Talk about a blast from the past. Putrid Offal was originally deathgrinding it up back in the early ‘90s with a demo, EP, and some splits but things never really panned out after that. Much like seemingly Read more […]
Over the years, metalcore has lost a bit of its edge. In the shift to capitalize off of Killswitch Engage’s winning formula of melodic vocals and heavy riffs, many bands surfaced that took things too Read more […]
Rarely are split efforts a true collaboration of talents. On The Quivering Lights, German neoclassical black metallers Nachtreich combine with Greece’s exceptional one-man atmospheric black metal band Read more […]
Imagery seems to be an afterthought in terms of members usually in the crossover thrash/hardcore game – relegated to visually striking cover art or particular mascots/logos that appeal to the underground Read more […]
Former Slumber guitarist/current Enshine mainman Jari Lindholm is gradually becoming one of the more distinctive songwriters in the atmospheric melodic death metal field. Enshine (who should have a new Read more […]
At this point, there’s usually a collective groan when the “post” metal quotations come out and it’s not without warrant. The sound has seemingly hit its stride over the past few years and now Read more […]
Modern death/thrash is a harder genre to nail than what might be expected. Too much groove and you’ll be labeled ‘core, or play too heavily and you’ll end up sounding more like a death metal band Read more […]
Finnish folk metal warriors Ensiferum have always been known for their melodic death-tinged Viking metal anthems; that is until 2012’s Unsung Heroes was released. The band’s fifth studio album was Read more […]
Being first exposed to Sarpanitum through their killer 2011 EP Fidelium (which came via a posting from The Black Dahlia Murder, who frequently show support to more underground bands), it was a very pleasant Read more […]
Since the disbandment of Isis (you know which one), vocalist/guitarist Aaron Turner has had his hands in a lot of projects, none of which rivaled the monolithic post-strokes of his former breadwinner. Read more […]
Absolutely buried on Noise Records’ roster in the 80s, German thrashers Scanner embodied whatever the notch below mid-level was during metal’s glory days. Beset by some really bad album artwork (see: Read more […]
Just after 2015 had begun, a Bandcamp email came through the pipeline stating that The Neologist’s newest release, Coming Full Circle, had been released. The Neologist had done some high quality cover Read more […]
During the 1980’s, seeking out information about metal bands would be key to developing broader tastes as well as a wider collection of albums. In print magazines, specialty radio shows, and those precious Read more […]
Nowadays it’s not really a big surprise to see a concept album make its way to these speakers. As a genre, metal has always made it fairly easy to write dynamic and elaborate tales based upon the flexibility Read more […]
Always found A Forest of Stars to be just a step away from reaching the next level. By most accounts, they’re an avant-garde favorite; a band without much of a filter, nor even boundaries to what they’re Read more […]
Ever wonder what happened to that specific strand of melodic death metal, you know, the one that seemingly took off from Slaughter of the Soul and The Chainheart Machine and cranked up the intensity? Read more […]
Being in Lonewolf ain’t quite as rosy as it is being in Powerwolf, that’s for sure. While Powerwolf has made a surprise surge to the top of the European power metal heap, Lonewolf’s trajectory (whatever Read more […]
Establishing oneself based on past revered acts is always a touchy subject in the hard rock/metal world. One always hopes that people would give everything new a fair shot – but more often than not, nothing Read more […]
Oh the nostalgia, listening to Gore Metal once again brings back some memories of a simpler time. Before the time of trying to dissect things down to the current 500 different subgenres that we all hold Read more […]
Conceptually in line with a band such as Absu (who have devoted their entire career to well-researched themes relating to Sumerian mythology and various forms of mythology and magick), Greece’s Devathorn Read more […]
Describing themselves as cinematic metal, taking influences from big blockbuster films to write songs worthy of soundtracks, symphonic metal quintet Illuminata, from Graz, Austria, burst onto the scene Read more […]
Let’s get the band name thing out of the way first thing. “Heaving Earth” is a song title from Morbid Angel’s Formulas Fatal to the Flesh, so clearly that’s the direction that we are going here. Read more […]
It was quite the shake-up last year when now-former vocalist Alissa White-Gluz announced she was joining Arch Enemy. The Agonist fired back not too shortly thereafter with new vocalist Vicky Psarakis Read more […]
Can’t help but think the Floor reunion album sideswipes what Torche has been doing the last decade. And by “doing,” we’re referring to holding down the heavy-rock fort; a band not quite metal, Read more […]
If there’s one thing that Hate has had some difficulty with over the years, it’s avoiding comparisons to their fellow countrymen Behemoth. It has to be particularly frustrating for the band, as they’ve Read more […]
Earth and Pillars are an atmospheric black metal band out of Italy, and a look at their Metal Archives page shows they’ve began just last year, Earth I being their debut album. A trio consisting of bassist Read more […]
It seems that Australia is truly becoming a hotbed for bands that want to break through the confines of traditional metal and put a new spin on things. Bands like Portal, Ulcerate, or even Ne Obliviscaris Read more […]
Last year’s Transcience EP from Dead in the Manger left a very solid impression. Taking the fury of grindcore and combining it with the aesthetic of atmospheric black metal seemed to hit things out Read more […]
Already a favorite for many on the Dead Rhetoric staff (main editor David E. Gehlke gushing about their heavier progressive metal sound on their self-titled debut album), Brattleboro, Vermont’s Barishi Read more […]
Probably one of the last 2014 releases we’ll be tackling in the first quarter of 2015 (and beyond), Germany’s Neopera is as suggested in the name, an operatic metal project featuring members of Dark Read more […]
