Hailing from Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Mid-West holds a mighty progressive speed metal band in the five-piece Zephaniah. Reforged is the group’s second full-length and a rebirth of sorts as the band came Read more […]
The regular, if not damning issue with Mastodon has been their vocals. Muddled, atonal, and lacking in personality, it has been the one facet of the band that has kept them from wider commercial acceptance. Read more […]
When it comes to sounding pissed off, The Haunted has always been the gold standard. Their self-titled album was adrenaline-fueled rage in musical form (as was their last outing Exit Wounds). There aren’t Read more […]
Sometimes you just can’t beat no-frills death metal. It can come at you like a freight train and annihilate everything in its path. But the strongest releases understand that you can’t just have Read more […]
Arguably one of the more extreme outfits to hit the pavement on the always-reliable Kolony Records, Necrosavant is the one-man project of Jonas Martinsson, who has assumed the “Necrosavant” name as Read more […]
There’s no one that does symphonic quite like Fleshgod Apocalypse. Their progression in form and function since Oracles has been one of ever-increasing bombast and spectacle. Of course, this came with Read more […]
From the South Suburbs of Chicago, IL comes the four-piece act Dissona. Their second album Paleopneumatic is a rare breed in the American progressive metal scene, as the band advance their sound through Read more […]
A Chilean/Greece entity playing an utterly primitive, if not bestial form of death metal, Temple Below appears like a part-time project…and sometimes sounds like one, too. Knocking boots in the now overly-familiar Read more […]
It is of comfort, at least partially, to just glide along with an atmospheric black metal album. Because black metal often frontloads itself with elongated peaks and valleys of extremity, the portions Read more […]
On a tip from another independent discovery Helion Prime, Cryptic Ruins is a Central Valley California melodic metal quintet releasing this self-titled 5 song debut EP – proving the well is not dry on Read more […]
Long purveyors of primitive and evil sounding metal, Iron Bonehead seems to know how to pick them. Polish/Germany death/black hybrid Chthonic Cult is the latest release from the venerable label, and seems Read more […]
During the mid to late 1990’s when most forms of traditional, power, or heavy metal in general fell off the major media screens in North America, European artists still stuck to their convictions and Read more […]
Interesting to see that Metal Blade signed Cologne, Germany’s Ketzer after they made a significant sound transformation. The band started as a pretty rote thrash band, only to gradually morph (or strip-down) Read more […]
When one tends to think of Iceland, it seems the more avant-garde comes to mind (such as say, Sólstafir). But there’s a first time for everything, and though it can be hypothesized that Cult of Lilith Read more […]
Perhaps no extreme metal band has seen so many illustrious vocalists pass through its ranks. Borknagar, of course, started with Kristoffer Rygg (aka Garm) in the mid-90s, before he gave way Simen Hestnæs Read more […]
When it comes to bombastic, orchestral metal, Rhapsody of Fire has to be one of the flag-bearers. Even with all the name variations over the years (including the split off of Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody) Read more […]
Gaining immeasurable traction thanks to ex-In Flames guitarist Jesper Strömblad (who helped along with other In Flames members in the recording of debut album ‘Til Death Do Us Apart), Stockholm’s Read more […]
All aboard! Tobias Sammet has once again launched his symphonic metal rock opera known as Avantasia and you definitely don’t want to miss the journey that is in store for you on Ghostlights, the project’s Read more […]
Combining a common love of science and heavy metal, California’s Helion Prime started in 2014 and quickly established themselves on the recording and touring front with an EP release the following year Read more […]
The first band to go under the “Incubus” moniker, New Orleans trio Opprobrium were part of the initial wave of death metal bands who hit the ground running in the late-80s. Unfortunately, the various legal Read more […]
Demilich was a band that was severely ahead of their time. Labyrinthine time changes, croaked vocals, filthy atmosphere are all qualities that death metal bands are still trying to replicate today. But Read more […]
The symphonic/melodic power metal genre appears to be fairly steady in terms of product output, with most European bands gaining the lion’s share of accolades to put bodies at packed concerts. Austria’s Read more […]
Canadian technical death metal doesn’t exactly scream innovation here in 2016. However, it does mean that it’s probably going to be a wild ride, full of crazy musicianship and brutal performances. Read more […]
Instrumental metal can be a tough sell. Oftentimes the music becomes too self-indulgent or endlessly meandering, other times the music just lacks a certain lasting appeal without having vocals behind Read more […]
Darkened, atmospheric hardcore isn’t something that a lot of bands revel in. Grieved’s debut EP, Samaritans, showed a band that had some potential to straddle the hardcore and metal lines (in a way Read more […]
Melodic metalcore is a tough sell around the majority of the DR staff. Especially considering this journalist lived through a lot of the impetus in New England when Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, All Read more […]
Another 80’s thrash act revitalized for a second go around during the 2000’s, German band Exumer gained decent underground acclaim for their 1986 debut Possessed by Fire – at the time at tightrope Read more […]
Lustre, the one-man project of Henrik Sunding, who goes under the name Nachtzeit, has amassed quite the nice little following over the years. His oft-brand of atmospheric and ambient black metal personifies Read more […]
Where does the time go? So many known extreme metal bands are now pushing towards decades of existence, which is a good thing for the scene but starts to make one feel old. In celebration of their 20th Read more […]
You never want to dismiss a legendary act like Immortal by saying one person made the band, but after listening to Abbath’s self-titled debut, it’s obvious: Abbath was the band. His identifiable voice, Read more […]
