Defiance – The Prophecy (Candlelight Records)
More retro thrash, but this stuff is actually authentic. As part of the third or fourth tier of Bay Area thrash bands, Defiance made only a slight dent with 1988’s Product of Society, an album that...
Gorgoroth – Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt (Regain Records)
Truth be told, the last two Gorgoroth albums (2003’s Twilight of the Idols and ‘06’s Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam) weren’t all that great. Sure, the drumming of Satyricon’s Frost on Ad Majorem… was kinda cool, but that grimy, dirty...
Arch Enemy – The Root of All Evil (Century Media Records)
Many still hold Johan Liiva-era Arch Enemy near and dear, not budging from the stance that the lanky Swede is the definitive voice for Arch Enemy. This scribe has always been in both camps...
The 11th Hour – Burden of Grief (Napalm Records)
Lots of luminaries from the Dutch metal scene here, but 11th Hour isn’t worth going bananas about – it’s a bit here and there, but nowhere really important. It’s slow doom, not funeral doom,...
Barren Earth – Our Twilight EP (Peaceville Records)
Seriously…keep this vintage Sentenced/Amorphis stuff coming. We can’t get enough here. With members of Kreator, Swallow the Sun, Moonsorrow and an ex-Amorphis dude in its ranks, Barren Earth recreates the vauntedTales/Amok sound, with a little...
Secrets of the Moon – Privilegivm (Lupus Lounge)
Long considered the only relevant German black metal band (what ever happened to Agathodaimon, by the way?), Secrets of the Moon made some serious inroads two years ago with Antithesis, a charming display of pristine...
The Cleansing – Poisoned Legacy (Deepsend Records)
In one of the more unique situations with a death metal act like Denmark’s The Cleansing, the current vocalist Toke Eld doesn’t sing on this debut album Poisoned Legacy due to a police matter. Following his...
Dethklok Metalocalypse – Deth Album II (Adult Swim)
Funny how a cartoon death metal band is better than a lot of… you know, actual death metal bands. Even with that, it’s hard to justify what qualifies as death metal nowadays, so maybe Dethklok...
Portal – Swarth (Profound Lore Records)
It’s a warped, disturbing sound emanating from Portal. They've always gone this route, these lunatic Australians, and it has netted some utterly messed-up results, especially 2007’s Outre, which practically defied all logic within the death metal realm. Swarth continues...
Hypocrisy – A Taste of Extreme Divinity (Nuclear Blast Records)
Far and away the best Hypocrisy since their glorious self-titled album from 1999, A Taste of Extreme Divinity is the summation of everything Hypocrisy does well and really, there’s a lot Tagtgren and co. do well....