other genres. Considering the multitude Read more […]
Returning for a third helping of Belgian brutality, Fractured Insanity has been without a release since 2010’s Mass Awakeless. Not that time is of the essence with an album like this. Fractured Insanity Read more […]
One of the best moves Napalm Records has made in a long time (we’ll give them a free pass on Coal Chamber), the signing of Australian melodic death metal force Be’lakor is demonstrative that the chorus Read more […]
Sure, we can throw down with something like this. Polar, a metallic hardcore combo from the UK, are one of the few bands of this ilk who can take the edges and angles off the hardcore sound (read: they Read more […]
Let’s face it – the retro death metal worship, particularly of the Swedish metal variety, isn’t going away any time soon. While the overwhelming majority just wants to milk early ‘90s Stockholm Read more […]
Like the old Virginia Slims cigarette ads tagged, My Missing Half has come a long way baby from their origins as a solo project for guitarist/vocalist Bijan Hennessey. Previously lavishing praise on the Read more […]
By association, when this scribe ponders Gorguts, he thinks of Olympic Records (the band’s former label home), Obscura, and how no one could handle the band upon said album’s release. By then, death Read more […]
Veteran death metal act Internal Suffering has made a name for themselves on the end of insane speed and technical riffing, even if it has been 10 years since their last album. Their fifth full-length Read more […]
Long, drawn out processes often pay big dividends in final outcomes. Take the case of Systematic Enslavement, a debut full-length from New Jersey quartet Xenophile that the group managed over three years Read more […]
Adding to the growing notion that American bands can present folk metal that is just as epic and powerful as Europe’s legions, Winterhymn hails from the state of Ohio. Their second full-length album, Read more […]
France’s Eths may not have nearly the profile if they had a dude out front. That’s just how it works. They’re proof that you can take several unlikable metal subsets (i.e. nu metal, modern metal, and deathcore), Read more […]
Eyes and ears around the globe seem to be paying a modest amount of attention to the Australian heavy metal scene these days, and with good reason. The adulation and successful impact bands like Ne Obliviscaris, Read more […]
Originally released in 2015 by Ecocentric Records in Germany, Ultha’s Pain Cleanses Every Doubt is receiving proper stateside release via Translation Loss in the here and now. Formed in 2014, the band Read more […]
When one thinks of Australian metal, one tends to look towards the more progressive and technical in nature. But bands like Subterranean Disposition continue to lurk in the shadows with their bleak and Read more […]
A band that has been featured a few times in our Bandcamp round-ups over the last two years, Countless Skies started making some waves last year by winning a competition and playing the Bloodstock Open Read more […]
The epicenter of heavy metal and hard rock support in Europe resides in Germany – having a long standing tradition of domestic output and great fan attention. Arising from said scene, Jaded Heart is Read more […]
Ever the inquiring mind, DR decided to give “Astrakhan” the ‘ole Google look-up prior to writing this review. Apparently, it’s a city in Southern Russia. Nothing more to it. (Surely no one is going Read more […]
Imagine if Nile were British and wrote songs about Rome and Greece rather than Egypt. Congratulations, you now know what Imperium sound like! All jokes aside, the new album Titanomachy by the UK deathsters Read more […]
The unfortunate confluence of events that took place right after the release of Withered’s 2010 stormer Dualitas necessitated the long delay between studio albums. Dropped by Prosthetic and shedding Read more […]
Often in the archives of metallic history, bands fall through the cracks for a bevy of reasons: inept promotions, improper label match ups, or ill-timing stylistically to what may be en vogue (the adjective Read more […]
Starting in 2007 as two cousins fleshing out progressive metal ideas, drummer Rick Dessi and guitarist Carlos Zappavigna needed a few more years to gain the right membership to become NonHuman Era. Which Read more […]
Always found this German duo to be too heavy to simply be just “Goth.” If anything, they’re the Goth band who would pick flowers, then push over your motorcycle. You know; those kind of guys. But The Vision Read more […]
It seems like only yesterday Deceptionist put out their first EP, The Beginning. Technical death metal sure to engage those looking for bands like fellow countrymen Hideous Divinity and Hour of Penance, Read more […]
Montreal, Canada’s Heaven’s Cry possess a long history full of twists and turns that could mirror their progressive rock/metal style. Bursting on the scene with a killer debut Food for Thought Substitute Read more […]
