Will be rather curious to see if Norwegian singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Sylvaine is met with the same kind of derision and spite as Mykrur, for after all, metal is a big, bad all-boys club, Read more […]
Shoulder to shoulder Bandcamp discoveries thanks to your esteemed co-editor have put this scribe on a trail of research and hope to bring new talent to the fold beyond record label pastures. Forming in Read more […]
When one tends to think about brutal death metal, it tends to bring to mind a lot of Suffocation worship, slams a-plenty, and not much holding it all together. It’s unfortunate, because over the past Read more […]
Continuing the band’s successful legacy over the years, Realms of Odoric is the band’s twelfth album to date. The folky melodic death metal format that has been the weapon of choice is still armed Read more […]
Lots ‘o familiar faces along for the ride on Winterhorde’s Maestro. In-demand artist Travis Smith handled cover art duties; Triptykon guitarist/producer V. Santura manned the production boards; and Read more […]
Returning hot off the heels of the ear-pleasing retro-death carnage of Savage Land, Gruesome toss fans a bone with a new EP, Dimensions of Horror. The band’s unabashed worship of Death (and acknowledgement Read more […]
The obvious question with In Mourning is this: how much do they want to be Opeth when Opeth doesn’t want to be Opeth these days? It’s a fine line considering how imitable Opeth’s sound is, particularly Read more […]
After testing the waters in the home of melodic death metal (Gothenburg of course), Avatar finally seemed to find a sound that fit them back with their fourth album, The Black Waltz. 2014’s Hail the Read more […]
Pittsburgh, PA is home to sports institutions such as the Steelers, Pirates, Penguins, and our very own editor for DR – as well as this quartet Talion. Forming in 2011, they went through the usual lineup Read more […]
While some may balk at the term “Samurai metal,” Whispered have gone out of their way to show that they are a force to be reckoned with. Their last release, Shogunate Macabre, really saw them raise Read more […]
Manteca, California in the Central Valley is home to Fortress United – playing together since 2014 and a very entertaining quintet who on their debut 5 song EP The Mask unleash a wide array of melodic, Read more […]
A textbook example of a strong, gallant Finnish epic/folk metal would be Moonsorrow, who going forward should be the scene’s permanent pace-setter. This is problematic for a band like Wyrd, who have Read more […]
Pennsylvania’s progressive sci-fi thrash transplants Vektor are an entity unto themselves in a scene not exactly known for uniqueness. It’s one thing to possess off the chart technical and compositional Read more […]
Death metal fans that have been keeping up with releases this year have to be thinking to themselves, “Is 2016 the year of Pat Tougas?” First he struck with Chthe’ilist, then Zealotry, and now First Read more […]
Having released two studio albums and a debut EP, each with a different lineup, since forming in 2006 in Helsinki, Finland, Amoth’s catalog doesn’t exactly scream consistency. With five years between Read more […]
Childhood dreams can transform into original bands – as is the case for the Danish quartet Defecto. Vocalist/guitarist Nicklas Sonne started his music career in his teens, while guitarist Frederik Møller Read more […]
While “Near” is not the most black metal-sounding of names, in presentation and sonic execution, this obscure Italian troupe has it down. Hanging around since 2002, Own Sun is the band’s first effort Read more […]
They say first impressions last. Fortunately for Engraved Darkness it’s not always so, or Diabolical Scriptures would have gotten a much harsher review. Here’s why: The very first track off the album, Read more […]
Bringing up the classic ‘how does one classify this’ question completely to a head, South Carolina’s Enthean bring up plenty of subgenres on their debut long-player, Priests of Annihilation. Melodic Read more […]
Hard to think of the term ‘hardcore’ without Hatebreed being one of the first names that come to mind. Being one of the more adept at crossing the hardcore ethos with some metallic injections from Read more […]
Because the retro rock scene is reaching burn-out level (and no, not that kind of burn-out), it would be prescient for its constituents to bring all of their cards to the table. By that, we mean: don’t Read more […]
Two disparate schools of output exist in heavy metal these days. Artists who believe in developing a unique album each time, hopeful that their following will come along for the creative ride. Others, Read more […]
After seeing the cool artwork and hitting play on Bandcamp, Recode the Subliminal’s The Cost of Every Man initially had this writer searching the Internet to see if Bjorn Strid (Soilwork) had made some Read more […]
Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint where things don’t work when they have no reason not to work. Take French up-and-comers Backdawn. The band takes elements of modern metal and toss them into a thrash/death/groove Read more […]
‘Hari… KARI!’… the scream from Eric AK that will forever lodge Arizona’s Flotsam and Jetsam into the annals of thrash. The title track off No Place from Disgrace pushed the band’s musicianship Read more […]
Diamond Head probably don’t need to do a new album at this point in their career, but they should anyway. It’s the classic grapple of avoiding the “nostalgia act” tag versus remaining relevant well after Read more […]
Of the dungeon-dwelling and bleak Incantation-esque death metal bands that have been vying for your attention in the last few years, Grave Miasma is often one of the first bands that roll off the tongue Read more […]
Italian melodic death metal squad Subliminal Fear tend to leave some space between their releases. With previous albums being released in 2007 and 2012, 2016 brings us up to their third full-length album, Read more […]
Swirling about Austria, Deathstorm resonate to the heart of speedy, abrasive angst in the thrash scene based on the sound concocted for this second full-length Blood Beneath the Crypts. Together since Read more […]
Slotted—perhaps to a fault—as this decade’s answer to Helmet, Wrong are comprised of a few lads who have done time in such notables as Torche, Kylesa, and Capsule. So in effect, this isn’t some spin-off Read more […]
