Nefastus Dies – Urban Cancer (Candlelight Records)
A red flag on this one went up almost immediately after learning members of Ion Dissonance were involved. Not to say ID is a bad band per se, but man, if Urban Cancer were to be...
Metal Church – This Present Wasteland (SPV)
Album #3 with singer Ronny Munroe, This Present Wasteland harkens more to the workmanlike, uninteresting era of Metal Church than its exploratory, challenging efforts of yore. While 2006’s A Light in the Dark was pleasantly strong, This Present Wasteland kinda...
Into Eternity – The Incurable Tragedy (Century Media Records)
The now very-ubiquitous Into Eternity continue to steadily climb the ladder, going against the grain with a brand of cerebral and uncanny metal that is this close to catching on. 2006’s The Scattering of Ashes got plenty of...
Soulfly – Conquer (Roadrunner Records)
As a former card-carrying member of the Sepultura Fan Club, this scribe’s affinity for Soulfly lasted about a week in 1998, as Fred Durst’s impotent raps on “Bleed” wore thin about as quickly as...
Hammerfall – Rebels With A Cause DVD (Nuclear Blast Records)
Hearing a lot from the Hammerfall camp these days, which is both a good and bad thing. Good, in the sense Rebels With A Cause is a pretty fun watch; bad because the band must, must...
Therion – Live Gothic (Nuclear Blast Records)
Not on the scale of 2006’s massive Celebrators of Becoming 4-DVD, 2-CD set, Live Gothic is scaled down to two discs and a DVD of the live show. Shot during the band’s Gothic Kaballah tour in early 2007 in Warsaw, Poland,Live Gothic serves...
Gorgoroth – Live in Grieghallen (Regain Records)
The legal troubles continue to pile up for Gorgoroth, which only serves to further distract its audience from releases like this. Most recently, it was decided in Swedish courts that all distribution and promotion...
The Gates of Slumber – Conqueror (Profound Lore Records)
Like most bands of the classic stoner doom ilk, Chicago’s The Gates of Slumber suffer their fair share of indignities throughout this 60 minute-plus marathon. There are no surprises, the riffs have been recycled time and...
Venom – Hell (Sanctuary Records)
Hell sounds like a mess, naturally. It’s Venom we’re talking about and if the band were to ever take a second to compose themselves on a musical level, it wouldn’t be Venom, right? The follow-up...
Children of Bodom – Hatecrew Deathroll Reissue (Spinefarm)
Originally released in 2003 and now getting a fresh lease of life through Spinefarm UK’s series of reissues comes Children Of Bodom’s Hate Crew Deathroll The album which took them to number one in their native...