Many have gotten in the habit of stacking all of the old-school, Bay Area thrash bands up against one another, which isn’t all that surprising – it’s probably what happened during the 80’s too. Read more […]
The second generation of thrash seems to have as much impact on audiences worldwide as the first one I grew up savoring. As long as the passion and talent focus on the songwriting and less about writing Read more […]
A multi-national act that dips into Israel (of all places) thanks to singer Miri Milman’s (ex-Distorted) involvement, System Divide is decidedly American-sounding, rife with pummelling deathcore chugs Read more […]
Hard to fuck with The Crown, you know? They ended things a bit too early in 2004 after years of slugging it away on the death metal club circuit, broke, destitute, and oft-overlooked. ‘Tis a crime, actually, Read more […]
From Otargos’ Myspace bio (excuse the all-caps): NO GOD CREATED US… WE, CREATED GODS!, NO GOD PUT US ON THIS FUCKING PLANET… NO GOD WILL SAVE US AFTER DEATH! DEATH IS JUST AND ONLY THE FUCKING Read more […]
It’s easy to forget just how poppy and utterly non-metal Raunchy can be. After making significant headway with 2004’ s excellent Confusion Bay, the Danes have gradually settled into a niche few want Read more […]
All has been relatively quiet this year on the epic/Pagan metal front (thank you, sweet Odin), which could be why King of Asgard’s relatively by-the-book take on said style works in spades. It’s the Read more […]
It could be the case that within every black-shrouded Goth metal dude/chick, there’s a commercial, radio-friendly side waiting to burst out. For Draconian’s Andreas Hindenas and Johan Ericsson, Shadowgarden Read more […]
Let’s be honest – when you decide to replace a well known vocalist such as Udo Dirkschneider, the public and critical knives will be sharp and ready to strike if anything less comes out from a classic Read more […]
Boy, Maiden sure is making a lot of people wonder with this album title. If this truly is the “final frontier,” then let’s forget the last several legs, ’cause The Final Frontier is another skirtish, Read more […]
This Brazilian thrash act has been a part of the scene since 1983 as one of the pioneers of the movement along with Sepultura and Sarcofago. Attempting to break in the US market like some of their peers, Read more […]
Leaving Katatonia. It’s not like leaving Las Vegas or leaving Metallica to play for Voivod (ref. Jason Newsted), but in these circles, it’s quite the leap. Yet with those leaps, comes opportunity, Read more […]
Once at the forefront of the female-fronted Goth metal scene, Norway’s Tristania have gradually descended into the pits of mediocrity. Their 2000 release, Beyond the Veil is still a stylistic milestone, Read more […]
Perhaps best known for their unabashed Burzum worship, Ukrainian black metal ensemble Drudkh have made the next logical career step with Handful of Stars and in turn, have popped out one of the year’s Read more […]
Can someone come up with a name for Neige (Alcest) and his French art-metal comrades? Blistering is at a loss, primarily because we’re overtaken once again by a project involving the Alcest mainman and Read more […]
Sheesh Glenn, can your vocals get any higher in the mix? Not like this is a surprise or anything – there are few acts as egocentric as Danzig, which probably has a lot do with the man’s longevity. It’s Read more […]
Blind Guardian peaked with Nightfall in Middle Earth. Let’s not kid ourselves or even try to deem A Night at the Opera or A Twist in the Myth as comparable, ’cause they’re not. Such a conundrum is Read more […]
Someone’s been following CNN…or the BBC. Or any news outlet, reputable or not. On October File’s third full length, Our Souls To You, the steaming social and political commentary serves to highlight Read more […]
The Acacia Strain have made a career out of sprouting negativity from every orifice of their beatdown-loving asses, and naturally, Wormwood is no exception. The band have all but given up trying to create Read more […]
What is this? Smart, savvy, free-of-pretense progressive metal? And it’s from Norway? Sweet Jebus, what is the world coming to? The Road Less Travelled is the band’s second album, demonstrating Read more […]
The Canadian hyper-blast death machine rolls on as Heaven’s Venom careens against the public for Kataklysm’s 11th studio record. A testament to undying commitment to their style, the quartet know Read more […]
Is there a more workmanlike band than Pro-Pain? Gary Meskil and crew have long stuck to their metal-infused hardcore roots, rarely straying from the beaten path and along the way, producing some quality, Read more […]
Always found these native Alaskans to offer more than the standard-variety metalcore, even going back to their halcyon Roadrunner Days, where they teetered dangerously on the nu metal side of the fence. Read more […]
The cream of the crop when it comes to discussing anything “Christian” and “metal”-related, Atlanta’s Norma Jean have managed to outclass their contemporaries via a slew of unconventional and obtuse albums, Read more […]
No matter how hard one tries, you can’t outrun your nu metal past, just ask Devildriver’s Dez Farfara and Silent Civilian’s Johnny Santos. The stigma placed on both bands probably prevents them from Read more […]
How the word “triumph” ended up in an album title for a depressive doom metal band is puzzling. There’s nothing triumphant about doom metal unless your name is Messiah Marcolin and you’re doom Read more […]
Black metal hasn’t been able to hide in its once-reclusive sphere in eons, so it was only a matter of time before it became the subject of a feature film, which Until the Light Takes Us is. Released Read more […]
If there’s an “Atlanta sound,” Zoroaster are doing their best to move away from it. Frankly, this distortion-laden, one-string, simplistic doom thing has gotten out of hand and is reaching epidemic Read more […]
Early Man might be in the same discussion with bands like Enforcer, White Wizzard, and Holy Grail had they followed up 2005’s Closing In a tad more quickly. Like, much more quickly, especially in Read more […]
Virtually the Deicide of the modern era, Aeon haven’t quite turned God-bashing into the same sideshow that Glen Benton did, but they’re doing their best. Because of the advent of digital promos, we are Read more […]
