During DR’s days as an active musician, a fellow local Pittsburgh rocker regularly harped upon Fuck the Facts and how much “in love” with vocalist Mel Mongeon he was. (The dude in question was speckled Read more […]
Together since 2002, Hartford, CT quintet End-Time Illusion certain have paid their dues in building their style. Deities at War is their third full-length record but first occasion for this journalist Read more […]
As far as one-man projects go, Mexico’s Majestic Downfall are one of the best. Handled by Jacobo Cordova (he of Zombification fame), Majestic Downfall ably combine the domineering doom of early Katatonia Read more […]
Too often, Stockholm and/or Tampa gets pegged as the designated rip-off sound in death metal. Understandably, the scene’s biggest bands originated from both territories, which cements the obvious notion Read more […]
Within the folk metal genre, there is usually a dividing line. The bands that take the genre more seriously by going in a more somber direction, and those that have a more party-oriented atmosphere. Read more […]
Don’t be fooled by the extra colorful band logo/name, comically disturbing artwork, or the song titles that are displayed on Party Cannon’s debut full-length. While it doesn’t look like a very serious Read more […]
The proliferation of bands in the ProgPower movement can be highly attributed to the Internet connectivity explosion over the past two decades. Message boards, websites, and chat rooms expanded awareness Read more […]
The latest in Unique Leader’s quest to grab as many of the most brutal and technically-inclined death metal bands available, Kronos fire off their fourth album, Arisen New Era. Fitting in line with Read more […]
Finland’s Shape of Despair is a rather revered name in funeral doom. But even though the band has been around since 1998, Monotony Fields only marks their fourth full-length (and first since 2004’s Read more […]
A band who has been successfully able to navigate from noodly-prog to quality song-prog, Italy’s Kingcrow (their name is from an Edgar Allen Poe reference) have been active since 1996. Fresh off the Read more […]
Inspired by the always-usable story of Countess Bathory (she of drinking virgin’s blood for eternal life fame), Wooden Stake’s A Feast of Virgin Souls is, as the cover suggest, somewhat of a lo-fi, Read more […]
Amiensus’ first full-length, late 2012’s Restoration, set the band up for big things. Atmospheric black metal with folkish and melodeath flourishes gave Amiensus an appeal that almost anyone could get Read more […]
Upon first listen, I wasn’t sure what to make of Dark Matter, the debut full-length album by Distant Sun, a power/thrash trio hailing from Moscow, Russia and relative newcomers on the scene. I heard Read more […]
Another one of those cases where if you were to hear Fin’Amor, you’d never guess their geographical location. With similar bands that come to mind including Swallow the Sun, My Dying Bride, older Read more […]
Often, people tend to downplay bands that identify themselves with a particular topic/theme in mind. It’s an easy target to say that they have limited themselves. It’s also a bit hypocritical when Read more […]
So how often do you hear of metal from Azerbaijan? If you are like many that will read this, there aren’t really any bands that come to mind. For this reason alone, this is what makes Bandcamp such a Read more […]
Immortal Bird’s debut, Akrasia, was an excellent surprise at the end of 2013. A smorgasbord of everything the extreme metal tag has to offer without sounding awkward or putting influences in just for Read more […]
Perseverance is an appropriate title for the fifth studio album from New York power metal band Zandelle. Active since the mid 1990’s and witnessing their live prowess at some of the East Coast/ Mid-West Read more […]
Switzerland’s Cold Cell are a black metal outfit forged in 2012, who, in respectable fashion have just released their sophomore effort in that short span of time. Lowlife, released in March of 2015, is Read more […]
The larynx of A Secret Revealed vocalist Paul Motz…it sure gets a workout, doesn’t it? DR has been around the block enough to witness vocalists who couldn’t maintain the constant yell-growl that Read more […]
There’s something to be said for staying solid and true in the death metal world. Choosing not to deviate too much from a certain ‘stock’ formula won’t alienate your faithful fan base- however Read more […]
Graveworm has always been one of those metal entities, consistently pushing out albums on a regular basis yet never really achieving the level of recognition a band in the scene for close to two decades Read more […]
A wise gentleman told the teenage-era version of this scribe that “Pittsburgh fans don’t support Pittsburgh bands.” Then, it was a crushing realization that playing in a local band in the Steel City Read more […]
France seems to be getting known more and more for taking black metal and really pushing it to the avant garde extremes. Bastardizing the genre with as many odd and unfamiliar elements as they can in Read more […]
After being At War With back in the tail end of 2013, Valdur has returned to the blackened death realms with Pathetic Scum. As the name suggests, this is some rightly filthy and pissed off stuff (as was Read more […]
On the weirdness-for-weirdness scale, Valis scores an obvious ten. It’s often pontificated here and other relevant sites as to how difficult and outlandish certain black metal bands can be. Generally, Read more […]
Our neighbors to the North in Canada seem to be throwing down a bevy of horns up metal bands these days. Can’t quite pinpoint if it’s due to the brutal winters with arctic winds or the working class Read more […]
Always dug the name; “Kill Everything Now” Mode, which really, is should how any good metal band should operate. Well, not every good metal band – some prefer the more thoughtful and/or tender approach. Read more […]
Sometimes a musician offers something that is far beyond just a ‘listening experience.’ The work of Tristan Shore (the sole force behind Author & Punisher) is something that begs to be explored further Read more […]
Originally recorded in 2013, Americanus is a re-recorded version of what the band refer to as “blackened southern deathprog.” An interesting description, and the name Bearstorm itself is a pretty Read more […]
