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February 1st, 2024 Features

Rifforia – Ready to Destroy

…a new wave of thrash metal. We got good reviews, we played live a lot, mostly locally. When it was time to write the follow-up to Thrashing, other things came in the way. Our vocalist took over his family’s business, another one started studying classical music to become a music teacher, I had kids. We didn’t really want to throw in the towel, so we continued to jam, write some songs in the rehearsal room. One of the guitarists went off to Civil W…

January 31st, 2024 Reviews

Night Fever – Dead End (Svart Records)

…dings, while “By the Throat” is a more mid-tempo offering that showcases a bit more of the crossover, gang-like mentality that can elevate the mood when frustration settles into your average day. Thirty-two minutes of metallic hardcore, Night Fever with Dead End prove that they’ve lost no intensity, scrappiness, or sheer determination to shove their songwriting into tight windows of explosive madness. In the end, it’s a wonderful sound that hopefu…

January 31st, 2024 Reviews

Show N Tell – The Ritual Has Begun (No Remorse Records)

…k appears in specific riffs or chorus work – “Heavy Metal” one of those rally cry numbers sure to induce gang audience participation, be it vocally or hurtling oneself stage diving, head banging with abandon. Then there’s the piercing high range nature of Dave vocally. It can be hit or miss depending on your preferences, as at times the screech-like screams could be nails on the chalkboard hard to handle. But you can’t deny much like Skull Fist or…

January 30th, 2024 Features

Selected Singles – January 2024

…enty of addictive, catchy moments. Given Hanabie.’s exponential growth lately, “OTAKU Lovely Densetsu” is only going to help garner them more fans. (Hanabie. official website/Hanabie. on Instagram) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awx5vfb_aSY Kaleido “Worth Believing” The most recent in a spring of new single cuts, “Worth Believing” showcases all of Kaleido’s best aspects. Namely speaking, Christina Chriss’ soaring vocals, grooving riffs and earwor…

January 26th, 2024 Reviews

Mourning Dawn – The Foam of Despair (Aesthetic Death)

…uitars and spoken word pieces (these are in French, so we’re unsure of the lyrical context). Definitely a stark departure from the band’s long-running doom stylings, and to some, elements such as these may be jarring, as they’re not expected. To our ears, these keep us on our proverbial toes, and as a lover of electronic music, these elements aren’t heavy handed and don’t feel out of place. “The Color of Waves” brings The Foam of Despair back into…

January 25th, 2024 Features

Any Given Day – Unbroken Spirits

…on compared to having just one person guest on a song. Golinski: It’s totally different than what you normally see, and that was the point. We wanted to bring both styles of both bands together in one song. We wanted to take the brutalness of Any Given Day and the quieter parts of a chorus from Annisokay, and we think it fit perfectly as it came out. People seem to feel the same, so we did it right with this collaboration. Stiller: There’s actuall…

January 24th, 2024 Reviews

Dust & Bones – Mission Back To the Forbidden Planet (El Puerto Records)

…utting away any excess to push the best foot forward track by track. Probably the larger cult appeal of Dust & Bones lies in their home country to extend possibly into other European countries – as Mission Back to the Forbidden Planet contains adequate performances through catchy hooks yet is very familiar to those who love the stripped down, bluesy / punk-oriented heaviness on display. Kudos though to the space-oriented, astronaut filled illustra…

January 23rd, 2024 Features

Saxon – Hurling Fire and Steel

…the best songs on the album, but we like those songs, and they work visually as well as musically. Dead Rhetoric: What do you think about the co-production process, as you worked with famed musician/producer Andy Sneap? What do you like about his work ethic and what he brings to Saxon for the final product? Byford: He’s very fastidious with the details. It’s great. But I think the album it’s got a great sound and it’s got a great mix. I recorded…

January 21st, 2024 Features

Advocacy – Perseverance Through Decoherence

…n’t that technical of a guitarist. I knew what limitations I had both vocally and musically at the time. This sounds like me, and that was very clear, but it has changed through the years from the band it was then to the band we are now. I’ve developed myself as a musician. Dead Rhetoric: The Path of Decoherence is the latest studio album for the band. What can you tell us about the songwriting and recording sessions for this effort? Where do you…

January 18th, 2024 Features

Dissimulator – A Lower Form of Resistance

…ioned to more contemporary, heavy stuff towards late elementary school, early high school. Usually the typical story of friends showing you bands – back in the day nu-metal was huge, I got into System of a Down, and that quickly escalated into Metallica, six months later I was listening to Cannibal Corpse. Dead Rhetoric: Was guitar the first instrument you discovered? Leduc: No, it was the bass. And it wasn’t a question of I wanted to play guitar,…

January 17th, 2024 Reviews

Metalite – Expedition One (AFM Records)

…a staggering 67-minute runtime. Is there such a thing as too much? Thankfully, in the case of Expedition One, the answer is a rousing no. While the runtime is padded a bit with the aforementioned bonus singles, listening to it all at once is a greater challenge but Metalite really powers through the extended journey without losing any of their flair. While one could make the case that the band is more or less doing their usual shtick, it’s impress…

January 15th, 2024 Reviews

Not Secured, Loose Ends – Ouroarboros (codomomental inc)

…Ouroarboros is an interesting one, taking old songs and giving them not only English lyrics but entirely reworking them. The songs are still recognizable, but this far from a case of a mere re-recording of older tracks. With that fresh imbuing of mostly new members singing, the reworked arrangements, and English lyrics, it gives more than enough reason for older fans to revisit the group’s rebirth, as well as an excellent starting point for newco…

January 9th, 2024 Features

Rome In Monochrome – Pushing Ego Out of the Equation

…ade me think I could play guitar and so it was, at 14 I started (not properly, I must say). I immediately started to write songs because I was sure I was able to play them and, in the meantime, I discovered death and black metal, and I was blown away. I was not able to play and sing that stuff and maybe I was looking for something easier with the same negativity, so I fell into classic English doom stuff (Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Anathema)….

January 8th, 2024 Reviews

Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze – The Fractal Ouroboros (Fiadh Productions)

…ambient music was a breath of fresh air to those who found it, and admittedly, this scribe only caught wind of them a few years after said debut dropped. However, when album number two, The Fractal Ouroboros, was announced, it quickly shot up my list of must-listen albums. But, we had to wait until December 21 to lay our ears on it, as we didn’t have a promo. The agony! The wait, however, was worth its weight in bronze. A word of warning, for thos…

January 7th, 2024 Features

Exit Eden – Breaking the Mold

…ere able to send him ideas and he worked on them with us or for us. He really understands the concept really well. It was great to get the original concepts together and just to see what we would choose. Dead Rhetoric: Did it seem like a natural progression to write original songs to go along with the covers? It seemed that there was also a want to write songs within the band before. Brunner: Yes, I would say so. We do love to put ourselves into a…

January 5th, 2024 Reviews

The Grandmaster – Black Sun (Frontiers Music)

…ghts. Layers of orchestration, piano, and keyboard parts push the ballad “Fly, Icarus Fly” into theatrical landscapes, Peer Johnasson using every ounce of his gritty pipes to the max, similar in some respects to the attitude of Udo Dirkschneider next to the metal / hard rock registers of Jorn Lande and Rob Halford. Not content to rest on past accomplishments, the quintet explores a bit more modern hard rock/groove context towards the back half of…

January 4th, 2024 Features

Daniel Barkasi Best-of 2023

…Distance stands tall as leaders on the back of an album that was brilliantly written, ambitious, and executed masterfully to the most minute of detail. From smooth pianos combining with mournful leads, to balanced by crunchy rhythms and thick atmospheres, Air Not Meant for Us has a bit of everything. A true achievement. 4. Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite (Metal Blade Records) San Diego’s prime metal export Cattle Decapitation continues to innovat…

January 3rd, 2024 Reviews

Alluvial – Death is But a Door (Nuclear Blast)

…ents around him usher in an almost dreamy landscape at times (albeit a darkly dreamy feeling), which really closes the EP in the best possible way – a little bit of a breather so that you can jump right back into the fray once more. Alluvial continue to prove they should be considered among death metal’s upper echelon. Death is But a Door is short but oh so sweet in delivering plenty of bludgeoning riffs, visceral blasts, and a potent dose of atmo…

January 2nd, 2024 Features

Striker – Rev Up With Ultrapower

…red to the last one. If you add in the extra (time), we are stoked to finally have this out shortly. Dead Rhetoric: Was it a challenge to figure out what songs to release in the interim? Because these songs didn’t end up on the record… Cleary: Yeah, we actually did three songs that we just recorded at home and then sent out to get mixed. That was “Deathwish”, “Strange Love”, and then there’s a third song that will be a bonus track on the new recor…

December 29th, 2023 Reviews

At the Plates – Omnivore (Self-Released)

…ns in their titles, while waxing poetic about wild tales of culinary-based lyrics, it unfortunately may lead to a portion of the audience to dismiss them as a bit of a gimmick. But truth be told, At the Plates may have very punny song titles and some crazy yet fun lyrics, Omnivore is a ‘melodic’ death metal release that’s going to start your 2024 off in very satisfying ways. While it’s quite fun to look at the titles, such as “Punish My Waistline”…

December 28th, 2023 Concert Reviews

Katatonia / Gost – December 9, 2023 – Level 13, Orlando, FL

…ease. As previously stated, this was our first time seeing Gost, having sadly narrowly missed other opportunities to catch a live set. Gost’s stage presence has changed throughout the years – from a skull mask adorned by a hoodie, to black metal-ish corpse paint – and we were treated to the full skull mask, which was super cool. Thus, we were also treated to varied set from his impressive discography, with songs spanning each full-length, resultin…

December 26th, 2023 Features

Hyloxalus – Stare Into the Black Hole

…running with it for now). Dead Rhetoric: Where did you want to come across lyrically for this effort? Do you place an equal amount of importance on shaping the melodies/lyrics in a certain way to match or mirror the musical atmosphere present track by track? Bell: Most of the melodies/lyrics were written in this kind of assembly-line fashion AKA melody first, lyrics second. There was some variability but mostly that’s how it came together. A littl…

December 24th, 2023 Features

Everdawn – Seek the Silver Lining

…e a bit of culture shock and adjustment that had to be made? Zaks: Absolutely. Simply because I didn’t speak the language. When I moved here, I was seventeen. I didn’t study English at school, I studied German. It wasn’t really helping me. Even when I tried to apply some of my German knowledge, it was nonexistent. I had to learn English from scratch. I could start communicating after a year, maybe even longer. It was one of the biggest challenges…

December 22nd, 2023 Reviews

East of Eden – Forbidden Fruit: 1st Piece (Victor Entertainment/JPU Records)

…ven employing it effectively in some of Akane’s vocal performance. Truthfully, this chorus is probably her strongest in terms of sheer power of the EP. “Mujuryokuhiko” feels the most epic of the bunch, with the playful violin giving it an almost jovial feel that effectively contrasts the more rock-driven nature of the rest of the group. Ayasa’s solo in this song is a real stunner. Last in the mix is “Hanabi,” which has the most fun and rock-ish at…

December 20th, 2023 Reviews

Convocation – No Dawn for the Caliginous Night (Everlasting Spew Records)

…ges to hit an impressively wide spectrum, all of which is executed flawlessly. Finally, “Procession” concludes No Dawn for the Caliginous Night on a forlorn note, with haunting narrations by Samantha Alessi, and additional vocals by Misery Index’s Jason Netherton adding to what is a colossal build of strain and aural anguish. It’s absolutely the most funeral of all of the variations of doom on the record, yet contains a bit of everything laid out…

December 19th, 2023 Features

Katarina McGinn Best-of 2023

…umentation and vocal lines and wraps them in some very poignant, surprisingly glum lyrics. Each song they’ve released so far (7 as of writing) is an absolute powerhouse of melodies and good-time hard rock. My stats.fm app tells me I’ve listened to this song over 140 times this year, and it came out in the end of August. Check out “Answer to Extreme” too while you are at it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU3f8ZGfd5g Best Music Video: Hanabie “B…

December 16th, 2023 Concert Reviews

Cattle Decapitation / Immolation / Sanguisugabogg / Castrator – November 21, 2023 – The Orpheum, Tampa, FL

…r expanding pit. Vocalist Devin Swank is an imposing presence both physically and audibly, with monstrously deep growls and abundant energy, urging the crowd to slam along. Stringed warriors Ced Davis and Drew Arnold form an imposing duo, along with skin pounder Cody Davidson providing wild rhythmic calamity. The band clearly relish being on stage, and it shows with every note. What was the most noteworthy and viciously amusing moment of the eveni…

December 15th, 2023 Reviews

Sorcerer – Reign of the Reaper (Metal Blade)

…eatest Sorcerer song delivered to date. Elements of the devil himself vocally as well as musically creep in to segments of the title track, while vocalist Anders Engberg uses his resourceful bellow in lower to mid-range capacity for the majestic “Unveiling Blasphemy”. Consciously focusing on shorter or faster material next to the expected epic doom traits gives a bit more explosive energy when taking in songs such as “Thy Kingdom Will Come” as wel…

December 15th, 2023 Reviews

Therion – Leviathan III (Napalm Records)

…ut any sense of ear fatigue. The finale “Twilight of the Gods” possesses a bit of a Tony Martin-esque Black Sabbath flavor musically, while the operatic choir parts extend the throwback nature – hundreds of years of influences all converging as one. For this scribe, Therion were at their best during the Theli through Secret of the Runes studio album period – since then, certain releases have been as strong while others a bit weaker. Leviathan III…

December 14th, 2023 Features

Axenstar – Victorious Symphony

…visualized the cover. It took some time, but we feel the end result is really great. Absolutely this cover is in the old, power metal style. Like many other people, I don’t buy as many records anymore – I usually listen to music on Spotify. But if you go to a record store and look at the covers, I think the cover should really mirror what the sound is like. I think it’s important, but not as important as it has been in the past. You had to go down…