Here’s a good way to beef up your lineup: Add two members of Blind Guardian. Granted, they’re the two role players (rhythm guitarist Marcus Siepen and drummer Frederick Ehmke), but hey, they count, Read more […]
Geology fun fact time! Aokigahara is a forest located at the base of Mt. Fuji and is referred to as the “Sea of Trees” or “Suicide Forest.” Home to over 500 suicides since the 1950s (number Read more […]
“If you suck ass long enough, pretty soon you start choking on shit.” By no means a reflection on the quality of Brutal Delivery of Vengeance but a life lesson amusingly sampled at the beginning of Read more […]
After two EPs, Washington’s The Drip makes the jump to the big leagues with A Presentation of Gruesome Poetics, their first offering for Relapse Records. Grindcore as a genre can be a hard one to pull Read more […]
Grab some Scooby snacks and pile into the van, its time for another mystery band. Dead in the Manger is the latest band to cling to anonymity, giving out no personal identification or location. Even Read more […]
All-inclusive, this death metal reunion parade. No one is left out, maybe because everyone wants back in, suggestion that the number of bands in need of reformation has dwindled to the point where in a Read more […]
Originally released on tape three years ago via super-small BM indie label Scythe of Death Productions, Ormgard’s Ormblot has been repackaged and re-released through Forever Plagued. Because Ormblot is Read more […]
The primary beneficiary of Killswitch Engage’s forever immobile, but highly successful songwriting formula, ex-KSE singer Howard Jones has returned from a multi-year hiatus with a new outfit, the presumably Read more […]
Dwelling in depths of darkness and flickering sparks of light amidst shadows, the mighty Schammasch unleash Contradiction. As the title forewarns, Contradiction is a perplexing array of mirrors, reflections, Read more […]
Is Pennsylvania becoming a metal hot bed? Within the last year, we’ve had some breakout successes from Rivers of Nihil and Black Crown Initiate. If Infallible does anything for fellow PA’ers Fisthammer, Read more […]
Never really getting out of relative obscurity despite a growing back catalogue, Spain’s Noctem have nonetheless retained status as one of the flag bearers of the Spanish scene. Following their Dimmu Read more […]
The “kids” may not find a great deal of value with a band like Las Vegas’ Dinner Music for the Gods, yet progressive old-timers, still mingling about the Dream Theater-Rush-Yes courtyard should something Read more […]
Curious listener that you are, surely you’ve too wondered what kind of sound you’d get if you mashed together Nevermore and Silverchair, right? Sure, we all have. Before I hang myself with that statement, Read more […]
For one’s bang for their buck, hard to get any better in the poppy female-fronted metal annals that Delain jams “April Rain” and “Frozen.” They’re the exact type of songs this subgenre was Read more […]
Death metal reference check: Morbid Angel, Anata, Hate Eternal, Immolation, Gorguts. Chances are if you enjoy any of those bands listed above, you’ll enjoy Evolving Towards Extinction, Near Death Condition’s Read more […]
Formerly known as Gollum, North Carolina’s Hadea re-branded themselves after the passing of drummer Hunter Holland, who was not only the band’s rhythmic backbone, but their founding member. Such tragic Read more […]
Quite unsure where to notch Finnish whippersnapper thrash. Thrash, as a viable subgenre of metal, has been largely ignored by Finland, mainly because the proven success rate lies in folk and melodic metal Read more […]
By the name alone, DR thought this would be one of those ultra-silly, not-so-serious grind romps that hover between respectability and novelty. It’s inevitable when your name is “King Parrot” and Read more […]
A slurry of all things modern, Israel’s Ferium immediately grab one’s attention with their killer album artwork. The colors really pop and the style really helps it standout among other metal releases, Read more […]
When ‘ole Zakk says the new BLS is “Completely the same as the last nine records, except just different songtitles,” it’s like, what is the record company supposed to think? “Gee, thanks Zakk Read more […]
Centurian is a deadly force from Netherlands. I remember when this album originally came out in 1999. It was ahead of its time in a sense with its overly blasphemous and in-your-face attack. The closest Read more […]
Probably the biggest selling point for Monument of Misanthropy is that of drummer Romain Goulon (Necrophagist). Well, that and the wicked looking creature on the cover! Rounding out the remainder of Read more […]
Caution: Neo-music. Darkish neo-folk to be more precise. Does that even make sense, neo-folk? Regardless of genre, any with the word “neo” in front of it is bound to be either interesting in creativity Read more […]
Somewhere along the way towards being tr00er, grimmer, and darker, metal lost its sense of joy. Sure, there are a number of bands in the folk metal genre that convey a feeling of carefree and “happy”, Read more […]
Alas, the retro warriors of today have their female counterparts – time to hit the shower boys, your stank isn’t going to fly around the ladies of The Oath! Comprised of the German-Swedish duo of Johanna Read more […]
Deemed a worthy commodity not only because Monster Magnet skin-basher Bob Pantella is among the ranks, but also because the song “Crossfade” from 2011’s Invisible Empire ROCKS MONDO HARD, New Jersey’s Read more […]
Straight out of the Arizona desert, Godhunter give their take on the heavy stoner doom thing and at nearly an hour long, City of Dust is a tiring and ultimately forgettable listen. The opening track, “Despite Read more […]
It’s usually a good thing when something wastes no time in getting straight to the point. A common facet of many cultures outside of the English-speaking world (especially here in the States) is to let Read more […]
Instantly a player in the extreme metal game thanks to the addition of ex-God Dethroned mainman Henri “The Serpent King” Sattler, Netherlands-based Winter of Sin make good on their lineup expansion with Read more […]
The unfathomably dark black metal of Thantifaxath casts ambient shadows and conjures cold auras, explicitly in the band’s first full-length album, Sacred White Noise. As rooted in this record, their Read more […]
