The last time To the Pain principles John Intagliata (vocals) and Steve Shaver (guitars) worked together was 1989, a robust 24 years. The pair were teenagers, probably sporting dirty mustaches, high-tops, Read more […]
Power metal goes through waves of highs and lows. Helloween rode to prominence in the 1980’s; Hammerfall resurrected the movement for most Europeans in the mid 1990’s, and for a time, Lost Horizon Read more […]
The fever sea rages, as water batters the hatches and the vessel nears being swallowed. Man has lost yet another battle with Mother Nature, perhaps as retaliation for all the stupid things he’s done to Read more […]
The inclusion of the word “panzer” right away tells you what Denmark’s Panzerchrist are about: War. While it would be awesome if they were about Jesus and war (check out Blind Guardian’s “Another Read more […]
A petulant, restless 20-minute slab of brutal death metal, Dehuman Reign’s debut Destructive Intent EP/mini-CD rages like a young Suffocation, as if they were in a hurry to go to lunch and wanted to Read more […]
A bunch of fresh-faced newbies from Portugal, Destroyers of All try to cram essentially all of the 1990s into their six-song debut EP, Into the Fire. Metal of the 90’s variety generally entails rather Read more […]
Exhumed in their uh, “exhumed” phase are a much more interesting group than they were during the flimsy Gore Metal and Slaughtercult years. Back then, it’s was more about being sloppy with death metal, Read more […]
World Keeps Sinking, the third full-length album from Milwaukee moshers Northless, is a polished and crushing effort that sees the foursome blur the lines of sludge, doom and progressive metal in a way Read more […]
If you’re a European thrash band, why wouldn’t you have Mr. Tommy T. Baron (Coroner) produce your album? The Swiss guitar hero was not only the most technically proficient of all the European thrash Read more […]
Very Euro, all-encompassing, and in the right by paying homage to the forerunners of power metal (that would be Happy Happy Helloween, thank you very much), Sweden’s Twin’s Crew present a smorgasbord Read more […]
If you have to point out the fact that you’re “weird,” you probably aren’t. Similarly, if you feel the need to state how “smart” and “intelligent” you are, chances are, that isn’t the Read more […]
Nice to see Jason Newsted step out on his own; even cooler to see the guy be “the man” instead of the dude who replaced Cliff Burton or a member of Voivod before Piggy’s unfortunate passing. Newsted’s Read more […]
The former Soviet Bloc can still seem like a different world from here in North America, in some ways it is, and one thing that shouldn’t be overlooked is that some fantastic metal has been coming from Read more […]
With The Red Chord currently in a state of flux (vocalist Guy Kozowyk is a now a policeman, no “official drummer, etc., etc.) guitarist Mike “Gunface” McKenzie saw fit to put together his own project, Read more […]
The so-called inventors of “trip rock” (whatever that is), Germany’s Autumnblaze are this decade’s version of when Paradise Lost, Tiamat, and The Gathering each decided to give up being solely metal bands Read more […]
The review cycle often predicates hearing something similar, or even the same thing over and over again. Our ears might be experienced (and incredibly biased towards certain outfits), but they’re hard Read more […]
Chimaira’s penultimate moment came ten years ago via The Impossibility of Reason, essentially the band’s clean break from nu metal. Not only was it their biggest seller, but their entrance into the legitimate, Read more […]
Preachers of the Night is album #5 for these German power metallers, and despite the strides Powerwolf has made in mainland Europe as this album gains album of the month accolades and a number one charting Read more […]
We’ve yet to frequent the band’s Facebook page (but will do so upon completion of this review), but hopefully Oakland’s Lycus have used the “Lycus on Facebook” line. Word play is fun, you know. It’s even Read more […]
“Wrong side of the bed metal.” That’s another way to denote bands who have one mood and one mood only: PISSED. (And we had to put it in all caps.) It seems a lot of these Southern Lord bands are Read more […]
Prior to the release of this, their self-titled debut, Serpent Crown’s primarily claim to fame was that current Death Angel drummer Will Carroll was bashing the skins for the band during their formative Read more […]
More like prolapse records…as in this album kicks so much ass that it has caused my anus to prolapse. Sorry. OK, Boston’s Revocation has dished up a very fine album in their self-titled offering, Read more […]
Labels…we need ‘em. Every day there are more people on this planet than there were the day before. More ideas, more information and more bands. We can lament or rejoice in that, but that’s Read more […]
In a way, having a song named after the band in which you play in is the ultimate sign of not caring what anyone thinks. Granted, every freakin’ band says they don’t care what anyone else thinks (not Read more […]
Deception runs amok with the spelling of Cold Colours’ name, for it duped DR into thinking the band was from the U.K., when they’re really from Minnesota. Talk about two different worlds. It seems the Read more […]
Remember when Austin Powers was frozen for three decades, and upon being de-thawed, proceeded to “relieve” himself for what seemed like 15 minutes? That could be the parallel to Garth Arum’s terribly Read more […]
Last Chance to Reason’s third full-length album, aptly titled Level 3, is a study in progressive metal that finds the Augusta, Maine natives traversing some relatively uncharted territory while still Read more […]
Recorded barely a month before their near-fatal bus accident in England, Live at Madia Vale captures the Yellow & Green formation of Baroness in full stride circa July 2012. A four-song recording for Read more […]
The discarded, solitary shopping cart depicted on the cover of Locrian’s Return to Annihilation is yet another attempt at visualizing the apocalypse. Now, for someone who spent a considerable amount of Read more […]
Let us never understate the influence of shoegaze rock in metal’s darker sector. Some of the bands that DR holds near and dear (Katatonia, Alcest, Anathema) all have takeaways from shoegaze, which is Read more […]
