Bringing up the classic ‘how does one classify this’ question completely to a head, South Carolina’s Enthean bring up plenty of subgenres on their debut long-player, Priests of Annihilation. Melodic Read more […]
Hard to think of the term ‘hardcore’ without Hatebreed being one of the first names that come to mind. Being one of the more adept at crossing the hardcore ethos with some metallic injections from Read more […]
Because the retro rock scene is reaching burn-out level (and no, not that kind of burn-out), it would be prescient for its constituents to bring all of their cards to the table. By that, we mean: don’t Read more […]
Two disparate schools of output exist in heavy metal these days. Artists who believe in developing a unique album each time, hopeful that their following will come along for the creative ride. Others, Read more […]
After seeing the cool artwork and hitting play on Bandcamp, Recode the Subliminal’s The Cost of Every Man initially had this writer searching the Internet to see if Bjorn Strid (Soilwork) had made some Read more […]
Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint where things don’t work when they have no reason not to work. Take French up-and-comers Backdawn. The band takes elements of modern metal and toss them into a thrash/death/groove Read more […]
‘Hari… KARI!’… the scream from Eric AK that will forever lodge Arizona’s Flotsam and Jetsam into the annals of thrash. The title track off No Place from Disgrace pushed the band’s musicianship Read more […]
Diamond Head probably don’t need to do a new album at this point in their career, but they should anyway. It’s the classic grapple of avoiding the “nostalgia act” tag versus remaining relevant well after Read more […]
Of the dungeon-dwelling and bleak Incantation-esque death metal bands that have been vying for your attention in the last few years, Grave Miasma is often one of the first bands that roll off the tongue Read more […]
Italian melodic death metal squad Subliminal Fear tend to leave some space between their releases. With previous albums being released in 2007 and 2012, 2016 brings us up to their third full-length album, Read more […]
Swirling about Austria, Deathstorm resonate to the heart of speedy, abrasive angst in the thrash scene based on the sound concocted for this second full-length Blood Beneath the Crypts. Together since Read more […]
Slotted—perhaps to a fault—as this decade’s answer to Helmet, Wrong are comprised of a few lads who have done time in such notables as Torche, Kylesa, and Capsule. So in effect, this isn’t some spin-off Read more […]
As a metal lover and hack metal journalist it’s always a roll of the dice when you get new albums sent your way. So Murdryck’s newest release Antologi MMXV hit my email and I didn’t think much about Read more […]
Of interest and/or intrigue mainly because two ex-members of Chilean black metal giants Animus Mortis are in the ranks, Sol Sistere are a part of the growing number of South American bands channeling the Read more […]
Makes sense that epic/power metal has always developed consistent appeal in Greece – considering their rich love of fantasy, history, and mythology. Athens quintet Marauder release Bullethead their sixth Read more […]
Another Bandcamp discovery, Farseer has been slugging their way through the Scottish metal scene – recording a single and a couple of EP’s during 2009-12, also opening for prime power/melodic acts Read more […]
One of the early architects of the German metal scene, Piet Sielck hooked up with a young Kai Hansen in Gentry, a Helloween precursor band. The pair would whip up a handful of songs that would end up on Read more […]
Rotting Repugnancy. A band name like that makes no bones about genre stylings. Which is why I found it a pleasant surprise that Harbingers of the Last Judgement wasn’t a clinical blast fest with pig Read more […]
The question sometimes arises, how do you follow-up a double-album release? Well, in the case of Schammasch you dig even deeper and come back with a triple-album. The aptly named Triangle is no mere Read more […]
Never thought in today’s scene you’d hear (and see) a US true, occult oriented metal band from Louisville, KY – more known for baseball bats and the Kentucky Derby than anything else supremely heavy. Read more […]
Five years in Denver, Colorado’s Arise in Chaos get scooped up by Megadeth’s David Ellefson for his new label EMP to release their second full-length Terminal Cognition. Gaining seasoning on the local Read more […]
Terrorism, religious wars, government corruption, economic strife – fuel for any metal musician’s frustration to channel into solid topics, themes that thrash mainstays Destruction explore often on Read more […]
Successfully bridging the gaps between symphonic, melodic death, and progressive metal is no easy feat. But that hasn’t stopped Canada’s Monolith from delivering their third slab of the precisely Read more […]
One has to tip the hat to Lavadome Productions as of late. They’ve been knocking it out of the park in signing nothing but the highest caliber death metal offerings (see Zealotry, Apparatus, and Ad Read more […]
Folk metal tends to divide the metal community, at least when it’s of the more zestful variety. The Dread Crew of Oddwood fall firmly into the category of bands like Alestorm and Trollfest – plenty Read more […]
Picking names for metal bands can be a challenge for sure – yet the Italy/Germany/US act Savior From Anger takes on a Vicious Rumors song off their killer Welcome to the Ball record, so there’s already Read more […]
When metal bands push the envelope past the normal accepted genre boundaries, the results can be a wild card. Some times you’re left with brilliant glimpses of something never heard before, like Ved Read more […]
Fortunate to take in a lot of melodic, power, and progressive metal during the 1980’s and 1990’s through worldwide tape trading, this scribe discovered a potent scene in Greece at a time period when Read more […]
Cthulhu and the Cthonian cult are a bit over used in today’s heavy music vernacular. I think the desired effect of the word is to evoke images of other worldly Lovecraftian nightmares and half fish people Read more […]
If you name your band after a series of wars in the 1st century B.C. you better be ready to bring some pretty ferocious stuff. French metallers Mithridatic do just that, and with a churning, almost sickening Read more […]
