Capitalizing on the re-issue of their self-released debut album Evil Unseen through Punishment 18 Records last year, Australia’s Envenomed felt the need to issue an EP featuring one newer song and a Read more […]
Death metal has a tough time with melody. Incorporate too much of it and you’ll be called a ‘melodic death metal’ band. Don’t put enough in and you risk putting out 8 versions of the same track. Read more […]
If Meshuggah were the progenitors of what we now call djent, Textures has to have laid claim to being the second band through the gates and pushing the sound in a few different directions. It’s been Read more […]
Heaviness comes in many forms – the purest of which to these ears in the metal genre is doom. Conjuring emotional turmoil and unrest from the deepest recesses of the soul, there’s a reason why no matter Read more […]
Of the seasons, winter is one of the finest to accompany black metal. Cold, isolationist, and just enough melancholy, Fuath’s I surely fits the mood of the season. If Fuath doesn’t ring any bells, Read more […]
Traditional metal and its power/speed offshoots will never die. It may slink back into the underground during tough times (the first half of the 1990’s especially when alternative/grunge and extreme Read more […]
Returning with a new EP following their 2014 full-length Collapse the World, this Canadian band knows how to flex some muscle without compromising some utterly sweet melodies. In fact, somewhere between Read more […]
The blank canvas that is black metal enables those on the esoteric fringe to perform the unconventional. It’s why a band like Deathspell Omega is so enduring – you never know what you’re going to Read more […]
Establishing themselves over the past decade as one of Canada’s new breed in the heavy/power metal scene, Edmonton’s Striker pride themselves on street level songwriting and a riff/hook/melody combination Read more […]
Already somewhat of an established name, Poland’s Votum did themselves a tremendous service by hooking up with Jens Borgen understudy David Castillo for the mix job on :KTONIK:, the band’s fourth album. Read more […]
The side outlet for Nightfall’s Efthimis K, The Slayerking (never a bad thing to have another permutation of the “Slayer” name) sees the Greek metal veteran step away from his main outfit for something Read more […]
First look at the red haired maiden and dragon lurking in the water laden distance for Archarus’ cover and many metal heads would prepare themselves for the second coming of Dio musically. Given that Read more […]
The primary constituents of Paris’s Ovtrenoir have been around enough bands to warrant sufficient name-dropping. Guitarist/vocalist William Lacalmontie has taken band photographs for the likes of Corrections Read more […]
Often overshined by the more melodic output that is always popping out of Finland, it’s death metal scene is none too shabby either. Finnish death metal is beginning to make its way out to the forefront Read more […]
Fear not the seemingly tech death cover art (which is admittedly rather cool looking), Karybdis aren’t here to melt your brain with dizzying guitar acrobatics. The melodic death metal act have returned Read more […]
A self-described “rock/experimental” outfit from Los Angeles, Deathkings, like any smart unsigned band, has the visual aesthetic to match the music. By taking elements such as cover art, band photos, Read more […]
Progressive death metal (as the case with any time the term ‘progressive’ is used to describe any band), tends to be a broad stroke. It doesn’t have to mean “melodic death metal,” nor does it Read more […]
Finnish crossover thrash quartet Lost Society have reached the juncture in their career which separates the superstars from wannabes – as Braindead is their third studio record. We all know how the progression Read more […]
Sometimes a short but sweet punch in the gut (musically speaking) is all you need. Tennessee-based Manic Scum’s latest EP, Acidic Remains, provides ample evidence to support this idea. Old school death Read more […]
Pound-for-pound, or, should we say “decibel-for-decibel,” the UK’s Conan might be the heaviest band going. Now, being the heaviest doesn’t always mean you are the best. And it certainly doesn’t Read more […]
Another youthful quintet arising with musical school ties – Boston based symphonic metal act Winter’s End contains a classically trained Berklee graduate in vocalist Jessica Frost, and with a robust Read more […]
It’s January, it only seems appropriate to be listening to a band called Frostbite. Even more so considering their “progressive black n roll” description alongside a cover that has colors that for Read more […]
Listening to last year’s Schizophrenic Jubilee made it seem like Toothgrinder had some serious potential. Techy and spastic hardcore with crazed vocals and expansive guitar riffs that seemed to look Read more […]
Ever since vocalist Sean “The Hell Destroyer” Peck and guitarist Dave “Conan” Garcia formed the metal machine known as CAGE from the remnants of Crusher and Nomad in San Diego, Calif., in 1992, Read more […]
Masters of puns DR is not. When Lycus’s 2013 Tempest album was released and subsequently reviewed, we pondered if the band had used the “Lycus on Facebook” line for laughs. Cue tumbleweeds. This Read more […]
Together since 1997 and adding an extra ‘a’ to their name in 2011, Greek epic/power metal band Arrayan Path arrive at their fifth studio record with Chronicles of Light. Fortunate to take in their Read more […]
Veteran metal bands tend to get a lot of leeway from lifelong followers when it comes to disappointing newer studio records. Last year Iron Maiden’s The Book of Souls cancels out Virtual XI, while during Read more […]
Hailing from Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Mid-West holds a mighty progressive speed metal band in the five-piece Zephaniah. Reforged is the group’s second full-length and a rebirth of sorts as the band came Read more […]
The regular, if not damning issue with Mastodon has been their vocals. Muddled, atonal, and lacking in personality, it has been the one facet of the band that has kept them from wider commercial acceptance. Read more […]
When it comes to sounding pissed off, The Haunted has always been the gold standard. Their self-titled album was adrenaline-fueled rage in musical form (as was their last outing Exit Wounds). There aren’t Read more […]
