The industrial banner is an odd and often difficult one to fly under. It takes a particular touch to work at all, let alone well, and a majority of the time it comes across as little more than a cacophony Read more […]
The steady paycheck and NOLA brotherhood of Down wasn’t enough to keep Kirk Windstein away from his first love, which, obviously is Crowbar. Not like he cares, but Windstein will always be third fiddle Read more […]
Straight to carpal tunnel-ville goes Vancouver’s Archspire, who are one of those “play technical first, ask questions later” bands. It’s either feast or famine with groups of this ilk; some couldn’t Read more […]
The old vibes die hard, especially for some. For this Finnish duo, old-form black metal is the way, the light, and the glory forever. On Death’s Wings is in many regards similar to a release I covered Read more […]
This Place That Contains My Spirit was originally released back in 2012 but Eisenwald saw fit to give it a proper release, with the recent dropping of the band’s second LP, Depths. If it wasn’t clear Read more […]
Oregon’s Utstøtt is a one-man black metal band entirely self-managed, completely independent with no record label, and untainted without outside contaminations or alterations from additional musicians, Read more […]
Post-pregnancy Epica in the house, something we rarely get to utter since you know, metal dudes aren’t popping out kiddies too often. (Or ever.) Indeed the always eye-grabbing Simone Simons gave birth Read more […]
Bands like Carnal Forge, The Crown, At the Gates, and early Soilwork all pushed the melody button while attempting to play thrashy riffs as fast as they could. More modern bands have attempted to recreate Read more […]
Creating a compelling album in the niche style of southern groove metal is startlingly similar to defeating the Undertaker at Wrestlemania: Even with all the natural talent in the world and just the right Read more […]
Timing can be everything in the metal scene. Talent can be the gateway, but often the right ‘connection’ or networking capability opens all the right doors. Take Boston power/thrash band Meliah Rage. Read more […]
Long overdue for a re-entrance into the American market, ex-Megadeth lead guitarist Marty Friedman has swung for the fences – and connected – with Inferno, his 12th solo album. In earnest, the approach Read more […]
Much like its predecessor, Unholy Congregation of Hypocritical Ambivalence is a mouthful. But Impetuous Ritual’s latest quest into the depths of the underworld has been quite fruitful. While the Read more […]
Polish death metal usually brings to mind entities such as Decapitated and Behemoth. Listening to Incarnated, you’d swear you were listening to something of the early Swedish variety, certainly not Read more […]
An industrial black metal outfit featuring the pair of Dave Coppola (guitars/vocals) and Tim Winson (drummer/programming), Invertia would initially best translate to Ministry backing their way into Scandinavia, Read more […]
Swedish champs of heavy metal militarism, Sabaton, return for their seventh studio album, chock-full of banner waving, huge Euro-style power anthems of heroism (obviously) and courage. Songs with soccer-stadium Read more […]
Fresh from the hellish crypts of the underground, here’s some raw as a blood-sacrifice Satanic black metal quite close to the very best. Pennsylvania’s Pact are a trinity of evil geniuses. They’re Read more […]
Somewhere inside Deep in Hate’s third release, Chronicles of Oblivion, there is a death metal beast trying to rear its ugly head. Unfortunately, it finds itself inside a cage of deathcore trappings Read more […]
Words DR never thought would be typed on this site: “Evolved metalcore.” That, and “Poor album showing from Katatonia” would be the other, but alas, here we are with Swiss five-piece Voice of Ruin, Read more […]
Melodic Swedish death metal, which means it can go one of two ways: Back to Gothenburg times of yore, or, over to the modern In Flames/Soilwork arena. For Planet Rain (whose name sounds like a spa treatment Read more […]
It’s the Septicflesh we’ve always wanted. Over the years, they’ve composed glorious opuses of symphonic doom/death metal and welcomed the world’s élite symphony orchestras into the metal scene. Read more […]
Masters of folk-tinged power metal, Italy’s Elvenking return for their eighth studio album, The Pagan Manifesto at a point in time where pagan metal and power metal still command healthy audiences Read more […]
Being unfamiliar with Torche and Floor’s previous work, I came into Oblation without particular bias or expectation. Perhaps it’s to this end that, with all things taken into account here, it’s difficult Read more […]
Not allowing the Atlantic Ocean to create a barrier against all things black and death metal, Sacrocurse is a bi-national band with members from both Mexico and Turkey. The wonders of modern technology Read more […]
Modern metal bands have become so attached at the hip of having their albums “enhanced” by technology, that hearing an LP without such “enhancements” has become rare. (And yeah, cue up the extra Read more […]
Album #2 from the Gregor Mackintosh (Paradise Lost) offshoot, Splinters finds Vallenfyre even more engaged in the feral, uncompromising sphere of crusty death metal. Trace back to Mackintosh’s origins Read more […]
Brief, but fantastic was the career of U.K. extreme sludgesters Iron Monkey, who only have two full-lengths to their credit, the latter (Our Problem) considered a cult classic. The band would fold shop Read more […]
For the non-nerdy types that don’t quickly identify where Ered Wethrin gets their name (it’s Tolkien), the band plays atmospheric black metal with many fantasy references. Ered Wethrin is the solo Read more […]
The “occult metal” of Warpstone is one that pleasantly transcends genre tags (try as we may to compartmentalize). Taking some progressive notes from many different sources with quite a bit of success, Read more […]
With pity, it’s true. We crazy Californians are always taking what we like out of things and nonchalantly meshing it all into some stupid “unique” self-identity. And you know what? It can be really Read more […]
[8.5/10] It comes with little surprise, upon taking a listen to The Great Old Ones – given their left-of-center style of black metal, that France is their country of origin. Indeed, unless you’ve not Read more […]
