Arch Enemy – Tyrants of the Rising Sun – Live In Japan DVD (Century Media Records)
The first territory to embrace post-Carcass Michael Amott and Arch Enemy, it is only fitting our neighbors in the land of the rising sun get the live concert DVD treatment from the Swedes. Professionally...
Suspyre – When Time Fades… (Sensory)
The type album that can really make one sour on progressive metal,When Time Fades…, the third offering from New Jersey progsters Suspyre is as vanilla as they come, made all the more tepid by...
Samothrace – Life’s Trade (20 Buck Spin)
Some lightbulb had to have gone off in the collective brain of Samothrace, as this might be the first legitimate combo of sludgy, c-r-a-w-l-i-n-g to a s-t-a-n-d-s-t-i-l-l doom that is so melodically competent, it...
Total Fucking Destruction – Peace, Love, and Total Fucking Destruction (Enucleation Records)
Grind doesn't have a great deal of actual characters, save for Napalm Death’s Barney Greenway and the man and band in question, Rich Hoak and Total Fucking Destruction. Hoak, already a grind veteran by way of...
Hirax – Thrash and Destroy DVD (Selfmadegod Records)
One of the few bands that were still plugging thrash before the current revitalization, Los Angeles-based Hirax are rightfully reaping the rewards of this second wave. While they never cracked the upper-tier of thrash,...
Dead Shape Figure – The Grand Karoshi (Season of Mist Records)
Recalling a time when Hatesphere was actually writing melodic, knife-in-the-throat thrash (i.e. Bloodred Hatred), Finland’s Dead Shape Figure eschew the trappings of new/old-school thrash for the razor-sharp thrash approach resembling that of a less streamlined...
Enslaved – Vertebrae (Nuclear Blast Records)
The great thing about Enslaved Mach II is that they’re toying with us and laughing all the way to the golden halls of Valhalla. Actually no, they abandoned that Viking nonsense for something more...
Gamma Ray – Hell Yeah! The Awesome Foursome (SPV Records)
Kai Hansen and the gang keep rolling, just like their now partners in crime, Helloween. The two are forever linked, but let’s just focus on Gamma Ray at the time being and their marvelous...
Obituary – Left to Die EP (Candlelight Records)
Rejuvenated after their signing with Candlelight for last year’s Xecutioner’s Return album, long-running Florida death metallers Obituary hit us with another slab of no-frills death metal in the form of the Left To Die EP. Consisting of two songs,...
Intronaut – Prehistoricisms (Century Media Records)
Considered by many to be the band that holds up the progressive end of the metalgaze spectrum, Intronaut are still hovering around that area of proficiency manned by Isis, Cult of Luna, and Mouth...