Trail Of Tears – Winds of Disdain (The Circle Music)
It’s been a long, arduous return for Norwegian gothic/symphonic metal pioneers Trail of Tears. Probably best known for their discography in the 2000’s on Napalm Records, they would break up in 2013 following their...
Red Handed Denial – A Journey Through Virtual Dystopia (Paid Vacation Records)
Perpetually underrated act Red Handed Denial has been around for well over a decade, delivering a potent mix of immediate hooks and complex instrumentation. A modern mix of those elements that took from a...
Esodic – De Facto De Jure (Self-Released)
Distinctive elements can be key to establishing your own niche, even if it’s in well-regarded subgenres of metal such as thrash or death metal. Drummer Zed Amarin has been a part of Esodic since...
Sonic Universe – Taking You Higher
The cosmos aligns in grand ways to pull together this quartet of experienced, seasoned musicians to form Sonic Universe. Singer Corey Glover established himself for decades in Living Colour, guitarist Mike Orlando was an...
Kerry King – From Hell I Rise (Reigning Phoenix Music)
Debate already came through all sides of the internet when hearing that Slayer disbanded and guitarist Kerry King would assemble a new band to continue forward under his own moniker. Ok. So let's just...
Grin Cynic – Grin Cynic (Pavement Entertainment)
Stories often help sell brands – and bands. In the case of Grin Cynic, they started in the late 1990s through singer/songwriter/guitarist Mike Lee, making noise in their home area of Orlando, Florida enough...
Elvellon – Ascending in Synergy (Napalm Records)
Symphonic metal doesn’t appear to be wavering in popularity or global impact these days. Hailing from Germany, Elvellon steadily have been rising through the ranks from their debut Spellbound EP release in 2015, leading...
DVNE – The Jumpstart to Creativity
Photo: Alan Swan
An amalgamation of post-metal into progressive angles of sludge and doom, DVNE produces music that captures multiple spheres of emotion song by song. Their latest album Voidkind may be a bit more...
Gatecreeper – Dark Superstition (Nuclear Blast)
It’s a story as old as time. How many artists have you seen in the metal landscape that make impressive debut records, transitions in the second full-length, only to release a premiere product for...
Cognitive – Abhorrence (Metal Blade)
With well over a decade of brutality under their belts, and three years distance from their fourth album, Matricide, New Jersey's Cognitive return for a new outing with a new label in tow. Known...
Demon – Invincible (Frontiers Music)
Another UK band celebrating their 45th anniversary, Demon has evolved from their traditional heavy metal/hard rock roots that put them on the map in the early years to more of a diverse act that...
Pain – Still Pushing Boundaries
It may have been 8 years since Pain's last album, Coming Home, was released, but mastermind Peter Tägtgren, is never one to rest on his laurels. Between Hypocrisy and the Lindemann project (from which...
Soulline – Reflections (Massacre Records)
Previously privy to the last album Screaming Eyes back in 2022, Soulline returns with another record in Reflections. This Swiss unit chose to tackle various troubled and problematic issues concerning the environment and connection...
Baron – Beneath the Blazing Abyss (Transcending Obscurity)
How a band evolves is always of interest to this scribe. To understand the volcanic death metal of seemingly newcomers Baron, one needs to go back in time a bit. Granted, their first self-titled...
Sonic Universe – It Is What It Is (earMusic)
A ‘supergroup’ tag can get banded about rather liberally in the music business. We all know that if like-minded musicians have the ambition, desire, and resources available, they’ll make music together. That’s the case...