One label with a real knack for finding top shelf doom and black metal is that of Hypnotic Dirge. Introduced to them last year with the excellent Epitimia, looking through their catalog has brought some Read more […]
The campaign to bring to light Pentagram’s undeniable influence rages on, this time in the form of the pre-Pentagram (or side-Pentagram, depending on who you ask) Bedemon. An early 70’s occult rock/proto-metal Read more […]
It’s sometimes a sticking point that nobody really does mid-‘90s death metal anymore. Of course, we’ve got plenty of real retro bands that go back to the origins of the genre and spend their time Read more […]
Adorned in patched vests and bullet belts, if you weren’t thrashing and bashing your buddies in the pit, you were being smashed against the front-row barricade, wrecking your neck with horns held high Read more […]
It is perhaps against their better judgment that Dutch symphonic black metallers Carach Angren decided to conceptualize their latest effort into a fairytale of sorts, the narrative lyrics prevent the album Read more […]
Sannhet is an instrumental, post-rock/post-metal outfit from Brooklyn…sounds awfully hipster, eh? Say what you will about such hotbeds for like-minded, mainstream-fighting folks (Portland, OR instantly Read more […]
There was a definite coolness factor to the artwork that adorns sophomore release, Into Decimated Reality. Nothing says death metal like some creepy, mult-eyeballed creatures with a thirst for blood! Read more […]
It was relayed to this scribe by an influential figure in the German metal scene (hint: He signed Celtic Frost, Helloween, Kreator, etc.) that Nuclear Blast Records has the market cornered on 70’s-inspired Read more […]
We’ve witnessed a resurgence globally of classic heavy metal and its offshoots of the power and speed variety. Maybe these things work cyclically, as younger generations take old school inspiration and Read more […]
New York City-based black metallers Imperial Triumphant have been slowly elevating their status over the past few years, particularly with their last two song EP Goliath. But it appears that they’ve Read more […]
Admittedly, the cover art of this one caused visions of yet more retro-death metal before the album begin spinning. Thankfully, instead of old school death, Apocrophex plays technical death metal that Read more […]
Canadian death/grinders Nervous Impulse are back with their second album, Time to Panic. An album of intense proportions, it’s clear why they decided to go with Time to Panic as their album title. Read more […]
What may sound like a good idea in theory doesn’t always fully translate when executed. Unfortunately, that’s the case with Evil Beyond Belief, the debut full-length release from the United Kingdoms The Read more […]
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been three years since Enslaved gave us RIITIIR, but a quick glance at the calendar will confirm that it’s true. Thankfully for the legion of Enslaved fans worldwide, Read more […]
With all of the technical death metal available nowadays, there’s not really anyone who does it quite like Psycroptic. It’s been three years since the band has provided a new album, though it’s Read more […]
Iceland, with its limited sample size, usually steps up to the plate in the context of atmospheric metal. The obvious suspect would be Solstafir, even in spite of their gradual drift from their core sound, Read more […]
Caught somewhere between the worlds of cold British doom and colder Norwegian black metal would be Australia’s Rise of Avernus. Formed in 2011, the Aussies have a full-length and two EPs to their credit, Read more […]
This is what splits are all about. Take two bands that haven’t gotten a ton of exposure and combine them together to give listeners a taste of what they are all about. This split merges El Salvador’s Read more […]
It could be argued Behemoth mainman Adam “Nergal” Darski may be a little ahead of the curve with his own autobiography. Reason being, the band (and man) haven’t quite hit the twilight/past their Read more […]
Not very often in the progressive/alternative metal world do you find a set of musicians subscribe to a less is more membership philosophy. We know all about the power trio groups like King’s X and Rush Read more […]
The live album. A point that not every band gets to in their career (or simply choose not to do it). The latest in the live recording list are Benighted, who are certainly ready in their career for such Read more […]
A nifty idea: Female-fronted drone doom. King Woman is the product of Kristina Esfandiari, who originally formed the band in 2009, only to undergo a few years of inactivity. After rounding up a new stable Read more […]
Considering the number of Polish bands that end up aping either Behemoth or Decapitated, it’s not every day that you get one that instead pushes a more American sound. But that is what is in store for Read more […]
For those unfamiliar with the name, Karyn Crisis was a bit of a cult figure of the NY hardcore and metal scene in the ‘90s for her work fronting the band Crisis. With the band dissolving in the early Read more […]
Talk about an appropriate cover! The icy and cold looking creature that adorns the cover of Frosthelm’s debut full-length The Endless Winter is both menacing and badass. Both adjectives also worth Read more […]
Paying homage to one of the earliest US speed metal groups on record Savage Grace, Masters of Disguise is a full blown original act from Germany, issuing their second full-length ironically titled The Read more […]
Considering the last Ether album went under the title of Depraved…Restless…Feelings (it might have worked better with the ellipses), Hymns of Failure sounds slightly more optimistic. Then again, this Read more […]
One of the real wordsmiths/poet laureates of metal is Martin Walkyier. Best known for fronting cult British thrashers Sabbat in the late 80s, then folk innovators Skyclad throughout the 90s, Walkyier’s Read more […]
Combining elements of stoner rock, sludge metal, and southern tinged hooks and grooves, Kansas’ The Midnight Ghost Train aren’t your average act one would expect to integrate these genres in the middle Read more […]
There isn’t another band like An Autumn For Crippled Children. They don’t sound like anyone else, and vise versa. That’s a big deal. With how many bands can you say that? Not many – or at least not nearly Read more […]
